By An Anonymous Guest Dad
The crisis had come. The frantic, desperate phone calls had been made. It was time to take action, time to go to war. It was my time . . . I was now the one who was feverishly fasting, praying and interceding for a member of my own family.
Fasting was easy; I wasn’t hungry anyway. Seeing God replace this storm with blue skies was far more appealing to me than any of my favorite foods. It seemed truly appropriate to fill my normal times for breakfast, lunch and dinner with prayer.
It would have been impossible to keep from praying. Like a moth drawn to a flame, every waking minute I was either praying silently, praying aloud or praying in the Spirit that God would change the situation.
Once every hour, I would stop everything and intercede on my knees for ten minutes. Here is what I prayed during these focused times of intercession, inserting the name of the person I was praying for in the blanks:
Based on Colossians 1:9-14 (NIV)
God, please answer this prayer for _____________ in Jesus’ Name:
“. . . we have not stopped praying for _______ and asking You to fill him/her with the knowledge of Your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that _______ may live a life worthy of You and may please You in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in Your knowledge, being strengthened with all power according to Your glorious might so that _______ may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to You, Father, who has qualified _____________ to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For You have rescued ________ from the dominion of darkness and brought him/her into the kingdom of the Son You love, in whom he/she has redemption, the forgiveness of _____ sins.”
Based on Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)
God, please reveal to ______________ in Jesus’ Name:
“You, the LORD his/her God are with ____________,
You are mighty to save him/her.
You will take great delight in him/her,
You will quiet him/her with Your love,
You will rejoice over him/her with singing.”
Based on Ephesians 1:17-19 (NIV)
God, please do this for _____________ in Jesus’ Name:
May the ". . .God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, give ______ the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that he/she may know You better. I pray also that the eyes of ______’s heart may be enlightened in order that he/she may know the hope to which You have called him/her, the riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and Your incomparably great power for him/her because he/she believes.”
I began praying that God would reveal the Truth of these Scriptures to my loved one, but I had no feeling of reassurance. As I pressed on, more in desperation than in faith, God gave me a strong sense that these times of intercession based on His Word were driving back the darkness.
God answered, changed my loved one’s heart and the entire situation. He will do the same for you! Go to war, intercede, pray and fast with confidence in God. He WILL win!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Monday, December 7, 2009
The Hour of Prayer
By Cheri Bunch
“And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27 NASV).
I had a feeling . . . a very bad feeling about home.
My husband and I were in Scotland. Our youngest son Josiah was with us. The rest of my children were at home in the USA.
My dad had died only a month before and my mom and brother were still in deep despair because of his sudden and unexpected death.
Who was in trouble? I didn’t know! The heaviness intensified . . . something was really, really wrong! I began to pray. I didn’t know how to pray. I had to pray in the Spirit. He knew what was wrong. He was quickening me in this moment to pray . . . to earnestly pray.
I didn’t feel that I could call to find out what was going on. We were staying with a family to whom we had just been introduced and I didn’t know the cost of the call. Since I knew that overseas calls could mount up to an exorbitant cost quickly, I shut the door on a little room of our host’s house and began to sob and intercede, for what, I really didn’t know. I prayed for whatever urgent matter was on the heart of my God.
I was not able to get in touch with anyone from home for several more days. I called my mother as soon as I was able to get to a phone with reasonable rates for international calling. The first thing she said was, “Did you know that Caleb and Luke wrecked the truck?”
No, I hadn’t known. Caleb and Luke are also my sons. They were driving to a Christian concert that was a long distance from home. They headed into some road construction that was poorly marked. Wrecks were happening in the very spot where they had their mishap almost daily. In nearly every wreck that happened at this location there had been a death. I believe the tow truck man told us that there had been at least one death in every wreck that had happened in that particular spot.
When we returned home, we contacted the garage where the truck had been towed. The truck was totaled. The boys had to leave it behind.
“Do your boys believe in God?” the man who had towed the truck to his garage asked my husband.
“Yes, they do,” my husband replied.
“Well, they should, because they should be dead. Their truck is totally destroyed and those boys came away from that crash with nary a scratch. Yes, sir, if they didn’t believe in God before the crash, they should now. They escaped the worst kind of disaster!” The man seemed shaken by this fact.
Who can understand why the Lord lets us be a part of intercession? Scotty and I were so far away. . . yet the message to my heart was clear! “Pray--pray in the Spirit! I will pray through you!” So I responded to the burden with tears, empowered to pray with most holy faith.
The hour that I was burdened to pray was the exact hour that my boys were in trouble.
I used to waste much of my life in a state of worry, but I am learning that when there is something serious going on, the Lord can lead me to a place of intercession. The Holy Spirit doesn’t worry; He pleads with the Father, who is in heaven, and miracles happen. As we surrender to His leading, He will help us to have an active role in the bringing miracles to pass that will testify to the power and faithfulness of our God.
There is a tow truck man somewhere in Illinois that will tell you that my words are true.
Blessings to all!
“And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27 NASV).
I had a feeling . . . a very bad feeling about home.
My husband and I were in Scotland. Our youngest son Josiah was with us. The rest of my children were at home in the USA.
My dad had died only a month before and my mom and brother were still in deep despair because of his sudden and unexpected death.
Who was in trouble? I didn’t know! The heaviness intensified . . . something was really, really wrong! I began to pray. I didn’t know how to pray. I had to pray in the Spirit. He knew what was wrong. He was quickening me in this moment to pray . . . to earnestly pray.
I didn’t feel that I could call to find out what was going on. We were staying with a family to whom we had just been introduced and I didn’t know the cost of the call. Since I knew that overseas calls could mount up to an exorbitant cost quickly, I shut the door on a little room of our host’s house and began to sob and intercede, for what, I really didn’t know. I prayed for whatever urgent matter was on the heart of my God.
I was not able to get in touch with anyone from home for several more days. I called my mother as soon as I was able to get to a phone with reasonable rates for international calling. The first thing she said was, “Did you know that Caleb and Luke wrecked the truck?”
No, I hadn’t known. Caleb and Luke are also my sons. They were driving to a Christian concert that was a long distance from home. They headed into some road construction that was poorly marked. Wrecks were happening in the very spot where they had their mishap almost daily. In nearly every wreck that happened at this location there had been a death. I believe the tow truck man told us that there had been at least one death in every wreck that had happened in that particular spot.
When we returned home, we contacted the garage where the truck had been towed. The truck was totaled. The boys had to leave it behind.
“Do your boys believe in God?” the man who had towed the truck to his garage asked my husband.
“Yes, they do,” my husband replied.
“Well, they should, because they should be dead. Their truck is totally destroyed and those boys came away from that crash with nary a scratch. Yes, sir, if they didn’t believe in God before the crash, they should now. They escaped the worst kind of disaster!” The man seemed shaken by this fact.
Who can understand why the Lord lets us be a part of intercession? Scotty and I were so far away. . . yet the message to my heart was clear! “Pray--pray in the Spirit! I will pray through you!” So I responded to the burden with tears, empowered to pray with most holy faith.
The hour that I was burdened to pray was the exact hour that my boys were in trouble.
I used to waste much of my life in a state of worry, but I am learning that when there is something serious going on, the Lord can lead me to a place of intercession. The Holy Spirit doesn’t worry; He pleads with the Father, who is in heaven, and miracles happen. As we surrender to His leading, He will help us to have an active role in the bringing miracles to pass that will testify to the power and faithfulness of our God.
There is a tow truck man somewhere in Illinois that will tell you that my words are true.
Blessings to all!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Discerment or Suspicion?
By Cheri Bunch
Our son walked in the front door and began to walk into the kitchen when I heard the Lord speak. I said to him, “What is that book under your shirt?”
My husband looked up from eating his lunch with a puzzled look on his face. Josh, our son, had on a loose-fitting shirt with a jacket over it. The book hidden beneath was not visible outwardly, but I knew that it was there.
Josh pulled the book from underneath his shirt and handed it to me. “I want to read it, Mom. I knew you wouldn’t like it, so I hid it from you.”
The Lord wanted Josh to know that He can see the hidden things and He can disclose our secrets to others.
The Lord was also teaching me . . . teaching me to trust Him.
It is so easy to slip from discernment into suspicion. Many times I have been suspicious of what the kids were doing, what my husband’s intentions were or even about what my friends were thinking. My suspicious mind can conjure up just about anything!
I have found that it is so much better for everyone that I walk in discernment rather than in suspicion. (It’s also much more peaceful for me and those around me!) I have learned to ask the Lord for discernment and I am learning to trust Him to give it to me.
Discernment is an act of faith. Suspicion is a fruit of fear. Which one have you chosen to walk in?
Take it to prayer, friend. The Lord will equip you for every good work, including the work of discernment.
Ecclesiastes 8:5b “ . . . for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure” (NASV).
Our son walked in the front door and began to walk into the kitchen when I heard the Lord speak. I said to him, “What is that book under your shirt?”
My husband looked up from eating his lunch with a puzzled look on his face. Josh, our son, had on a loose-fitting shirt with a jacket over it. The book hidden beneath was not visible outwardly, but I knew that it was there.
Josh pulled the book from underneath his shirt and handed it to me. “I want to read it, Mom. I knew you wouldn’t like it, so I hid it from you.”
The Lord wanted Josh to know that He can see the hidden things and He can disclose our secrets to others.
The Lord was also teaching me . . . teaching me to trust Him.
It is so easy to slip from discernment into suspicion. Many times I have been suspicious of what the kids were doing, what my husband’s intentions were or even about what my friends were thinking. My suspicious mind can conjure up just about anything!
I have found that it is so much better for everyone that I walk in discernment rather than in suspicion. (It’s also much more peaceful for me and those around me!) I have learned to ask the Lord for discernment and I am learning to trust Him to give it to me.
Discernment is an act of faith. Suspicion is a fruit of fear. Which one have you chosen to walk in?
Take it to prayer, friend. The Lord will equip you for every good work, including the work of discernment.
Ecclesiastes 8:5b “ . . . for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure” (NASV).
Friday, November 6, 2009
Burdened to Pray
By Cheri Bunch
Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, grew up in a strong Christian home. As a child he was very determined to be a missionary and take the gospel into China, but he began to stray from the faith in his teen years. I would like to share a bit of his testimony taken from a book entitled Hudson Taylor and Maria: A Match Made in Heaven by John Pollock (Christian Focus, 1996). I love the way the Lord used Hudson’s mother illustrated in the excerpt below:
“A year later, in June 1849, his mother was away. One warm afternoon Amelia [his sister] was out and Hudson had nothing to do on a half-holiday. He looked idly over his father’s books and rummaged in a basket of popular ‘Gospel tracts.’ He picked one out, intending to read the story and skip the moral. He went into the barn behind the house and shop, curled up comfortably and began ‘in utterly unconcerned state of mind, with a distinct intention to put away the tract as soon as it should seem prosy.’
As he read, one sentence gripped him. Suddenly he realized that he approached religion from the wrong angle. He believed Christianity to be a dreary struggle to pay off bad deeds by good. He had long abandoned this struggle. He owed too much. He had gone into spiritual bankruptcy, paying a small dividend to his Divine Creditor in the shape of chapel attendance and of prayers rattled off at night, but with no hope of discharge; like most bankrupts he had sought to have a good time.
One sentence in the tract broke open his mind to a sudden certainty that Christ by His death upon the cross had already discharged this debt of sins. ‘And with this dawned the joyful conviction, as light was flashed into my soul by the Holy Spirit, that there was nothing in the world to be done but to fall down on one’s knees and accepting this Savior and His Salvation, to praise Him forevermore.’
No Luther, Bunyan or Wesley had a more complete sense of the rolling away of his burden, of light dismissing darkness, of rebirth and the close friendship of Christ, than Hudson Taylor on that June afternoon of 1849 at the age of seventeen.
Several days passed before he shyly told Amelia under seal of secrecy. At the return of his mother ten days afterwards he ran to the door ‘to tell her I had such glad news to give’. She replied as she hugged him, ‘I know, my boy. I have been rejoicing for a fortnight in the glad tidings you have to tell me.’ Hudson was amazed. Had Amelia blabbed? His mother denied it. She said that eighty miles away, on the very day of the incident in the barn, she had felt such an overwhelming desire to pray for Hudson that she spent hours on her knees, and had arisen with the unshakeable conviction that her prayers were answered. ‘It was perhaps natural,’ Hudson wrote years later, ‘that from the commencement of my Christian life I was led to feel that prayer was in sober matter of fact transacting business with God.’ ”
What a testimony! I hope it encourages you as it has me!
Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, grew up in a strong Christian home. As a child he was very determined to be a missionary and take the gospel into China, but he began to stray from the faith in his teen years. I would like to share a bit of his testimony taken from a book entitled Hudson Taylor and Maria: A Match Made in Heaven by John Pollock (Christian Focus, 1996). I love the way the Lord used Hudson’s mother illustrated in the excerpt below:
“A year later, in June 1849, his mother was away. One warm afternoon Amelia [his sister] was out and Hudson had nothing to do on a half-holiday. He looked idly over his father’s books and rummaged in a basket of popular ‘Gospel tracts.’ He picked one out, intending to read the story and skip the moral. He went into the barn behind the house and shop, curled up comfortably and began ‘in utterly unconcerned state of mind, with a distinct intention to put away the tract as soon as it should seem prosy.’
As he read, one sentence gripped him. Suddenly he realized that he approached religion from the wrong angle. He believed Christianity to be a dreary struggle to pay off bad deeds by good. He had long abandoned this struggle. He owed too much. He had gone into spiritual bankruptcy, paying a small dividend to his Divine Creditor in the shape of chapel attendance and of prayers rattled off at night, but with no hope of discharge; like most bankrupts he had sought to have a good time.
One sentence in the tract broke open his mind to a sudden certainty that Christ by His death upon the cross had already discharged this debt of sins. ‘And with this dawned the joyful conviction, as light was flashed into my soul by the Holy Spirit, that there was nothing in the world to be done but to fall down on one’s knees and accepting this Savior and His Salvation, to praise Him forevermore.’
No Luther, Bunyan or Wesley had a more complete sense of the rolling away of his burden, of light dismissing darkness, of rebirth and the close friendship of Christ, than Hudson Taylor on that June afternoon of 1849 at the age of seventeen.
Several days passed before he shyly told Amelia under seal of secrecy. At the return of his mother ten days afterwards he ran to the door ‘to tell her I had such glad news to give’. She replied as she hugged him, ‘I know, my boy. I have been rejoicing for a fortnight in the glad tidings you have to tell me.’ Hudson was amazed. Had Amelia blabbed? His mother denied it. She said that eighty miles away, on the very day of the incident in the barn, she had felt such an overwhelming desire to pray for Hudson that she spent hours on her knees, and had arisen with the unshakeable conviction that her prayers were answered. ‘It was perhaps natural,’ Hudson wrote years later, ‘that from the commencement of my Christian life I was led to feel that prayer was in sober matter of fact transacting business with God.’ ”
What a testimony! I hope it encourages you as it has me!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Weight of the Past
By Cheri Bunch
“… let us strip off every weight that slows us down …” Hebrews 12:1 (NLT).
Past failures had gripped my heart with a stranglehold.
I couldn’t find relief.
My spiritual life seemed to be suffocating from the grip my past failures had upon me.
I had made mistakes. Now my children were making mistakes. It was a result of my failure, wasn’t it?
I wanted my guilt to cradle me with comfort, but I only felt a steely coldness from its gaze.
My help was not in my guilt.
My help was in my God.
Finally I took hold of grace and let go of my guilt.
Instead of asking the Lord for the “ump-teenth” time to forgive me, I began to pray a proactive prayer.
“Lord, I have made huge mistakes as a parent. My heart is breaking with regret. I lay my regret and my guilt at Your feet, Jesus. I trust that You have forgiven me. Now will you please take my mistakes and turn them into something beautiful? Touch the cracks in the foundations of my children’s lives that are present because of my inadequacies and bring restoration and healing. I am deciding at this moment to trade the yoke of my guilt for the yoke of Your forgiveness. I believe that change will come. There will be freedom in my heart and restoration in my children’s lives. Thank you for Your great love for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
I was restored and given a spiritual “second wind,” so that I was able to run and complete this race.
Now my gaze is fixed, not on my past, but on my Savior’s face!
At last . . . liberty!
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith,” Hebrews 12:1-2a (NLT).
“… let us strip off every weight that slows us down …” Hebrews 12:1 (NLT).
Past failures had gripped my heart with a stranglehold.
I couldn’t find relief.
My spiritual life seemed to be suffocating from the grip my past failures had upon me.
I had made mistakes. Now my children were making mistakes. It was a result of my failure, wasn’t it?
I wanted my guilt to cradle me with comfort, but I only felt a steely coldness from its gaze.
My help was not in my guilt.
My help was in my God.
Finally I took hold of grace and let go of my guilt.
Instead of asking the Lord for the “ump-teenth” time to forgive me, I began to pray a proactive prayer.
“Lord, I have made huge mistakes as a parent. My heart is breaking with regret. I lay my regret and my guilt at Your feet, Jesus. I trust that You have forgiven me. Now will you please take my mistakes and turn them into something beautiful? Touch the cracks in the foundations of my children’s lives that are present because of my inadequacies and bring restoration and healing. I am deciding at this moment to trade the yoke of my guilt for the yoke of Your forgiveness. I believe that change will come. There will be freedom in my heart and restoration in my children’s lives. Thank you for Your great love for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
I was restored and given a spiritual “second wind,” so that I was able to run and complete this race.
Now my gaze is fixed, not on my past, but on my Savior’s face!
At last . . . liberty!
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith,” Hebrews 12:1-2a (NLT).
Thursday, October 8, 2009
The Whole House
By Cheri Bunch
Cheri Bunch believes that W. A. R. (Wisdom And Revelation; see Ephesians 1:17) are what we as parents need to successfully prepare our children for the future. We need to be well equipped to fight against the enemy’s schemes to destroy the home and the next generation.
In order for Satan’s battle plan to be thwarted, we must be seekers of God, listening to and waiting for the guidance He is generous to provide. We must lay aside our carnal weapons and pick up the weapons of the Spirit that are mighty and will prevail on the spiritual battleground.
We must have faith! We must join in agreement for the next generation! We can be confident that this is the will of God! When we know that we have His vision for the next generation, we can be confident that the Lord will be our Commander in Chief and that we can defeat the enemy and win the war!
Cheri has been married to Scotty for thirty years. They have raised five wonderful children; Joshua, Ashli, Caleb, Luke, and Josiah. They have been on the frontlines of battle for this generation for many years. The Bunches live in Chanute, KS.
"The Whole House"
Isaiah 59:1: “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (NKJV).
Is everyone in your family saved? How does that make you feel? If they are I imagine you are jumping up and down and praising the Lord right now!
I have a feeling that someone reading this devotion has a family member that has not made a decision to come into the Kingdom yet. Is your heart heavy with intercession for them?
How do you pray for your lost loved ones? I would be very interested in finding out. Please leave me a comment below if the Holy Spirit has taught you a way to pray for your lost family members and friends.
There are at least four ways that I pray for lost souls:
1. Pray for the Household. I pray that the whole household will be saved. Acts 10:24 says that Cornelius had called together his relatives and close friends to hear Peter preach. While Peter was preaching the Holy Spirit fell in that house and they were all saved and baptized with the Spirit and with water. Also, in Acts 16:31-33 (NKJV), Paul tells the jailer to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they were! I don’t know about you, but I get excited when one soul finds Jesus, but what about the whole house? Can we believe for that? I think that we need to start asking for whole households to be saved!
2. Make Haste. Many times in the Psalms David would ask the Lord to make haste. Let me paraphrase, “Lord, please hurry!” When it comes to souls, I think there is nothing that the Lord would like to do more than move upon men’s hearts and draw them into the Kingdom. The sooner the better. Ask Him for souls today!
3. “Get ‘em, God!” One prayer that I pray does not sound very spiritual. Many times I have prayed, “Get ‘em, God!” This means “God, please go after them with tenacity!” Believe it or not, this is a prayer that the Lord has answered many times.
4. Praying Pertinent Scriptures. Many times I find a Scripture that pertains to lost loved ones. Most often I ask the Holy Spirit to highlight a verse for me to pray and other times He just puts His finger on a verse for me. A verse that I pray for my children is from Isaiah 59:21: “As for Me,” says the LORD, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time and forevermore” (NKJV).
I want this to be true of my family for generations to come. I ask the Lord to make this verse true for us.
Pray and believe with me and may the Lord save whole households!
Cheri Bunch believes that W. A. R. (Wisdom And Revelation; see Ephesians 1:17) are what we as parents need to successfully prepare our children for the future. We need to be well equipped to fight against the enemy’s schemes to destroy the home and the next generation.
In order for Satan’s battle plan to be thwarted, we must be seekers of God, listening to and waiting for the guidance He is generous to provide. We must lay aside our carnal weapons and pick up the weapons of the Spirit that are mighty and will prevail on the spiritual battleground.
We must have faith! We must join in agreement for the next generation! We can be confident that this is the will of God! When we know that we have His vision for the next generation, we can be confident that the Lord will be our Commander in Chief and that we can defeat the enemy and win the war!
Cheri has been married to Scotty for thirty years. They have raised five wonderful children; Joshua, Ashli, Caleb, Luke, and Josiah. They have been on the frontlines of battle for this generation for many years. The Bunches live in Chanute, KS.
"The Whole House"
Isaiah 59:1: “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (NKJV).
Is everyone in your family saved? How does that make you feel? If they are I imagine you are jumping up and down and praising the Lord right now!
I have a feeling that someone reading this devotion has a family member that has not made a decision to come into the Kingdom yet. Is your heart heavy with intercession for them?
How do you pray for your lost loved ones? I would be very interested in finding out. Please leave me a comment below if the Holy Spirit has taught you a way to pray for your lost family members and friends.
There are at least four ways that I pray for lost souls:
1. Pray for the Household. I pray that the whole household will be saved. Acts 10:24 says that Cornelius had called together his relatives and close friends to hear Peter preach. While Peter was preaching the Holy Spirit fell in that house and they were all saved and baptized with the Spirit and with water. Also, in Acts 16:31-33 (NKJV), Paul tells the jailer to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they were! I don’t know about you, but I get excited when one soul finds Jesus, but what about the whole house? Can we believe for that? I think that we need to start asking for whole households to be saved!
2. Make Haste. Many times in the Psalms David would ask the Lord to make haste. Let me paraphrase, “Lord, please hurry!” When it comes to souls, I think there is nothing that the Lord would like to do more than move upon men’s hearts and draw them into the Kingdom. The sooner the better. Ask Him for souls today!
3. “Get ‘em, God!” One prayer that I pray does not sound very spiritual. Many times I have prayed, “Get ‘em, God!” This means “God, please go after them with tenacity!” Believe it or not, this is a prayer that the Lord has answered many times.
4. Praying Pertinent Scriptures. Many times I find a Scripture that pertains to lost loved ones. Most often I ask the Holy Spirit to highlight a verse for me to pray and other times He just puts His finger on a verse for me. A verse that I pray for my children is from Isaiah 59:21: “As for Me,” says the LORD, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time and forevermore” (NKJV).
I want this to be true of my family for generations to come. I ask the Lord to make this verse true for us.
Pray and believe with me and may the Lord save whole households!
Friday, October 2, 2009
What If?
By Cheri Bunch
“What ifs” wear me out and wear me down. They steal my joy and my hope. Thoughts of “what ifs” want to control my life. It is totally up to me whether they have their way with me or not. The Lord gives me the authority to say “NO” to them, but I don’t have to. I can welcome “What If” thoughts into my mind, entertain them, let them multiply, and allow them to make me miserable.
What-if thoughts are prudent with their timing knocking at the door of my mind:
When my child is on his motorcycle and is late returning home.
When I have a writing assignment due and the words will not come.
When my child is sick, fighting a high fever.
When the money is short and the month is long.
When I don’t know what to fix for dinner!
And the list goes on and on into oblivion!
Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 10:5 empower me. “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (NASB).
The Message says it this way, “We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.”
Do what-if thoughts try to take over your life and steal your hope? Join me in asking the Lord to make you aware of them, and ask Him for the grace to help you take them captive at the door of your mind. We have authority, friend, to take those thoughts captive before they destroy our hope and faith. What do you say, let’s pull out our “God-tools” and get busy “smashing”!
“What ifs” wear me out and wear me down. They steal my joy and my hope. Thoughts of “what ifs” want to control my life. It is totally up to me whether they have their way with me or not. The Lord gives me the authority to say “NO” to them, but I don’t have to. I can welcome “What If” thoughts into my mind, entertain them, let them multiply, and allow them to make me miserable.
What-if thoughts are prudent with their timing knocking at the door of my mind:
When my child is on his motorcycle and is late returning home.
When I have a writing assignment due and the words will not come.
When my child is sick, fighting a high fever.
When the money is short and the month is long.
When I don’t know what to fix for dinner!
And the list goes on and on into oblivion!
Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 10:5 empower me. “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (NASB).
The Message says it this way, “We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.”
Do what-if thoughts try to take over your life and steal your hope? Join me in asking the Lord to make you aware of them, and ask Him for the grace to help you take them captive at the door of your mind. We have authority, friend, to take those thoughts captive before they destroy our hope and faith. What do you say, let’s pull out our “God-tools” and get busy “smashing”!
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