Tag: Prayer

Sweet Smell of Roses

Posted on by DSilvan

I’ve been going through a year-long Healing Prayer class. Something that I was taught in my younger years was foolishness. You don’t go to a class to learn how to heal…God either gives you the gift of healing or He doesn’t. Period.

Well, just like God, He loves to show Himself bigger, grander, more abundant and infinitely larger than the tiny box our finite minds try to place Him in. So the adventure begins. God nudged me, intrigued me and prompted me to attend a Healing Prayer class with a couple of my friends. I thought “I’ll go God, but I’m just going to listen…I’m going to test what they say and see if it aligns with Scripture…I want to see if these ‘people’ are as crazy and unbiblical as I’ve been warned of in my younger years. I will try to keep an open mind and welcome what You have to teach me.”

All along I had the thought “If Jesus shows me how to remove the log from my eye, then I will be able to help others remove the speck from their eye…or…if I learn how to be healed, then I can help others learn how to be healed.”

When God is growing you and stretching you there are many challenges to unwrap and deal with . . . there are growing pains . . . and . . . sometimes even gangly awkward moments as you learn to walk and operate in your newly formed body.

God showed up unbelievably throughout this year. He traveled me through His Scriptures and revealed Himself in ways that are so precious to my faith walk. He’s been ever so gentle as He waited for the transforming of my mind to enable me to see actually what His Scripture says versus what authority figures in my younger years had told me was the truth.

Though there have been a handful of powerful prayer encounters in regards to healing and spiritual warfare that have happened during taking this class, the one I will share now just occurred on Thursday, December 14.

On Monday night, December 12, at my healing prayer class I shared, or basically confessed, in an abbreviated version that I had been disobedient because I had felt God nudge me to pray for a stranger, but I kept going. As I drove to drop my daughter’s lunch to her, my eyes caught an elderly man on the sidewalk hunched over walking with a cane and clearly crippled. I had been reading through all the healings and deliverances Jesus performed as well as those that the disciples had done. Immediately upon seeing him I had the thought “Go pray for him. Lay hands on him.” God flooded my mind with a couple stories I had just read: the paralyzed man by the pool of Bethsaida (John 5), as well as the crippled woman in the synagogue (Luke 13). But in my flesh these are things I NEVER would do, so I resorted to what was comfortable and kept driving. I consoled myself . . . I said “I’m dropping this off to my daughter. I have a mission to accomplish. I don’t know this man. What’s he going to think of some stranger stopping on the street offering to pray for him?”

As these many excuses whirled around in my head and seemed reasonable, I felt the Spirit in me grieved. I was convicted and said, “God, when I return if the man is present, I will pray for him. I don’t know what, but I will pray.” He was nowhere to be found. But in wrestling over my response, I wanted to confess my offense so I could be healed from the entrapment of fear that kept me from being obedient to God’s movement in my life. I promised myself the next time I felt Him prompting me to pray for someone I would take a step of faith and do it. Trusting God to be faithful and do as He has promised.

The next day on Tuesday I checked in on a girlfriend to see how everything was going. Her husband is very ill. After hearing her words, God reminded me that He had prompted me many times over the last 2 months to GO PRAY for her husband and LAY HANDS on him. I texted her and shared how I felt led to pray and lay hands on her husband for healing and asked if she thought he’d be open to it. After I sent the text I thought, “What on earth are you doing?! You are really in this now! You don’t even know what you’re doing!”

She replied, “Yes. Come over after our study on Thursday. I’m not telling him you’re coming. You just be led by the Spirit.”

Uhmmm…I don’t know if this is such a great idea. What am I going to walk into? Typically everyone Jesus heals is waiting for Him to heal them…yearning to just touch a piece of His robe and be healed. A surprise attack is not typically the way it happens!

I wrestled in turmoil. “I” don’t know what “I” am doing. “I” don’t know what to say. “I” have really gotten myself into a pickle here! “I, I, I.”

Thank God He orchestrated this to all unwrap right as I was leading a lesson on the Shield of Faith. God has perfect timing. One key thought that stuck out as I studied all day to prepare was we just need the faith of a mustard seed. Tiny. Miniscule. Faith. Our focus need ONLY be on the “Object” behind our faith. God. HIS faithfulness. HIS sovereignty. HIS healing power. HIS Spirit giving me the words to speak. HIS ability to move mountains. HIS ability to perform miracles. He was just pounding this all into me so I would lessen my focus on “me” and put my magnifying glass on Him and His ways.

I waivered back and forth throughout the moments in my day. Wednesday came and I had decided I would fast to prepare. I would pray to God seeking Him. And, I would read Scripture that God brought to mind through prayer. As nighttime came, I realized the daily activities had engulfed much of what I wanted to spend in devotion to God. I was nervous. I was anxious. I was fearful. I wasn’t as prepared as I wanted to be or envisioned I should be. That’s when this smell gently wafted through our home.

My youngest daughter and I were baking goodies to send with our oldest daughter to Mexico the next morning. I kept asking her and my husband “Do you smell that?”

They smelled nothing.

Typically smells affect me, give me headaches, make me sick so I was searching to find it so I could stop it. Someone needed to wash the lotion or perfume off. But I couldn’t find it anywhere. I couldn’t describe it, yet. But it would be there strong…then disappear. I’d walk right through it, turn around instantly and then couldn’t find it. Everyone looked at me like I was weird.

As I tried to figure out what was happening, I said to my daughter perhaps I’m “smelling” a spirit (an evil spirit is what I thought). To which her reply was “Mom, I don’t think an evil spirit would smell like what you’re describing. Maybe it’s your guardian angel.” Wow. I thought, you might be right. I’ve been praying to have a better understanding of His angels and special encounters with them. 

Immediately a memory flooded my mind of when I’ve heard my girlfriend Mara say “Do you smell those roses? The Holy Spirit is here.” I knew as that memory was unwrapped in my mind, that I smelled roses! That was it…ROSES! I knew it wasn’t a guardian angel…the Holy Spirit was letting me know He was present.

Not in words. Not in pictures.  But rather more in a way of simple understanding downloaded into my being. I knew that the smell was to let me know the Holy Spirit was present. He was with me. I don’t need to fear my preparation. I don’t need to worry about if I’ll have the right words. I don’t need to be anxious if this man would be welcoming. I need only be obedient to what God was asking of me. The Holy Spirit will be with me.

The smell of roses continued to appear off and on throughout my home. I kept checking, “Do you smell that?”

Seriously, I think they thought I was going crazy!

After study the next morning, I went to my friend’s home. She sweetly introduced me and said why I was there. He was gracious…much better at having an unannounced guest in his home than I would be. And God was good!

As I went to grab my anointing oil, it was nowhere to be found! How do you loose your little purse that holds your oil for a healing prayer appointment that you brought specifically? His wife had a tiny bottle she got from Jerusalem that had never been opened and I was able to use that…he was the very first anointing from this bottle! I asked if he was aware of the Scripture that said if anyone is sick they should seek the elders of the church to be anointed for healing.

He was cute, but somewhat annoyed, “Well, I’ve read the Bible.”

I giggled and moved on. I asked if he was okay with me anointing him and if I could lay hands on him. He said yes to both. His wife told me later that she was astonished he said yes to these.

Talking with strangers is not easy for an introvert, shy person. Isn’t it interesting how Jesus chooses to use a person in ways they feel completely inept? So I will be forced to rely on Him completely and not try to be self-sufficient. Because I did all this with ease, peace and comfort, I know the Holy Spirit was enabling and empowering me. I sat down and gently spoke with him. Gently asking him what was happening in his life. I focused on listening intently. We moved into asking questions about his health that would pop into my mind. I asked him for symptoms that he was experiencing and pain that he dealt with. He never speaks to anyone about what is going on, yet he poured everything out to me. His wife told me afterwards she was amazed. I asked background questions that appeared in my thoughts. I asked what he would like Jesus to do for him to which he replied, “Give comfort to my wife. If I die tomorrow I will die with a smile on my face because there are many far worse off than me.” His requests of Jesus were only for others. I loved his heart. I shared that his heart was beautiful, that he was living out the greatest commandment by loving God and loving others.

I felt guided through praying for each of his ailments and there were many: cardiovascular (hereditary), multiple aneurysms, bladder hernia (hereditary), kidney disease, COPD. I asked for complete healing for all areas. God brought to mind Scripture throughout. I watched this man’s face as I prayed and there was complete stillness and peace. A deep peace that made me wonder, “Did he fall asleep?” I kept praying. Speaking God’s word over him, washing him with every verse that was brought to mind. Reminding him of how much God loves him. And that though God loves that he desires others to receive, that his God desires to give to him as well.

In hindsight, I see many things “I” wish “I’d” remembered to do, like ask his pain level at the beginning and check in on him at the end to see how he was. Encouraging him to share if Jesus was speaking to him at all during the prayer time. However, because I felt the Spirit completely led me the entire time, I was relieved of the pressure to be perfect. If those needed to be addressed the Spirit would have prompted me, given me the thought and reminded me to do them.

I don’t know if any healing took place because all his ailments are on the inside and unnoticeable to the visible eye. However in speaking to him afterwards, multiple times he removed his glasses to wipe tears from his eyes.

Afterwards, this gentleman spoke words over me that left me feeling as if God was speaking through him to me. He said “You are blessed. Denise, you could have been one of the original disciples in the Bible.” There was so much more that he said, but my heart stopped at the first two and couldn’t retain much more. I was rather dumbfounded. I thought, “Wait! I’m here to bless you. Not the other way around.” But isn’t that just like God. As we bless others He is faithful to pour out blessings on His obedient servant…He’ll deliver confirmation to encourage our obedience…I listened…I stepped out in faith…I trusted God. He worked through me to touch Michael and then He worked through Michael to touch me.

I was…Humbled. Joyful. Happy. Filled to overflowing. As he spoke words of encouragement and love to me, I received confirmation that God had done something in Michael. My hope is that God will give him healing, lessen his pain, give him comfort and reveal Himself to Michael in a deeper spiritual way. He was grateful. He felt loved. God showed up. God moved. God was faithful as always.

The smell of Roses! What a beautiful smell!

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

Matthew 10:1
Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.

Luke 10:19
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

John 14:12
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

John 15:5-8
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Shattering Strongholds

Posted on by DSilvan

Our children were raised in the church and all of them spoke of God, praised God and raised their hands in worship. But when the teenage years hit, the world sucked them in, friends in the wrong crowd led them astray, their rebellious ways of their flesh surfaced and the enemy slyly entered causing chaos, destruction and discouragement. The Scripture “Train them in the way they should go and they will not depart from it,” tortured me because I wondered where I had gone wrong.

With one of our daughter’s we dealt with drugs, promiscuity, an attempt to harm herself, homosexuality, vile disrespect, uncontrollable anger and much more. I was lost. I didn’t feel equipped on how to battle these things. God spoke frequently and reassured me through His Word. God gave me two Scriptures that buoyed my faith and anchored me during these storms. One is Isaiah 43:5-7 and the other is Jeremiah 31:16-17.

Jeremiah 31 states —

This is what the Lord says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord. “They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants,” declares the Lord. “Your children will return to their own land.”

Over the last 7 years God has been teaching me much about spiritual warfare. He’s provided experiences, people who give me random books like “God Wins,” and packets that contain random prayers. The random prayer led me to a book that transformed how I prayed for our children: “Shattering Your Strongholds“ by Liberty Savard. God was teaching me how to fight spiritual warfare through prayer.

I love how God sets up divine appointments to encourage us and to foreshadow what the future holds. Five years ago I roomed with a complete stranger at retreat. We stayed up late talking. She shared how she was at the retreat with her rebellious daughter whom she thought would NEVER EVER come. I remember thinking, God that would be amazing. I long for that day to be seen with my daughter. But if I’m being honest, I thought it would never happen. My faith in God was lackluster.

Six months ago, our daughter was going through something. Honestly I don’t remember what the topic or issue was. However, the way I always handle difficulties is I point to God. I quote Scripture that comes to my mind in the conversation and I speak of His ways. He’s the first thing to roll off my tongue, whether I’m speaking to a believer or non-believer. My solution is always, God.

After I mentioned God, our daughter said, “Mom, I knew you were going to talk about God. I don’t want to hear about God. It’s not always about God. Sometimes I just need you to listen and say something different. STOP talking about God!”

Clearly, she didn’t want to hear His name.

Anyone who knows me, understands all I ever talk about is God this and God that. God. God. God. He is my everything and I see Him involved in everything. According to her, I just needed to listen to her and give her worldly advice, but never mention His name.

So, I stopped. I gave her space. I resolved to not say God’s name to her again. HARD!

My heart mourned . . . I still didn’t really understand truly what I was battling.

Shortly afterwards, God reminded me of the book He led me to, “Shattering Your Strongholds“. I pulled out this arsenal and began praying. At first I prayed exactly word for word what the author wrote. I began commanding all the ways of the world and ways of her flesh to be loosened from her in the name of Jesus. Then I asked for her to be bound to the opposite godly characteristic. I commanded anger to be loosened from her and for her to be bound to God’s love. I commanded rebellious ways to be loosened from her and for her to be bound to God’s obedient ways. I prayed for her heart, mind and soul to be bound to God’s heart, mind, and soul. I asked for her thoughts to be flooded with thoughts of God. Then after doing this for a few days, I could sense the Spirit prompting me to pray specific things. I continued praying over anything and everything ungodly that popped into my mind to be loosened from her and sought God to reveal what I needed to bind her to specifically. I was commanding the ways of the world and flesh to be loosened from her and commanding heaven to come to earth for her.

Two months later, our daughter called me asking if I had an extra Bible to read and if I had that Bible study on forgiveness. In all calmness I said, “yes.” Secretly, on my side of the phone, I was doing a happy dance while my heart was nearly exploding from my chest! I didn’t have an extra Bible but she didn’t need to know that. I ran right to the Family Christian store and bought her one in her favorite color. Just like how God works, two days earlier, I had just found these studies hidden under boxes in a room that I was cleaning, otherwise I would have had no idea where they were.

Within 2 hours she had both. Over the next few months she began asking me to pray and her sisters to pray. Then, she mentioned she was praying. Through moments of amazement, God’s faithfulness was becoming visible. His provision. His direction. His leading. All of it was perfect.

Two weekends ago, all three of our girls went with me to the Girl’s Getaway…even the one I thought would NEVER come. God had been working on her heart. The walls she had erected to protect herself and keep others out were being chiseled away and torn down. She was revealing brokenness within her to others and showing tears during small group. She has NEVER allowed herself to be emotionally vulnerable before. Life had taken its toll on her and she was ready to admit she couldn’t do it on her own. She submitted and surrendered. Verbally choosing to receive His free gift of hope.

God brought her home. God returned her from the land of the enemy. God provided hope for my descendants. He is faithful. He is true to His Word. He is trustworthy and worthy of all our praise. We serve a Mighty and Sovereign God. One Who is beautiful in all His ways. One Whose timing is impeccable and Whose faithfulness is never ending.

These are the prayers God reminded me of. Pray them in their entirety or take the snippets that speak to you heart. Let the Holy Spirit guide you to what you need to do. He has provided this for you . . .

Satan and His Demonic Forces

If the person for whom you are interceding has not confessed Jesus as Savior and Lord, pray specifically for his/her salvation if you have not already done so. Stand and thank the Father that it is done in the name of Jesus. Then pray:

“Father, in the name of Jesus, I come boldly to Your throne of grace and present                         before You. I stand in the gap and intercede in behalf of                         , knowing that the Holy Spirit within me takes hold together with me against the evils that would attempt to hold                         in bondage. I unwrap                         from the bonds of wickedness with my prayers and take my shield of faith and quench every fiery dart of the adversary that would come against                         .

Father, You say that whatever I bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever I loose on earth is loosed in heaven. You say for me to cast out demons in the name of Jesus.

In the name of Jesus I bind                          ‘s body, soul and spirit to the will and purposes of God for his/her life. I bind                          ‘s mind, will and emotions to the will of God. I bind him/her to the truth and to the blood of Jesus. I bind his/her mind to the mind of Christ that the very thoughts, feelings and purposes of His heart would be within his/her thoughts.

I loose every old, wrong, ungodly pattern of thinking, attitude, idea, desire, belief, motivation, and every wrong mind/body agreement he/she has about wrong behaviors. I tear down, crush, smash and destroy every stronghold associated with these things. I loose any stronghold in his/her life that has been justifying and protecting hard feelings against anyone. I loose the strongholds of unforgiveness, fear, and distrust from him/her.

Father, I ask you to commission your ministering spirits to go forth and provide the necessary help to and assistance for                          .

Father, I have laid hold of                         ‘s salvation and his/her confession of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I speak of things that are not as though they were, for I choose to look at the unseen — the eternal things of God. I say that Satan shall not get an advantage over                         , for I am not ignorant of Satan’s devices. I resist Satan, and he has run in terror from                         in the name of Jesus. I give Satan no place in                         . I plead the blood of the Lamb over                         , for Satan and his cohorts are overcome by that blood and Your Word. I thank You, Father, that I tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy in                         ‘s behalf.                          is delivered from this present evil world. He/she is delivered from the powers of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of Your dear Son!

Father, I ask You now to fill those vacant places within                          with Your redemption, Your Word, Your Holy Spirit, Your love, Your wisdom, Your righteousness and Your revelation knowledge in the name of Jesus

I thank you, Father, that                          is redeemed out of the hand of Satan by the blood of Jesus. He/she is justified and made righteous by the blood of Jesus and belongs to You — spirit, soul and body. I thank You that every enslaving yoke is broken, for he/she will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power in the name of Jesus.                         has escaped the snare of the devil who has held him/her captive and henceforth does Your will, Father, which is to glorify You in his/her spirit, soul and body.

Thank You, Father that Jesus was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil. Satan’s works are destroyed in                         ‘s life in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah!                         walks in the Kingdom of God, which is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit! Praise the Lord! Amen.

This prayer may be prayed as many times as necessary. It takes time to realize the faith that leads you into a position of praise and thanksgiving. Stand firm, fixed, unmovable, and steadfast remembering that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

Shattering Your Strongholds Prayer

I have included a prayer from Shattering Your Strongholds by Rev. Libery S. Savard. This prayer stresses the importance of binding ourselves and others to the will and purposes of God and loosing the strongholds from our souls that prevent healing prayers from penetrating our spirits. I recommend that you incorporate this powerful prayer into your deliverance intercession. Shattering Your Strongholds is excellent reading for all involved in intercession whether individual or corporate.

“In the Name of Jesus Christ, I bind                        ‘s body, soul and spirit to the will and purposes of God for his/her life. I bind                        ‘s mind, will and emotions to the will of God. I bind him/her to the truth and to the blood of Jesus. I bind his/her mind to the mind of Christ, that the very thought, feelings and purposes of His heart would be within his/her thoughts. I bind                        ‘s feet to the paths of righteousness that his/her steps would be steady and sure. I bind him/her to the work of the cross with all of its mercy, grace, love, forgiveness and dying to self.

I loose every old, wrong, ungodly pattern of thinking, attitude, idea, desire, belief, motivation, and every wrong mind/body agreement he/she has about wrong behaviors. I tear down, crush, smash and destroy every stronghold associated with these things. I loose any stronghold in his/her life that has been justifying and protecting hard feelings against anyone. I loose the strongholds of unforgiveness, fear, and distrust from him/her.

I Loose the power and effects of wrong agreements from                          . I loose deceptions and lies from                        ‘s mind, and I loose the effects and influences of any soul ties heshe has with other people. I loose the confusion and blindness the god of this world from                        ‘s mind that has kept him/her from seeing the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I call forth every precious word of Scripture that has ever entered into his/her mind and heart that it would rise up in power within him/her.

In the name of Jesus, I loose the power and effects of any harsh or hard words (word curses) spoken to, about or by                         . I loose all generational bondage thinking and associated strongholds from                         . I loose all grave clothes from him/her. I loose all effects and bondages from him/her that may have been caused by mistakes I have made.

Father, in the name of Jesus, I crush, smash and destroy generational bondages of any kind from mistakes made at any point between generations. I destroy them right here, right now. They will not bind and curse any more members of this family. I bind and loose these things in Jesus’s name. He has given me the keys and the authority to do so. Thank You Lord for the truth. Amen”

*Used by permission of Rev. Liberty Savard, Pres., Liberty Savard Ministries, P.O. Box 41260, Sacramento CA 95841. 1993 Bridge-Logos Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ.

May we all be loosed from the strongholds of anger, anxiety, competition, confusion, control, deceit, denial, depression, disease, disobedience, distress, distrust, doubt, envy, false security, fear, fornification, gossip, greed, guilt, hostility, immorality, immaturity, independence of God, isolation, jealousy, lust, manipulation, oppression, prejudice, pride, rebellion, self indulgence, sexual soul ties, sickness, suppression, violence and wickedness, procrastination, sibling rivalry, people pleasing attributes and intimidation.

May we all be bond to love, faith, peace, God’s order, a sound mind, freedom in Christ, truth, agreeable spirit, joy, hopefulness, health, obedience, contentment, belief, clarity, kindness, security, courage, boldness, purity, faithfulness, keeping people’s names safe in your mouth, seeing the good in people, generosity, virtue, honor, respect, goodwill, benevolence, moral uprightness, maturity in faith, dependence on God, companionship, delight, God’s favor, blessing, justice, humility, harmony in relationships, submissiveness, unselfishness, peacefulness, cooperation, pleasing God, building one another up.

An Abundance of “GOOD”

Posted on by DSilvan

The majority of the time, reflection over my life’s daily meanderings becomes a microscope that reveals God’s movement in my life.

For the past 6 months, God has been surrounding me with suggestions in a certain direction — Prayer.

By looking back through the months one can vividly see God guiding me in a laser beam direction: 1) Healing Prayer year long study, 2) War Room movie on prayer — inspired to pull out ALL my books on prayer, to journal specific prayers for each family member again, prompted to color code them to pin on a “Prayer Wall”, 3) Battle Plan for Prayer study, and 4) Power of a Praying Wife.

. . . God had me CHASING after prayer!!!

So here I sit . . .

Arriving late to my scheduled appointment with God on my back patio . . . BUT I’m HERE!

Not knowing where to start . . . BUT just starting!

I’ve prayed for years. Always spontaneously. Frequently for the good. Usually for all the bad in our life. Interceding for others but always feeling they were meager offerings. Always left with a longing . . . a deep desiring for more!

I want to leave a legacy of prayer.
I want to be a Power House of prayer.
I want to demonstrate for our children and their children, and their children’s children how FAITHFUL God is!!!
I want them to see me faithfully, diligently, persistently fighting for them in prayer!

All of this brings me to this morning . . . the first morning of the rest of my journey!

I’m a process oriented person. Scheduling everything out makes me feel completely in alignment.  Yet, when it comes to my prayer life I’ve ALWAYS defended my free-spirited, pray whenever you want, don’t set a scheduled time to pray as a thing to check off my list attitude. I was adamant to not let it just be a “thing” to do, but rather shoot prayers up randomly when prompted.

Yet now, after some more learning, my first goal is to begin initiating a “scheduled” time to meet God. If King David set aside time in the evening, morning and afternoon . . . and . . . Daniel met with God 3 times a day . . . and . . . Jesus disciplined Himself to kneel with God early in the morning . . . SHOULDN’T I?

Why did I resist so vehemently to enact a scheduled time to sit with my Father when God repeatedly illustrated how important this is for us throughout Scripture?

Why did I cling to merely the spontaneous form of prayer?

Why did I settle for such a little taste of Him?

Don’t get me wrong. God LOVES my spontaneous prayer! BUT . . . I wanted MORE and He is showing me how to get there.

As I struggled at 0’dark to crawl out of bed, I hit my snooze every 9 minutes for one hour. I had missed sunrise, but I’m here!

God was faithful to paint a picture across the blank canvas of my mind while I wrestled with my desire to meet with Jesus bright and early. And, what I anticipated . . . the encounter I had hoped to receive . . . arrived in a different package than expected.

What I love about God is how He can speak VOLUMES into my soul within a matter of seconds. It’s like He immediately, concisely, and completely downloads His conversation into my consciousness with His gentle whisper. Then He let’s me unwrap His instructions, view His perspective and digest how my current situation relates. WOW! A•H•Mazing!

He’s always patient in letting His teaching meander and wander in my mind until my heart catches up and grabs hold. And if I’m being honest, the transferring of the information in the nerve endings of my brain can’t be done by myself. God must transport His truth into the fibers of my heart.

DISCLAIMER: I am FAR from perfect. I have way more areas for God to work on then are beautiful for others to imitate.

I don’t know what I was expecting God to talk to me about . . .  but it wasn’t this.

I’ve been struggling with an area of being a godly wife…putting conditions on following God’s instructions to me as a wife as long as my husband does what God instructs him do in Scripture. In the midst of my pain,  I’ve felt “justified” into allowing my hurt areas to usher me into times of disobedience.

Just for the record…this is NEVER wise to do.

Now, let’s move on to the metaphorical journey God took me on this quiet and cool morning.

My husband, Bill, and I took our grandkids to the Sacramento Zoo. We were having a GREAT time! A wonderfully fun time! Unfortunately, we informed our vibrant and animated granddaughter that we would not be able to go to Fairy Tale Town because WE, the older grandparents, were exhausted after our 5 hour Safari Adventure! And, we knew the kiddos were exhausted too as they were sprawled out in our wagon. We announced we would be back to visit Fairytale Town another day.

Well . . . needless to say. That did not go very well.  According to her all the fun we just had . . . was now. . . HORRIBLE!!!

She cried. Screamed. Shook her hands in rebellion against our words. Acted out a grandiose 4 year old tantrum masterfully.

Immediately upon delivery of our words, she no longer remembered how she ran to see the salmon pink flamingos with bubbling excitement, how she giggled when the hedgehog jumped as she touched him, how captivated she was to feed the ENORMOUS giraffe, how she laughed at the Orangutan picking things off his girlfriend’s fur, or how she raced to see the screaming and screeching chimpanzees fight as she pushed her way to a front row seat with wide-eyes!!!

Instead, she laser beam focused on the ONE bad thing that happened and allowed the rest of the FANTASTIC adventure to be killed, destroyed and stolen from her fun chamber.

I was so frustrated! We just had an outrageous time at the zoo with animal watching, junk food eating, tons of ooo’s and ahhh’s, train rides and carousel rides. Why would she look at a tiny moment and allow it to deplete all that was good? Why would she let that one negative to steal the abundance of GOOD she had experienced?

Like I began with earlier, God plastered this image of my granddaughter having a tantrum as I wrestled to roll out of bed for my “newly” scheduled quiet time.

Why was this in my thoughts?

Is this what God had scheduled for our conversation today?

I decided to camp here for the next 20 minutes and then unpack it for the next few hours as I sat with God writing.

I remembered my feelings of frustrations, disappointment, anger, loss for words, confusion, yearning for her to not focus on the one bad thing BUT to embrace all the glorious encounters she was allowed to have. Clinging to the memories and fun laughs that were had. Remembering the beautiful and majestic animals we were allowed to see, smell, hear and touch.

And our dialogue began . . .

GOD:
In a gently, loving, nurturing and teaching whisper, God said “Exactly! Denise, stop shaking your fists at Me in a 4 year old’s dissatisfaction.  Embrace the good! There is an abundance of “GOOD” in your life. In stomping around in this tantrum, pouting about what you don’t have, you are missing what else there is for you. You are alienating yourself from other fun-filled times.”

“Remember to place a magnifying glass on these good moments and allow them to flood your mind. Don’t let this one area of dissatisfaction kill, destroy and steal the 33 years of love and fun you’ve been given with your husband.”

“My timing is not ‘NOW’ for what you desire to take place.”

ME:
“That’s not fair. What about me? When is it my turn?” As the tears flooded my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. I wanted to continue in argument, plead my case and shake my fists while screaming “I want what I want and I want it now!” A picture of Veronica from Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory popped into my head. I was behaving self-centered, spoiled rotten and ugly just like Veronica. UGH!!! Okay it wasn’t that bad, but it sure felt like it.

GOD:
“Do you see how Bill experiences frustration, disappointment, anger, loss of words, confusion, a yearning for you to not focus on the one bad area that needs work, but instead embrace all the magnificent areas he gets right? That you both get right!?”

ME:
Silent. . .

GOD:
“As you plan to take your granddaughter back to Fairytale Town for more fun and adventures at a time that is better for all involved . . . I, your Heavenly Father, am planning this for you. Please be patient and TRUST me. I have good adventures planned for you, too.”

“Understand the patience I have with you as you learn to accept this time of waiting like you did beautifully with your granddaughter. No longer shake your hands in rebellion, but quietly wait for My timing and trust Me.”

“Understand Bill’s experience of pain, bewilderment and confusion. Honor Me by loving him well.”

“Understand what I’m asking of you. Be obedient in this time of waiting. Love without conditions. Respect at all times. Be his helper always. Show My love as God’s child because you are Mine, not because someone has satisfied your conditions.”

“Most importantly, in order to do this, come to me BEFORE so I can fill you up, come to me DURING so I can guide you and come to me AFTER so I can replenish your strength.”

Okay. So that was pretty jaw dropping for my first scheduled prayer time!

It probably goes without saying . . . but this almost 50 year old, experiencing a 4 year old spiritual fit, is obviously going to be meeting with God often to make it through this time of waiting.

I LOVE God!  I love His tender care of me. I love how He grabs my heart and teaches me through things I understand. I love how He’s willing to endure my 4 year old tantrums even after walking with him for almost 30 years. Always patiently waiting until I surrender and submit to Him . . . REPEATEDLY. I also love that He paired me with a humble, patient husband who is willing to stand on the battlefield as I figure this all out . . . all the while loving me unconditionally.

As my granddaughter shed tears for having to wait . . . I too experience the same.

I know God is faithful and true to His word for He has shown me time and time again. I’m choosing to TRUST Him in this area of waiting . . . until He says “Precious child, the time is NOW!”

Wherever you are, whatever you struggle with . . . seek your Heavenly Father. Hearing His words is a reassuring and soothing balm to your hurting soul . . . even when it’s for correction and redirection.

Father,

You are good, good, oh.       

I need help. Heal my wounds and forgive my tantrumous ways.

My husband, my granddaughter, my family and friends need help.

Thank You for all You have done, all You are doing, and all You will do.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.


Special Note: For friends and family reading this…divorce has never been in the horizon for I love this man that God has knitted my heart together with…and in case you think this is something “BIG” it’s merely about spending more quality time with me traveling…and I don’t want to wait. I’m jealous of the time he spends on the field coaching and I was looking forward to this season of life to end as our youngest leaves for college and finishes travel ball…but unfortunately, it’s not NOW.  And, I wrestle with jealousy, anger and bitterness often…REPEATEDLY having to surrender it all to Jesus.

I know I can’t be the only one out there who wrestles with things like this…but perhaps you have different areas. More difficult areas could be a fixation on drugs, alcohol, work, hobbies, pornography, affairs, really anything that steals time from you spending time with your loved one and leaves you feeling less than and not as important. 

Through my longing to spend time with Bill, through desiring Bill to want to spend more time with me on his own not based on my demands, God teaches me how He feels in regards to my devotion and time with Him. And this last epiphany is probably the most important lesson learned.

Because of this, I merely decided to reveal the ugliness of my heart and it’s needed correction in loving Bill better . . . and . . . God better. I chose to share my encounter with God in this journal so future generations of ours will know difficult times come, but God is always there. Always Faithful! Always breathing life into your circumstances. Always showing you how what you’re wrestling with relates to your relationship with your Heavenly Father.

Praise you Father for your sovereignty in all circumstances!

 

French Coffee Press & Crockpot All Day

Posted on by DSilvan

Over the weekend we had a special guest speaker at church, Rene Schlaepfer .  He’s the pastor at Twin Lakes Church in Aptos, California next door to  Santa Cruz.  What an amazing story teller he is.  My husband and I loved his message.  During our brief encounter with him we were inspired to intentionally use our iphones to capture pictures daily of beautiful things…things we’re grateful for…as a way to “frame” our life to focus on the positive and “notice” the amazing things we encounter DAILY because of our amazing God.

I innately peer through glasses as a “realist”…but really that means I naturally view things from a negative bent.  These marred lenses are something God has been redefining, adjusting and refocusing through the years.  For others I’ve always been able to see the silver lining on their situation, however when immersed in a difficult quagmiry mess, I look at the yuck…I mean…I used to only see the ugliness.  But, what I’ve noticed is there are new sproutings occurring within me…I’m LOOKING for the good in the darkness…the lessons being brought forth for new beginnings…a fresh perspective… a new song on my lips.  So, this concept of “framing” my life through my iphone will help me look for God’s beauty in everything on purpose.  Intentionally looking for good.  This treasure I will be incorporating into my everyday life!  I challenge you to do the same.

Another tidbit he reinvigorated and breathed fresh life into, is the concept of meditating on God’s word.  I’ve done this often throughout my walk of faith. However, he created a  picture that enlivened and awakened my desire to begin again.

Place God’s Scripture in a French Coffee Press, “slowly, reading God’s word, pressing gently down to steep on a word or two” gleaning what God had in store for me that day…working hard to get the “woodsy, aromatic, earthy, fruity, richness” of His word.  And…then…I can take that same verse and CROCKPOT it all day…meditating on what God was saying to me.

Funny how routine things that have taken on a form of staleness can take on a different appearance.  This isn’t anything new.  I’ve marinated in God’s word like this often, but God grabbed my heart through the picture of the French Coffee Press and Crockpot and said “Denise, I want you to do this more intentionally! There is a rich, warm, tenderness that you’re missing from My word.”

Rene gave us a weeks worth of Scriptures to start with and WOW! Loving it!

Psalm 145:2 is where we started:

“Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.

I read this slowly, pondered over each word.  Reading it again and again.  And then I started having questions…

“Wait. God HOW can I ‘bless’ You?”
“What does blessing You really mean?”
“Really God, even as I’ve been having trouble dragging myself out of bed the last 4 weeks after being sick…EVERY DAY I will ‘choose’ to bless you?”
“What does that look like?”
“God…is this what You’ve been speaking to my heart recently? Is this why I told people even in the ugly we can find things to be grateful for?  You’ve been spinning and transforming my perspective in the midst of the hard moments, weeks, months, years. I’ve been finding myself grateful in the hard experiences of losing our home, our diminishing finances, our loss of health, and destruction of many things we took for granted…Is this what you’re speaking of?”

I mean really…how do “I”, the created, bless God, the Creator?  The Maker of Heaven & Earth.  The Self-Existent One. The Everlasting God. The Beginning and the End. The Alpha and Omega.  The Almighty God.  Sitting quietly perplexed…

I eagerly swiped open my Blue Letter Bible app so I could research what “bless” meant in Hebrew.  Words in Hebrew and Greek usually mean so much more than the simple word we give them in English.  I know, you’re getting to see the “geeky” side of me, but this is where God meets me best.  Digging into His word, unwrapping what He said at it’s basic original meaning.  I LOVE doing word studies!  For all of you, maybe reading the Scripture seems so simplistic, “duh…Denise.” But for me to understand the simplistic, my brain requires me to research, dig, pick apart, digest for longer periods of time in order to get God’s simple words.  It helps me understand God better and what He’s asking me to do.

Just in case you have never used Blue Letter Bible, I want to give you step by step so if you’re intrigued and want to try this out for yourself…you’ve been given some simple guidance.

When you open up BLB, at the top of your screen, for  an iphone, there is a Bible that is displayed open, touch that icon. In the search bar type in your Scripture reference.  In this case it would be Psalm 145, then click search at the bottom.  I read the Bible typically in ESV (closest word for word translation) or NIV (easier version to understand). I believe the app default is New King James (NKJV).  If you’d like to switch, tap on the Psalm 145 header and it will bring up: the Books of the Bibles, OT & NT, and Bibles….click on Bibles, then Manage Bibles, and you can select different translations to read.

Now that you’re in the Bible version you desire, scroll down to the verse you desire to dive into deeper and tap that verse.  Our verse is Psalm 145:2, so tap on the #2 verse.  Now you will have many selections, but what you want for a word study is “Interlinear/Concordance.” This will take you to the Hebrew text for Old Testament (OT) and each word has a lexicon reference# and Hebrew word displayed.

Because I wanted to know what it meant to “Bless” God, I looked up “I will bless:”  #1288, “barak.” Tap that phrase and the meaning comes up.  Sometimes it’s exactly what the translators wrote in English and it supplies no additional meaning, but in this case I was able to see what God meant in a deeper fashion that helped my heart grasp what David was saying for God. *Even more can be read under the Strong’s Definition and under Gesenius’s Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon.

Bless – “Barak”
To kneel, adore, praise, salute, kneel before our Maker…Jehovah. Celebrate God.

Then I wanted to know what Praise meant, so I looked up “You, And I will praise:” #1984, “Halai.”

Praise – “Halai”
To shine, flash forth light, boast, glorify, to rave, show, celebrate

To make show – external appearance, grandiloquent words

To sing, praise, celebrate

Then I wanted to know what Name meant, so I looked up “Your Name:” #8034 – “Shem.”

Name – “Shem”
Name, reputation, glory, character

All of a sudden a beautiful picture was revealed to me on what God was saying to me in Psalm 145:2 — “Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.”

Every day no matter whether I’m in a bad, hurtful, ugly, trying place or a wonderful, amazing, easy, joyful, time, I will choose to bless God.  I will kneel down and adore my faithful God.  I will praise and salute Him for His mighty ways.  I will kneel down before my Maker, Jehovah and CELEBRATE my sovereign GOD!  I will sing praises of His mightiness, I will shine a light on His unending love for me.  I will celebrate and boast over all the great deeds and works He has down throughout time and in my life.  I will boast, rave, glorify and show all in my midst how amazing my God is.  I will use grandiloquent words to speak of His Name, reputation, glory and character forever and ever.

Now after studying His word deeper, I was able to grasp a much crisper picture of what He was encouraging me to do through David’s words in this tiny verse in Psalm 145. For me, doing this takes a black and white verse that in basic form appears 2-dimensional and transforms it instantly before my eyes.  As I combine the additional understanding I’ve unearthed, brush strokes with vibrant rainbow colors are masterfully applied and brings to life a 3rd dimension so I can wrap my hands around His words. WOW! Right?!

Now I encourage you to take a moment to read through all 21 verses of this Psalm.  David provides specifics on what each item he refers to.  He clearly tells us how we are to bless Him and praise His name.  Below I’m recording everything I gleaned from this Psalm…write down what God whispered to your heart during this time in His word.

I can’t wait to get to tomorrows Coffee Press. What will God provide as I place His word in the crockpot all day to simmer…what tender meat will He provide for me to savor at the end of the day.

Thank  you Jesus for supplying faithful servants to remind us how your Word feeds us. How if we are obedient and read Your word as food for our soul, You will be faithful to fill us up.  We don’t survive on merely food alone, but on the word of the LORD. Amen.

Father, to my husband, to my children, to my brothers and sisters, to my parents, to my friends, to my acquaintances, to my readers, I will:

…speak of Your greatness
…exclaim how greatly You are to be praised
…shout from the mountains how Your greatness is unsearchable
…commend Your works
…declare Your mighty acts
…speak of and teach how to meditate on the splendor of Your majesty
…tell of Your wondrous works
…share Your awesome deeds
…declare Your greatness
…speak of the fame of Your goodness
…sing aloud of Your Righteousness
…share how Merciful and Gracious You are
…celebrate how You are slow to anger
…boast of Your abounding steadfast love
…exclaim how You’re good to all
…explain how Your mercy is over all You have made
…give thanks to You as on of Your works
…bless You as Your saint
…share the glory of Your Kingdom
…tell of Your power
…make known to the children Your mighty deeds
…teach them of the glorious splendor of Your kingdom
…share how Your kingdom is everlasting
…explain how Your dominion endures throughout generations
…speak of how faithful Your words are
…tell how kind You are in all Your works
…share how You uphold all those who fall
…speak of how you raise all those who bow down
…instruct how are eyes are to look to You
…remind how You give food to us in due season
…celebrate how You open Your hand
…bring focus to how You satisfy the desire of every living thing
…sing of how You are righteous in all Your ways
…remind them that You are kind in all Your works
…teach that You are near to all who call on You in truth
…share how You fulfill the desires of those who fear You in reverence
…shine a light on how You hear our cries
…joyously celebrate how You save us
…remind all that You preserve all who love You
…warn the wicked You will destroy them
…speak with my mouth and sing with my voice the praise and adoration of Your ways
…sing and praise Your reputation and character
…boast of Your name and glory
…glorify, shine a light on and celebrate Your ways forever and ever

After reading and journaling all God had for me, I found it interesting that in all 21 verses David spoke of POSITIVE words of affirmation and praise of God (43 praises to focus on.)  There was only half a verse at the very bottom that spoke of the negative that can be experienced from those who are against God.  That means in that 21 verses of Scripture 98% was focusing on God’s beautiful character and only 2% was reminding of the wrathful side.  Is that not a beautiful picture of how we, as Christians, are to fill our speech with an abundance of focusing on God’s goodness, mightiness and amazing ways.  Rather than getting stuck on the ugliness and beating lost ones with the terror of what awaits them because of x, y and z, we are to inundate them with praise and adoration of a Mighty God that has done miraculous things in the past for the Israelites and how He’s met us in our own life today.  God’s love, faithfulness, goodness, works and mighty deeds are what win people over for Him.  We need a God like You in a world that surrounds us with pain, fear and trials.  Father I pray that You will remind us daily how to do as You ask us to do…Love on the people You’ve created so they may see a clear and accurate painting of You.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Hindrances to Prayer

Posted on by DSilvan

How to Prayby R.A. Torrey
Chapter 9: Hindrances  to Prayer

SELFISHNESS hinders prayer:    A selfish purpose/motive in prayer robs prayer of power. The true purpose in prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer.  If we ask any petition merely to receive something to use for our pleasure or gratification, we should not expect to receive what we ask.  James 4:3 says,

“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your own pleasures.”


SIN hinders prayer:     As long as we hold on to sin or have any controversy with God, we cannot expect Him to heed our prayers.  If there is anything that is constantly coming up in your moments of close communion with God, that is the thing that hinders prayer . . . put it away!  Isaiah 59:1-2 says,

“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear, but your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”


IDOLATRY hinders prayer:    An idol is anything that takes the place of God, anything that is the supreme object of our affection.  God alone has the right to the supreme place in our hearts, not our spouse, children, reputation, business or anything else.  Ezekiel 14:3 says,

“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces.  Should I let them inquire of me at all?”


STINGINESS hinders prayer:     Stinginess is the lack of generosity toward the poor and toward God’s work.  Proverbs 21:13 says,

“If you refuse to listen to the cry of the poor, your own cry for help will not be heard.”


AN UNFORGIVING SPIRIT  hinders prayer:     God cannot deal with us on the basis of forgiveness while we are harboring ill will against those who have wronged us.  Mark 11:25 says,

“And when you stand praying if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”


A WRONG HUSBAND/WIFE RELATIONSHIP hinders prayer:     If husbands and wives diligently seek to find the cause of their unanswered prayers, they will often find it in their relationship to one another.
1 Peter 3:7 says,

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you in the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”

UNBELIEF hinders prayer:     God demands that we believe His Word absolutely.  To question is to make Him a liar.  James 1:5-7 says,

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.“

P.R.A.Y. Prayer Model

Posted on by DSilvan

The P.R.A.Y. model is a tool to help guide you into the presence of God during your personal devotional time.

P — Praise/Thanksgiving:

R — Repent:  Ask God to show you what you need to repent from, then seek His forgiveness.  End this time by asking God to transform you with His power so that you would choose differently the next time you’re tempted in the same way.

A — Ask:  Throughout the Bible we are encouraged to bring our requests to God. This is where you lay your requests before Him.

Y —  Yield:  Take some time to just sit and listen to Jesus. Jot down whatever phrases, pictures, or scriptures come to your mind in this time. It’s probably the Spirit speaking to you.

This is only a tool that is meant to inspire you and encourage you to pray.  Jesus often went off to solitary places to pray in quiet…following His example is a good idea for us, too.

 

PRAISE / THANKSGIVING:

Every prayer should begin with praise.  Praise takes our thoughts and directs them vertically – towards God – worshiping Him for who He is and for what He has done. The “P” of praise reminds us that the beginning of prayer is focused on recognizing and praising God for His attributes…sharing with God what we appreciate about His character and why.  Praise God for who He is and what He has done, offering Him your thanks.

Psalm 100:3 — “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” 

Psalms 103:1 — “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

Psalm 145

“Dear God, I praise you because you are ___.”

 

REPENT:

After praising God prayer moves into repentance. We must clear out all the old ashes if we desire a new fire.  Although we’ve been forgiven for all our past, present and future sins. We realize that we still fall into sin which disturbs our connection and communication with our Heavenly Father.  During this time, invite the Holy Spirit to reveal your sins.  If you struggle with thinking of where you stumble try to jog your memory by thinking of some of these areas: sins of omission, sins of commission, sins of thought, sins of attitude, sins of relationships, sins of self-centered conduct, or sins of relying on self.

I John 1:9 — “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”

Psalms 51:9-12 — “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”

Isaiah 30:15 — “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”

2 Corinthians 7:10 — “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

“God, I am sorry for ___. I receive your forgiveness based on 1 John 1:9.”

 

ASK:

After our hearts are focused on praising God and cleansed through our repentance, our hearts are prepared to ask. This is where we “wait in expectation” as David says (Psalm 5:3).

Hebrews 4:16 — “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

 James 4:2 — “You do not have, because you do not ask”

Matthew 7:7-8 — “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened”

Philippians 4:6 — “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

The asking segment can be broken up into two categories. First we intercede and pray for others, then we enter supplication where we lay our personal requests before God.

Intercessory:
Ezekiel 22:30 — “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”

Supplication:
Matthew 7:7 — “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:  For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.”

“God, please ___.”

YES / YIELD:

Here is where we submit our desires to God.  We willing yield our wants and thoughts to God’s sovereign wisdom. Through all of our praying the most important thing we must do is yield to God. Ultimately we desire that God’s will to be done in our lives.  By doing this we are following Jesus’ model that He illustrated for us in His prayer life.  We lay aside our desires and say “Here am I.” Spend time thanking God for His blessings for by meditating on His many blessings we can experience healing for today.

Matthew 26:39 — “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

I Samuel 3:16 — “Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.”
Additional Prompts:
Psalm 100, 138, 118, 145; Psalm 95:2-3; Psalm 28:7
2 Corinthians 4:15-16; 2 Corinthians 9:11-12;
Ephesians 1:15-16;
1 Timothy 4:4-5;
1 Chronicles 16:34;
Isaiah 12:4;
Colossians 3:17;
1 Thessalonians 5:18

“Thank you God, for ___.”

Prayer Full of Power & Authority

Posted on by DSilvan

I’m grateful I have the written Word to study and mimic.  God in His infinite wisdom and pure love for our souls, inspired the Apostles to record beautiful and eloquent prayers for us, their future descendants, to read.  In order to live a life engulfed with powerful and authority filled prayers I only need to flip through the worn pages of my Bible to find words that will help me share my heart with God concerning myself or loved ones.  These prayers are void of asking for worldly, material desires, instead they are packed full of requests to move forward God’s kingdom by using faithful believers.  If you desire your prayers to reflect these influential and power packed prayers you can use each Apostolic Prayer as a model.  First read and reread the Scripture. Spend time meditating on it and marinating your entire mind in the words God used.  Afterwards, begin to pray in your own words what your heart has gleaned from God’s word. You can do this verbally or sit down with pen and paper and journal out your thoughts to say to God.  Below I’m going to include a couple examples…you can pray the Scripture back in a personal fashion for yourself or you can reword it to be prayed for others.

Let’s look at Philippians 1:9-11.  This is a prayer for God’s love to abound in our hearts resulting in discernment and righteousness in our life.

” 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge (of God) and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve (rejoice in)the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere (no compromise) and blameless until the day of Christ; 11 having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” — Philippians 1:9-11

To pray it personally, your prayer could look something like this:

“Father God, I ask that you fill me with Your love so that it generously flows out onto others. I pray that I will grow in knowing You more intimately each and every day.  Jesus I ask that you strengthen my discernment so I will be able to make the best choice before me and always able to recognize Your will for my life.  Help me to be authentic in my faith and strong to make no compromises so I can remain blameless and unashamed when You come.  Father fill me with the fruits of Your Spirit that come through Jesus, so that I may bring glory and praise to You in my life as I walk out life daily. I pray all this in Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Or, if you’d like to pray it for someone else, your prayer could look something like this:

Jesus, I lay before you, (my daughter) and pray that You will fill her with Your love today in over abundance.  Father may she come to know You in a more insightful and intimate way.   Give  (my daughter)  discernment so she can make the right choice for the best pathway in her life…seeking You first and foremost before all other things.  Encourage and help her have an authentic and genuine journey with You so that she can be blameless, pure and unoffending all the days of her life.  Jesus please fill her with Your righteousness always so that the life she lives will reflect You and Your mighty, holy ways.  May she bring glory to You in all she does today.  I pray all this in Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Now I encourage you to take a look at the other Apostolic Prayers listed under my Prayer page.  Find ones that you could pray for yourself or ones you could use as intercessory prayers for your loved ones.  Begin your journey of impacting the lives of people for God’s kingdom…we’ve been given the examples to follow all we need to do is start. May you be blessed by beginning to pray fervently for one another.

A.C.T.S. Prayer Model

Posted on by DSilvan

The A.C.T.S. model is a tool to help guide you into the presence of God during your personal devotional time.
A — Adoration:  proclaiming who God is and the attributes of His character
C — Confession:  calling sin by name, declaring desire to repent from it, asking God for His forgiveness
T — Thanksgiving:  offering praise, remembering the works of the Lord, prayers answered, meditation
S — Supplication:  asking God, interceeding for others and petitioning according to His will

ADORATION:

Take time to adore the Lord and to worship and acknowledge the majesty of God.  Do not ask anything.  Focus on the attributes of God and declare who He is.  Praise and adore Him for His attributes, His character, His names.  Consider praising Him alphabetically: All-Knowing, Bread of Life, Comforter, Deliverer, Everlasting Father, Faithful, Gracious, Healer, Immortal, Judge, King, Lord of lords, Merciful, Name Above all Names, Omniscient, Physician, Redeemer, Savior, Truth, Undefiled, Vine, Wonderful Counselor, Yahweh, Zealous for our love,  Give Him your praise and adoration!  Consider also praying through the Scriptures (especially Psalms) to give yourself language for your adoration.

Psalm 9:1-2 — “I will praise You, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.  I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”

Psalm 18:2-3a — “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise.”

Psalm 46:1 ­— “God is our refuge and strength… ever-present help in times of trouble…”   Praying the Verse:  You are the abundantly available God. You are always there when I need you.

Romans 8:38 — “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers can separate me from your love.”
Praying the Verse:  You are the loving “for me” God. You are constantly by my side in every walk of life. Wherever I go, You are there waiting to show Yourself to me.

*Write a prayer of praise by adapting Psalm 145

CONFESSION:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the sins that you have committed . . . both things you have done that have not been pleasing to God and things God wanted you to do that you left undone.  Consider praying Scripture to begin your time of confession . . .

Psalm 139:23-24 — “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

As the Holy Spirit begins to reveal sins you’ve committed, be specific and pray to God confessing each sin by name, then declare your desire to repent (turn from) that sin, and ask for God’s forgiveness, in the Name of Jesus, your Savior.  When you repent of a specific area, ask the Lord to clothe you in the opposite virtue,  For example, confess pride – ask for humility; confess angry words spoken – ask for words that build up; confess gluttony – ask for self-control.

1 John 1:9 — “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Galatians 2:20 —  “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
Praying the Verse:  Jesus, I deny my sinful nature and ask that you would live in me.  Let my life be a living example of You, teach me to be an ambassador of Your Kingdom.

Romans 12:2 — “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  Praying the Verse:  O God, would you renew my mind. Transform my desires to match that which you desire.

Philippians 3:8 — “I consider everything as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him…”   Praying the Verse:  Father, I leave behind anything that stands in my way of loving You.  Loving You is the joy of my life, and desire You more than anything. You are the one thing I desire, O God.

*Write a prayer of contrition adapted from Daniel 9 and Psalm 51

THANKSGIVING:

Be a thankful child of God.  Some things to thank God for . . . His promises for your life found in Scripture, circumstances, miracles, experiences and adventures with God that you’ve had or have witnessed others having. You may want to begin your time of thanksgiving with reflection and meditation . . . ask the Holy Spirit to draw to your remembrance the good things God has done in every area of your life (home, work, business, family, church, school, neighborhood, friends.)  Pour out your thanksgiving to God.  Thank Him for answered prayers.  Thank Him for all the ways He has allowed you to see Him working in your midst, in and through your life and in the lives of those around you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 — “. . . give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Psalm 9:1 — “I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.”

SUPPLICATION:

Ask the Lord to give you the desires of His heart . . . to align your heart desires with His.  Base your prayer request from Scripture.  By praying His word we align our heart with His.  Lay before the Lord all of your needs . . . big and small.  Ask for His provision according to His perfect will.  Ask Him to open the eyes of your heart to see the answers to each prayer so you can come back and thank Him.  Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the needs of other people that God wants you to pray for . . . sit quietly and listen for His voice.  Pray as the Holy Spirit puts people, circumstances and situations on your mind.  Remember to pause, during your prayers of supplication to listen for the Holy Spirit’s voice.  He will help you to pray in accordance with God’s will.

SPECIAL NOTE: You can use apostolic prayers, or the prayers of Jesus, to give you language for your prayers.  I’m chronicling some of these under Prayers.

Philippians 4:6 — “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Ephesians 6:18 — “. . . and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests . . .”

Psalm 110:1 — “Do not keep silent, O God of my praise!”

Ephesians 4:13 — “…till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…”

Interested in reading more on additional Prayer tools?  Visit Prayer Life Tool Belt.