Author Archives: gthielges

About gthielges

Gwen Thielges resides in North Dakota where she is an author, blogger, and worship leader. Her devotional for athletes, All In For Him, was published in 2017. She and her husband, Darren, are blessed above and beyond with three sons, one daughter, three daughters-in-law, one son-in-law and three grandsons. Her heartfelt desire is to encourage readers to strive toward a deeper faith and a wider witness. Her inspiration comes from the Word of God, strong coffee, and the love of her amazing family.

A Prayer for Your Children

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One way to invite blessings into the lives of your children throughout their lives is by praying for them to grow and thrive in their faith. I would like to share a prayer to lift up to the Lord on your child’s behalf. Please feel free to print it and put it in a place where you will see it often. What a blessing to serve a God who hears and cares about everything and everyone we bring to Him in prayer!

Click here for a printable version of this prayer.

Dear Lord, thank You for who You are. Thank You for hearing my prayers and caring about every concern I have. I am beyond grateful for Your unfailing love and forgiveness.

Lord, I lift my children to You in prayer. 

Please come alongside them today in a way they can feel powerfully. Let there be no mistaking Your presence in their life today! Replace any loneliness and abandonment with a tangible assurance of Your perfect love. 

Remind them that You are not only with them but also for them. Change their perspective in any situations where they are not sensing Your closeness. 

Lord, increase their faith in You and Your incomparable power. Enable them to rest in that faith, especially when life is complicated. Remind them that You make all things work together for good for those that love You.

Give them Your indescribable peace as You help them surrender to Your will for their lives. Renew their excitement for the plans You have lovingly orchestrated for them. 

Lord, help them desire a deeper relationship with You. Empower them to understand more fully Your character and holy nature. Give them a hunger for studying and understanding Your Word and a yearning to spend more time with You in prayer. 

May they listen for and readily recognize Your Holy Spirit’s voice. Help them become remarkably sensitive to Your voice, and may Your voice compel them to immediately and lovingly obey. 

Give them the courage to pray bold prayers as they approach You with expectancy. Help them to believe for miracles in their own lives and in the lives of those they pray for.

May they reflect Your light in all of their encounters. I pray that Your love will spill out of their lives and that their words, actions, and attitudes will give others a glimpse of Your character in this world that desperately needs to see more of You. In Your name, Amen.

Four Prayers for When You Feel Anxious

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When we find ourselves looking for ways to cope with anxious thoughts and excessive worry, we are not alone. Many people of all ages wrestle with those thoughts and regrettably fail to experience the perfect peace that Jesus generously offers. But He is more than willing to help us operate with a peaceful mindset when we approach His throne in prayer and ask Him to guide us.

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 ESV

Here are four prayers for when you feel anxious. I pray they help bring the “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” to your anxious heart. 

Prayer #1

Dear Lord, I come to You with an anxious heart. Help me to shift my perspective and see the good things You are doing in my life. Bring the people who care about me to my mind. Help me focus on the things and people I am grateful for. As I count my blessings, may I thank You for all of them. 

Help me rest in the truth that You are in control of this world. I pray that You will enable me to take deep breaths and rid my mind of any troubling thoughts preventing me from focusing on Your goodness, sovereignty, and love.

I ask You to replace my anxiety with Your perfect peace, which will guard my heart and mind against anxious and worrisome thoughts taking hold again. In Your Name, Amen.

Prayer #2

Dear Lord, I am so thankful that I can call on You at any time knowing You hear my prayer and care about my burdens. You are so good and kind, and You want to help Your children live in joy and peace. 

I bring my anxieties to You today. I lay them at Your feet. Help me not pick them back up again, and trust that You are intervening in each situation. Empower me to surrender my anxieties to You, confident that You will make a way where there seems to be no way.

Lord, help me to believe Your promise never to leave or forsake Your children. When I feel alone, make Yourself more real to me than ever before. 

Thank You for caring for me as You do and for Your unfailing love. In Your Name, Amen.

Prayer #3

Dear Lord, I thank You for all the times You have brought me tranquility in the past, and I trust You to do it again. 

I feel especially weighed down with worry today, and I desperately need Your comfort. My thoughts are swirling. I am struggling to prevent them from spinning out of control. Enable me to take my thoughts captive just as Your Word says. Teach me how to halt wayward thought patterns dominating my mind. Allow me to fix my eyes on what is true instead of dwelling on the unknown or the worst-case scenario. Bring my thoughts into agreement with Yours. 

I am so grateful that You are a promise-keeping God. Today, I especially appreciate Your promise to impart peace when our minds are on You. In Your Name, Amen.

Prayer #4

Dear Lord, thank You for Your love and consistently providing me with everything I need. Remind me of Your complete trustworthiness when I doubt how amazingly faithful You are. 

Thank You for being accessible and available no matter when and where we call upon You. Thank You for working all things together for good for all who love You. 

When worry and anxiety threaten to gain traction in my mind, empower me to stop them in their tracks. Remind me that I have authority over my attitude, perspective, and thought patterns. I am grateful that I can depend on You to strengthen me and be with me in every situation. 

Help me embrace a calm mindset and be still as You lovingly replace my anxiety with Your perfect peace. In Your Name, Amen.

casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 ESV

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV

fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 ESV

Persevere in Prayer

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In our church Bible Study, we have found that the book of Daniel is challenging and encouraging at the same time.

In Daniel 9:23, the angel, Gabriel, said these words to Daniel: “At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.”

The answer to Daniel’s prayer was granted and set in motion as soon as he began to pray. God had already responded before Daniel knew it.

Even though there are times that God responds before we realize it, let’s keep persevering in prayer anyway! Praying helps us to align our requests with the will of God as we spend time talking and listening to Him. And God wants to hear from us! God created us for a relationship with Him, and prayer is a beautiful part of that. 

I confess certain thoughts might cross my mind when I am not sensing an answer to prayer: He has forgotten about me, my dreams and desires don’t matter to Him, or He isn’t listening. But those thoughts just aren’t true. So a perspective shift reminds me that He is indeed working behind the scenes, and it is already taken care of. I just need to rest, keep communicating with Him in prayer, and watch the answer play out in His time and His way.

Oh, and did you catch the other part of the verse above? The angel told Daniel He was greatly loved. I’m sure Daniel already knew that, but our God is an awesome God who tenderly reassures us of His love.

Daniel 9:23 is a great reminder to continue praying confidently to the God who loves us beyond measure. ❤️

Morning Thoughts

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If they form their opinion about you without knowing the facts, their opinion doesn’t matter. On the other hand, if they form their opinion about you while knowing the facts…their opinion still doesn’t matter. 😉

Let’s talk about God’s opinion. That is the one that matters. 

Here is a tiny glimpse into how highly He thinks of us: He loves us so much that He sent His son to die for us. He loves us so much that He redeems us, restores us, and renews us. He loves us so much that He gave us unique gifts, personalities, and stories to share with the world. 

We can rest knowing that is His opinion of us!

But also… let’s not rest so well that we are content to say, “This is just who I am,” because God gives us daily opportunities to evolve into the person He created us to be. 

“God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.” Max Lucado

I have two challenges for myself and you! 

1. Let’s not allow anyone’s opinion of us to affect our attitude. 

2. Let’s obey God as He lovingly shapes us to become more like Christ. 

Here is a new phrase I’m going to embrace, and I invite you to embrace it, too: “You can think what you want about me. I’m over here doing my best to become all God created me to be.”

Have a great day, Friends!

Powerful Scriptures to Pray for Leaders in Our Lives

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Just last week, I had the privilege of having a guest post shared on ladiesdrawingnigh.org. The link to that article, “Powerful Scriptures to Pray for Leaders in Our Lives” can be found here. It also includes a free downloadable prayer that you can print out.

While you are there, take some time to look around on the website and you will find many features that will interest you! She has online Bible studies, a shop with prayer journals and scripture cards (and much more), Bible reading plans, and many articles on faith that will bring encouragement and provide teaching.

Take a few moments to read the article and let me know what you think!

Let’s bless the leaders in our lives by lifting them up in prayer!

Thank you, Friends!

Digital Sheet Music Available

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My third piano piece, Return to the Promise, is now transcribed 😊 Thank you to mysheetmusictranscriptions.com

Here is the link to purchase it for $5.99. https://www.musicnotes.com/l/dtghX

Return to the Promise

Here are the other two piano compositions available for purchase (also for $5.99):

Glimpses of Light: www.musicnotes.com/l/7crh8

Hope Restored: www.musicnotes.com/l/2crhQ

PDFs for Two Original Piano Pieces

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I am excited to share that thanks to Steve Aho Music, two of my three piano solo compositions are now transcribed. (Stay tuned…I’ll let you know when the third one “Return to the Promise” is ready!)

“Glimpses of Light” and “Hope Restored” are for sale on Musicnotes Marketplace for $5.99 each. You can go directly to the links below to purchase them!

Glimpses of Light – https://www.musicnotes.com/l/7crh8

Hope Restored – https://www.musicnotes.com/l/2crhQ

Glimpses of Light
Hope Restored

You’re His Masterpiece 🎵

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I’d like to share a song I wrote this week.

Sometimes it seems like there is a pervasive hopelessness in our world today. Hopelessness tries to convince us that we are insignificant – that we don’t have purpose or value.

But the Bible says we are God’s masterpiece. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We were born on purpose for a purpose.

I pray you hear something in this song that speaks to you.❤️

Lord, You Make All Things Work Together

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Dear Lord, thank You for faithfully listening to our prayers. You care about every single one of our requests and heart cries. Your Word says we can confidently bring our burdens to Your throne and that You will equip us with Your mercy and grace. Enable us to release bitterness, unbelief, or anything else that might prevent Your mercy and grace from having their full impact. Help us remember that You are ceaselessly concerned about our lives and that while You might intervene in an entirely conspicuous manner, there will also be times when Your work will be behind the scenes and, therefore, not as visible. When we can’t see Your hand and the wheels You are setting in motion, may we still have an unwavering belief that You are actively moving. Open our hearts to what You are teaching us in the midst of trials.

In our world today, confusion and chaos can sometimes threaten to overwhelm us. When we find ourselves in that position, Lord, help us to set our minds on You, the Prince of Peace, instead of the problems. Remind us that You have given us access to Your matchless, perfect peace. Empower us to wait expectantly for Your peace to wash over us and to protect us from strife in even the most difficult circumstances.

Help us to rest in the promise that You always cause all things to work together for our good. Remind us that what we think is good might be different from what You know is good and that Your definition of good supersedes our definition. Assure us that You are sovereign, have everything under control, and are for us, not against us. 

Lord, thank You for Your unfailing love for us. Help us surrender to Your will, way, and wisdom. 

In Your holy name we pray, Amen.

Hebrews 4:16, Philippians 4:7, Romans 8:28

Find Your Joy

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In today’s world, it seems there is a push to “find our happiness.” To put on a happy face and pursue our happy place! If I could say something about the “Do whatever makes you happy” trend, I would shout from the rooftops that what we should be seeking is joy – not happiness!

Happiness is a feeling. Feelings are fleeting and fickle. Happiness is contingent upon things that are out of our control. But joy? Joy is a knowing. It is steadfast and sure. It is a decision to focus on Jesus instead of on difficult circumstances.

Joy can be our rock no matter what situation we face. When things are going well, our joy comes from knowing our blessings are from God. When things aren’t going so well, our joy comes from knowing He has us in the palm of His hand and that He has a good plan for us no matter what things look like in the moment. 

Happiness will come and go, but clinging to joy helps us tackle adversity with a fresh and positive outlook. We can only ride the wave of happiness as long as the waters stay relatively calm. But when we pursue joy, it gives us an anchor in the rough waters. 

Will some experiences try to shake us or shift our perspective? Yep, we live in a world full of circumstances that can potentially stretch, strain, and stress us on a regular basis. And there will always be people who are capable of causing unhappy circumstances. Sometimes it is because they intentionally attempt to rob us of our joy (often because of their own unhappiness.) And, of course, sometimes it is unintentional because we are people, and people are imperfect. But no thing and no person has the power to take our joy from us. We are the ones with the choice to let go of our joy willingly or to hold firmly to it.

Go ahead and “find your joy!” You will find it in the rock-solid foundation of Jesus!