Category: Prayer Index Cards

Less is More

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Less of my words; more of His to pray-

This is the path that leads to a deep and abundant relationship with God!

I’m jumping back in today feeling God prompting me to find a way to share more PICs– hoping they will lead you to a deeper relationship with God through prayer.

I’m walking through a season with God that is requiring perseverance; there are a lot of days when I feel like I’m running out of steam.

God is reminding me that staying in the Word and praying the Word is the key to staying the course. The good news today is that even in the desert, there is God’s provision of JOY! He promises us that as we stay the course on His path, He is present, and in Him, JOY is abundant.

A New Year . . . Again!

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I’m reposting a devotional from 2019 because it is speaking loudly to me in this second week of 2021. As I wrote last week in The Gift of Love–

“The troubles of 2020 have not disappeared with the calendar change,” and I’ll add to that- “they have picked up speed and appear to be setting up permanent residence.” 

It’s my prayer that these words will encourage me to Begin Again with a ‘Hallelujah Perspective’–

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As I flipped through my Instagram feed on New Year’s Eve, this Peanuts cartoon got my attention. The caption reads, “My favorite memory from 2018 was . . .”

My husband and I were on an unexpected, cross-country, road trip, so I thought this might just be an interesting conversation starter. Sure enough, it prompted an almost immediate response from him as he quickly identified several highlights and answered prayers that were a part of his 2018. The surprise came to me when it was my time to answer. As I flipped through the year in my mind, there was no stand-out highlight that I could identify.

 

In my mind, 2018 had been a hard year– one of taking a step, then the next one, and then one more after that. I felt tired from the daily grind that includes caring for a senior parent drifting farther away each day into the depths of dementia. While a long season of joblessness came to end for my husband, it had come in an unexpected package that left me still wondering what God was doing. Even though it had been a busy and fruitful year of ministry leading a morning women’s Bible study, I had ended the year feeling overwhelmed and tired, more ready for a break than I could ever remember.

There were certainly answered prayers and refreshing times sprinkled through the year, but for the life of me, I couldn’t think of one thing that I would really classify as memorable. It had been a year of more ordinary than extraordinary, more difficult than ease, more head down moving forward than I would have preferred. Realizing that much of the stuff of 2018 would continue walking with me into the new year ahead, a sense of dread and anger swept over me.

How would I begin 2019 with many things still unresolved?

Continue reading “A New Year . . . Again!” →

The Gift of Joy

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As I’ve worked back through the study, Fight Back with Joy by Margaret Feinberg, I have replanted the memory verses from each week in my heart and mind. Memorizing and praying God’s word is a powerful tool that always accomplishes good in those who are trained by it.

The most difficult passage to memorize has been Habakkuk 3:17-18, but the message God has planted in my heart and mind from it is quite powerful-

Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.

The word here is that even when circumstances are difficult and there is no evidence of fruit, God’s provision of joy is present because He himself is the reason we are glad. He is the one who has saved us. He is our strength. He leads us over the heights that seem insurmountable before us! Continue reading “The Gift of Joy” →

The Gift of Peace

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Today as I asked God for help and direction to write about the second gift of Advent- PEACE, I took a few minutes to look back at a post I published on March 10, 2020- One Word is PEACE.

I read back over my words and was struck by how little changed over the course of the year-

Weather patterns brought suffering to many through an uncommon number of hurricanes and wildfires.

Even though I’ve spent more time at home, my to-do list is never complete, making rest a challenge.

Unexpected death and disease have uprooted families, leaving them with broken hearts in places they don’t recognize.

The election is over, but the country remains divided by hyper-partisan politics and strife.

A vaccine is right on the horizon, yet lockdowns and virus cases still bind people in fear and uncertainty. Everyone feels the anxiety of what a new normal will look like post-coronavirus.

Markets are up and then down- businesses and livelihoods marked and lost in ways that make restoration feel doubtful.

It seems PEACE slips further and further out of reach, especially if I add my dad’s dementia- it’s one thing the virus hasn’t slowed; he’s slipping away as days of quarantine lengthen, and if I allow my mind to dwell too long here, I become frantic and angry over this lost time we won’t get back.

What I wrote in March still rings true today- PEACE slips farther and farther out of reach if I continue to look for it in all the wrong places- circumstances, people, things, control, the absence of storm . . .

So as I did in March, I’m reminding myself of truth today- the second gift of Advent is PEACE. Jesus brought peace to this world when He came as the way for world-weary souls to be right with God.

In Jesus there is peace even in difficult circumstances.

His gift to me is peace.

So today, I will open The Gift of Peace by reminding myself of what I know is true-

  • He knows the way I take. (Job 23:10)
  • God is my help and keeper. (Psalm 121)
  • He keeps me in perfect peace as I keep my mind on Him. (Isaiah 26:3)
  • He is present, holding my hand through this day and ones to come. (Isaiah 41:10-14)
  • He knows what I need, and I can trust Him- He’s got this! (Matthew 6:25-33)
  • He has given me love, power, and a sound mind for living life in this world. (2 Timothy 1:7)
  • He invites me to pray about everything and to be thankful. (Philippians 4:6-7)

And today I will cultivate The Gift of Peace  with some PREPLANTing for PEACE by following Paul’s instructions in Philippians 4:8-9, and I’ll put my mind on what is-

Pure
Right
Excellent
Praiseworthy
Lovely
Admirable
Noble
True

And the God of PEACE will be with me-

And you . . . because-

The One who has promised is faithful!
(Hebrews 10:23)

Today, will you join me and choose to encounter this uncertain world by trusting and rejoicing in The Gift of Peace we celebrate this Christmas- Jesus!