Finding Power in prayer

The first thing I thought of when I saw today's prompt, power, was Acts 1:8. There is nothing more powerful than God. You might try to convince me otherwise, but, spoiler alert, you can't. I am stubborn that way. When we accept Christ as our Savior we are filled with the POWER of the Holy Spirit. That should set us on fire as nothing else can.

Wait Expectantly

 This morning as  I was doing my devotions I read a verse that I have read dozens of times. However, this morning it hit me differently. Have you ever had that happen to you? I love how each time I read the Scriptures something else jumps out at me. I was reading in Psalms 5 and I got to verse 3. "In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly." And I thought "when is the last time that I came before the Lord and waited, expectantly?!"

We'll take a quick pause for a little definition clarification. What does it mean to be expectant? Some definitions are: 

• to think of as likely to happen or come
• to think or believe (that something will happen)
• full of hope or expectation

Gainfully Employed

The past month has passed in a blur. It is hard to believe that Kayla has been home for 5 weeks already! I have been warning Kayla since last summer that she would be working this summer. I started sometime in January telling Elijah it would be a good idea for him to work this summer as well. My aim was for Kayla to work about 30 hours a week and Elijah to work about 15. For Elijah, it is more about getting out of the house and doing something productive, especially after not being able to do much last year! For Kayla, she needs to have money for college, eventually a car, and other expenses that come with being an adult.

Fabulous Friday 2/5/21-Saturday Edition

 Friday was busy and rough, but I did have ever intention of getting on here and doing my thankful Friday post. Unfortunately, intention does not equal time. I will spare you all the details of the day/week, but regardless of what was wrong/rough this week, I am still able to find things to be thankful for. So, things that are making this week/weekend fabulous:

Answered prayers

God's mercies ARE new every day!!

God offers forgiveness

New medicine for me

New meds for Junior

A good vet for Junior

A nurse doing her best to help me

Friends

The sun being out several days this week

More sleep last night

A sale on chew toys

Kayla not seriously hurt when she fell

I am getting better

Friends checking on me

Library books

Elijah's laughter

Getting Kayla to laugh

Groceries

Junior's antics

Time to do this now

Quiet time

Hot water

Working heat

Opportunities

What are you thankful for today? This week? Has it been a rough one for you as well? One thing that I told Kayla yesterday is that it doesn't matter where you are or what you are doing, most people are struggling with something. We might not all be struggling with the same things, but if you are struggling, know that you are not alone, most of us have things going on that are beyond our control. I personally am thankful that I know the One Who is in control. To God be the glory.

Praying Circles

In December we found out that our Sunday School class would be taught from the book "The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears." I was really excited. Not only because it gave me an excuse to buy a new book, but it also sounded really interesting. The first chance I got I went out and bought the book. I immediately started reading it, and it was so good...but I also felt convicted! I was surprised, but I also knew/know that I do need to work on my prayer life...I won't give a lot of details about the book, but you should definitely pick up your own copy, sit down with your highlighter and start reading.

Anyway, 2 weeks ago today, our class started the discussion. The couple who are teaching the class challenged us to a 21 day Challenge:

• Identify a time you will pray everyday
• Pick a place you will go everyday (be sure to pick a place you feel connected to God)
• Identify a specific person, promise or problem you will circle in prayer everyday for the coming 3 weeks
• ***Be sure to keep this appointment with God everyday and see what He accomplishes in and through you

I have to tell you that I took this challenge to heart. I don't pray at the same time everyday, it's too hard for me to nail down a set time, but I do make a point to do it everyday. I have a set place and I have my prayer journal there and a Bible. I identified several people who had specific needs that I knew about and started circling them in prayer. I also circled Matt, Kayla, Elijah and our home school in my prayers.

 

The awesome news is....God answers prayer!! Not always in ways we would expect, or necessarily a yes, but within the last week I have gotten five "yeses" to my prayers.

 

To protect people's privacy I won't tell you what the first two prayers were, they were not members of my family, but I will tell you when I got the answers. Last Sunday, 1 week after I started praying for someone, I found out she got an answer to the prayer. The second person got her answer to prayer on Friday the 18th and I found out about it on the 19th.

The third answer "yes" I got, was with Elijah. On Thursday he woke up with  fever of 101.2. When my kids get fevers we settle in, knowing it will be at least 4-5 days of being home and sick. My kids never have a fever less than four days. That night I was praying for Elijah and I prayed "that his fever would leave as quickly as it had come." He woke up Friday fever free :) I checked him several times throughout Friday, and checked him again Saturday morning and he remained fever free. God is so good.

 

The fourth "yes" I prayed was that Matt would have no travel delays or bad weather while he was away. It was supposed to snow in DC and in North Carolina Thursday/Friday and Matt was scheduled to return home Friday night. God answered this prayer as well, neither place got the snow they were supposed to! (Sorry if you were really wanting snow, but I was really wanting my best friend back home with me!)

The fifth "yes" I received was praying that Matt would make it back home safely Friday night, and he did! Again, God is so good.

 

There are many times that God answers our prayers and we forget to thank Him or even forget that we prayed for it. I am thankful for all these "yeses" and again, sometimes He says "wait" or "no." But I am so thankful for immediate "yeses" to my prayers. And, they may seem like small prayers, but not all of them are. Nothing seems to small for God. I enjoy writing down my prayers and then seeing how they are answered.

 

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15

 

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

 

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot chang, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Answered prayer

God has answered so many of my prayers...just not always in my time. For over a year Matt and I have been praying for direction as to where we were supposed to move. We knew it was coming and wanted to know so we could plan for it.
Several times over the past year or so we prayed for a specific location, which was also tied to a specific job. Each time God answered...after a while, no. It wasn't the answer we wanted, but we knew that God had our best interest in mind.
Then, when I started a new Bible Study, I stopped praying for specific locations and started praying for answers. I am learning to ask God for something or ask Him to "do even better" than what I have asked for, thanks to Priscillia Shirer.
Again, God answered my prayers...not in my time...but in His time. We have our answers, but the purpose is not so clear. BUT, that's okay! God has a plan and He says we don't need to know right now :)
One thing at a time.
Thank you God, for answering prayers, not in my timing, but in your perfect timing.
"God speaks to those who take time to listen, and he listens to those who take time to pray." -Anonymous
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

Moving

The guy from the moving company came to do our survey today. It went well. I had wanted to bail out and have Matt deal with it (part of the resistance/denial thing), but I put on my "big girl panties" and I dealt with it. I am glad I did, Matt missed several things as we were going through...that's why we are a team, he gets what I miss and I get what he misses...
We are officially moving into temporary quarters next week. The movers will be back to pack all our things on the 16th and 17th. I am praying that all my stuff will be sorted, my 8 suitcases will be packed and ready to go.
I'm no Cinderella, but don't I have a fairy god-mother? Can't she come in, pack and sort all my things? No? Oh well, it was worth a shot.
Please continue to pray for us through these next few weeks. All moves are hard, even good ones. Elijah is super clingy, needing to sit in my lap and cuddle, at least half a dozen times a day. He doesn't want to pack anymore, doesn't really want to talk about the move, etc. He's super excited to get to see Grandpa and Grandma, Aunt Lindsay and all our other family members, and he wants to move, but he has such a difficult time with things changing.
I am working on getting some ladies to help with the kids, so they don't have to sit for 16 hours watching all their things being packed up!
Where are we going, you may ask...looks like we are headed back to Charlotte. Matt still has several jobs pending, if we do not get any of them, then we will be in Charlotte for the next year or so.
Thanks again for praying. I know who is in control and I know who holds the future...it's not me...and it's not time for us to know all things yet. In God's time.