Prayer is Powerful

James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (Note: when confessing your sins to one another, there is no need to share every detail, lest the person with whom you are sharing would be tempted to sin).

I went to a funeral today for a young lady who had a bright future and who was a joy and light within her family. It was tragic for us to lose her, of course, but in spite of the sadness of our loss, one could feel the presence of the peace of God at her funeral. And that presence is beyond measure. It is like God wrapping His arms around us when we are in times of trouble. Before the young woman's death, her mother sensed the Lord telling her to "pray your children home". The mother felt as though something ominous was in the near future, but she didn't know what. She was obedient to pray more fervently than she normally would, and I think that helped bring God's peace to her and the family.

It reminded me of my husband John talking about his grandfather, who John felt was the most holy man he had ever met. John's grandfather would walk around the yard each evening, praying and calling out each person's name - all his children, grandchildren and others for whom he prayed. John always believed that his grandfather's prayers are what sustained him for his entire life. John followed his grandfather's example of constant and fervent prayer. Now I try to follow John's example also.

One thing that encourages me is what the scripture says: "the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective". From my perspective, that is a great promise to us that our prayers are heard and that God is working on answering them. Of course we are not righteous of ourselves, but we are made righteous through our relationship to Jesus Christ.

So I would encourage you to take heed. Keep praying in the name of Jesus Christ for all those you love and scripture says even pray for your enemies. The important thing is to keep praying because your prayers are powerful and effective. Knowing that, you can rest in knowing that God is at work to answer your prayers. God bless all of you.

What If?

In her daily devotional, "Each New Day", for March 4th, Corrie ten Bloom talks about obedience. She says, "Perfect obedience would be perfect happiness, if only we had perfect confidence in the power we were obeying. A wolf does not bother a sheep that is with the flock, close to the shepherd." Psalm 23:1 RSV, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Corrie goes on to say, "Keep me in your flock, Lord, safe and secure in Your protection, knowing I have nothing to fear when I do Your work."

Obedience seems like a strong word. Before I gave my heart to the Lord, I cringed at the thought of being absolutely obedient to our Lord. I have come a long way toward realizing that I am not giving anything up that is of value, when I am obedient to God. Rather, when I am able to be obedient, my life goes so much better: I have more peace, I find favor with people, I have joy and more.

But what is the hold up? I long for the day when the Lord says, "Do it this way." and I say, "Yes Sir!" When the Lord suggests or commands a way for me, why do I try to convince Him that His plan is unnecessary or that I have a better plan?

In my mind, it makes no sense because I know that the Lord is the creator of all, He is all knowing, He has all the connections, He knows the best plan for each of us that He wishes we would embrace. And yet I find myself resisting. Why? I do trust the Lord and yet I hesitate. Is it my pride that is holding me back? (Resist with full Armor, Sept. 27th lessons learned post). Could it be that my faith is not absolute? (Dorothy with the Sparkling Blue Eyes Sept. 27th testimony). Whatever the reason, I want to do better because I know that the results are better when I fully trust and obey God

If you study the Scriptures, everyone who had a close relationship with God was obedient. Christ was obedient, even unto death. Our Blessed Mother Mary was obedient to say yes to God even though it seemed as if she risked being stoned for becoming pregnant before she was married. Joseph was obedient to marry Mary even though he knew she was pregnant because he believed the angel who told him that the pregnancy was from God.

There are many more examples and even if the others were not absolutely obedient all the time, their heart was in the right place, because they wanted to be obedient and tried their best to do so. God gave them more opportunities and more grace.

I believe that God meets us where ever we are at because He loves us more than we can imagine and He wants to have a close relationship with us. If our heart's desire is to have that close relationship with God, we will want to be obedient to follow His lead. Just like in the human realm, when we love someone we try to do things that please our beloved so that they know we care, when we love God, we will do all we can to be pleasing in His sight to let Him know how much we love Him.

So in questioning my own obedience walk, I thought of an experiment I could try. What if each time I felt a nudge from the Lord to do something, I stop what I was doing, if I could, and actually just did it? Maybe it would calling someone or doing something. Usually with the Lord, things don't take too long and are not burdensome.

I have started that experiment and so far it is working really well. I have been blessed without stress and those involved have been blessed. At this point, I may stumble along the way and miss my assignment, but my intention is to continue in this direction so that one day I will be able to hear God's voice and say "Yes Sir!"

How about you? Do you want a closer relationship with God? Where are you on your journey of obedience to Him? Will you join me in this experiment? If so, of course, you will do it in your own way because we each have our own journey that is special with the Lord. May God bless you in your efforts.

Who is My Best Friend?

Have you ever really taken the time to think about the people who you call friends in your life? There are so many levels of friendship. There are acquaintances and casual acquaintances. There are friends that you have fun with or with whom you have common interests. Then there are really close friends with whom you share your true self. People have said that if you have a handful of close friends in your entire lifetime, you are fortunate.

It is great if you have had the experience of having a really close friend. When you have had that opportunity, it is like a touch of heaven, because you can be your authentic self and still be loved. But, who is your best friend? One who will never leave you nor forsake you. One who listens to you day or night for as long as you want to talk. One who loves you unconditionally just the way you are, no matter what. One who always has your best interest at heart even if it means He has to sacrifice something of Himself for your greater good. One who will tell you the truth always, even when you don't necessarily want to hear it, and will never gossip about you. One who will always encourage you and lift you up.

Have you ever had a friend like that? If so, you have been blessed. Have you ever been a friend like that? If not, it is a great example to work towards. Who is this friend? His name is Jesus Christ and He wants more than anything that we would want to be His friend. Through His death and resurrection He has made a way for us to fellowship with Him, God our Father and the Holy Spirit now and for all of eternity. All we have to do to accept His invitation to be His friend is to realize that we are all sinners who need a savior, repent of our sins and accept Christ as our Savior. Once you have made that decision, God will abide in you as you abide in Him. You will have a peace that goes beyond understanding because you will know that God has your back: He has a plan for you that is for good and not for evil, He will be your counsel and your guide and lead you in all the truth, and He will be your protector and provider.

Believe me, there is nothing better than being able to have Jesus as your friend. Jesus is my best friend and has sustained me during this difficult season of my life. He has sustained me by both giving me His peace and by inspiring people to reach out to me and bless me by being the hands and feet of Jesus to me in my time of need. I am so grateful that those people have responded to the Lord by helping me. May God bless them in a mighty way.

Below is a song that I like concerning Jesus as my friend. I hope you are blessed by it.