Praying Psalm 16

I love praying scripture. I believe God loves hearing his words prayed back to him. 

Last week I shared on my Instagram and Facebook page prayers I was praying from Psalm 16.  I wanted to share them here, especially since it's been a while since I've posted here. Ok...more than a while. Let's go for 3 years. Lots of life has happened that I may post about one of these days. In the mean time....

For a week, I took a couple of verses everyday and wrote them out, then prayed them. I did this in a journal, but if you  have a Bible study notebook I also have this free download you can use.

Psalm 16:1-2

"Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge,  I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

Psalm 16:3-4

"As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips."

Psalm 16:5-6

"The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance."

Psalm 16:7-8

 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Psalm 16:9-10

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

Psalm 16:11

 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;  at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

What a rich passage of scripture to help bring me into a better understanding of what kind of woman I want to be. I am so thankful for Gods Word and how it never returns void. 

Joy Happens, Especially on the Hard Days

I have a long to-do list for today. I'm so behind that I have resorted to posting sticky notes everywhere to help me manage the list.

But instead of attacking that list, I sit here, typing.




The week has been a difficult one and I need to write it out.
The challenges.
Tears.
All the emotions. All.the.emotions!
All the joy!

Friend, it's been quite a week. I remember a couple of weeks ago thanking the Lord for giving us a season of calm. Isn't he so good to give us a moment to catch our breath before he moves us towards the next lesson.

The Lord is working on one of my kids. I posted on Facebook this week that it's difficult to watch it happen. As a mom, you never want to see your kid struggle or hurt. But then again, you do want to see it. You do want to see your kid experience consequences of bad decisions. You do want to see your kid learn from stupid mistakes. But all the emotions involved are what is hard to manage.

This kid. He belongs to the Lord and this week I had to give him back over and over again. He disappointed me.  He scared me.  He made me mad. He made me cry! All in the same day.

But Joy! In the midst of my prayers for this kid, God reassures me, comforts me, reminds me that he does hold his boy very close to him, which is why all of this hard stuff was happening. God was not going to give up on this kid. That is JOY!

Knowing, God loves your kid more than you can.

Knowing He never gives up on us.

Knowing he will continue to wait until my kid comes back to him.

Knowing this gives me joy.

I wish the world could understand what real joy is! It has nothing to do with how I feel, because I have had all the feels this week. Joy is about what God is doing in my life and in my kids life and knowing it is out of his crazy love for us. And because of his joy, we can walk in confidence that His plan for our kids is so much better than ours and he is piecing together a story that could change lives!


"So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever." 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NLT)

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Trusting Him through the Fog

It is part of our human nature. The fear of the unknown. We don't walk in the dark without a flashlight.  Faith does not come natural for us. We struggle with it. We often push it aside because it seems easier to fear than have faith, even though the fears we allow to creep in can initiate a chain reaction of fear based actions. And then we have a whole new set of problems.

In my last post I shared how I am Praying with Anticipation in 2017.  Prayer is one of those ways we prepare ourselves to be ready for what could cause fear in us, but instead we choose to trust God. Prayer brings us into the presence of God in a way that nothing else can.

January 1st I was walking our dog Ruby early in the morning. It was very foggy. Visibility was just about zero.  As Ruby & I were walking, I began talking to the Lord, not expecting him to talk back.  I know...I'm still learning what this "praying with anticipation" thing is all about.

I was basically complaining about the fog.
Lord, this is a crummy way to start the new year off. Fog so thick we can't see where we are going.
And then He began to whisper to my spirit...

Look at that fog, he said. Let that fog serve as a reminder to you that I can be trusted, especially when you can't see what is in front of you. When you don't know what direction I am taking you, trust me anyway, because I am taking you in a direction that others can't see. They don't have to trust in what I'm doing, only you do. My ways can be trusted.

WOW!!!!

My head knows I can trust God. I know his ways are perfect.  I know he loves doing new and exciting things. But my heart often has a more difficult time believing it. And I am pretty sure that is why He has me praying Deuteronomy 6:5 this week.

Until my heart is completely consumed with the agape love for the Lord, trusting him will always be a struggle.  I don't know about you, but I'm so done with struggling!

Fill me with your love oh God. Make my heart so consumed with your love that trusting you is second nature, something I don't have to consciously think about because I just do it. Help me to not fear the foggy days, but to face them with courage, knowing that you are leading me and will make my steps firm. A-men

Because She Believed

I'm journaling my way through the scriptures leading up to Jesus birth this month. I started doing it last year but never finished and this year I got off to a late start. So goes my life.

It has been very refreshing and deepened my understanding of all that God did to prepare his people for His son. I love when the Lord gives me a refreshed and new view of characters in the Bible that I have heard about my whole life. The Lord brings them alive in new ways every time! I am ready to keep it going with a new book of the Bible after Christmas. 

And then there was Mary.

The Bible doesn't give us a lot of details about Mary. We have to make a lot of assumptions about her based on the culture of the time and the events that surrounded her. The character of God also gives us some very definite hints about her character because he chose her to play such an important role; being the mother of Jesus.

But this morning as I read my scripture passage I read it as a mother, expecting my first child.

I couldn't help but let my mind wonder into the mind of Mary on that night when Jesus was born.

Wait! I can't go into labor here! I want my mother with me! I need the midwives! I want to be at home! We are in an animal barn in another town with complete strangers! The Son of God cannot be born in an animal barn! It smells horrible in here! It is dirty! God, this isn't how it is supposed to be! My baby needs to be born in a quiet, clean place where I can protect him and keep him warm, not in a barn!

I don't really know if this is what Mary was thinking, but I bet a barn was not where she expected to give birth. I'm sure she had a plan for Jesus birth. I'm sure she had idea's of where the birth would happen. Her expectations were possibly all being tossed out with the straw in that barn as her contractions grew harder as the animals looked on. And to make things worse, as far as we know, Joseph had to help deliver the baby. That was not appropriate according to culture. 

Mary was a real person with real feelings and even though she had great faith, I have a feeling she also had a lot of spunk about her. Serious spunk! Her whole life she had to deal with people who didn't understand who Jesus really was.

She could have recalled scriptures read to her by her father.

"For I know the plans that I have for you, ' declares the Lord,' plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

"Many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand." Proverbs 19:21

How many times have I let my expectations of something or someone cause me to miss out on truly experiencing God's blessings. Many times!

How many times have I let my own plans get in the way?  Many times!

How many times have I become so caught up in the chaos around me that I can't see what God is trying to do? Too many times to count.

And because she believed...

But Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. Luke 2:19

I don't think anything happened like she had thought. Actually, her life had been turned upside down for the past 10 months so I'm sure his birth didn't surprise her much at all.

Maybe that is why she was able to cherish it all in her heart. She knew who was orchestrating this world changing event. She knew God would do what he said he would do. That is why God chose her to be the mother of His only begotten Son!

Lord, give me the faith of Mary. A faith that is so solid that any plan I have is simply laid aside for your will that is always so much more exciting than anything I could ever dream.

The Spiritual Index

I just had to share this with you. I've struggled with my prayer life recently and this was just what I needed to hear.  This is from Oswald Chambers' devotional, My Utmost for His Highest.

"Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?" Matthew 7:9

The illustration of prayer that Our Lord uses here is that of a good child asking for a good thing. We talk about prayer as if God heard us irrespective of the fact of our relationship to Him (cf. Matthew 5:45). Never say it is not God's will to give you what you ask, don't sit down and faint, but find out the reason, turn up the index. Are you rightly related to your wife, to your husband, to your children, to your fellow-students - are you a "good child" there? "0 Lord, I have been irritable and cross, but I do want spiritual blessing." You cannot have it, you will have to do without until you come into the attitude of a good child.

We mistake defiance for devotion; arguing with God for abandonment. We will not look at the index. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want when there is something I have not paid for? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? I have not forgiven someone his trespasses; I have not been kind to him; I have not been living as God's child among my relatives and friends. (v.12.)

I am a child of God only by regeneration, and as a child of God I am good only as I walk in the light. Prayer with most of us is turned into pious platitude, it is a matter of emotion, mystical communion with God. Spiritually we are all good at producing fogs. If we turn up the index, we will see very clearly what is wrong - that friendship, that debt, that temper of mind. It is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then, Jesus says - "Everyone that asketh receiveth."

A Simple Prayer Life

My husband writes a blog for men , mostly focusing on the fathers Biblical role in their home. He had a neat story on his blog; I wanted to share it with you.

In learning how to have a Christlike prayer life, we need to approach every aspect of life in prayer…when we take a walk we can pray about it, when we are about to make a phone call-ask the Lord to direct what you say, when you type an email to someone-ask God to direct what you say and how you say it, etc. Approach each area of life by saying “Lord, I can’t do one thing apart from You. Father, with Your power and might, please, do this ‘thing’ through me.”

*One time someone asked a dear older lady what her “prayer method” was? She simply replied, I don’t know nothin’ about method. I just pray like this:

When I wash my clothes, I pray, “Lord, wash my heart clean.”
When I iron the clothes, I pray, “Lord, iron out all these troubles I can’t do nothin about.”
When I sweep the floor, I pray, “Lord, sweep all the corners of my life like I am sweepin the corners of this floor.”

This is being in an attitude of constant prayer…and this is a real prayer life all day long.

*story was found in Ray C. Stedman’s “Talking With the Father” book.

That They will Trust in You

Lord God,
I come before you lifting up my children.  I want so badly for them to trust you with ALL their heart.(Prov.3:5)  I want them to be passionate about you.  I pray that they will not lean on their understanding but will acknowledge you in all their ways(Prov.3:5).  I want them to learn early that their ways will surely bring them failure and disappointment, but it is your ways that will bring life and joy.  I want them to learn that when they trust in you, you will direct their paths, you will guide them and that they will be satisfied and fulfilled with your love for them.(Prov.3:6)  Protect them from the wicked ways that may stray them from you and bring them back when they do stray away.  I pray that they are able to shun evil and bring honor and glory to you.(Prov.3:7-9)  I pray all this in your trusted & blessed name.
A~Men

10 Things to Pray

Teach me...

•1. To hold my tongue -

Job 6:24 Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.

Psalm 141:3 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.

Father, teach me when to speak and when to listen. Set a guard over my mouth so that my words will encourage & not discourage others. Give me wisdom in my words . A-men.

2. What I can say to God-

Job 37:19 "Tell us what we should say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.

Romans 8:36 "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.

Father, how thankful I am to know that even when I have no words to say to you, your Holy Spirit can speak on my behalf.

3. Your paths-

Psalm 25:4 "Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;

Job 34:32 "Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do so again.

Father, open my eyes that I may see your path to walk in. Help me to see when I am stepping away from you and give me the faith to walk in your ways even though I cannot see the way.

4. Your Truth -

Psalm 25:24 "Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Father, how wonderful it is to know that you are God. Guide me in your truth so that I can easily recognize evil and strengthen me so that I can resist and temptation to stray from you.

5. Your Way-

Psalm 27:11 "Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.

Psalm 86:11 "Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

Father, teach me to walk only in your way. When I am faced with difficult times help me to trust only you to direct me. I want to love you with all my heart, show me when I allow other things to interfere with my love for you.

6. To number my days that I might apply my heart to wisdom-

Psalm 90:12 "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 20:24 "A man's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way?

Father, please forgive me idol busyness. I know that I let so many things get in the way & then my day is wasted. Teach me to use my days with discernment & wisdom so that I may bring glory to you.

7. Your statutes-

Psalm 119:24 "Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees.

Psalm 119:26"I recounted my ways and you answered me; teach me your decrees.

Psalm 119:64 "The earth is filled with your love, O LORD; teach me your decrees.

Psalm 119:68, "You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.

Psalm 119:124 "Deal with your servant according to your love and teach me your decrees.

Psalm 119:135 "Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your decrees.

Father, teach me your statutes so that I can know you better. You are so good and your statues bring peace to my life. Shine on me Oh God and teach me your decrees.

8. The way of your statutes-

Psalm 119:33, "Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end.

Father, just knowing your statues will not help me much unless I learn to keep them. Help me to keep your commands so that I may experience you and know the way of your statutes.

9. Judgments. -

Psalm 119:36, "Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands.

Psalm 119:108, "Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws.

Father, teach me to make good judgments. Help me to discern and to act slowly with great thought. Help me to apply the knowledge of your word to my actions. I praise you for your law's and the happiness it brings me.

•10. Knowledge-

Psalm 119:66, "Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands.

Father, teach me your knowledge and help me to gain wisdom from it.

For more ideas on what to pray or how to pray go to Prayer Power Ministries website. Kaye Johns is a mom who is passionate about teaching moms how to develop a deep prayer life.

This is what it is all about!

My 2nd oldest daughter went to our church preteen camp as a counselor. She had 10 6th grade girls to keep up with, pray with, lead in Bible study and just have a great time with. She had a blast. There was one girl in particular that really touched my daughter's heart. Her name was Sarah. She trusted Christ that week as her Lord & Savior. Sarah(my daughter) had the pleasure of praying with her when she told the Lord how much she loved him and needed his forgiveness for all her sins. Sarah said it was one of the sweetest & most confidant prayers she had ever heard a new believer pray.

Below is what she posted as her Facebook status the day after they returned from camp. I just had to share it with you. Pray for Sarah as she begins a new life with her Jesus!

There is one thing I would like to announce to you all. I have made a life changing experience the one week which has changed me forever. For a long time, I have always thought the wrong doing I've done was all my fault, and that I've had something wrong with myself. I would sometimes cry myself to sleep every time I would get mad, and think, "why did God put me this way?" So things started changing for me. I started talking insulting, and having a bad attitude. So after a while, after I found out my gramma was about to die, I thought "no, God couldn't be real." And then I came to Stonebriar church camp, the place that changed my whole life and my... perspective of God. I suddenly felt so apologetic to God of how i treated him, and that if I believe in him, i will not perish. I met the most amazing people there, and I became friends with the most wonderful person: Jesus Christ. He is there for everyone no matter one, and he loves everyone no matter what. He died on the cross for US!!!!!!!!! amazing! I just want to thank Pastor Joe, my counselor (the awesomest one) Ms.Sarah Bailey, my cousin, cabin mates, and my friend Emi who has been there for every step of the way. God bless you all!

My husband writes a blog for men , mostly focusing on the fathers Biblical role in their home. He had a neat story on his blog this morning & I wanted to share it with you.

In learning how to have a Christlike prayer life, we need to approach every aspect of life in prayer…when we take a walk we can pray about it, when we are about to make a phone call-ask the Lord to direct what you say, when you type an email to someone-ask God to direct what you say and how you say it, etc. Approach each area of life by saying “Lord, I can’t do one thing apart from You. Father, with Your power and might, please, do this ‘thing’ through me.”

*One time someone asked a dear older lady what her “prayer method” was? She simply replied, I don’t know nothin’ about method. I just pray like this:

When I wash my clothes, I pray, “Lord, wash my heart clean.”
When I iron the clothes, I pray, “Lord, iron out all these troubles I can’t do nothin about.”
When I sweep the floor, I pray, “Lord, sweep all the corners of my life like I am sweepin the corners of this floor.”

This is being in an attitude of constant prayer…and this is a real prayer life all day long.

Scott Bailey (c) 2009

*story was found in Ray C. Stedman’s “Talking With the Father” book.

Praying for Our Children

Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children. Lamentations 2:19

What is prayer and why should we pray?

First, prayer is more than giving our list of wants and needs to God. It should not be a whining session or pity party. Prayer is acknowledging and experiencing the presence of God and inviting him into our lives. When we pray we are saying to God, “I need you. I can’t do this without you.”

Doesn’t God already know everything? Why should we pray for God to bring our children to early salvation or to protect them? Does it really make a difference? I think it makes a huge difference. I believe there are many reasons that we ought to pray. Jesus prayed. If he felt it was important to talk to God why shouldn’t we? Stormie Omartian said this about praying.

“God has so much to speak into your life. But if you don’t draw apart from the busyness of your day and spend time alone with Him in quietness and solitude, you will not hear it. Jesus Himself spent time alone with God. If anyone could get away with not doing it, surely it would have been Him. How much more important must it be for us.” -

Stormie Omartian, The Power of a Praying Wife.

That brings me to the next reason. Prayer is how we communicate with God and he has a lot he wants to say to us. Many times it is during our pauses of prayer for others that He speaks to us. We may be praying for our child to be honest while God may bring to mind a time when we were not honest and we need to repent. Another reason to pray for our children is because we cannot raise them alone. We need God’s guidance and wisdom. Through praying for our children we remind ourselves that they belong to God. Moments after each of our children were born, Scott & I prayed together, dedicating our precious blessing to the Lord and asking Him for guidance and wisdom in raising them. We tend to try and take them back as we try to handle their foolish ways ourselves. We should depend on God to give us what we need to raise our children.

And lastly, I don’t believe that prayer changes God, but I do know that it can change us. I have personally experienced a change of heart for someone just by praying for them. If you are dealing with a difficult or challenging child, pray for them. It will do at least 2 things. First, you remain aware of any positive changes you may see in the child’s behavior. You will see it when they begin to choose right over wrong. Second, you will develop a deeper love and understanding for that child that you didn’t have before. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to truly like a child that you have been at odds with for so long.

Praying for your children will be a life changing experience for you first of all and then your children also.

One of my many projects that I have started was to write 52 prayers to pray for your children using scripture. For January my topic of prayer is -Knowing Christ early & having a hunger for his word. Here is my first prayer that I am praying for my children. You can join me in this if you wish.

John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they might have life and have it to the full."

Father, I come before you knowing how eager the enemy is to attack my children. I pray that they might come to know you early in their life. I pray that they might hide your word in their heart and will hunger for your wisdom so they might experience your abundant life. Help me as their mother to lead them towards you and that I might sow seeds of desire for you. A~men