Just a quick thought I want to share with you:
Whatever our need is, Jesus is the only One who can meet it perfectly. Whatever our void is, He is the only One who can fill it to overflowing.
Let’s take our needs, our emptiness…our everything – to Jesus today. Let’s tell Him we trust Him to deliver. And then let’s step back and watch Him work in our lives in the way only He can.
“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Col. 1:17 ESV
Ever since I can remember, I have had a comfortable, continual conversation with Jesus. Engaging in silent prayer regardless of where I am or what I am doing has been a natural part of my daily rhythm – most of the time.
However, there have been brief periods when intense emotional pain disrupted that rhythm and rendered me speechless before Jesus. When I have been unable to articulate a prayer amid hardship, a particular Bible verse has become a lifeline. Romans 8:26 says, “In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings.” Friends, in our silence, the Holy Spirit lifts our burdens to the throne of Jesus on our behalf! Thank the Lord there is no communication gap when our pain temporarily prevents us from expressing our needs.
When we do not have the strength to pray, be encouraged – the Holy Spirit has us covered.
It is not unusual to feel overwhelmed by negative emotions such as anger and sadness from time to time. Let’s be honest: our world is full of complex people and complex situations, so it is understandable when we experience and express complicated emotions. However, it is essential to remember that we are not required to stay stuck in that state! In other words, we do not have to wait for challenging people to start treating us better or for difficult situations to improve before we start reacting in a Christlike manner. (I’m sure we can agree that in some cases, we would be waiting a lifetime!) Therefore, choosing whether or not to let negative emotions have control over how we live is our own decision to make.
When we dwell on anger or sadness, we lose the opportunity to move forward in expectation of what God has in store for us. We may also miss chances to reflect Christ – which is an integral part of our mission on this earth.
So, what can we do when we find ourselves stuck in that unwanted state? Spend time with Him by reading His Word and praying. The Bible is chock-full of treasures for all of us, such as peace, comfort, and love. Talking to God reminds us that He is relational, and He understands what we are going through. Spending time with Him will help us view our circumstances with a fresh set of eyes and a renewed perspective.
The next time we feel stuck in negativity, let us open His Word and remind ourselves of His many promises. Let us ask God to help us stop wallowing in negative emotions and start welcoming new ones that He is eager to offer us.
Dear Lord, when we experience negative emotions, help us exchange them for a new, better alternative. We are grateful that You bless us by replacing our anger and sadness with Your extraordinary peace. Thank You for being ready and willing to come alongside us and help us become the people You want us to be. Amen.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
Friends, I have been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. If you can relate to that feeling, allow me to assure you that God wants us to reach out to Him. He is listening and He cares.
I wrote a couple of prayers that I want to share with you; one in this post and one in the previous one. The prayer below is based on Romans 5:1-5
Dear Lord, life seems complicated right now, and I am physically and mentally exhausted. I know You hear my prayer and see my situation. It is an unimaginable blessing that You are a relational God who knows and cares how I feel. I am deeply grateful for Your Holy Spirit’s outpouring of love and divine encouragement. Your Word says I can rejoice in my sufferings because I will develop endurance, character, and hope – traits that will help me become more like You. Bring to my mind Your promise to not only give me hope but to be my hope. Instead of focusing on the problems I am experiencing, enable me to focus on You and what You are teaching me through them. Lord, help me to surrender to You and to embrace Your plan for my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Romans 5 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith[b] into this grace in which we stand, and we[c] rejoice[d] in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Friends, I have been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. If you can relate to that feeling, allow me to assure you that God wants us to reach out to Him. He is listening and He cares.
I wrote a couple of prayers that I want to share with you; one in this post and one in the next one. The prayer below is based on Psalm 34:1-9.
Dear Lord, I feel overwhelmed by the numerous goals, commitments, and responsibilities vying for my attention and time. Please open my eyes to Your countless gifts, especially those found in the challenges I am presently facing. Strengthen in me the determination to continually praise You, especially when life is difficult. Help me to thank You daily for Your unwavering mercy and constant love. Remind me that You are right beside me, eager to reach out as I take refuge in Your arms. Thank You for the times You have rescued me in the past, and for the times You will save me in the future. Bless me with a renewed sense of awe as I consider Your incredible glory and power. Please grant me a brand new perspective of my situation and a fresh appreciation of Your matchless peace as I draw closer to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Psalm 34 1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!
Think about how you feel when you discover that someone is praying for you. I firmly believe praying for (and with) your husband plays a vital role in encouraging and empowering him!
I am sharing six prayers based on chapters 5 and 6 from the book of Ephesians. You will find the prayers (and the verses they are based on) below. You will also find a link to go right to the printout. Print them and use them as a bookmark, put them in your home where you’ll see them during your prayer time, or give them to friends.
My hope is that these prayers will bless your marriage!
Continue reading
Hello, Friends. Isn’t it a blessing when you discover that someone is praying for you?
When it comes to marriage, I firmly believe praying for each other (and with each other) plays a vital part in strengthening the husband-wife bond.
My hope is that these prayers will bless and encourage you and your spouse!
Below you will find prayers based on Ephesians 4. Print them and use them as a bookmark, put them in your home where you’ll see them during your prayer time, or give them to friends. (Here is the link for the printout.) Prayers for Your Husband (Ephesians 4)
This is what the printout looks like:
I’d love to hear from you if you pray these prayers for your husband…or if you are a husband who prays these prayers for your wife! Thank you!
Also, please go to the Printables page to access additional prayers for your husband from Ephesians 1, 2, 3, and James 1!
Prayers for Your Husband Based on Ephesians 4
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; Ephesians 4:2-4 (NIV)
Dear Lord, reignite in my husband a yearning to pursue You above everything. May Christlike patience, gentleness, and humility radiate from him, and may the people he associates with be motivated to emulate those characteristics in their lives. Awaken him to the eternal impact he can have on others when he demonstrates Your love. Reveal to him how to be a unifying presence in all situations. Entrust him with the ability to exemplify Your perfect peace in a world that is desperate to experience it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built upuntil we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves,and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:11-15 (NIV)
Dear Lord, thank You for granting spiritual gifts to all of Your children. Give us Godly courage to use our gifts to point the world to You and to invigorate the body of Christ. Strengthen my husband’s confidence in You and help him have unshakeable faith, especially when he grapples with adversity. May Your Spirit encourage him to selflessly and actively love people the way You do. May the love with which he uses his gifts bring unity to Your family. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:21-24, 29, 31-32 (NIV)
Dear Lord, thank You for graciously offering new life to anyone willing to receive it. I pray for my husband to joyfully accept Your gift and wholeheartedly rid his life of former mindsets or activities that do not glorify You. May he be ethical and diligent, bringing honor to You in his family life and career as well. Motivate him to be a man whose conduct is not dictated by anger, but by Your love. Speak through him with language saturated in unity, compassion, forgiveness, and kindness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I can’t imagine anything casual about an angel making an appearance in the Old Testament, but the angel account recorded in the 6th chapter of Judges begins pretty nonchalantly. God’s messenger was patiently sitting under an oak tree, as Gideon was threshing wheat nearby. He was assumedly waiting for an opportune time to approach Gideon and deliver life-altering news.
Judges chapter 6:12 says, “When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “the Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior.” Other Bible translations record equally distinguished titles such as Mighty Man of Valor, Powerful Soldier, and Valiant Warrior. Perhaps Gideon momentarily thought the angel had appeared to the wrong man because he did not feel like he lived up to any of those names. He quickly reminded the angel that he was the youngest child from the weakest clan in Manasseh.
The next thing Gideon knew, the angel charged him with a seemingly impossible assignment: to lead a group of men to conquer a large, powerful Midianite army of more than 100,000 men. (In a fascinating aspect of the story, God was about to thin the Gideon-led army down from 32,000 to 300 men.)
Gideon took some time to ask for a sign that God sent the angel, and he received it. Eventually, his doubts about the message and the messenger vanished, and he realized he was going to be an integral component in a remarkable victory – a victory that could only be orchestrated by God.
Do you ever have a little bit of Gideonish doubt about yourself? Do you ever see yourself as less-than or unworthy? Do you ever doubt your ability to carry out the tasks God has assigned to you? If you answered yes to those questions, then your impression of yourself is different from His opinion of you. Allow me to boldly suggest that you promptly silence all other views and align yourself with His.
God knew that Gideon needed to hear God-authored words regarding who he genuinely was and the amazing things he could accomplish with His help.
Our perception of ourselves is affected by past experiences, opinions of other people, and our inferiority complexes. God bases His perception of us on the fact that He, the Creator and King, created us on purpose and with a purpose.
May we allow God to work on our hearts, so that eventually, like Gideon, we accept what God wants us to know about our identity. May the truth of our identity always win out over the perception we have of ourselves.
Prayer: Lord, whenever I see myself differently than You see me, may I accept the truth of my identity in You. And may I live according to Your truth rather than my opinion. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Quick thought for today:
“It’s time to care a lot less about people agreeing with what we say and a lot more about us agreeing with what God says.”
There’s a part of me that likes to preface conversations or social media posts with, “I think,” or “In my opinion,” and then hope that whoever hears or reads my words agrees with me…
I’m working on this.
I’m trying to shift my perspective. My new goals: 1. Strive to express thoughts and opinions that are in alignment with the authoritative Word of God (In other words, before I form an opinion and rush to share it, check if it is Christlike.) and 2. Be less concerned with the reactions of people and more concerned with being obedient to God. (In other words, double-check my priorities. At the end of the day, I want my words to honor God.)
There will be times when I fail, but I am determined to prayerfully pursue those goals. It’s hard for a person who doesn’t just walk away from controversy…I’m more of a sprint-away-from-disagreement kind of gal. And it’s hard for a person who likes to please people. But I’m renewing my resolve to be a Jesus-pleasing gal above all else.
Maybe this sounds like an opinion,😉 but wouldn’t you agree that this world doesn’t need more opinions, and it could sure use more truth spoken in love instead? Ephesians 4:15 says, “But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ.”
If we ask God, He will help us care less about the approval of others and more about lovingly expressing His truth in this world – a world desperate for Him.
Have you noticed that the discussion about practically every headline-making topic in our world today (COVID, racism, statues, masks, opening schools vs. distance learning, to name just a few) creates bitter disagreement, anger, and sometimes even violence? Not just among believers and non-believers – that’s to be expected, because we form our opinions upon very different foundations. I’m talking about ugly division among believers.
Where is the unity?
In John 17:20-26, Jesus prayed to His Heavenly Father about unity. He prayed for future believers to be unified, so that people would be inspired to believe in His Heavenly Father. When we sit with that for a moment, it hits hard. We all have a purpose on this earth: pointing people toward Jesus, and that purpose is benefitted by being a unifying presence. If the beauty of unity shows people who God is and makes Him known, then it’s time to put unifying behavior on the top of our priority list! Continue reading
gwenthielges.com 