Posts Tagged With: prayer

God Intended it for Good

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Tamar

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20

The morning after Gabe chipped his teeth at recess, I called and left a message at the school to let them know that he wouldn’t be in that day because we were going to take the day off to rest and recover from the excitement of the day before. I let them know that their prayers were being answered and that God is taking care of Gabe. His new teeth looked almost better than the first ones did and that the thing we needed to be praying for now was that his two front teeth do not fall out! Now when I left the message I was thinking that only the school secretary that prayed with him would hear it and maybe the other ladies in the office. Little did I know what God had planned for that message! The ladies in the office did all hear it, but so did the principal and he called me to let me know that they were so sorry that Gabe had gotten hurt, they were glad to hear that he was feeling better and that the principal himself was praying for him. He just “happened” to call at the same time that my house started filling up with people bringing over soft foods for Gabe to eat (no solid foods for TWO Weeks for a nine-year old boy is NOT cool). There were 2 Bible study sisters, one of their daughters, and 3 kids when another Bible study sister called on the phone (immediately after the principal) with some news. It was a mad house around here! Women chatting loudly as to be heard over the literally screaming children, ahhhhhh….. my dream come true! I love when my house is filled with LIFE and laughter.

When I took Gabe to school a couple of hours later to pick up his homework and say “Hi” to his friends, his teacher let me know that she had heard the message too! The kids in his class were pretty shaken up by his accident, so she had her assistant play the message on speaker phone to all the kids in Gabe’s classroom. Now I have to point out that the me you read on this website is the me I really am. I am like this all the time. As in, I talk up God and what He’s doing. I see Him working in ways that most people don’t see or understand, and I call it as I see it. So when I leave a message on the absence report line at school sharing an update on how my son is doing I’m going to share about the prayers being answered, and how God kept him from being hurt more than he was. It was amazing, his lip didn’t even get swollen! How in the world do you partially chip one front tooth and practically break another front tooth in half vertically and NOT bust your lip open, bruise your cheek or even get a concussion? I mean really!?! How does that happen if you don’t have a guardian angel watching over you assigned directly from the throne room of God? To be completely honest with you, considering what all came from this incident I am reluctant to give the Enemy any credit for what happened. Why? Because too many amazing things came from it to be anything but straight from God.

Anyway, as I was standing there listening to his teacher tell me about how she could see and feel the tension in the room leave as those kids listened to how God was answering their prayers and that He is taking care of their friend. I even used the word relax in my message and when I said it, it was as if they took it as permission to relax and stop worrying. There are kids in that room that have never stepped foot into a church before or heard God spoken of in that way before… until my son was injured. (Luke 12:3 What you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.) You know what God whispered to me while I was praising Him later about bring used in such a powerful way? He told me that after hearing that message some of the kids in Gabe’s class prayed for the very first time!!! Now I’m sorry, but I have a really hard time giving satan credit for that! I am actually going to go so far as to confess to you that I believe that it was under direct orders from God himself that the “accident” occurred. I’m sure there are some of you out there absolutely squirming in your seats right now wanting to disagree with me. But look at the facts people! Look at what all happened BECAUSE he got hurt. Not in spite of it, because of it. There are so many people praying for my son, that is one of God’s main goals for us in life, to PRAY. To reach out to The light from our darkness. But adults weren’t the only ones reaching out to God for help through this, children, Gabe’s friends were praying for the FIRST times in their lives! I can’t tell you how many times I have prayed for those children asking God to draw them into an intimate relationship with Himself. And He did that through my son!

The night after Gabe broke his teeth, he got up from the couch and his teeth chomped together accidentally, causing him great pain. He ran into his room sobbing and upset. I followed him and asked him what had happened and all he would say was “I don’t want fake teeth! I don’t want fake teeth!” I reminded him that only half of one tooth was fake and a small chip of the other. But that didn’t really help him either. So I took him next door into the bathroom and made him smile into the mirror. I said, “Gabe I want you to look at your teeth, really look at them. Now I want you to think about everything that God did because you broke your teeth. Because you broke your teeth, some of your friends talked to God for the very first time in their whole lives! People all over the place have been praying for YOU and your mouth, which is drawing them closer to God all because you broke your teeth. Because you broke your teeth your friends got to hear about how God takes care of us, and how much He loves us, they may never hear that again. These teeth are BEAUTIFUL! I want you to remember all those things every time you look at your teeth in the mirror. Every night and every morning when you brush these fake teeth I want you to remember how God used YOU and your pain to teach LOTS of other people about how much He loves them! Don’t you DARE be ashamed of these teeth! Not ever! They are too precious for that.” No matter how pain comes into your lives, please please please know that God does NOT allow (or cause) pain in our lives simply for the sake of having us experience pain. He loves us too much for that. Pain is in our lives to mold us into the vessel that God wants us to be. We ARE always in the potters hands, there isn’t a moment when we’re not. There are times in our lives when He is turning us on His wheel and applying soothing water and light pressure to form us in a certain way. But then there are other times in our lives when He picks up a tool that was created to “wreak havoc” and carve out a beautiful pattern or design into the clay of our flesh. The tool may be the one doing the “damage” but ultimately, it’s the potter’s hands holding the tool to do the work that He created him to do. Carving the pattern according to His will, not the tool’s. Personally I find it comforting to know that no matter what is going on in my life, GOD is the one in complete control. That God has the Enemy in His hand, in complete control of him the WHOLE time. At no point am I at the Enemy’s mercy, but at God’s mercy.

Isaiah 57:1-2 The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.”

John 9:1-5 “As He went along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the words of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the words of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’”

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “…because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

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It’s a Blessing. Period.

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Tamar

I have to apologize that I haven’t been on to blog much this week. Things have been… well, a little extraordinary. It started Wednesday, I was hosting Bible study at my house and we were just finishing up when I got a call from the school. You know one of those mom moments when you see the caller ID and your heart drops to your stomach. It was the school nurse calling, my son was out at recess playing tag with his friends when he ran straight into one of the poles holding up the slide and chipped his two front teeth! Of course I left my daughter with my beloved sisters in Christ at the Bible study (who were already praying for the situation) and rushed over to the school to pick up my poor scared son. Now in all this you need to know that we don’t have dental insurance, or a regular dentist. So on my way to the school I called the local dentist’s office to see if they could fit him in right away and if they would be willing to work with us financially (especially since I had no idea how much it was going to cost to reconstruct two teeth). By the end of the phone call I was fairly certain that I wasn’t supposed to go there. (Not that there’s any thing wrong with them just I could tell it wasn’t God’s will.) Our phone call ended just as I was pulling into the school parking lot (thank You God for cell phones), turned off the truck and allowed myself to briefly dissolve into tears. My baby had been broken and I had been powerless to stop it or even comfort him after it happened. I was crushed. I pulled myself together and went into the school to collect my tearful boy. The secretary told me that when he first came into the nurse’s office he was so scared and shaken up, so she went in and prayed with him. Now I have to tell you that of all the spectacular things that happened this week this was the thing that touched my mother’s heart the most. That in those moments where my baby was hurt and frightened and most likely in absolute shock about what had just happened God had made sure that there would be someone there to comfort him in the best way anyone can be comforted, with the comforter Himself the Holy Spirit. Now you need to know that this is not a common practice in our school, but rather the secretary knows us and knows that praying with my son would be absolutely encouraged and not scorned as it would be in some schools. Anyway, I collected him from school, asking the secretary if she knew of a good dentist. She gave me a name but the office was really far away and I didn’t feel like that was the right place either. As Gabe and I walked out of the school holding hands I could feel him trying to be tough and hold back his tears, so I turned to him and said “Honey, it’s OK to cry, Mommy is already crying.” And we walked to the truck hand in hand sobbing the whole way. Just as we were buckling up to head back home I got a text from a friend of mine who used to be a dental hygienist. She had just walked past my house and one of the Bible study ladies noticed her and told her what had happened so that she could pray too. In her text she told me the name of the dentist that she takes her kids to, their phone number, and that she “would never take them anywhere else”. Finally something felt right! When we got home I called them and the receptionist was great, detailing a good estimate and willing to work with us to split up the payments too. But I was still unsure of going with them, you see at that point I was terrified of dentists and so I was doubting the Holy Spirit leading me there. But then the receptionist mentioned that they are normally closed for lunch at the time I called, but that day “just by chance” they were still behind the desk and answered the phone. That was all I needed to hear! This WAS God’s will!

We made an appointment for an hour later, dropped Anna off at the library with a friend so she could play instead of sit in a waiting room, and then headed over to the dentist office. On the way I called our church office to let them know what was going on so that they could pray for Gabe and our finances, a few short minutes later I got a call from my mother in law to check on Gabe and to let us know that they had been talking about giving Gabe some money for braces and that we could use it for this if we needed to. Answered prayer times two!!!

Now to help you better understand just how terrified of dentists I was, the last time I walked into a dentist office it wasn’t even for me, and I was still shaking like a leaf! When I walked into this office is was filled with such a tremendous sense of peace and calm that none of my old fears even came close to surfacing. God had gone before me and met me there, thank You Lord. They took Gabe back to get x-rays and fix his teeth and almost the entire time I was on the phone with people who were calling to check on him and let me know they were praying for us. When the battery on my phone ran out however, I was suddenly alone and the fear started creeping in. I started fervently praying for Gabe that God would be with him and that he would not be afraid of dentists like me (certainly not the first time I’ve prayed that). I do NOT want to pass my irrational fears onto my kids! I just kept praying over and over “Lord, please don’t let him be afraid” when God’s voice broke through my stream of pleas, “He was afraid when it happened, your prayers over the years asking Me to make sure that he wouldn’t be afraid like you, are being answered. The dentist is the one who is making the fear flee. I am acting through him to fix the things that were broken. He will never be afraid of dentists now.”

As we were driving home from the dentist’s office, were listening to our favorite Christian radio station and I was praying asking God what had caused the incident. I had just posted a salvation message the night before it happened, so did that mean that this was a counter attack from the Enemy? Was this a pruning lesson? Had I done something disobedient? What was the REASON behind my poor son’s pain? I was wracking my very exhausted brain trying to figure out what was going on. And then Laura Story’s song “Blessings” came on the radio and God said to me. “Does it really matter WHY it happened, or where it came from? It’s a blessing. Period.” And that was enough for me. So many times in our Christian lives we stress ourselves out trying to figure out WHY something “bad” happened, or how we could have avoided it. What we could have done differently, or should have done differently. We spend so much time trying to figure out where the pressure is coming from that we fail to realize that it ALL comes from God ultimately. Whether things come from His fingers or through His fingers, they all come from the potter’s hands. So why waste our time worrying about where they’re coming from and just realize that at some point we must yield to the pressure from the potter’s hands and do our best to learn whatever lesson God is trying to teach us, whatever the means and purpose is. I know that this is not a message that most people will agree with, and that’s fine. It’s just the message that God has given me to deliver, and it is my job to deliver it. Whether you accept it is between you and God. Right now, we live in a world filled with unspeakable horrors, does God allow them, or does He cause them? Really, in the end, does it make a difference? If it makes you feel better to think that He allows them, so be it. It makes me feel better knowing that He causes them. Why??? Because it proves to me, that HE is in complete control of the life that I have so lovingly given to Him to care for… mine. It helps me to know that when I’m facing a dark and difficult situation in my life, that it’s not because the Enemy is getting away with something that the Lord doesn’t know about, or has allowed him to do. But rather, I like to look to Isaiah 54:16-17 “‘See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from Me’ declares the LORD.” God created Satan to wreak havoc, it is his purpose on this earth to be the cause of our “bad” situations so that God can work His miracles through them. Light shines the brightest in the darkness. What would God’s goodness be if there was no evil through which it could shine? It’s a blessing. Period.

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Busy Mom’s Morning Prayer

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Tamar

As Christians and as mothers, we are waging war in a supernatural showdown all day every day of our lives. Therefore life requires that we put on the full armor of God every morning. But sometimes, as busy moms, we just don’t have a lot of time to pray through the Bible every morning to cover ourselves. God blessed me with most of this prayer about 6 months ago, and I can tell you from experience that He answers it immediately every time and that it is very powerful. So yesterday when He made the light bulb above my head turn on and reminded me of this sweet little breath prayer. He also called me to compare it to the elements of the armor of God in Ephesians 6, and I was amazed at the results.

“Come Holy Spirit, fill me with Your fire so that I may be more like You; help me, I trust You.”

“Come Holy Spirit,” – “Belt of Truth buckled around your waist”(v14) & “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (v17): In John 16:13 Jesus tells us “But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes and guides you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.” So simply by me saying “Come Holy Spirit” I am putting on the belt of truth and I am picking up the Sword of the (Holy) Spirit, which is the word of God. I am calling God to come and be with me today. I am asking Him to come into my situation and live through me. “Come Holy Spirit”, guide me with Your light. “Come Holy Spirit” speak Your words with my tongue today. The word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, it is THE weapon that we use against the Enemy, and the Bible is filled with them! “Come Holy Spirit” and teach me Your words, Your wisdom, Your grace, Your love. “Come Holy Spirit”.

“fill me with Your fire” – “with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” (v15): When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentacost (Acts 2) it came in tongues of fire that danced above their heads (this was before they had light bulbs of course). Have you ever heard the expression “She is really on fire for the LORD”? When we are “on fire” for something we’re excited about it, we’re ready to tell people about it. And honestly, the gospel of peace is exciting! God’s love is exciting. His grace is exciting. And let me tell you, I’ve been praying this part of the prayer for 6 months, the more often you pray it, the more on fire you will get for God and His gospel of peace! I have prayed this prayer for just about everything under the sun. Wisdom, discernment, help, courage, when I sneeze and there’s no one around to say “God bless you”… “Come Holy Spirit and fill me with Your fire”, it’s an invitation to God to fill you and use YOU for His good purposes on this earth! To use YOU to change the world! “Fill me with Your fire!”

“make me more like You” – “with the breastplate of righteousness in place” (v14): Abraham was declared righteous, not because of his deeds but because of his faith. Faith is our belief in action. Jesus’ death on the cross pays for the debt our sins create between us and God. The blood stained cross declares each and every one of us righteous (or pure) in God’s sight. However, we have to believe that it’s true and then live out our lives in that belief, or “walk in faith”, that it is true and that even though we are human and not perfect, we ARE forgiven, which makes us righteous. A breastplate usually has the royal crest emblazoned on it, declaring whose army you belong to; under whose authority you speak. As Christians, we are children of God Almighty the King of kings. We are not only warriors, we are royal warriors with the righteous symbol of God’s authority emblazoned on our chests. And it is with this very authority that we are able to stand up to the Enemy and WIN! We have been given the authority of Christ’s shed blood to tell the attacking Enemy forces “to report to Jesus immediately” and they must obey. So when we pray “fill me with Your fire so that I may be more like You” we are asking God to fill us up with His shed blood, placing that breastplate of righteousness over our chest and with it His authority over the Enemy. His righteousness covering our humanity. Covering the nakedness that we were once ashamed of; no longer.

“help me,” – “Take the helmet of salvation” (v17): In Romans chapter ten, verses nine through ten we read “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Now I know that for someone who hasn’t been raised in the church this could be a difficult passage to read and understand so let me break it down a bit for you. 1) “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord'” – The word “Lord” is a term of respect that voices the acknowledgement that you are giving Jesus power, authority and ownership over you life. You need to speak out loud your decision to let Jesus be the one in charge of your life instead of you. Now there are all kinds of “sinners prayers” out there that you could pray, but according to this scripture it can be as simple as “Jesus is Lord”. 2) “believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead” – So very much of the Bible centers around belief, and honestly, the helmet of salvation centers around it too. The Bible tells us multiple times that Jesus died on the cross, was buried and dead for three days, and then on the third day He rose from the dead and for a period of 40 days appeared to a multitude of people who then gave witness to the fact that He was indeed alive. So the question you have to ask yourself is, “Do I believe this to be true?” I pray that you’ve answered “YES!” 3) “you will be saved” – Yes, it really is as simple as that! Verse ten explains it to us a little more; that when we believe in our heart that Jesus did die for us personally, then we are justified (which means He made it so that it was just-as-if-I’d never sinned). Salvation is simple, there is no real action required on our part aside from belief and a confession of that belief. Romans 10:13 tells us “for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” – see, just call on Jesus. No work on the part of man can save him (I believe this includes confession of sins), because Jesus did it all for us to make it as simple as possible so that all who believe will be justified and they will confess with their mouths and be saved! Salvation is the pathway to the Garden of Relationship with Christ and this is where all the healing takes place. The confession of sins and asking for His help with them takes place within the enclosed walls of the Garden of Relationship and is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to it. (I can not stress this enough!!!!!!!) Honestly, I don’t know that true healing could take place without it. “Help me”, is our daily cry to Jesus. “Help me” to be the person You want me to be. “Help me” to stop doing the things that I did in the past that got me into trouble. “Help me” to be a better mom. “Help me” to live the life I’ve always dreamed of. “Help me” to get through this dark place that I’m living in right now, shine Your magnificent light on me. “Help me”, so small, and yet so VERY VERY profound.

“I trust You.” – “take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (v16): This is one of my favorite truths that I love to share with people. When God revealed the shield of faith to me I’m glad that I was already on the floor because if I hadn’t been I would’ve hit it! Turn with me, if you would, to the Psalm of Protection, Psalm 91 and look at verse 4. “He will cover you with His feathers and under His wings you will find refuge; HIS faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” Now I’ve heard a lot of sermons on these passages of scripture and I have to tell you that NONE of them left me feeling any better about being able to fend off the Enemy… because everything depended on me! Did I know the truth? Was I righteous? Was I ready? Did I know the gospel message well enough? Was I faithful enough? Was I saved? Did I know enough scripture? It’s enough to make a girl want to scream “NO! I DON’T! I CAN’T! I GIVE UP!” But look at it right there in your Bible! It’s not MY faithfulness that shields me from the Enemy! It’s HIS! Praise God Almighty in heaven its HIS faithfulness that protects me! it’s HIS faithfulness that never fails! Mine? HUH! All the time! But not His, His faithfulness is unending. His faithfulness is eternal. His faithfulness is more than enough. His faithfulness doesn’t just shield me from one side only like most shields do. OH NO! His faithfulness is a force field that surrounds us in a bubble of protection that not even laser beams or nuclear weapons can penetrate! Hallelujah Praise the LORD for His love endures forever! Isn’t that just the best news you’ve ever heard? I mean as a mom I am pulled a thousand different directions. My daughter needs this from me, my son wants that from me, my husband needs me to do this for him, my friends need help with something, my ministry needs my attention, our family members… the list goes on and on and on! It is so comforting to know that GOD CAN HANDLE IT! That His faithfulness is ALL we need. That we can say “I trust You” and step into that force field of peace and know that no matter what fiery missiles the enemy tries to launch our way, we’ve got our bubble of peace powered by GOD’S FAITHFULNESS.

“Come Holy Spirit, fill me with Your fire so that I may be more like You; help me, I trust You.”

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God Help Me: Prayer of Jesus in John 17

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Tamar

Holy Father God Almighty, tonight I follow Jesus’ lead and look toward heaven as I pray; Father, the time has come. Glorify me, that I may glorify You. For you have granted me authority that I might share the message of eternal life to all those You have given me to share it with. Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in Your presence with the glory I had with You in Christ Jesus before the world began.

I am trying to reveal You to those whom You gave me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to Jesus and they have obeyed Your word. Now they know that everything You have given me comes from You. For I gave them the words that You have given me and they accept them. They know with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those You have given me, for they are yours. All I have is Yours, and all You have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world in order to help those that You have called me to preach to. Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name – the name that You gave Jesus – so that we may be one as You are one. While Jesus was with the disciples, He protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave Him. None was lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. Father, Jesus spoke this prayer while He was still here so that we may have the full measure of His joy within us. He has given us Your word and the world hates us, for we are not of the world any more than He was of the world. Our prayer is not that you take us out of the world but that you protect us from the evil one. We are not of the world, even as He was not of it. Sanctify us by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Him into the world, He has sent us into the world. For us He sanctified Himself, that we too may be truly sanctified and we praise You for that!

Father, my prayer is not for myself alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Jesus through my message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in Jesus and He is in You. May we also be in You so that the world may believe that You have sent Jesus. He has given us the glory that You gave Him, that we may be one as You are one: Jesus in us and You in Jesus. May we be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Jesus and have loved us all even as You have loved Jesus. Father, Jesus wants those You have given Him to be with Him where He is, and to see His glory, the glory You have given Him because You loved Him before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, we know You, and they know that You have sent us. We have made You known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love You have for us may be in them and that Jesus Himself may be in them.

Lord I pray all these things in the name of Jesus the Messiah and my savior for Your glory and according to Your good and perfect will, Amen.

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Dust: Prayer of Thanksgiving for Forgiveness: Psalm 103

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Tamar

“The LORD God Formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7

Friends, I have a confession to make… I’m not perfect. So so very far from it in fact! BUT God is awesome, and He loves to redeem us, to save us from ourselves. If you think about it, without sins He can’t be a Savior because He would have nothing to save us from! Today I learned something really awesome, there is always a higher level. There is always another step to take towards God. As long as we’re still breathing there is always something “new” to learn. The funny thing is I didn’t learn anything I didn’t already know in my head… but today it finally sank into my heart and my life. Isn’t that awesome, how God’s Word works? You can read the same thing 10 times, even have it memorized, and then God puts you through something, brings that verse back to your eyes and WHAM! It hits you smack in the face with a truth that you’d never seen before!

For me today, it was the truth of the fact that I have a sinful heart and a sinful mind that tends to think things that it shouldn’t. And God placed the mirror in front of my dirty little face and showed me what I’ve been looking like. But then He did the best thing of all, He wiped the dirt away. Just said “Here let me get that for ya.” and then licked His thumb and started wiping away. He set me free from things that I didn’t even know were holding me captive! And so right now, all I can do is praise Him for the marvelous work that He has done in my life right now! Won’t you help me praise His beautiful Name?

I praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, I praise His holy name. I Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits – Lord You forgive all our sins and heal all our diseases, You redeemed my life from the pit and crown me with love and compassion, You satisfy my desires with good things so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s. LORD You work righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. You made known Your ways to Moses, Your deeds to the people of Israel: LORD, you are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. You will not always accuse, nor will You harbor Your anger forever You do not treat me as my sins deserve or repay me according to my iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is Your love for those who fear You; as far as the east is from the west, so far have Your removed my transgressions from me. As a father has compassion on His children, so You have compassion on those who fear You; for You know how we are formed, You remember that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting Your love is with those who fear You, and Your righteousness with our children’s children – with those who keep Your covenant and remember to obey Your precepts. You have established Your throne in heaven, and Your kingdom rules over all. Praise the LORD, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word. Praise the LORD, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do His will. Praise the LORD, all His words everywhere in His dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul!!!!! (Psalm 103)

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PRAYING IS DOING SOMETHING!

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Tamar

“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.” James 5:13a

Well, that was exciting! I just dropped my son off at tennis practice and on my way back home to start dinner (which I never just leave him at practice, I always stay too), just outside the park was a man laying motionless on the side of the road next to a motorcycle with another man crouching down next to him and a woman standing nearby on the phone – I’m assuming to 911. I swung my truck around and parked in the nearest parking lot, jumped out and ran down the sidewalk to the scene, but I never even got up to him before others started swarming around him. A nurse from the clinic across the street, an EMT that had been walking down the road (I had passed her on the way TO the park even!) and several others were able to reach him before I could even OFFER to help. For a BRIEF moment I felt useless. But then I glanced across the street to the clinic parking lot and saw my son’s Christian Kindergarten teacher standing there, holding her hands up to oncoming traffic to slow down for the accident. I darted across the street to her and asked her if she would pray with me for the man. And we did, her still slowing traffic, and me praying anything that God put into my mind for him. Within probably 2 minutes, time is hard to track in those situations, I had run out of things to pray! I couldn’t believe it! ME! I NEVER run out of things to pray! But I had. At this point the sirens were roaring all around us, bright red emergency vehicles blaring in, and I knew that my job there was done. I had prayed the things that needed spoken immediately, that the doctors would be able to help him, that God would direct their steps and that they would know how to help him. It felt so pitiful, but yet I had meant it and believed that God was already answering it! His accident happened ACROSS THE STREET FROM A CLINIC FOR PETE’S SAKE! With a first responder literally walking down the street nearby! HELLO!

Anyway, as I jumped back into my truck my 4-yr old, asked about the sirens “Mommy, what IS that noise???” and God said to me, “help is on the way”. So that’s what I told her, the sirens were to let us all know that help is on the way.

When I got into my house God reminded me of something that He had told me earlier in the day. “You don’t need to pray a lot of fancy words to get the job done. Simple prayers are the best. Lift the person/situation up to Me, and then let me deal with all the details from there.” And I realized that that is precisely what I had done, through instinct. (Thank You Holy Spirit!) I had prayed what needed to be said, and then left the rest up to God and His perfection. No elaborate drawn out pleas for help and healing and salvation, just simple words spoken from a pure heart of absolute belief.

Sometimes, no actually, most times the things in this world that leave the biggest impact on those around us, are the things that are the easiest for us to do. It took me at MOST 5 minutes of my precious time to stop and offer to help. And at first I felt helpless as I realized there was nothing for me TO do to physically help him. But after a quick survey of the situation I quickly realized God hadn’t placed me there to help him physically, but to help ALL involved spiritually. I was the ONLY one there that was focused on prayer, everyone else was too busy attending to his immediate physical needs (and they were great), but that’s not what God called me to do. He called me to PRAY! And while so many people would see that as pretty much useless, I know that it wasn’t! Because I was seeing the prayer fulfilled with my very own eyes, immediately as I was speaking it! From the nurse, to the police officers, ambulances and even fire trucks, God was providing this man with the help that I was asking for. The help that he NEEDED!

Some may even say that even if I hadn’t been there he still would have gotten all those things. Well, maybe, but we’ll never really know will we? But I think it’s pretty fair to say that God answers a heart that believes. And I believe that while all of those things WOULD have come to him… eventually… they came faster because God had me pray. And those that did come will be accompanied by angels assisting them in letting them know PRECISELY what this man needs to survive. That the people who come to his aid will better be able to serve him because I asked God to help them serve him, giving him a greater chance at survival.

By the time I left the man was talking and possibly trying to get up I’m not sure, but he was already improving from the first moment that I laid eyes on him and his arm fell limply to the ground when lifted up. I believe that he will be fine, in due time.

When in doubt… PRAY. It IS doing SOMETHING, especially when it doesn’t seem like it, because that’s when the Enemy wants you to stop praying!

“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crops.” James 5:13-18

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they thing they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Matthew 6:5-8

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:26-28

“Pray continually” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

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Prayer for Guidance: Psalm 23

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Tamar

“Know ye that Jehovah, He is God: It is He that hath made us, and we are His; We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise: Give thanks unto Him, and bless His name. For Jehovah is good; His loving kindness endureth for ever, And His faithfulness unto all generations.” Psalm 100:3-5 American Standard Version

Today I have spent the whole day at Living Proof Live! It was wonderful being surrounded by the women that I love hearing the word of God spoken with Beth Moore’s beautiful Texas accent. Now I’m a worshiper, and my favorite part of the day were the praise and worship times when I had the opportunity to join with 180,000 women across the glove singing praises to the name of Jesus our Messiah! It was AWESOME! At one point my friend Cindy turned to me and with a big grin said “I bet it makes God so happy to hear this right now.” And I shared with her how this spring I was at a women’s retreat, The Walk to Emmaus, where we sang everything with only an acoustic guitar and barely any amplification. The sound of the women’s voices lifting up the LORD’S praises was simply too much for me to handle and I could rarely sing the first verse or two for the beauty of the sound! I could only listen and dwell in the smile of pleasure that warmed God’s heart as He was receiving our praises.

We were created to praise Him! His word says as much. He DELIGHTS in the praises that we lift up, either songs, poems, stories, tears, moanings, groanings, you name it I believe that He LOVES it! However, I also believe that it is the Enemy’s goal in life to steal those praises from our lips. To snatch them from our hearts. To ensnare them from getting to Jesus on the throne and in turn steal Jesus’ joy of hearing them. I want you to think about this for a minute. When you do something big for someone, and they say thank you, how much does it mean to you. I’m not talking about one of those passive, smile-and-nod “thanks”, I mean one of those heartfelt, from the bottom of their toes, THANK YOU’s. How great does that feel? And if it feels that good to us, then how GREAT must it make God feel when we say that to Him? Now just try to tell me that the Enemy wouldn’t want to take that away from God. I would not believe you if you tried! No, it’s Satan’s chief goal to steal God’s glory and His honor and His praise through every way that he abuses us, trying to get us to drop our arms, to stop our songs of praise, to keep us from writing our stories of triumph and victory over defeat, to stop our tears of joy from flowing to the altar. The Enemy wants them replaced with guilt and shame, fear and condemnation. As God shared this epiphany with me today, in that church as I stood singing at the top of my voice with my arms reaching out to the heavens in an attempt to touch the hem of His holy robe, do you know what I told Him? I told God that I would NOT let the Enemy win. That I refused to let the Enemy steal my joy, to steal my confidence in the grace under which I live. I will NOT allow him to convince me that my God, who DIED FOR ME, doesn’t love me. I will NOT allow him to shut my praises up inside of me for fear of the condemnation of people who simply don’t understand what living under the grace-filled-shadow of the hand of the Almighty looks like. It looks like a shattered heart that has been mended by loving hands that KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING! It looks like tears flowing, not from hurt, but from HEALING. No, living a grace-filled-life isn’t without pain, or battles; it’s loving and praising through them because we have the peace that passes all understanding. It’s KNOWING that God loves us, not because He showers us with gifts of THINGS or MONEY, but that He prunes us so that we may bear much fruit. Life is HARD, and it HURTS! But we choose the one of two places from which those hurts can come from; the hands of someone who HATES US with everything in him (the Enemy) or they can come from the hands of the one who LOVES US MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF! HE DIED TO SET YOU FREE! He died to show you He loves you. He died so that you could LIVE. But He doesn’t force us to accept that love. He doesn’t force us to accept that life. He merely lays it at our feet like a rose on the ground, and we choose to pick it up and cherish it like the gift that it was meant to be, or walk all over it like it’s worth nothing at all to us.

While Jesus was here, many people treated Him just that way; like a rose trampled on the ground. Like He was nothing, and we still do it today, nothing has changed but the way in which we shun Him. Often times, it’s with a church service that brings people together in His name and then never mentions it once in the service. It’s people coming and singing the pretty church songs, but their praises are a mere “thanks” and not a heart-felt THANK YOU JESUS! Going through the motions so that WE feel like we’ve been to church and done our weekly Christian duty. But those aren’t the praises that God seeks, that’s not what He desires. He desires our hearts, not our sacrifices. He desires our LOVE and ADORATION, not our empty praises. He desires a FRIENDSHIP, not just an acquaintance. God wants US, all of us, not just a part. He wants us to DIVE into the deep end of His love and splash around in His grace. To do a cannonball off the diving board, just because we can. But, HOW do we do that? How do we get there?

We ask.

We all have a different way to get to that point with God where we are confidently leaning on Him, so I can’t tell you that’s there’s one way and here’s how you do it. We are all made uniquely individual and we all come to Jesus in exactly that way. But I can tell you this, you CAN ask Him to take you there. You can ask Him HOW to get to that point. And when you call to Him for help, guidance, directions, He WILL answer you. It’s a promise.

Prayer for Guidance:Psalm 23: “Lord Jesus, I want to know You more. But I don’t know how. I want to lean on You in confidence that You won’t let me fall, but I don’t know what that looks like. God PLEASE, help me get there. Right now I am Your lost little sheep in need of a Shepherd to guide me, lead me to that place where You are. Please help me to lie down in green pastures, lead me beside those still waters, because I believe that You will restore my soul. Lord, guide me in paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. I am walking through the valley of the shadow of death right now Lord, but I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Lord, I believe that You do prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. That when You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Lord, I do believe that SURELY Your Goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and that I WILL dwell in the house of Yaweh FOREVER. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!”

You know what I’m really enjoying about these scripture based prayers, they start out asking for something, and end up DECLARING THE VICTORY! AMEN! I am including a video (below) of a praise song with the lyrics included on the screen. If you are able, and I pray that God will allow you to read this particular post at a time when you are able to play the video, stand or kneel if you feel called. Sing along, raise your arms in praise to His sacrifice and His grace, and praise Him with a deeply felt thankful heart that He is GOOD and WORTHY of praise! HALLELUJAH!

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Prayer for God’s Protection: Psalm 91

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Tamar

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:1-2

As children of the Living God our creator when we read through the Bible, His love letter to us, we find promises that He has made to us. Psalm 91 is one of those promises, a cherished one, and a very powerful one. This is a Psalm that the Jews often memorize and recite in times of trouble for themselves or loved ones. Right now, with everything that is going on in the world today, Fear is running rampant through the streets. But as true believers of Jesus we can STAND ON THESE PROMISES. When we are already in the arms of the LORD, we find ourselves dwelling in the shelter of the Most High and resting in the shadow of the Almighty. We can say “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”  We do not need to be afraid. Period. Did you know that the message “don’t be afraid” or a variation of it is repeated 365 times in the Bible? That’s one for every day of our year! Fear is a powerful weapon in the Enemy’s arsenal, and he loves to wield it against us… because it works. Fear is a tremendous motivator, sometimes for good. But being afraid, is pointless. Fear causes us to make quick decisions and do foolish things. If we are afraid, then we are not trusting God for that thing. Thinking back on this I realize that I did that very thing not even hours ago! I was shopping in a hurry because I had taken my time on my earlier errands. I got to the store and like I usually do, I prayed that God would lead me in my shopping, that I wouldn’t spend more than His will for our family, that I would get all the things that I needed, and most importantly, that He would LEAD ME TO THE DEALS! 🙂 Boy did He ever too! But anyway, I digress. The cart was packed to the gills and I kept looking at it thinking this is going to cost more than what I budgeted, this isn’t good, I am afraid of just HOW MUCH this is going to cost! I was doubting Him and His leading me… JUST like I had asked Him to! I was afraid that it would cost more than we could afford, right after I had asked Him to help me make sure that I wouldn’t do that! Sometimes I really disappoint myself. I wasn’t walking in the faith that God had heard and would answer my prayer for guidance. HELLO! Jeremiah 33:3 TAMAR! “Call to me and I will answer you...” Promise!

God doesn’t want us to be afraid of ANYTHING, because He’s taking care of EVERYTHING for us… when we dwell in the shelter of the Most High and rest in the shadow of the Almighty. When God is our refuge and fortress, when we trust in HIM, He takes care of everything! Now, I’d like to say that I came out of the store under MY budget, but I didn’t. I was however only $15 over AND I walked out of the store saving $30 and had a backseat FULL of groceries! There was barely room for my daughter to sit! Woohoo! Thanks for all the deals Daddy! Yes, I slipped a little in my faith that God would answer my call for help in the store… but HE is faithful, and irregardless of MY lack of faith, HE still held up His end of the deal. So, where did my fear and worry get me? Nowhere other than the foot of the cross asking for forgiveness once again. Little by little I’m getting better at trusting Him.

As for the Prayer for Protection from Psalm 91, I’ve been praying/declaring it over my friends the last couple of days. Praying it for their family by their family name, and praying it for our own family by name. I’m going to type it with specific words underlined, when praying this prayer for someone else, a family or an individual simply exchange their name with the underlined word(s). This particular prayer is interesting because it’s really more of a declaration of faith than it is a request. Which, honestly, I think is what makes it so effective. Because God doesn’t want us to just ask, no, He wants us to BELIEVE in what we are asking. The way that this Psalm is written, when you speak it over someone, it reads filled with belief and turns into a declaration of faith. I love how it works out that way. 🙂 But my favorite part is the end, where God responds immediately to the prayer, make sure to read His answer out loud as well! Actually, make sure to read the whole prayer out loud, the angels surrounding you right now waiting to carry out your prayer can’t read your mind, only God can do that! So make sure to declare this one loud and proud for your loved one! Make sure ALL the heavenlies can hear your declaration of faith!

Prayer for Protection: Psalm 91: “Father God Almighty, I lift up the Knochel family to You right now. Lord, may they dwell in the shelter of the Most High and rest in the shadow of You the Almighty. May they say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom we trust.” Father,I believe that You will save them from the fowler’s (the Enemy) snare and from the deadly pestilence (sickness/ill-health). I believe that You will cover them with Your feathers, and that under Your wings they will find refuge; I believe that Your faithfulness will be their shield and rampart. They will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at their side, ten thousand at their right hand, but I believe that it will not come near them. They will only observe with their eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If they make You the Most High their dwelling – even the LORD, who is my refuge – then I believe that no harm will befall them, no disaster will come near their tent. Lord, I believe that You will command Your angels concerning them to guard them in all their ways; that the angels will lift the Knochel’s up in their hands, so that they will not strike their foot against a stone. Lord, I believe that the Knochel’s will tread upon the lion and the cobra; that they will trample the great lion and the serpent (all symbols of the Enemy). “Because they love Me” says the LORD, “I will rescue them; I will protect them, for they acknowledge My name. They will call upon Me, and I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will deliver them and honor them. With long life will I satisfy them and show them My salvation.”

Cool story I heard a while back, a man (I think an evangelist) was a FIRM believer in the promises of Psalm 91. So much so that he had some scientist test him on it. So armed with a microscope, they placed the BUBONIC PLAGUE on his skin…. and watched it die the instant it touched him. Now THAT’S what I call active faith! My aunt’s husband Tom had cancer, the doctors gave him the option of taking a medicine with a 50% chance of working, he chose not to take the medicine and take his chances believing that God would cure him. Today, Tom is 100% cancer free! Among many many many other people prayers, one of the things that they did was a group of people stood by Tom and spoke Psalm 91 over him every day. The Bible is FILLED with miracles, and those miracles ARE possible for TODAY! God is the same yesterday, today and forever, He doesn’t change. He’s the same miracle-working God today that He was back then. The ONLY difference is whether we’re willing to BELIEVE HIM for those miracles or not. It’s all up to us. For anything is possible for him who believes!!! Speak this prayer out in BELIEF that it is the TRUTH and it is the LIFE and it is the WAY! (I really wish you could hear my fingers pounding on they keys as I’m typing this, I may hurt my computer!) The prayers of a righteous man/woman avails much. You know what makes someone righteous in God’s sight? The fact that they believe that He has forgiven them and that they TRUST HIM to do what He says He will do! Believe that HIS WORD IS TRUE and it will hold more power for you, than you ever thought possible! God is trustworthy, TRUST HIM and He will NOT let you down! Hallelujah!

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Sunday Morning Prayer

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Tamar

Good morning Lord!

So, the “wrong number” phone call at precisely 2:28am was, I think, a nice touch. (2=set : 28=holy repentance, revival, renewal – which is what I’ve been praying for) After telling me during my break-down last night that the break-through is coming. But then to have me wake up at 7:20 (7=completion :20=holiness) and then 8:01 (8=renewal : 01=new), I just love it! I was feeling so down-trodden and useless last night and Your efforts to make me feel supported and loved are not going unnoticed. I appreciate it Lord. Thank You for helping me remember that I can’t expect my husband to be everything I need. Because I’m supposed to be expecting You to be everything I need.  I love You so much Lord. You truly do complete me. LOL. I think it’s funny to say that to God, but what’s really funny is that it’s so much more true for me to say it to You than to him even. While he may complete me in a more physical sense, You complete me in a REAL way. You were always intended to fill the infinite abyss in my soul. That place so filled with longings and desires that no thing on earth can fill. Only the infinite being of Yaweh can do that! You are so awesome! I love how we were made to go together, like peanut butter and jelly.

“Me and you, and you and Me, no matter how they toss the dice it has to be, the only one for Me is you and you for Me, so happy together!” LOL!!! You crack me up LORD! I love You! I love how You so often speak to me through the lyrics of songs running through my head and how the ones You’ve used lately are songs I haven’t heard in AGES! The relationship I have with You is so great! I love how You make me smile.

Lord, I lift up our church’s services to You today. May they honor and please You today Lord. Let the music make You smile. Not because You like the songs, but because the music is coming from the people You love. Lord, please come and meet us there, let Your Holy Spirit come and fill those sanctuaries so full of Your Spirit and Your fire that there is no room left for anything evil to remain and try to steal those precious seeds of Your Word that are being sown from those pulpits this morning. Lord, I lift up our shepherds. I ask that You will pour Your Spirit out on them today in such a degree that they will almost feel drunk! Use their lips to speak Your word to Your People today. Fill them with Your boldness and courage to speak those things that You’re calling us all to speak but they’re hard to say sometimes. Help them to say those things today. Help them to say ALL the words that You want to be heard today and none of the words that You don’t want spoken. Lord, I lift up Your Church this morning. Please open our eyes to see You more, open our ears to hear You more, open our minds to accept Your truths more from wherever we learn them church or otherwise. Your truth is the truth no matter where it comes from. Please help us learn the lessons You have set forth for us to learn today and throughout the week. Please open our hearts to love You more this week. Help us to fall deeper in love with You than we already are today. Let Your love grow within us day by day like an all-consuming, ever satisfying fire filling us to the brim with love for You and all of Your creation around us. Please let our cups overflow with Your love so that we are forced to pour it out on everyone that You place around us today. Oh, how I love You Lord! But I want to know you more! Teach me/us to know You more Lord, because the more we know You the more we love You. Pour Your Spirit out on us Lord, let us know what it FEELS like to have You with us in a greater measure. Lord, You are like a drug that I never want to stop being addicted to! A drink that always satisfies but it’s never enough for me that I want to stop drinking. You are the daily bread that fills but never is enough to make my hunger pangs for You cease. You are the God that satisfies and creates hunger and thirst for more of You! You are never enough for me and yet You are always exactly what I want. Lord, I’m glad You can read my heart and the intent of these words because they’re really not coming across with the intensity with which I am speaking them. Please use Your Holy Spirit to explain them to anyone who reads them so that they will understand what I mean about the mystery that You are and how You fill but you don’t fill, how You satisfy, but yet You don’t. How Your love is exactly enough and yet it’s never enough.

Lord, I lift up Tamar Ministries to You and everything that we say and do. Please use us to touch lives. To save individuals, marriages and families. We want to be a useful tool in Your infinite tool belt of ways to touch and change people’s lives. We want to be used of You because then we will be in Your hand more often. Lord, we surrender everything we are to You and Your purposes for us. It is Your plan that we want for our lives, it is Your will we wish to fulfill. Please help us to accomplish Your goals for us each individually and corporately. I lift up anyone and everyone who has, is, or ever will read or hear anything “spoken” from this platform we now call Tamar Ministries. Please open their hearts and minds to know You more through us.

In Jesus’ holy name we ask all these things, according to YOUR will Father God, AMEN!!!

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If God has used this post to touch your life, please prayerfully consider giving a gift of love, and/or sign up to be a prayer partner by emailing Prayer@TamarMinistries.net.

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Life Happens

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Tamar

“So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.” At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, “why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me – a foreigner?” Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” Ruth 2:8-12

When God blew the breath of life into Adam He was giving him LIFE. Not just a physical temporary life but a LIFE that was intended, created, fashioned specifically for an intimate, one-on-one spiritual relationship with its Creator. We are not humans with a spirit, we are spirit with a temporary body! From day ONE, God created LIFE for humanity as a gift to us. But Eve’s bite from the fruit spoiled that gift. Hallelujah that’s the beginning of the story and not the end! God, crushed at the thought of losing that intimate friendship with humanity sought to resolve the situation. Jesus threw Himself at the Father’s feet and begged to take the punishment we deserve so that the relationship could be restored and life could become a gift again instead of the curse sin had turned it into. Today, when we choose to have a relationship with Christ, we are choosing LIFE.

So many times we say things like “well, that’s life” as if to mean that bad things happen, or, well, that life isn’t a gift.  Every time we say something negative about life itself or any of the things or people within the creation that God gave us as a gift we are literally rejecting His gift to us, shoving it back in His face and telling Him it’s not good enough.

Lord, I don’t know how many times I personally have done this to you, but I know it’s a lot! Lord, I am so sorry, please forgive me for pushing your gift of life back across the table to You. I didn’t mean it! But Lord, the cursed life that I’ve been living, I do reject that. I know that it is not Your intent for us to live in bondage to sin, shame, fear addiction, prejudice, or malice. And instead, through the perfect blood of the Lamb, I claim the LIFE You made me for. The LIFE filled with hope, happiness, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control! The LIFE where I am filled with YOU! Lord, I know that I am a sinner, I am not perfect, but with Your help I can be closer to it. Please Lord Jesus, come and fill me with Your Spirit, please come and fill me with Your fire so that I may know You more. Lord, I want that intimate relationship with You, where I am Your bride and You are my beloved husband. The relationship where I can walk every step of my life in confidence because You are walking with me, through me! Lord, I don’t want to take another single step without You holding my hand and growing old with me, because the best is yet to be! Lord, the best part of getting and being married is knowing this person is going to walk with me for the rest of my life, that they are going to be with me, not just for the big moments when celebrations are in order, but for the everyday moments. For the stolen kisses in the kitchen when no-one is looking. For the moments when the kids are just being cute and you look at each other just to smile and laugh together. Lord, I want THAT kind of intimacy with You. I want those moments where I see a smiley-face in the soap bubbles of a soaking dish and know that it’s You smiling at me. I want those moments where I see a beautiful landscape and can feel You squeezing my hand as I look at it, as if to say, “I made this for you Baby”. I want that with YOU! I want to laugh with You over the silly things that I see in the world around me. I want to enjoy mourning, knowing that this is the only time in my eternal life that I will be doing it, because once we get back home that emotion won’t exist anymore. So I will “take joy” in it now while it lasts, but I promise not to linger in it. So please help me know how long is too long. Lord thank You for such a range of human emotion and how quickly we can swing from one to the next and experience everything in-between! Our human bodies are amazing and I thank You for mine because I am fearfully and wonderfully made!

Oh God how I love You! Thank You for being my LIFE partner and being here with me through it all. The joy and the pain, it truly is all a gift… even if it might not feel like it at the time. Yaweh, I praise Your holy name.

AMEN!

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