Praying Through Psalm 71

Hey guys, I shared a video awhile back that talked about God’s Word, praying God’s Word and pouring your heart out.  I talked about getting into God’s Word and how important I believe that is.  I thought maybe today I would show you an example of how I do this.  I know that we are not to change God’s Word for any reason and that is not my intention in doing this, so please know that up front.  However, I do believe we can use God’s Word as a guide to prayer.  I have done this from time to time over the years, but it was not until I read Beth Moore’s book, Praying God’s Word, that I really started doing this often.  So when I decided to read the Bible again this year, but instead go book by book, I thought this might be a great addition to my reading.  So as I read, I journal my prayers to go along with what I am reading.  Right now I am in the Psalms and I cannot tell you how many times God has already spoken straight to my heart and prayers through His Word.  The Psalms are tricky for me because David talks a lot about his enemies and what he would have God do to them.  I don’t feel like I have any earthly enemies, praise you Father for that, but I know that we all have spiritual enemies and they fight against us regularly (Ephesians 6).  This is one of the many reason we need to know God’s Word and what it says, so that we can fight these battles through Him.  We have been given all we need to battle the enemy of this world and any he would use against us!  In Ephesians, we are given armor to protect us.  So I encourage you again today to get in His Word, know His Word and in knowing His Word you will find Him.  Our God, Jesus our Savior and the Holy Spirit are One!  One who deeply loves us, One who is always for us and One who wants to walk in the closest relationship with us.  I pray right now that you will lean into to Him today ♥️ 

My prayer through Psalm 71

Father I thank you that we can come to you for protection.  I thank you that you do what is right.  Father I thank you that you turn your ear to listen to me and you have set me free.  Father you are my rock and my safety and I can hide in you.  You give the order to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress!  I thank you Father for I have always known this to be true ♥️ V5 O Lord, my Father you alone are my hope.  I have trusted you Lord since childhood.  Yes, you have been with me from birth.  Father I thank you that I truly know this!  I don’t remember a single day that you didn’t love me and this overwhelms my heart ♥️ V6 Yes, you have been with me since birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me.  No wonder I am always praising you.  V7 Father (let) my life be an example to many because you have been my strength and protection.  V8 Let me never stop praising you, let me declare your glory all day long!  V9 Father now, in my old age, I thank you that you will not set me aside.  You will not abandon me when my strength fails.  I thank you that you have never left me and your Word says you never will (Hebrews 13:5) V12 Father don’t stay away, thank you that you hurry to help us.  Father we all need your help every single day.  You are our hope!  V14 Father let me praise you more and more, for you are worthy of so much praise!  Let me tell everyone about your righteousness.  Let me proclaim your saving power all day long.  Even though I am not skilled with words, I pray you will use me. V16 I will praise you for your mighty deeds, O Sovereign Lord.  I will tell everyone that you alone are just.  V17 Father I thank you that you have taught me from my earliest childhood, let me constantly tell others about the wonderful things you do.  V18 Father now that I am old and gray, I thank you because I know you will not abandon me.  Let me proclaim your mighty miracles to all who come after me.  Father let us learn to pray and believe and see your mighty miracles.  You are a God who still does miraculous things.  V19 Your righteousness reaches to the highest heavens, you are beyond my understanding!  You do such wonderful things!  Father help us to trust you even when we don’t see you or understand your ways, for no one can compare to you!  V23 Father I will sing praises to you.  I will shout for joy and sing your praises for you have ransomed me.  V24 I will tell about your righteous deeds all day long.  Thank you Father for this day and for time in your Word.  I love you with all of my heart and I pray all of this in the beautiful name of your son Jesus, amen ♥️

Ephesians 6:10-18 NLT

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Grace & Truth

Condemnation, why does it comes so easily, so naturally? 

I want to come back to sin & forgiveness again today, with a true life confession.

A couple of Sundays ago, I did the stupidest thing.  I overreacted and kind of showed my bottom.  The day started out so sweet, actually my whole week had been really nice.  I woke up that morning and spent some time with Jesus, he had really loved up on me.  He spoke to me through his Word and let me know He sees me and He knows me.  I jumped on FB and shared that with a group of friends.  I just wanted to let them know they were heard and known and loved too.  While I was getting ready that morning I was thinking about my faith and all that it meant to me.  When we got to church our pastor preached about that very thing, and again I felt really loved and seen and heard.  The message was so good, Pastor Steve spoke about faith and all that it means.  He talked about the  fruit of the spirit, found in Galatians 5 (peace, joy, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control) and about walking out your faith and what that looks like.  Then, as we were leaving, we saw some of our friends and I was so happy to see them.  We got to talk and catch up and love on each other.  Again, it was just such a nice day and my heart felt so happy.  So, what happened next?  Well I’ll tell you.  We left church and everything pretty much went out the window.  My head starting hurting. We went to a local restaurant and there was a terrible wait and I just got grumpy. Maybe it was hangry, I’m not sure, but the trouble lies in how I acted next.  I wasn’t nice to the hostess!  She did several things that really bothered me, and I just acted kind of stupid really.  It wasn’t outrageous, I didn’t scream or yell, but I certainly didn’t act nice or show grace.  After we finally sat down I knew I should’ve apologized, but I didn’t. It was just kind of a day ruined for sure.  All because I chose to act ugly instead of showing love.  So why am I sharing all this?  Well, I feel like there are probably a few of you out there that have lost your cool a time or two also.  And here’s the thing, it’s not good!  It makes you look like a fool.  It’s embarrassing.  It was embarrassing for my family.  It was a bad example to my family, just all bad really.  I felt pretty rotten the rest of the day and then the next day when I woke up to do my quiet time, I couldn’t even pray. Condemnation hit me so hard!  I over thought it to death.  My death, death to my joy, death to my peace.  I was beating myself up so bad that I couldn’t even pray, but here’s the thing, that’s when we need to pray the most.  God’s Word says in Romans, that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.  I didn’t remember that verse in the moment, but I did go to my Bible, because I always find my peace there.  I have been praying through Psalms the last few weeks so I opened my Bible to the place I had left off the day before.  Psalm 24:1  “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.  The world and all its people belong to him.”  Man, that hit me so hard!  I felt like the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, He said, it’s not’s important that you were embarrassed or that you were a poor example, that is pride. Here’s what I want you to get. That hostess belongs to me. She’s a real person, made in my image, a girl doing her job, and she did not deserve the way you acted.  I have shown you so much love and grace, but what good is it if you don’t show it to others?  I am crying as I write this because even as I do He is still speaking to my heart.  He just reminded me of his words in 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!”  So, here’s the thing, is the way I acted yesterday okay?  Absolutely not. I messed up and I am still not sure what to do about it.  I would definitely like to apologize, and so wish I would have before I left that restaurant.  I just really want to say I’m sorry, although I fully realize that doesn’t undo what I did.  I can definitely do better next time, and I pray that I will, but what I really want to share in telling you this long story is this: when we mess up and we definitely will, we don’t have to beat ourselves up for days. That is a waste of the precious time we have been given.  Our God is a God of grace and truth!  His grace says, when you mess up I see you and I still love you, and His truth says, when you mess up it hurts others and it hurts me, don’t do it!  Truth and grace also say, He actually died so we could know forgiveness.  He died for that hostess and he died for me.  He died so that we didn’t have to sit long in our sorrow, so that we didn’t have to spend hours in shame.  He definitely doesn’t want us to hurt others, but when we do, he wants us to realize what we’ve done, be truly sorry and do better the next time!  He loves that hostess and He loves me and He’s good and He’s great and He’s gracious, and even when we act our worst He loves us so much!  He is the God who corrects, but He is the God who teaches and loves.  He is for us and he truly sees us and knows us.  He knows when we’re bad and he knows when we are trying so hard to be good and do right, and He loves us fully in both of those places.

So Father today I thank you for your truth, for your Word, for forgiveness and for grace.  I thank you for mercy and for second and third and fourth chances.  I give you this day and pray that in it, my heart and my actions would please you.  Let me walk in the grace and love I have been given and let me fully rely on you to show me how.   Thank you Father for the way you love us, the way you correct us and the way you encourage us to keep moving forward.  I thank you for listening and letting me pour my heart out and most of all, I thank you for Jesus, my savior and redeemer.  I pray all of this in His name, amen ♥️