Category Archives: Prayer

>Hello, Saturday

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>Good morning, Saturday!

It is very cold this morning; I am still on my pj’s and coffee is almost ready; I am ready to bake some orange scones for my family, I am sure they would love to wake up and find some warm treats… I will be back in  a minute.

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Here I am ready to enjoy the day; the scones turned out great! You should give them a try! (Petra, if you are reading this…I thought about you while baking them, hope one day we could have a real “tea- party” with our friends!)

Today I want to share with you my grateful note….

I am grateful for my dear friend Eileen, for all the effort she has been putting into writing our Philippians study. She has done an incredible job, and has put a lot of effort into it. This is the first time I have studied a book like this, and I have learned a lot. It has been a joy to dig into the Scriptures and treasure these words in my heart.

If you have not followed the study I encourage you to start it today. It is here for you, take advantage of it; I am sure you will be blessed and you will also exercise some discipline into the constant study of the Word of God (there is homework for 5 days of the week). You can start on the introduction, or directly into week one.

I wrote this prayer after one of the studies (based on Philippians 1)

Thank you, Lord, for remembering me and my children; 
I glorify you, O God, from whom all grace and peace flow.
Thank you, Lord, because you have called me to be part of your family, 
to have partnership in the gospel with the saints around the world.
Thank you, because whenever I see my sin, 
whenever I struggle to mortify my flesh, 
your Spirit remind me that it is You who began the good work in me, 
it is by grace that you have called me and by grace that I will finish the race; 
it is You who will complete the good work in me. 
It is not because of me, but because of you, and on this promise I rest assured.
Lord, help me not to forget in my prayers those who are suffering persecution for the gospel’s sake, 
and help me to be ready, if the day comes, 
to stand firm as the saints who have been willing to die joyfully while defending and confirming the 
gospel.
Father in Heaven, help me to abound in your love, in your Word, 
that I might be ready to discern and approve what is excellent in your sight, 
and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ;
let my life be fruitful at all times, 
in every season, 
let me bear the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ,
to the glory and praise of God.
In Jesus’ name which is above all names.
Amen

Have a wonderful Saturday, dear friends.

Around the corner. 

I have been reading this series by Sharon entitled Parenting with Humility from A to Z, maybe, if you have time, you would like to read it:

Parenting with Humility from A to Z – part one-
Parenting with Humility from A to Z – part two–
Parenting with Humility from A to Z – part three-
Parenting with Humility from A to Z – part four-

And Trisha has posted today a very insightful post  about parenting, No Cookie Cutter Children. You don’t want to miss it!

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>How Do You Spend Time with God?

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 Angelus, Jean.François Millet 1859

Part of the BIG changes that came to my life when God opened my eyes to the Doctrines of Grace, is a disciplined spiritual life. Before that  I was always in a roller coaster of prayer and Bible reading, never constant, always feeling guilty about it; The truth is that I tried to maintain a life of prayer based on my emotions and not on the Word which is impossible to do. The Lord had dealt graciously with me; He has opened my eyes to see and my ears to hear and my prayer life as well as my Bible reading time have grown, little by little but steady… “not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” (Phil. 3:12)
I would like to share here what has been helpful to me  (please, note that I am  not saying this the way YOU should do it, but this is the way it has worked for ME) to battle against my flesh which sometimes seems so weary and tired, and distracted.
First I started to wake up earlier every morning. Every. Day. Every. Day. Yes, it is not always easy but the Lord has helped me with that. I found that if I didn’t set a time at the beginning of my day to start right with God, I would not be able to do it later during the day.
Second, I learned that in order to be awake and not be distracted by all the thoughts  and to-do lists that seem to attack my mind whenever I start my devotions, I needed to be FULLY engaged in my time with God; so I started to bring a pen and journal, along with my Bible and some prayer books, to my devotional time.
My devotions look a little bit like this; I read the bible, take notes, pray over that Scripture, I jot down my thoughts again. I take time to review my memory Bible verses, (I have a system with post-it tags to know which ones I should review and which one I am learning right now); again I pray over those verses. Many times I use prayers guides such as Valerie’s prayer guide, or prayer books like The Valley of Vision or A Diary of Private Prayer. How do I use these books? Well, I read a paragraph, or even a line, and then I stop to make it mine, adding my own words to that prayer, which I also like to write down, on the margins or on my journal.
My favorite prayer book is A Method for Prayer. Freedom in the Face of God, by Matthew Henry. O how I love this prayer guide! It has different sections to it, and again I have little post-its to help me find each section and I move them as I walk through the guide. Again, I stop, ponder about it, add my own words, and then I write down a prayer.
All these have been a great help to me, I am not distracted, I pray longer, and I really meditate on God’s Word. I find it refreshing to come daily to the Lord’s table and eat His Words which are sweeter than honey and keep them in my heart.
For this, I am grateful today. 
Lord, I thank you, for helping me build a disciplined prayer life; thank you for bringing me to your Word, for opening my eyes to see and my ears to hear you. Thank you, because you have called me to sit at your feet and drink from the Living Water that satisfies my soul.

How do you spend time with God? 
Would you share with us, so that we may be encouraged to persevere? 

Related Posts:

Daniel’s Prayer
God’s Sovereignty in the Gospel of Luke
On Prayer and C. H Spurgeon
The Secret of the Believer’s Boldness  (A guest post by Christina Langela)
Lord, Teach us to Pray (A guest post by Diane @ Theology for Girls)
A House of Prayer

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>A Morning Prayer

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O God, ever blessed, who hast given me the night for the rest and the day for labour and service, grant that the refreshing sheep of the night now past may be turned to Thy greater glory in the life of the day now before me. Let it breed no slothfulness within me, but rather send me to more diligent action and more willing obedience.
Teach me, O God, so to use all the circumstances of my life to-day that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin.
Let me use disappointment as material for patience;
Let me use success as material for thankfulness;
Let me use suspense as material for perseverance;
Let me use danger as material for courage;
Let me use reproach as material for longsuffering;
Let me use praise praise as material for humility;
Let me use pleasures as material for temperance;
Let me use pains as material for endurance.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who for the joy that was set before Thee didst endure the cross, despising the shame, and art now set down at the right hand of the throne of God, let me consider Thee who didst endure such  contradiction of sinners against Thyself, lest I be wearied and faint in my mind.
‘But that toil shall make thee
Some day all Mine own,-
And the end of sorrow
Shall be near My throne’
Holy God, I would remember before Thee all my friends and those of my own household, especially__________ and _______________, beeseching Thee that in Thy great love Thou wouldst keep them also free from sin, controlling all their deeds this day in accordance with Thy most perfect will.
Amen.

A Diary of Private Prayer
Twenty- fourth day

A Prayer, On the Morning of the Lord’s Day

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“We bless Thee, Lord,who hath shewed us light, and that the light we see is the Lord’s; that we see one more of the days of the Son of man, a day to be spent on Thy courts, which is better than a thousand elsewhere.


We thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that the things, which were hid  from the wise and prudent are revealed unto us babes, even so, Father, because it seemed good in Thine eyes: That our eyes see, and our ears hear that which mant prophets and  kings desired to see, desired to hear and might not, that life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel.


And now, O that we may be in the  Spirit on the Lord’s Day! that we may call the Sabbath a delight, and may honour the Son of man, who is the Lord also of the Sabbath-day, not doing our own ways, or finding our own pleasure, or speaking our own words.”


Matthew Henry, A Method for Prayer.

Have a most blessed Lord’s Day, my dear friends.

You may want to read a Family Prayer for the Lord’s Day Evening here.

While In The Quietness…

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The words sometimes do not find their way through the pen neither through the keyboard, sometimes you just find out that the best thing to do is remain quiet and wait.

I am learning to be quiet.

Have you been there?

I have been there and while in the quietness, while in the Word, while in prayer, I have been learning.

What do you do when you face conflict and your eyes can’t see clearly? You have several options:

You can cry bitterly, scream or even hurt the other person. You can call your “best friend” and tell her about it and be mad and start a “gossip party”. You can keep it inside of you, and nothing more, just keep the terible feelings inside of you and water the seed of resentment day by day, thought after thought until your heart aches and even your body breaks out.

But there are more options, you can pray. But wait… not any prayer, beware of those prayers that are  self-centered; all those prayers in which you call yourself the victim and you keep acussing the other person. Beware of trusting in your own righteousness.

Pray to the Father, but ask him to search inside of YOU!

Ask Him to change YOU!

Ask Him to use this situation to help YOU grow into a godly woman!

Every situation is meant to help us in our sanctification and we can take those opportunities and use them to mortify the sin in us.

“Give me special grace to fit me for special services, and keep me calm and resigned at all times, humble, solemn, mortified, and conformed to thy will”

The Valley of Vision “Amazing Grace”

Repose

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HEAVENLY FATHER,
My faith is in Thee,
My expectation is from Thee.
I believe Thee,
accept thy Word, acquiesce in thy will,
rely on thy promises,trust thy providence.
I bless thee that the court of conscience
proves me to be thine.
I do not need signs and wonders to believe,
for Thy Word is sure truth.
I have cast my anchor in the port of peace,
knowing that the present and the future are in nail-pierced hands.
Thou art so good, wise, just, holy,
that no mistake is possible to Thee.
Thou art fountain and source of all law
what Thou commandest is mine to obey.
I yield to thy sovereignty all that I am and have;
do thou with me as thou wilt.
Thou hast given me silence in my heart
in place of murmurings and complaints.
Keep my wishes from growing into willings,
my willings from becoming fault-finding with Thy Providences,
and have mercy on me.
If I sin and am rebellious, help me to repent;
then take away my mourning and give me music;
remove my sackcloth and adorn me with beauty,
take away my sighs and fill my mouth with songs;
and when I am restored and rest in Thee
give me summer weather in my heart.

May you find repose in Him,