Prayer Focus - Strangers
Day 4
Pray for:
One person you admire or look up to
One person you met/meet today
One person that is in the entertainment industry
One person in politics
Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs
Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.
Psalms 61
This devotional was originally written in November of 2009. I have left it as I wrote it then. The whole year of 2009 was extremely difficult for my family and I. In January of 2009, my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer which we eventually learned, had spread to his liver. I struggled to hold our family together through the two surgeries and two rounds of chemotherapy that would consume the entire year. Writing these devotionals became a therapeutic outlet for me as I re-evaluated my relationship with God and clung to Him moment by moment. We made it through that year and many more after it. We have dealt with a reoccurrence of cancer last year and keep struggling on. God has always come through. Sometimes I do not see how the victory will come but it does come anyway. God has always been faithful and no matter what happens, I believe that He has used everything I have gone through to strengthen my faith, my family, and myself. He truly is the rock that is higher than I.
"Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to You, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in Your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. For You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name. Increase the days of the king's life, his years for many generations. May he be enthroned in God's presence forever; appoint Your love and faithfulness to protect him. Then will I ever sing praise to Your name and fulfill my vows day after day." ( Psalms 61)
"Listen to my prayer Lord, because I am growing weaker." Haven't we all been there? We fight and fight and keep going and keep going and then it just feels like there is nothing left. There is a limit to us and what we can do. Praise God, however, there is no limit to Him. When life is overwhelming, we need to let Him lead us to that rock that we can climb up on and be safe from the waves that are battering us. He is our refuge.
I have to confess, I have been battered lately. I have been struggling with life. My Joelle has been sick since off and on since October 2 with her asthma and a cold/flu. Just when I think she is getting better, she gets worse again. I have been sick as well for about two weeks and then last night, my middle daughter develops a 102 fever. This would usually be not that big of a deal, but since she was exposed to H1N1 by at least two classmates, I was a bit stressed. I took both girls to the urgent care today and was told not to worry too much about Lorelei, and Joelle got a breathing treatment and some stronger medicine to try and get her asthma under control. Now tomorrow, my husband is supposed to start his second round of chemo and I am trying desperately to get my grades done in the midst of all this. I have missed so much work already and am debating if taking tomorrow off would be a good thing or not. My house is an utter disaster area and I am so tired. So these are my waves. This is what is battering me. Now I need to face them and then I need to get up and climb up on the rock that is higher than I.
I do long to dwell in God's tent. I want some shelter. I am tired of doing it all and being responsible for everything. God knows my vows. He has given me the heritage of those who fear His name. I am in good company. This is all just temporary and God has it all under control. I just need to climb out of the water I am sinking in and rest in Christ. Our health will get better and we will move on. I will get my grades done. I always do somehow or other. And God's love and faithfulness surround me and protects me. I will praise God. I will be positive in spite all of this. I will. I will fulfill my vows.
Prayer for the Day
Dear Lord,
Lift us to the rock that is higher than we are. We need You as our refuge. This world is too hard for us alone. We are fading away. Help us to run to You. Help us to get out of the rough water that surrounds us and lift up our arms to You, our Father and our Protector. We have made vows to You and we need You to help us fulfill them. You are able. We search for Your love and faithfulness. We know they are there. We look for You. We long for You. Hear our cry O Lord for without You, we are lost.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen
QFT
1. How is my prayer life? Am I crying out to God? Do I really pour out my heart to Him or do I just recite the same things over and over? How can I revitalize my prayer life?
2. Am I growing faint of working on something or dealing with some issue in my life? What are the waves that are battering me? Am I bringing them to God daily in prayer?
3. Is God my refuge? If He isn't, what do I take refuge in when I am struggling? How can I run to God and take refuge in Him? How can I do this more?
4. Do I recognize God's love and faithfulness? How can these qualities of God protect me? How can I be more aware of them in my life?
5. Am I praising God? Am I fulfilling my vows? Which am I better at doing, praising God, or fulfilling my vows? Why? How can I grow in these two areas?
Showing posts with label asthma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asthma. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Monday, August 24, 2015
Daily Devotional - 8/24/15 (10/24/09)
Prayer Focus - Enemies
Day 3
Pray for:
One person who was mean to you when you were a child
One person who has given you a lot of trouble recently
One person from your family (immediate or extended) that has given you trouble at some point in time
Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs
Your ability to offer complete forgiveness from your heart
Your ability to let go of the hurts and move on whether they will ever apologize or not
Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.
Psalms 54
This post was originally written in 2009. I have left it much as it was. My daughter is now a healthy 11 year old and her asthma rarely bothers her. In 2009, my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer which had spread to his liver. He had two surgeries and two rounds of chemotherapy. He was cancer free for four years and then had a reoccurrence in 2014. This was followed by another surgery and more chemotherapy [see Daily Devotional - 8/22/10 (9/22/09) if you are interested in learning more about his cancer]. Thankfully, he has been cancer free for a year now. My schedule is still very hectic and long, yet God always provides what I need to take care of all of my responsibilities. If you are interested in reading the background information which prompted me to start these devotionals in 2009, please see ("Background Information" - published 8/31/09.)
"Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me....I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good. For He has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes." ( vs. 4, 6-7)
God is my help. I have to repeat this to myself daily, hourly, and moment by moment. God is my help. He is the one who sustains me. I can not do this on my own. There is so much to be done daily. If I look at my life, I am overwhelmed; if I look at God, I can make it through. God does supply my daily needs. However, I must learn to separate the urgent from the important. I must learn to prioritize. I can not do everything and so I must do the most important. Sometimes I do not even know what that is. Therefore, I must learn to rely more and more on the Lord who sustains me.
I am learning to look at the worst that could happen and then look at it through God's eyes. Heaven knows, I am getting quite a bit of practice. For example, if my daughter should get sick with H1N1, which happens to be something on my mind right now, what would be the worst that could happen? Having asthma, she could get very sick. She could even die. I have had to think of this before. I have thought of this every time I have had to take her to the hospital because she can't breathe. So if the worst would happen to my child, I have to realize, she would be in heaven. She would be happy and at peace forever. Since she is only five, she would be with God and would be spared all the heart ache that we face living on earth. I would be heartbroken but at least I would know that she was safe and no longer had to suffer. I would not have to worry about whether or not she would grow up to know God. She would be there waiting for me. Sometimes remembering this helps me to face the uncertainty of each day. I can make it through the worst, day by day, holding on to God's hand and striving to look at life through an eternal perspective. And so it is with each problem I face. I try to keep this focus. I look at the worst that could happen and then I take that to God, for I do know that He is good. He has kept me safe this far.
So I will sacrifice a freewill offering to God in gratitude for sustaining me. I will freely come and bring Him whatever I have to offer. Sometimes it is not much but I will bring it. Like the poor widow that only dropped a few coins in the offering, I will give what I can, what I have ( Luke 21:1-4 ). God will not have to force me to follow, or to come, or to sacrifice. I am so grateful that I am even allowed to participate in this life. I would have nothing without God and I look forward to seeing how He will deliver me from all of my present troubles. He has amazed me up until now with how He has gotten me out of my past troubles. I am certain that I will look in triumph on my foes someday. And what a great day that will be!
Prayer for the Day
Dear Lord,
We look forward to the day that we will be able to look with triumph on our foes. You have delivered us so far and You will continue to deliver us. You are good, always good and we praise You. You are our help. You do sustain us. You get us up and put us to bed. You keep our hearts beating and our lungs pulling in oxygen. You are great and You deserve all the freewill offerings I can bring. Help us to not be like horses or mules that have to be pulled along. Help us to come willingly and eagerly to serve You. Forgive us in our failures to please You. We need You and praise You for Your mercy. Continue to walk with us and carry us when we are weak. We worship You.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen
QFT
1. How often do I think about God actually being with me in each present moment? Do I turn to Him for help in the moment or do I forget He is there?
2. Am I allowing God to prioritize my day and my time? Do I let Him get involved with the mundane areas of my life like house work or do I feel that God is only interested in the "big issues"?
3. What am I worrying about? What is the worst thing that could happen in that situation? How can I see this from an eternal perspective? Does this help me? Why or why not?
4. How can I bring a freewill offering to God? Is my service and worship a joy or burden to me? What can I change to improve my attitude of joy when I am serving or worshiping God?
5. What are the foes in my life? What am I doing to conquer them? How will I feel when I am delivered and can look at them in triumph?
Day 3
Pray for:
One person who was mean to you when you were a child
One person who has given you a lot of trouble recently
One person from your family (immediate or extended) that has given you trouble at some point in time
Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs
Your ability to offer complete forgiveness from your heart
Your ability to let go of the hurts and move on whether they will ever apologize or not
Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.
Psalms 54
This post was originally written in 2009. I have left it much as it was. My daughter is now a healthy 11 year old and her asthma rarely bothers her. In 2009, my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer which had spread to his liver. He had two surgeries and two rounds of chemotherapy. He was cancer free for four years and then had a reoccurrence in 2014. This was followed by another surgery and more chemotherapy [see Daily Devotional - 8/22/10 (9/22/09) if you are interested in learning more about his cancer]. Thankfully, he has been cancer free for a year now. My schedule is still very hectic and long, yet God always provides what I need to take care of all of my responsibilities. If you are interested in reading the background information which prompted me to start these devotionals in 2009, please see ("Background Information" - published 8/31/09.)
"Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me....I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good. For He has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes." ( vs. 4, 6-7)
God is my help. I have to repeat this to myself daily, hourly, and moment by moment. God is my help. He is the one who sustains me. I can not do this on my own. There is so much to be done daily. If I look at my life, I am overwhelmed; if I look at God, I can make it through. God does supply my daily needs. However, I must learn to separate the urgent from the important. I must learn to prioritize. I can not do everything and so I must do the most important. Sometimes I do not even know what that is. Therefore, I must learn to rely more and more on the Lord who sustains me.
I am learning to look at the worst that could happen and then look at it through God's eyes. Heaven knows, I am getting quite a bit of practice. For example, if my daughter should get sick with H1N1, which happens to be something on my mind right now, what would be the worst that could happen? Having asthma, she could get very sick. She could even die. I have had to think of this before. I have thought of this every time I have had to take her to the hospital because she can't breathe. So if the worst would happen to my child, I have to realize, she would be in heaven. She would be happy and at peace forever. Since she is only five, she would be with God and would be spared all the heart ache that we face living on earth. I would be heartbroken but at least I would know that she was safe and no longer had to suffer. I would not have to worry about whether or not she would grow up to know God. She would be there waiting for me. Sometimes remembering this helps me to face the uncertainty of each day. I can make it through the worst, day by day, holding on to God's hand and striving to look at life through an eternal perspective. And so it is with each problem I face. I try to keep this focus. I look at the worst that could happen and then I take that to God, for I do know that He is good. He has kept me safe this far.
So I will sacrifice a freewill offering to God in gratitude for sustaining me. I will freely come and bring Him whatever I have to offer. Sometimes it is not much but I will bring it. Like the poor widow that only dropped a few coins in the offering, I will give what I can, what I have ( Luke 21:1-4 ). God will not have to force me to follow, or to come, or to sacrifice. I am so grateful that I am even allowed to participate in this life. I would have nothing without God and I look forward to seeing how He will deliver me from all of my present troubles. He has amazed me up until now with how He has gotten me out of my past troubles. I am certain that I will look in triumph on my foes someday. And what a great day that will be!
Prayer for the Day
Dear Lord,
We look forward to the day that we will be able to look with triumph on our foes. You have delivered us so far and You will continue to deliver us. You are good, always good and we praise You. You are our help. You do sustain us. You get us up and put us to bed. You keep our hearts beating and our lungs pulling in oxygen. You are great and You deserve all the freewill offerings I can bring. Help us to not be like horses or mules that have to be pulled along. Help us to come willingly and eagerly to serve You. Forgive us in our failures to please You. We need You and praise You for Your mercy. Continue to walk with us and carry us when we are weak. We worship You.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen
QFT
1. How often do I think about God actually being with me in each present moment? Do I turn to Him for help in the moment or do I forget He is there?
2. Am I allowing God to prioritize my day and my time? Do I let Him get involved with the mundane areas of my life like house work or do I feel that God is only interested in the "big issues"?
3. What am I worrying about? What is the worst thing that could happen in that situation? How can I see this from an eternal perspective? Does this help me? Why or why not?
4. How can I bring a freewill offering to God? Is my service and worship a joy or burden to me? What can I change to improve my attitude of joy when I am serving or worshiping God?
5. What are the foes in my life? What am I doing to conquer them? How will I feel when I am delivered and can look at them in triumph?
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