Good morning, DearHeart. Endurance. The road gets long. Stressors come. The ache and pain stays constant. Grind doesn’t give a break. Tired. Hurt. Discouraged. My dear friend, Father God is already there – He has already done the hardest work for you. Think about the source of this tidal wave – in three days everything can totally change. (Surely, this simple thought got Christ thru His greatest torture). In three months you will look back on the multitude of blessings from this time and your heart will overflow. In three years, your journey and your courage will still be growing stronger every day – the daily miracles you experience now are building a firm foundation. Focus on the vision you have set with your Creator. Meet yourself where you are and find Him there. Then, change your scenery a sec. Step outdoors – notice something lovely … a cloud … a leaf on a tree … a butterfly’s wing. With every sense hightened, like they do in the troubled places, allow yourself that gift of peace perspective – and share your moment with a friend. Let that God-gift lift you so you can carry on. ‘Lord, You will establish peace for us’ (Isaiah 26:12 HCSB) Wake up. Little things. Little victories. Little blessings. Take notice. Go.
I think the more grieved we are about a deal, the more desperately we seek a Word from God. The alertness of our hearing is highly tuned.
That’s why when we pray, we pray til we hear His word, we repeat His promises over and over.
Over and over.
Over and over.
By repeating His promises, they start to settle in, and the promises feel different.
They feel real.
Meaningful.
Personal.
“And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” 2 Peter 1:4 NLT
Through His promises, He unveils His divinity in you and me. We get His opinion because we keep praying until we understand His will in this … thing … this deal … and once we have His Will and His Word ingrained well within from repeating the promises, then we have the final answer.
That is the pivot.
That is where I pray different. Believing ‘on-steroids’ sort of different.
Amped belief.
No-matter-what belief.
Have you been there?
Are you going there?
Feeling His promises instead of merely hoping?
Believing.
Because, when we know His will we don’t pray whiney, shallow prayers, like “Lord, help me, Jesus, help me.” When I know His Will it gives me CONFIDENCE – I pray with CONFIDENCE.
“God, I already know Your opinion on this, and I have come to agree with You. I’ve come to bring Your will from Heaven through me as a channel of faith to the earth.”
Everything changes right there. Everything.
The King of the Universe who has all authority is taking over the behavior of His child.
Have you ever asked God, “is this really how it happens? After believing all of the promises, the devil just walks into my home, steals the thing that means more to me than anything on this planet, and now I’m expected to accept that? Just sit here and watch that leave? I’m supposted to accept that and move on?”
How do you move on with your life when your loved one is drowning in the middle of a lake? Just leave them there?
When you look at your “deal” and there is nothing that looks like the will of God, in fact, everything looks like the one who came to steal, kill, and destroy … have you ever asked “what do You expect me to do, just step back and let it happen?”
I have. And, I had a decision to make. You do, too.
Ask yourself this: am I supposed to just let it happen, and let him be destroyed? And, let him destroy those who love him as well? Or, can I go – really, to this God I have known all of my life? The God I have trusted.
I went to Him and I asked, ‘God, what do you have to say about this thing right here? I know what everyone else thinks, but what do YOU think? Because, Your Word is Your Will.
Right there, I made my decision – I’m not going to accept this – sit by and let it happen… I decided to stand my heart right here in this place and claim the Will of God until this thing looked like God’s will. That decision changed everything to me. Anticipation. But, I knew that in order to bring God’s will to pass, I needed to KNOW His will.
I found He wanted me to know His will, too.
He wanted to talk to me.
He wanted me to breath Him into this situation.
He talked so plain it blew my mind.
He told me I didn’t have to accept anything that wasn’t the Will of God in my life.
You don’t have to just accept anything that is not the Will of God for your life, either.
For clarity, there are situations I’ve seen people walk through that there are no answers. I’ve spent my adult life watching my aunt walk through the loss of two sons with a trust in God and a faith, that to me, expresses the highest worship there is. Her life says I do not understand, but I trust my God and my Savior. For those people, I believe they are in the most precious space in the heart of a loving God, surrounded by a state of grace that our human minds cant’ comprehend. People like her, who have walked through the unimaginable are in an area unlike any other.
But, for other situations, you don’t have to accept anything less than the Will of God. When you know the will of God for you life, it changes everything. That’s why you must know it. Get your nose in the pages of your Holy Bible until every page comes to life in you. That is how He reveals His plan in your life.
When you know the Will of God it changes how you pray, 1 John 5:14-15 ‘And this is the confidence that we have in Him that if we ask ANYTHING according to His will He hears us.’
If we know that He hears us, then we know we are going to have whatever we ask for.
That’s huge.
If you ask anything, anything. Anything.
According to His will, then you can know that He is moving in your loved one. He is moving in you, through you.
Your Maker has not gone silent. He is simply aligning the set of details for your miracle.
Good morning, DearHeart. My heart is on fire. The authority that God has given us is amazing. Mind-blowing amazing. When we pray, things move and shake. Lives move and shake. Shackles move and shake. The key is this: we have to ask in order for the Authority to happen. My sons mean everything to me. You already know that. Here is the deal – raising boys to men means that they will go through seasons where they jump the rails … seasons where you look at them and think “who are you and what did you do with my son?” I think of you reading this and I wonder who is connected to your sphere of influence. Who all have you been assigned to to bring change, and healing to life? Who are those close – who mean the world to you, and who are on the fringe – watching, observing, curious, following. Your place, your area, your people, all are your assignment. Your spouse, your ex, children, workmates, mom, dad, cousins, your town, your state…it is a big deal that you live where you live with your people because you are carrying the Kingdom of God Almighty with you, into the space…into all your places, and, into your home. The influence of the Holy through you is powerful beyond measure. Let that sink in. I love His voice, I cherish it, I listen for it. Each derailment teaches me more about stand-in-the-gap prayer. Each changes me. It always results in the greatest learning of my life. And, when I think I have it figured out, another wave comes. There is more to learn. There’s more to the truth that prayer changes everything. So far, the hardest seasons have taught me to pray like I have never prayed before and to hear Him like I’ve never heard Him before. In crisis, hearing heightens. Sometimes heightened because I’m listening for anything resembling God’s Voice and I think He has gone silent, forgotten … only to learn later that He was moving as much in the silence as He does when He is front, center, and obvious. In crisis, every page of His Word comes alive to me: living, fresh, new, and written exclusively for me. Every page, an encounter that carries me. Everything in creation – a Word from the Father. To survive, to cope, to glean, to thrive, it is all set in motion by the act of “ask”. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Phil 4:6 Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually. 1 Chron 16:11 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Matt 7:7 So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Luke 11:9 Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. John 17:24 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Eph 6:18-20 Wake up. Ask. Keep asking. Go.
It’s a matter of the heart. A passionate and pursuing heart –
the passion and
the pace
of your purpose
will be determined by
how.
bad.
you.
want.
what.
you.
are.
going.
after.
God is reminding me of His goodness, His faithfulness, His power, His plan.
Father,
thank You that You are able to accomplish what concerns me today:
(Psalm 138:8). You are able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).
You are able because You are sovereign. There is nothing too hard for You. Continue to engrave upon my heart the reality that I am to walk by faith. I believe what Your Word says, that You have made some exceedingly great and precious promises. Seal these promises to my heart. Don’t let the enemy snatch away this seed You have sown, but let my life reflect the stability of knowing that You see and know and are at work on my behalf. Thank You, that You are in control. In the precious name of Jesus’, Amen.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Good morning, DearHeart. Satan wants you to give up. Deep down, you want faith unending. But, this is too slow – nothing seems to be happening – you feel like you want to throw in the towel. So much so, that you don’t even have the words to pray anymore. The enemy says you can’t hold on. You are weak. You will look foolish. But, here is where our hope is…Put your name in the place of ‘Simon’: Luke 22:31 Jesus says to Simon: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32 NLT In other words Jesus said: “Look Pete, Satan’s desire is that you are weak so he can win you over, but I HAVE PRAYED FOR YOU, that your FAITH will not fail.” When you have been through fire – then go back and tell your brothers about your God-victory”. That tells me that Jesus is praying for me, and if He is praying for me, then He is praying for you, too. He cares about the things you care about. You feel everyone has given up and you are in this fight alone. But, JESUS, says, “naw, that’s not right, I got you.” AS long as you keep hoping, then there is faith. And, the only time your faith fails is when you decide to accept things the way they are. When you only hear the limitations that humans ring in your ear, and fail to hear the Voice of the Master, then your faith has failed. God told me you needed to hear this from me today, because faith comes from hearing – and hearing revives faith in you. Keep believing your son is coming home. Keep believing your daughter will be healed. Keep believing your spouses heart will become tender. Keep believing there is a healing moving into you. Keep believing your beloved addict will be clean and sober. Keep believing your loves will end their feuds. Keep believing the anti-psychotic meds will be enough. Keep believing there are answers in caring for your loved-one’s dementia. Keep believing you ARE worthy to receive a full-blown miracle from the God who speaks and stars fall off his tongue. Do not underestimate His power and movement in this deal. He is faithful. Wake up. Jesus Himself is praying for us. Believe. Go.
When I look around, everyone I know is in an impossible situation. Is it just me, or is everything so very heavy right now? Schools are trying to decide whether or not to do school, and how. Six months ago who would’ve thought that would ever be an issue? Scene after scene, home after home, job after job (or, unemployment after unemployment), decision after decision – all just heavy.
Every night I pray for God to give me something specific to share. Sometimes it is through these posts, sometimes it is for someone specific, and sometimes my brain and my heart go to war just long enough to not finish – not pretty – part of being flesh-y (ugh).
But, not today. Today the share came loud and clear.
You need to know and I need this to sink into my bones – in every possible way, Heaven is watching everything about you/me.
God is watching you/me to see what you are going to do with this situation. This is His call:
Hold on to your faith.
Hold on to your faith.
Your faith is the pipeline that God is using to bring your answer from heaven to earth.
It is the most important thing there is right now.
Faith.
And, when you come through this trial not only will the crisis you are dealing with be different and changed, YOU are going to be different and changed, too.
The book of James tells you and me:
“..for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing…
when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:4, 6 NLT
and, this one is for you –
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 KJV
Satan would have us believe that if we can’t see it, then it is not real. Here, faith/hope IS substance.
Substance.
Real.
From hope comes real tangible substance.
Hope away.
Hope enormous.
Hope the impossible.
One day we will understand fully, that we have had it backward all this time – because the things of the Spirit realm are real and the things of the earthly realm are puffs of smoke.
Close your eyes and hope. See your impossible situation, your impossible person as changed, see them in the spirit.
As whole.
As laughing.
As free.
The way God sees.
Look at your problem.
Is it finances? You don’t know how you will make your next payment? Your car is broken down? You need new tires? You had to pick up your drunk spouse at a bar last night? Your child is hanging out with undesirables? You found a knot on your neck?
Close your eyes and let the Spirit consume you. Add hope.
You have the faith to see God is going to make a way where there is no way.
Is it your health? Are you sick? Are the doctors giving bad reports?
Close your eyes and hear what the God of the Universe has to say about it.
That is faith.
That is holding on to substance.
It is evidence.
God is simply telling you that what you see in the Spirit is more real than what you see in the natural.
When I really put thought into the supports in my life, I am in awe. Kori has a new pup, a border collie…and, Kori is her lifeline.
Support – holding each other up – to stand – sustain – has been on my mind lately … both sides, receiving, and giving.
Brace.
Foundation.
Prop.
Hold up.
Our God is intimately involved in the life of each one of His children. He knows each of us … right down to the number of each dyed hair. He is present in our lives, every single minute down to the most minutest of details.
And, this is the truth which gives us the support needed in the hardest of circumstances –
Our God will support us in all things for all of our days.
“If I go to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.” (Psalm 139:10-11, NLT)
Our God, intimately with us – in every detail of our lives, is supporting us every step of the way. I am struck by the truth of how God begins a life and grows each of us in the womb of our mothers.
Miracle.
But, there is another truth found in this psalm which should invite us to
bow humbly,
before the grace and mercy of our God,
who alone is infinite in His power
and wisdom;
abounds in grace and mercy;
and loves. us. fiercely.
It is His strength that supports us. “… and your strength will support me. (Psalm 139:10b, NLT)
Good morning, DearHeart. It’s been hard. Injuring. It’s still tender and incredibly raw. It’s difficult to even move from the stiffness that has set in to the parts where normal times have been killed out. You are taking a hit – a series of them. Dangling by a thread can be really mystifying. What you’re going through hurts. Listen closely, DearOne: You will be alright. Things are working out, in your favor at this moment. You must sit tight. Breathe in. Breathe out. Just hold on to hope. Right now it seems your heart may be racing. You’re getting beaten up. You’ve taken a blow you didn’t ever see coming. You’re doing all you can to keep it all together for everyone else. You loved hard and gave your everything. You’re meeting needs. Singing to the loneliest. Holding weary hands. You are covering lots of ground and lots of hearts. Your world feels like it is caving, and, your soul blotted out. But, now, The Almighty is seeing you through again. You are living on your Creator. He has set the table for you, and welcomed you as His special guest. You asked God Most High for His favor, and, He has heard you. Like a father who gives good to His children, Jehovah Jirah, my Provider, gives even so much more. Oh, how He loves you and me. Angels surround. Drawing in close. Everywhere. Your Creator sees you. He knows. He has been here through every dusk and has felt the weight on your chest. His throat has closed with yours. He has assigned those in the heavenlies to hold you. They see you through at His command. Your are in this place: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.” Psalms 23:5-6 NKJV He is orchestrating the chain of events that bring His advisors to you. Know that this turning is different. It draws down His Power into your bones. He is sending your sunrise. Wake up. Hope. Go.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV
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