A PENTECOST PRAYER: THANKING GOD FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT

On this Pentecost Sunday, I am thanking God for the gift of the Holy Spirit. I cannot imagine life without God’s Spirit. The Spirit of God is our lifeline. Without Him, we are lost. The Holy Spirit guides us, helps us, comforts us, reveals to us the areas in our lives that need to be sanctified, and the list goes on.

It’s a glorious time to be alive because the Holy Spirit is being poured out like never before. May you lift your arms in praise of our HEAVENLY FATHER and receive more of His Holy Spirit to empower you for the days ahead.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit. Thank You for pouring out Your Spirit on us today in a way that will change us eternally.

During the days ahead, bring forth a movement of Your Spirit that will bring true repentance to countless souls. Let Your Holy Spirit permeate the lives of every believer in Christ. Help us live fully awakened and help us pray more fervently than ever before.

Empower us with a greater measure of Your Spirit. Help us accomplish everything You created us for. Fill us with more of Your Holy Spirit and let each one of us be used mightily to share Christ’s love with hurting people. Give us Holy Spirit boldness and tenacity for the battles that lie ahead. Help us be peacemakers and help our families bring change to the world until the day of Christ’s return. I pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Acts 4:31

HAPPY PENTECOST SUNDAY!

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Photo Credit: Michael V. 

AWAKENED BY THE POWER OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION

Easter is my favorite holiday because nothing compares to the glory of Christ’s resurrection. Today, I’m soaking up the beauty of the springtime flowers and pondering how grateful I am for the cross of Christ.

With overwhelming gratitude, I feel like climbing to the top of the mountain where I live and shouting, “JESUS IS ALIVE!” I’m not sure if I will shout from the mountaintop, but I will always shout praises to Jesus during times of worship at home and gatherings with other believers.

Without the resurrection of Christ, we would be bound to spiritual death. Because of Christ’s resurrection, we are given new life and awakened spiritually by the same power that raised Jesus back to life. The resurrection of Christ is what empowers us to live fully alive and remain spiritually awake every day.

There is nothing more exciting than being fully alive and awakened by the Spirit of God. My prayer is that countless people will experience awakening and new life in Christ today.

LORD,

Thank You for dying on the cross so that we may have eternal life and live free from sin. Thank You for awakening us with Your resurrection power and giving us new life in You. Renew our spirits and help us live every moment fully awakened in Christ. Help us live a life of repentance and let us turn away from the things that deaden our spirit. Fill us with more of Your Holy Spirit so that our soul will stay fully awakened and let us soar like the wings of eagles eternally.

Bring hope and life to countless people today. Let the greatest spiritual awakening known to mankind come forth during the days ahead. We await Your second coming with excitement and joy. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 (NKJV)

Happy Easter!

Photo Credit: Christa V.

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THE WONDER-WORKING POWER OF PRAYER

After taking a long break from writing on my blog, I sensed God nudging me to write a new post. Writing about prayer has been on my mind and seems to be the topic that resonates with many people from all backgrounds. Countless people are suffering and need God’s divine intervention, but they have not discovered that prayer is the most important part of the Christian life.

Earlier today, I received a text message from a friend, and she shared about reading one of my blog posts that was sent to her email inbox twice. The interesting thing about it is this: I posted it sixteen months ago in 2024. The post was sent to her this morning by an error within the software on my blog. She was blessed to read it as the words in the post related to the season she’s walking in currently. It feels as though the post being sent to my friend today was a direct answer to my prayers because I have been praying often for her in recent days. God must have thought she needed to read it today instead of last year when I posted it. God is so faithful to answer prayers, and His timing is always perfect.

I stay in awe of God and how He answers my prayers. Even after decades of experiencing the wonders of prayer, I still get very excited every time God answers the cries of my heart. Constantly, I see evidence that the Lord is hearing my prayers and answering them in awesome ways. Even today as I was in the middle of writing this post, I received an incredible update from a family member I’ve been praying for. As I listened to my loved one talking, I was praising Jesus for answering my specific prayers. As I’ve proclaimed previously: “God did it again!”

Prayer is what connects us to our lifeline—Jesus Christ. Christ’s power is released in our lives as we pray and live by faith. It’s through prayer that our lives are transformed and we can make it through life victoriously.

Prayer is the way we connect with the ONE who has the power to change hard circumstances and transform us into the image of Christ.

The Bible says to pray continually and give thanks to God in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18).

There’s no pressure to pray in a certain way or in a perfect place. I have a prayer closet in my house that I love. It’s so cozy to me. But I have other favorite spots to pray. I love to pray on my porch. I love to pray in the sitting room in my basement. I love to pray in the guest bedroom and in our main living area.  I love to pray while sitting on a bench in a flower garden outside. I love to pray while I’m in the car and while I’m walking for exercise. I’ve even found solace while sitting on my bathroom floor and praying in the evening before I get ready to go to sleep. I love praying in so many places because it’s a life of prayer that makes every single day worth living.

I want to share a few pictures of my prayer closet. I chose a bright, floral rug for my prayer closet because it reminds me of my mom. The swords are symbolic of the power we have through Christ to fight the spiritual battle we face every day. The large sword was my stepdad’s sword. Before my stepdad passed away, this sword was hanging on a wall in the church that he and my mom planted (along with the leaders from the previous church they served at). The Bible on the floor was my grandmother’s Bible, and I cherish it.

This is a picture of the other side of my prayer closet. The wood sign that says: “WALK IN FAITH” belonged to my mom. She had it on a shelf in her prayer room before she passed away. The colorful floor cushion is one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. My husband gave it to me years ago, and I absolutely love it. I call it a “prayer pad.” It’s exactly what I needed because I love to be on the floor when I pray.

This is my mom’s prayer room in the house she lived in during the last years of her life. I love her prayer room. Happy memories flood my mind every time I look at this photo.

After getting a glimpse of my prayer closet, I hope you are inspired to pray more and trust God to do what only He can do. If you don’t know what to pray, the Bible says the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness, and the Spirit intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words (Romans 8:26). You can simply rest in Christ and rely on His Spirit. There’s no formula for prayer. Talk to God in your own style and let the Holy Spirit lead you. If you’re struggling to trust God, you can say a prayer as simple as this: “Help me, God. Fill me with more faith and never let me out of Your embrace.”

A life defined by prayer is peaceful and joyful because as we pray, we stay anchored to the SOURCE of everything we need. As you take steps toward Jesus each day, may you experience the wonder-working power of prayer.

A PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR

It’s a great time to ask God to give us more faith and trust Him to do what seems impossible throughout the year.

Matthew 17:20 (The Voice) says: “Because you have so little faith. I tell you this: if you had even a faint spark of faith, even faith as tiny as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and because of your faith, the mountain would move. If you had just a sliver of faith, you would find nothing impossible.”

Let’s pray passionately and trust God more to do impossible things.

LORD,

Thank You for giving hope and new life. Let 2025 be the best year ever as we trust You to give us strength by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Help us stay on Your divine path for each one of us and let Your awesome plans be firmly established in our lives. Give us more faith to pray mountain-moving prayers and let us walk hand in hand with You continually.

Let us draw closer to Your heart and experience Your presence in powerful ways. Guide us in our decisions and help us grow spiritually every day. Protect us from harm and give us strength for each battle we face. Help us to be courageous and use us for Your glory in many ways. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

May you have a blessed and powerful year in 2025! 🌻

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JOY TO THE WORLD!

Joy to the world, the Lord has come, and He’s coming again! We can rejoice this Christmas and every day, because we have Christ as our Savior.

Galatians 5:22-23 (AMP) says: “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Joy is a fruit of God’s Spirit according to the words in the book of Galatians. True joy is not something we can conjure up in our own strength, especially in hard seasons of life. Christ’s joy is supernatural and comes from walking in oneness with Christ. When we are one with Christ, and HE is our all in all, then we overflow with supernatural joy because of HIS constant presence in our lives.

Lasting (eternal) joy comes from knowing Christ. As we choose Christ above everything or anyone, joy will continue to overflow from our hearts.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the gift of Christ. Thank You for sending Your Son as the perfect sacrifice to redeem us. Thank You for all that Jesus gives us. Thank You that Christ enables us to live with an abundance of joy, peace, love, hope, and faith when we feel like giving up. Thank You for carrying us when we’re weary and tired. Thank You for being everything we need in this broken world. Let us rejoice over the gifts You have given to us through our beloved Christ. Amen.

MAY YOU HAVE A JOYFUL, JESUS-FILLED CHRISTMAS.

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PHOTO DESIGN BY: FREEPIK.COM

 

LOVING PEOPLE WHO ARE HARD TO LOVE

My all-time favorite sermon titled “Love Your Enemies” delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is the most powerful speech I’ve ever heard. Americans desperately need to heed the wisdom from this message delivered on November 17, 1957. Dr. King’s anointed words are just as relevant today as they were 67 years ago. Dr. King said: “Love is understanding creative redemptive goodwill for all men.”

Christ’s love is what the world needs more than anything else.

Matthew 5:43-48 says: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

It’s easy to love the people who are kind to us and treat us well. The difficulty of loving comes when people are mean to us and treat us unfairly. Judgmental people who say unkind, critical words are the hardest people for me to love. But through Christ’s Spirit and power, I am able to love those who don’t love me.

I believe it’s only through the power of God that we can love our enemies and pray for the mean people to have a joyful life. The people who are hardest to love are the ones who need it the most. Christ’s love flowing through us coupled with prayer will bring transformation.

Love is the most powerful force in the universe. It never fails.

We can make a huge difference in our world if we learn to love all people regardless of our differences and varying beliefs. God (LOVE) will transform our world if we will follow Christ’s command to love our enemies.

I am inspired by the words that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: “I still have a dream…men will rise up and come to see that they are made to live together as brothers…” May Dr. King’s dream come true. May we always walk in love and live as peacemakers.

Let’s pray for the CHURCH to rise up and love one another as Christ taught us.

LORD,

Thank You for Your grace and mercy that never ends. Help us to love our enemies with Your perfect love. Help us to love those who persecute us and spitefully use us. Let Your unconditional love be what the CHURCH is known for.

Bring unity and a spirit of brotherhood upon our land. Bring forth countless peacemakers in our country to bring change to our communities and help us live in harmony with each other. Let us all walk together in our diversities as one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Let every person from every race or background be treated equally with respect and honor. Cover our cities with Your peace and protect our neighborhoods from civil unrest during the days ahead.

Show countless people Your radical love. Speak to the hearts of all the people who call You, “Lord.” Raise us up to be the CHURCH You want us to be. Let us rise up and become people who love You fully and love each other perfectly. Let Your perfect love rule in the hearts of all Your followers. Make us ready for Your return, without a blemish or stain.

Awaken millions of souls to the reality of their need for Christ’s love and peace. Let the greatest spiritual awakening spread across our world. Let us arise in fervent prayer until we see Your kingdom come and Your will be done in America. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

I hope you will listen to this powerful sermon…

 

 

A PRAYER FOR AMERICA

While I have been crying out to God for America, I’ve sensed that many of God’s people are praying fervently and we at the cusp of seeing the greatest revival we’ve ever seen. As we keep our eyes focused on Christ and pray without ceasing, God will move on our behalf. Things may get worse before they get better, but God will keep His hand upon our country if we don’t give up praying.

Let’s pray passionately for God’s will to come forth in America.

LORD,

Thank You for the good plans and vision You have for America. Thank You for reviving the hearts and changing the lives of countless people. Let revival break out in a powerful way this week as the tension is high in our nation. Cover our cities with Your peace and let the body of Christ pray more fervently than ever before.

Keep Your hand firmly placed upon our country. Heal our land and let our nation be filled with Your glory. Guard over the election process and let Your will come forth. Turn things around in our cities and let Your chosen ones be elected as our leaders. Bring forth the leaders who will help our country be safe, protect our freedom, and help our nation thrive. 

Pour out a spirit of unity upon our nation and help us to forgive those who have hurt us. Let us show kindness and live in harmony with one another. Let the racial barriers come down in America and help us treat each other as brothers and sisters. Help us to be carriers of Your peace and let us be kind to those different than ourselves. Help us live humbly and walk in love toward all people. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Pray boldly!

Amy

Photo is by Freepik.

THE GIFT OF GOD’S MERCY AND GRACE

My heart is overflowing with compassionate prayers for the people who are experiencing tragic circumstances due to storms and other disasters. Thankfully, God’s love is being demonstrated through caring people to bring hope, healing, and restoration to the ones who were impacted by recent hurricanes.

With great hope for Christ’s second coming, I’m praying in faith as I focus on the merciful heart of God. We can rest in knowing natural disasters are NOT God’s judgment. We live in a fallen world. No one understands why horrific tragedy can exist. There are things we will never be able to understand in this life.

The Bible promises us that God’s mercy endures forever, and His grace is sufficient to carry us through every hard circumstance.

Psalm 136:1-9 (NKJV) says:

” Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.  Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever.  Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever:  To Him who alone does great wonders, For His mercy endures forever;  To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, For His mercy endures forever;  To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, For His mercy endures forever; To Him who made great lights, For His mercy endures forever—The sun to rule by day, For His mercy endures forever;  The moon and stars to rule by night, For His mercy endures forever.”

Psalm 103:8 (NKJV) says: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.”

When tragedies occur in our communities, we can be vessels of Christ’s love and compassion. As followers of Christ, let us arise and share the gift of God’s mercy and grace with the hurting people who have no hope. May we pray fervently for miracles to come forth amidst the despair.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your mercy and grace. Surround the hurting people in America and other countries with Your comforting presence. Draw near to those who have experienced devastation from the hurricanes and bring peace to the ones who have been deeply traumatized. Comfort those who are mourning and bring hope to the ones feeling hopeless.

Send countless workers to help with the rescue and restoration efforts. Let miracles come forth and let supernatural provision continue in the days ahead. Pour out Your Spirit in a mighty way and bring a great revival to Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, and every community that’s been affected by the storms. Let Your kingdom come and let Your will be done in our world.  Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Pray boldly! 🌻

Amy

As a side note, “Ooh Child” is one of my favorite songs; it’s a remake of a song first recorded in 1970. I’m sharing the link and hoping it will brighten someone’s day. This version was recorded after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and it was dedicated to the victims of the storm.

A FATHER’S DAY TRIBUTE

I’m incredibly grateful for my father. My heart is filled with many good memories beginning from when I was a little girl. Daddy took me to my dance classes and my t-ball games and on adventurous rides through the mountains in our Jeep. He took me on hikes and taught me to appreciate God’s beautiful nature—especially the North Georgia Mountains.

With his gentle nature and caring heart, he taught me how to ride a bicycle. I can still visualize that day out on the fairgrounds when my daddy let go of the back of my small bicycle. Oh, the joy that rose up in my heart when I knew I could ride by myself.

He taught me how to swim and dive. I can remember that day perfectly as well. He would hold me underneath my tummy and show me how to kick my legs and move my arms. He would move his hands out from underneath me and I would swim a little further each time. And my first real dive, in the pool at Tampa, Florida was amazing as my daddy stood there cheering me on until I defeated my fear.

He taught me how to drive a five-speed car. That was funny. With his patient assistance, I finally learned how to shift the gears without screeching sounds. The fact that my daddy taught me so many things made the experiences so much better.

He took me on outings, just the two of us, when my heart needed the special touch of a father’s love. And even though we had some painful years when our family split apart, I’m thankful for those years, too. I would not change any of the hard times. It was during the years after my parents divorced that I saw my daddy surrender to Christ and grow into an amazing man of God. I saw Christ’s transformative power working in a very real way that gave me a much stronger faith in God.

I am blessed beyond measure with a father who loves me and believes in me. He is one of my best cheerleaders in life and he speaks words of affirmation when I need encouragement. I would not be who I am today without having witnessed the realness of Christ shining through Daddy’s life. I will be forever thankful for all the ways my beloved daddy has shown me love throughout my life.

Happy Father’s Day!

Let this be a day of thanking God for the good fathers in our world. Most important of all, let us remember and rejoice in the fact that God is the PERFECT FATHER for everyone who is willing to receive His awesome gift of salvation. May God’s love fill the void in the hearts of the ones in need of a good father today.

A PENTECOST DEVOTION: PRAISING GOD FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT

Every day, I’m filled with gratitude for the Holy Spirit. I’m especially grateful today and I’m praising God on this Pentecost Sunday. Without the Holy Spirit it would be impossible to live the Christian life. It’s only through the power of God’s Spirit that we can live the way God designed for us to live.

Galatians 5:22-23 (TLB) says: “But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…” 

We know we are living by the power of the Holy Spirit when our lives are defined by the fruits of God’s Spirit. If we don’t have God’s Spirit controlling us, then there will be bad fruits in our lives. Thankfully, God’s Spirit-controlled people are able to be the most loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled people in the world as we continually allow God to fill us with His Spirit.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to do everything we’re called to do. Trying to live without the power of the Holy Spirit is like trying to fly a kite without the wind. We don’t need to struggle through life. When we need help, we can simply pray: “Holy Spirit, baptize me and help me.

Rest in God today and know that through the power of His Spirit, we can live abundant, empowered lives.

Hallelujah.

Happy Pentecost Sunday!

🌻Amy