Every soul has the desire to have a loving and caring father. However, in this fallen world, there are many children and adults who have never experienced a daddy’s love. I have deep compassion for those who are fatherless.
How incredible it is to know we are like clay in a potter’s hands. We are the work of God’s hand. It’s amazing and beautiful to experience God’s love in a fatherly way.
My prayer is that every hurting person (child or adult) will experience the priceless gift of God’s perfect love and rest in knowing how deeply compassionate is the heart of our FatherinHeaven.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for loving us with a perfect, fatherly love. Thank You for being a good heavenlyFather and bringing healing to those who are fatherless. Comfort the ones who have never had a loving father and fill the void in the hearts of sons and daughters who have lost their dad due to death, divorce, abandonment, and other circumstances.
Help the ones who are hurting today to rest in Your presence and know that You will never leave them, nor forsake them. Help them look to You always as their provider, nurturer, and protector.
Bring forth many spiritual fathers to meet the needs of those who are hurting today. Fill the hearts of every earthly father with Your love so that they can be conduits of Your amazing grace to their children and grandchildren. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
“Memorial Day” was established hundreds of years ago as a day to honor and remember the ones who have died in the United States Armed Forces. It’s a day to thank God for those who have given the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom. Our hearts are filled with gratitude for these brave souls.
Let’s pray and thank God for all the great men and women who have served and died while protecting our country.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the brave souls who have given the greatest sacrifice to protect our freedom. Help us to never forget the heroes of this country and help us remember the ones who lost their lives sacrificially. Please comfort those who have lost loved ones in the battlefields. Embrace the spouses and encourage the children who are missing their loved ones. Bless and protect the service men and women who are risking their lives to serve our country. Keep them in the shadow of Your wings today and always. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
Motherhood is the job that is shaping the future of our world like no other job. Mothering is by far one of the hardest jobs. There are no accolades during the formative years of our children’s lives. The rewards come later when we see our adult children making a difference in their communities.
On this MOTHER’S DAY, please join me in praying for all the hard-working moms—the ones who are sacrificing so much to help their sons and daughters grow into thriving adults.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the gift of motherhood. Thank You for the mothers all around the world who pray for the younger generation and have laid down their desires to give sacrificially to their children. Bless each loving mom with your peace and joy every day. Let the sons and daughters arise to show gratitude for their mothers.
Comfort the ones who have never had a loving mother and fill the void in the hearts of sons and daughters who need a mom. Bring forth many spiritual mothers to meet the needs of those who are hurting today. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
We are focusing on loving one another for the “National Day of Prayer” in America.
Our generation is living in an unprecedented time of hatred. Many have turned away from God because they don’t know that His true nature is love. God is love. (1 John 4:8).
The words in Matthew 22:39 reveal the Lord’s second greatest commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” God has called us to love all people purely and unconditionally. It is by God’s amazing love and grace that souls will be drawn into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
His love is enough to conquer anything. Evil may be increasing on the earth, but love overpowers it all. As we love one another as Christ loves us, we will see the world begin to change.
Let’s pray for our nation and for all the nations of the world to grow in Christ’s love.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for loving us perfectly and not giving up on our nation. Keep Your hand upon our country and help us to love each other as You love us. Bring unity and a spirit of brotherhood upon our land. Let love begin growing throughout every city in America. Let Your perfect love rule in the hearts of all Your children and let us be an example to those who do not know how to love yet. Let us all walk together in our diversities as one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Let all races be treated equally with respect and honor. Awaken countless souls with Your love and let the greatest spiritual awakening spread across our country. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
Jesus deeply loves children. I learned about His love for children when I was a little girl. There is a song we sang at church in my childhood years that touched my spirit.
In my Sunday school class, we would sing these words: “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world…red and yellow, black and white. They are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”
In the Bible, we see that Jesus had very strong feelings about the importance and care of children.
Christ’s love for the children is the reason we are beckoned to pray for and care for the needs of the hurting kids around the world. One of our true purposes as followers of Christ is to partner with the Lord and help meet the needs of children who are suffering.
There are wonderful ministries we can partner with to help hurting children. “One Million Home” is a ministry that is helping orphanages around the world to shift their model and they are helping reunite many children with their families. This ministry provides grants (finances) to orphanages and helps to place orphaned children in loving homes. I truly believe Christ is using this ministry to help eliminate the suffering of children and we are at the cusp of seeing a tremendous breakthrough in the orphan crisis.
You can view the video about the vision of One Million Home at the end of this post and you can visit their website: https://1millionhome.com/orphanages/.
Let’s pray for the protection of children in our world every day.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your grace and mercy. Touch every hurting child with Your healing hands and heal the broken places in their hearts. Bind up their wounds and let their spirits soar again. Surround these children with a legion of angels and protect them from abusive people. Use the body of Christ to bring an end to child hunger and bring a breakthrough for the orphan crisis in our world. Bring freedom to every child in bondage and raise up more adoptive parents for the children who need a loving home. Release every child from harmful situations and shield them with Your love today and forever. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
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Over three decades ago, while standing in front of approximately a hundred and fifty people on April 27, I looked into Michael’s eyes and said, “I do.” I was a young nineteen-year-old girl, without a clue of what those two simple words really meant. The most important thing to me at the time was the passionate love I had for the one who had swept me off my feet. I couldn’t imagine my life without Michael. With a simplistic attitude, I made a commitment to love my husband as long as we both live.
The first few months as husband and wife were very much like a honeymoon vacation. We were inseparable and giddy as we began our new life together, but as the months grew into years, challenges began to arise. Job losses after our children were born and other real life issues came to test our love; and we approached seasons in our marriage that seemed impossible to overcome.
At one point when our children were very young, we lived separately for a few weeks to figure out how to mend our broken relationship. Even with the challenges, neither of us ever completely gave up.
At the lowest point, we both agreed to place our marriage in God’s hands and asked Him to teach us how to really love each other. We each began to look to Christ, and step by step things began to change in our marriage. We learned to embrace the differences in our personalities. We learned that where one of us is weak, the other is strong. We learned that there is a divine purpose for our opposite strengths and weaknesses.
We learned that genuine love is built on the ability to accept the other individual with flaws and all. Once we learned those lessons, then the real beauty of marriage began to grow in our relationship. All masks came down and a mutual trust developed that is indescribable.
As a couple that did not give up during our younger years, Michael and I learned that love isn’t a fleeting emotion based on feelings. In reality, real love is a selfless commitment and it’s most evident when we face trials.
Looking back, I can remember a time when I had a horrible flu virus and Michael’s love for me was so strong. I was probably the sickest I’ve ever felt in my life. My head was pounding with pain and my body ached terribly. As he patiently spooned chicken soup into my mouth to help me gain strength, Michael’s tenderness and gentleness spoke volumes of his love for me.
Along with my recollection of Michael caring for me during sickness, there are countless stories laced with joy woven into the past thirty-four years where love has shown itself as the powerful force in our relationship.
While looking through some of our photos, I saw a picture taken on the front porch of our friends’ vacation home in North Carolina. The picture struck me instantly and served as the perfect analogy for the way our marriage has grown so beautiful and comfortable.
With Christ’s help, our love has become like relaxing on the front porch of a cozy home as we experience the exhilarating beauty that brings rest to the soul. The thing that brings us rest in our souls—unconditional love—happens to be the very same thing that brings out the most awesome beauty of marriage.
With every year of life, I grow more grateful for what Christ did for mankind. He died an agonizing death to redeem us and give us eternal life. Jesus paid it all and took the penalty for our sins. This is good news that ought to be shouted joyfully to the world. Jesus said, “It is finished.” We do not ever have to agonize over our failures or mistakes again. There is nothing more awesome about life than Christ’s magnificent gift of the cross.
The resurrection of Christ is the only hope for our world. Christ redeems our lives and restores all that’s broken as we trust Him.
This morning, I received a new picture of a precious little girl we began sponsoring through a ministry (mercyandgracecharity.com) in Andhra Pradesh, India at the end of 2018. This picture is another beautiful reminder to me of Christ’s redeeming love.
Years ago, we were in a season when we barely had enough food to eat. It was about nine years ago when Christ rescued our family out of a difficult season of lack. While we were very financially broke, I hung onto the hope found in a relationship with Christ and marched around my house enthusiastically declaring, “I will help orphans!” Because of Christ’s redemptive love, my longtime dream of helping orphans in Africa and other parts of the world came to fruition after the Lord led my husband to a new career in 2010.
The risen Christ is our redeemer. He saves us and then transforms the most difficult circumstances into something incredibly beautiful as we live by faith. All these years after I declared my desire to help orphans, I am celebrating the amazing gift of the cross and the beauty He creates in the lives of the ones surrendered to Him.
Beloved Jesus,
You are beautiful. You are amazing. You are incredible. Thank You for the glorious gift You have given mankind by dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Thank You for bearing the indescribable pain so that we can live eternally. Thank You for Your love that allows us to live freely and fully alive. Thank You for coming into the world and offering us salvation and letting us live in Your love for all eternity. Lord, we know we could never repay You for what You have done for us, but we choose to come to You with humility and sit at Your feet. We worship and adore You for all that You are. Your love lifts our countenance. Your love gives us hope. Your love heals our broken hearts. Your love allows us to give to the ones in need, to share the good news with the lost ones, and to forgive the ones who have hurt us. Your love conquers all of the darkness and awakens our souls. We will be eternally grateful for You. We love You with all of our hearts and pray in Your name, Christ. Amen.
Have a blessed Easter and rejoice in all Christ has done for you.
Our hearts are hurting for the ones affected by the terrorist attack at two mosques in New Zealand. We are filled with compassion for the community of people in Christchurch.
Every time there is a senseless tragedy, the Lord’s words about prayer (Matthew 6) offer us a hopeful way to pray. There are fourteen words from the Lord’s Prayer that bring great comfort in times of trouble: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on EARTH as it is in HEAVEN.” Hope exudes from those words, because we know that Christ’s will is meant to be on the earth in the same way that it is in HEAVEN.
Let’s join together and pray for HEAVEN’S agenda to touch the people in New Zealand.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for being our healer and rescuer. Please draw near to those who were affected by the tragedy in Christchurch, New Zealand. Let Your presence surround those who are suffering and bring peace to those who have been deeply traumatized.
Place Your hands around every hurting person and give them serenity to replace the turmoil. Be their refuge and strength continually. Bring solace to those who are mourning and bring healing to those who are injured. Bring comfort and hope to the ones feeling hopeless.
Pour out Your Spirit in a mighty way and wash away the pain with Your love. Strengthen the medical staff as they work to help people heal from the trauma. Let Your will be done in New Zealand as it is in HEAVEN. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
It was morning time. Christ’s presence could be felt strongly as I sat on my porch, reminding me of the refreshment that comes in communing with Christ. Christ’s voice enveloped my spirit and beckoned me to draw close to Him.
In my heart, it was though Christ was speaking these words: My heart yearns for you to sit at My feet. One glance from you makes My heart leap. I want your love more than anything else. All that your soul needs is found in Me and My love. Come enter into a beautiful love story with Me. Let My love carry you through life’s challenges. Come find refreshment and rest forever in My perfect love.
After a morning of stillness, I was refreshed once again by the love of Christ and ready for a new day of living in Him. The love of Christ is always the answer and truly the way to find peace in a chaotic world.
Beloved Jesus,
Thank You for refreshing our souls with Your love. Help us to draw near to You every day. Let us carry this message of Your beautiful love to a broken world that so desperately needs You. We love You and are waiting for Your return. I pray in Your mighty name, Jesus. Amen.
As I ponder the memories of the past year, the defining theme of 2018 could be summed up in the word, “yielded.” It was a year of allowing Christ to stretch me more and fully accept His callings for my life. The most defining moment for me was standing on a mountaintop at ‘Fields of the Wood,’ a Bible-themed park, on my 53rd birthday. It was a significant birthday and God confirmed His plans for my life in amazing ways that day. It’s no coincidence that the biblical symbol of the number fifty-three is “faithful witness.”
While standing on the mountaintop, the sky was blue like beautiful pools of water and the golden rays of sunshine were radiantly shining down as I stretched my arms toward HEAVEN.
I wept as I prayed: “Lord, I am Yours. Take me and use me however You desire. I will go wherever You lead me…together with my husband.”
It was one of the most powerful moments of my life as I stood on a concrete platform in the shape of the cross, surrounded by the flags of the nations. I knew in that moment I was truly yielded to the unknown possibilities, realizing I had no idea where Christ would lead us. The only thing that mattered in that moment is the confidence in knowing I am His and my soul is completely free to do what He placed me on the earth to do.
This journey of living the yielded life in Christ is not about us—it’s all about Him. Our failures and brokenness do not determine whether or not God will use us for His glory. In fact, the more broken the vessel is, the more Christ’s Holy Spirit can flow through us.
Wrong mindsets say our flaws disqualify us from being used by God, but the Holy Spirit says: Broken people make the best examples of the wonder-working power of God.
Last year, Christ embedded it into my heart that only His opinion matters. Christ freed my soul completely from fear of anyone’s opinions of me.
So here I am, a fifty-three-year-old woman, ready for new adventures and ready to be the most faithful witness for Christ that I can be. After this life is over, I cannot imagine a greater reward than hearing Christ say: “Well done, MY good and faithful servant.”
What about you? Are you ready to say, “YES” to whatever Christ has for your life? God is ready to take full responsibility for the life of the ones fully surrendered to Him. A yielded heart is one of the keys to true contentment. When we are yielded to Christ’s will for us, He is faithful to chisel away the sins in our hearts and lead us to the new beginnings in store for us.
Life will not be perfect until Christ’s return, but it is deeply fulfilling within our souls when we simply lay everything down and quit trying to figure things out. Let’s live totally yielded to Christ in 2019 and do the things on His agenda for our lives.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for filling us with Your Holy Spirit and leading us with Your guiding voice. Please help us to surrender every part of our lives to You and let us walk by Your Spirit. Let us seek You wholeheartedly and live for You with a singleness of heart. We lay aside all of our selfish ambitions and yield ourselves to You completely. Let us keep You as our highest priority every day. Help us to live each moment guided by Your Holy Spirit so that we can make a difference in the world. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
