Faithful Friday: Lifesaving Prayer

Turn on the television, social media, or just browse the internet and you quickly get a sense of an urgent need for prayer these days.  Not only on a national scope but locally too.  Aside from the horrific and cowardly acts of terrorism this week, mass casualties from fires, and impending storms, there are needs right here at home.  Perhaps right where you are now.

Sickness, broken families, tragic deaths.  Our county's obituaries were two pages this week and many were of people my age.  People passing before their time.  Shocking and unexpected. 
We are never promised tomorrow - or even the completion of today.

Sadly, Tim and I live in the harsh reality that life is short every single day.  We know.  We feel the still very present pain of a life taken too soon.  We remember the struggle to simply breathe with the knowledge and yet unexplainable news that Austin was gone.

Though it doesn't take the pain of missing him away, what held us from the very beginning was knowing where he was.  Austin asked Jesus into his heart at a very early age.  While I had no doubt of his understanding of salvation, at the tender age of 7, we asked our pastor to visit with him at our home.  His baptism was scheduled that same month and I can vividly picture him before entering the water.  Austin was smiling from the inside out, as if his soul was beaming for all to see.  Proudly wearing an "I love Jesus" t-shirt, he'd chosen himself, the very present love of our Savior and the joy of salvation filled the room.

I am proud of the Good News, because it is the power God uses to save everyone who believes-

Romans 1:16

Knowing Heaven holds my sweet boy is what pushes me through each day.  This world can crumble around me but my foundation is secure in knowing I will join him there - and that my family will as well.  What breaks my heart is thinking of those who won't.

Whether within my friends and family, or a stranger down the road, my heart is broken for the lost of this world.  As a church member shared this week, "when I read those obituaries each Wednesday, I wonder if they were a Christian, and I'm burdened with the guilt I never reached out to them." 

That burden is heavily weighing on me too.  Preparing for our upcoming Revival, I've been in more dedicated and constant prayer for the lost.  For those I know and many I do not.  A group of us prayed, name by name, for the ones nailed to a small cross in our church.  We pray that their hearts be opened, that the hold of the enemy be removed from them, and that they accept and believe.  We pray that the Holy Spirit move and use us and others as vehicles to carry his Word.  We pray that their lives be changed...for eternity.

And I would be honored to pray for you too.  For someone you love.  For you personally.  I welcome you to message me and I will faithfully pray.

In this moment, wherever you are in your walk with the Lord, I pray for you now.  For peace, for strength, for the power of the Holy Spirit to fill you in this place.  I pray that if you do not know Him, that you will open your heart to the Lord now. 

  If you openly say, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised him from death,

you will be saved. - Romans 10:9

There are not enough words, no expression I can share that explains the joy that comes in knowing Him. 
It is my earnest prayer that if you are reading this, you also know this JOY.



Faithful Friday: I am the Clay

Have you ever felt not enough....strong enough, good enough, smart enough to do what it is asked of you?  Often, we let our fears of not measuring up control us.  Or, at least I have.

And that's not real typical of me - most of the time.  I'd say I'm a fairly confident person, on most issues.  I know my strengths and weaknesses.  Yet even in weak moments I know that God can provide whatever it is I need to get through.

He's the only explanation for how I've survived the past four years...

I know this, yet I still have periods of doubt.  I was in this place just a few weeks ago when I received a text from a friend.  She asked me to be a counselor for an upcoming outreach program we'll have at our church.  This role would help talk someone through salvation.

Hesitation.

Doubt.

But a still small voice inside nudged me forward.   I reluctantly, yet prayerfully, agreed.  My prayers continued leading up to the group training.  As He always does, God sent just the message I needed.

Our pastor reminded us that God will never put us in a situation to lead someone to Him and not give us the words. For someone to whom words typically flow, at least in written form, this was a concern for me.  While I've led children to salvation, having this conversation intimidated me thinking about what I would say to an adult. 

And I was reminded that it is not about me.

It isn't about what I can do, it's about what God will do.

He just uses me as his vessel.



"We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves." -2 Corinthians 4:7



Faithful Friday: Train up a Child

Among my sweetest memories as a Mom are the moments I've spent sharing God with my children.  From teaching them their first prayer, to reading Bible stories, to toting them Sunday school, those snapshots remain vivid in my head as well as my heart.  Of course the most precious of all being the times in which they came forward in church and took their first steps as Christians.  Watching my boys get baptized and knowing the decisions they each prayerfully made, will always be my proudest and most joyful moments as a mom.

We raise our children with so many hopes and dreams.  We train them to be good people, giving them building blocks for what they may face in life.  We teach them right from wrong, discipline when behavior deems necessary, and say constant prayers for God's hands to guide them. 

In the end, we can only "teach" so much.  As they mature, more and more those decisions and daily life choices are all on them.  We continue to hope that our foundation helps them along the way, as well as the examples we show in our own lives.  With teenagers I find it is gentle prodding, soft suggestions, and even finding the fun in faith that keep our kids on the right path. 

As soon as Noah handed me his Kindle (to beat a level in angry birds), I used the opportunity to find and download some books and apps I thought he'd enjoy.  Of course, the first book I got for him was the Bible.  It pleased me to see him use it at church a couple of Sundays ago.  However, when we were discussing scriptures later and he asked my favorite, I realized the version he had was much older.

I'd downloaded an "Old English" version which didn't really put the Bible in words he would easily understand.  On the search for a better option, I shared with him the app I use on my own phone.  With his Kindle, it allows him to pick from several translations and has some very useful additions.  He was excited to see that it would read to him with a click of his pen, that he could highlight favorite scriptures and even take notes.  I was thrilled to see him interacting with the best book he'll ever read.

This app also included a daily devotion, written especially for teens.  It even allows for sharing on social networks like Facebook.  Yet another proud moment happened the night he read his first devotion and eagerly clicked to share it with his friends.  He then set an alarm so that each night his Kindle would remind him to read.  And so far, he has every night.  I know because a happy little message on Facebook appears as he shares it again with his friends.

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

 - Proverbs 22:6

Don't Wait

I was blessed to have a wonderful grandfather in my life, who was not only a role model for me, but a continued source of inspiration and example of faith.  Grandpa Henry was a preacher, and I believe it was because of those many sermons I listened to as a child that I became a Christian at a young age. 

Grandpa never pressured me but I know that it was through him that I found God.  I still remember the day I decided to come forward and the overwhelming joy on his face, as he held out his arms welcoming me in front of the pulpit.  It's very much the same picture I imagine of Jesus, each time a new believer asks him into their heart.

Salvation has been heavy on my heart today, as I've been in prayer for a dear friend who is losing her grandfather.  As heartbreaking as it is to lose a grandparent, she is faced with the devastation of knowing he is not saved.  There are family members and friends in this same shape and I know what a sadness I feel every time I picture Heaven without them there.

What I find tragic though is to think of a life lived without Christ.  I absolutely cannot imagine my life without Him in it.  My faith has carried me through my entire life and has been the only thing to hold me together some days, especially the past few years.  I'm ever-grateful for my Grandpa's hand in leading me to a Christian life as a child - and I can't wait to hug and thank him in Heaven someday.

I know that helping my boys accept Jesus in their hearts were the two proudest and most joyful moments as a mother.  Watching my boys be baptized, and knowing that they fully understood and wanted a life with God, were the two best days of my life.  And this knowledge of where Austin is now brings a continued source of comfort to my grieving heart.

I could never pass up this opportunity to share with you the steps to salvation, should anyone reading this not know.  It's never too late to open your heart, even if you didn't have that opportunity as a child.  Even if you've turned away from it in the past.  Even if you feel that you don't deserve that type of unconditional love and forgiveness.  The wonderful part is that you can find salvation at any moment....but the important part is not to wait until the end.  Don't live another day without God.  There is no comparison to a life without versus a life with Him.

You don't have to say a special prayer.  You don't even need a Bible, if you don't have one.  Just follow these steps.  Admit you've sinned.  Promise to turn away from sin and change.  Believe that Jesus died for you.  And ask Jesus into your heart, to lead and guide you in your life.

Romans 10:13    "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”