You're Not Disqualifed

There was a time when I thought God couldn't possibly use me. Between my rough childhood, my shameful past, and my miserable marriage, I could not imagine a less likely candidate.

My heart urged me to believe God, and to run with passion the race I sensed Him calling me toward. But at the same time, vestiges from my past would flash in my mind, or I'd react wrong because I wasn't completely healed (are any of us?), or a relational conflict would hit me, and then doubt would reign supreme. The conflict tore at me. One day I'd feel confident of my calling, the next day, I felt utterly disqualified.

But I failed to factor in four important things:

1. God's love and grace never fail. God’s love transforms us, and His grace qualifies and enables us to do what we could never do apart from Him. Even on days we get knocked down, God's love enables us and compels us to keep believing and His grace keeps us moving forward. 

2. God's gifts and callings are irrevocable. God knew the hurts we would endure, the mistakes we would make. He knows our shortcomings. But His specific calling on our lives does not disintegrate the moment we fail, because His word assures us otherwise (see Romans 11:29). This does not give us license to sin, or excuse us from pursuing godly character. On the contrary, it should instill a desire to become more Christ-like.

3. He uses our scars. Romans 8:28 reminds us that God works all things out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Our unique hurts enable us to share God's comfort, truth, and healing to others who have experienced the same wounds. God never wastes our pain. 

4. It's a process. None of us are perfect. None of us have arrived. And we all mess up. But as we make the choice to continue moving forward in God’s strength (see Ephesians 6:10)

we develop godly character, spiritual muscle, and perseverance.

Years ago I read a powerful, inspiring book called Eric Liddell: Something Greater Than Gold , about a gifted young Scotsman who trained to run in the 1924 Olympics. In my favorite chapter, Eric is running his event and on the final lap another runner knocks him down. Assuming he is disqualified from the race, Eric lies on the ground on the sidelines, anguished at the loss of his shot at an Olympic gold medal.

When he finally dares to look up, Eric sees his coach frantically motioning for him to get up and get back into the race. Stunned, Eric realizes he is not disqualified after all. Jumping up, he determines to run his best race, in spite of the lost time. The audience roars as Eric begins passing the other runners, and to everyone's surprise, he wins the gold.

My sweet sisters, the enemy would love for us to believe that we are disqualified and our race is over. But getting knocked down does not disqualify us. If we will dare to look up, our Ultimate Coach--Jesus-- is fervently cheering us on. He sees our efforts, He's encouraging us to stay in the race, and He cannot wait for us to cross the finish line. So brush yourself off, trust Him to fill you with His strength, and run your race.

Not in your own strength, for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you—energizing and creating in you the power and desire—both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight. (Philippians 2:13)

The WINNER of a free, signed copy of my book, Prayers For a Woman’s Soul, is Hilda Quintanilla. Congratulations! Please email me your mailing address by May 28^th.

I’d love to know about the race you are running—what you’re currently pressing towards. Leave me a comment and I will pray for you this week! 

The Secret to Unshakable Peace {And a Give-Away!}

It’s hardly what I expected. Suddenly a situation that had been fine was now anything but. Stunned and aching, I struggled to breathe, didn’t know what to say, could hardly think straight.

When situations over which we have no control hit us like emotional tsunamis, we can feel overwhelmed, confused, and frightened. But we don’t have to stay that way.

Here are four simple things that helped me hold on to my peace, and they will help you, too. 

1. Pray. Our first reaction to any form of distress should always be to pray. Prayer should be instinctive, like gulping air after emerging from under water. If prayer is not instinctive for you, ask God to help you to pray more and pray first. He will. Then cry out to God, knowing He is always listening, and ask Him to intervene, grant wisdom, clarity, direction, strength, and His supernatural peace. Ask Him to make His presence real  and bring comfort as only He can.

2. Stay out of your head. After spending a lot of time in prayer, struggling to understand what had happened and trying to figure out what my next step should be, I phoned a friend. (Thank God for good friends!) Her advice, “Stay out of your head”, reverberated in my heart, and I instantly I knew she was right. I needed to refuse to dwell on the situation. Much easier said than done, but entirely possible with the Lord. (“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:6)

3. Shift your focus. Every time the raw reality of my tsunami situation slapped me in the face, I refused to entertain dread, worry, fear, or any other negative emotion. I deliberately closed my eyes and chose to focus instead on the Lord. I continually quoted Job 42:2, “I know that you can do all things, and that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained or thwarted.”

4. Worship. I know, I know. Worship is probably the last thing we feel like doing when our world is crashing and our innards are trembling. But the truth is God dwells in the midst of our praises. (see Psalm 22:3) And HE is the One we need! When we praise God in the middle of our circumstances, He is honored, and He will either change our situations or change us. It’s a win-win.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You. (Isaiah 26:3) 

Would you like some help walking in peace? I’m giving away a signed copy of my new book, Prayers For a Woman's Soul to a randomly selected winner. To enter the give-away, please leave a comment (please use your first and last name-or last name initial- if possible, to make winner's announcement more clear). If you are reading this via email, please click here to leave a comment.  Sorry, give-away open to U.S. residents only.


The WINNER of last week’s give-away, receiving a signed copy of Prayers For a Woman’s Soul is: Kimberly A. Edwards. Congratulations! Please send me your mailing address by May 21st. 

P.S. My publisher wanted me to let you know that in celebration of Mother's Day, the ebook version of Prayers For a Woman’s Soul is currently on sale for only $2.99! If you're anything like me, you love a great deal! I hope you take advantage of this tremendous sale! 

 

Believe {And a Give-Away!}

We called it the surgery club. Though none of us wanted it, ¾ of our family underwent surgery that year; I had major shoulder surgery, and just 12 days later my husband had emergency gallbladder surgery. Then, after six bouts of tonsillitis over the summer, our 11 year old daughter got her tonsils out.

It felt like we’d never get better. And unbelievably, more surgeries lurked on the horizon. Yet I sensed God urging me to believe that He was still in control and that He heard my prayers.

So, in spite of how I felt I kept praying—I chose to believe. Through tears, pain and not understanding, I chose to believe God heard me and was still in control.

One of the most essential components to a powerful and effective prayer life is our willingness to believe. Not some utopian, fairy-tale type of belief that mocks reality, but a rock solid, deeply personal, I know the character of Almighty God and nothing is impossible for Him—including dealing with my current reality belief. 

We must believe that our prayers matter and can make a permanent and eternal difference in our lives and the lives of others, and we must believe that God not only always hears our prayers, but that He is omnipotent and able to accomplish the seemingly impossible.

Once these issues are settled in our minds and hearts, our prayers hold the capacity to literally move heaven and earth:

• When we believe, we please God (See Hebrews 11:6).
• When we refuse to cease praying because we believe that God has spoken and will move, our prayers will accomplish greater things than Jesus accomplished (See John 14:12).
• When we believe, our prayers become rivers of living water that flow out of our innermost being. (See John 7:38).

Eventually, thank God, our surgery club closed. And though that year was ridiculously hard, God helped me believe Him anyway.

I don’t know what you’re enduring right now, but regardless of the circumstances swirling around you, believe. Believe that God is listening. Believe that He hears you. Believe that He is greater. Believe He is moving in your situation even now.

Want some help praying and believing? I’m giving away a signed copy of my new book, Prayers For a Woman's Soul to a randomly selected winner. To enter the give-away, please leave a comment (please use your first and last name-or last name initial- if possible, to make winner's announcement more clear) sharing what you are believing God for. If you are reading this via email, please click here to leave a comment. Prize must be claimed by May 21^st.  Sorry, give-away open to U.S. residents only.

The WINNER of last week’s give-away, receiving a signed copy of Prayers For a Woman’s Soul is: Janet (who is leading a group for CBS Bible study). Congratulations! Please send me your mailing address by May 14^th.

The Simple List That Changed My Life {And a Give-Away!}

One of the most crucial aspects of our prayer lives is focus. If we can maintain our focus, we will be able to ask and keep asking, to knock and keep knocking (see Matthew 7:7), and God will hear us. He will move, and we will reap the results of focused, persevering prayer.

But if you’re anything like me, you multitask during the day, juggle many responsibilities, and have a lot on your mind. The weeks zip by, and it’s not always easy to maintain our focus for the next 15 minutes, let alone maintain a prayer focus.

So I’d like to talk about maintaining a strong prayer focus for one year. If that sounds overwhelming to you, it is actually the opposite.  It’s a relief to have a simple list prepared and in the place where I always see it. It’s a gentle reminder that helps me remember the things God impressed on my heart, and it helps me to pray without ceasing.

And trust me, a year of concentrated, specific prayer yields powerful results.

In fact, I am convinced that my annual prayer lists have drastically altered my heart, my life, my marriage, and my children.

So, are you ready to create your annual prayer list?

Before you get too impressed, I keep it simple. I use either a 4x6 index card or similar size sheet of paper. I take some time to prayerfully consider where I am in life, where I’d like to be, and I reflect on the various situations unfolding. I ponder the dreams in my heart, and ask God to bring to the forefront His desires and plans for me, and to shape my plans according to His will.

I also think about family members, and if anything is weighing heavily on my heart, I’ll consider placing that on my annual prayer list. Let me give you an example. I began to notice that it’s still entirely too easy for me to fall into negative, critical thinking. So this year, I added “Freedom from negative/critical thinking: Positive and encouraging thoughts and words.” (It’s #1 on my list.) I’m trying to capture and stop those negative or critical thoughts as they’re forming, and asking the Lord to help me be more positive and encouraging with my words. And I’m already seeing results!

Essentially, any area of our lives or relationships where we long to experience change is perfect for our prayer list. I try to keep my list to no more than 8-10 items so I don’t feel overwhelmed when I pull it out. You can make yours shorter or longer, depending on your personality, your season of life, and the amount of time you’re willing to invest.

My prayer list is tucked inside my Bible. But the idea is to keep it where you’ll see it, so feel free to place your list on your nightstand or next to the kitchen sink, or tape it to the bathroom mirror or the dashboard of your car, or wherever best suits you.

Once established, our lists will help us to maintain our prayer focus all year.  This is “praying without ceasing” (see 1 Thessalonians 5:17), and it’s powerful.  When we partner with God by faithfully do our parts, we will reap the life-changing benefits of focused, unceasing prayer.  And we’ll see how a simple list can change our lives. 

I happen to believe that praying for ourselves is essential, so I always add MY needs to my prayer list and I encourage you to do the same. Need some help knowing what to pray about for yourself? I'm giving away a signed copy of my new book, "Prayers For a Woman's Soul". Just leave me a comment sharing your thoughts the first thing you'd put on your prayer list, and I will choose a random winner. 

Give-away open only to residents of the U.S. If you're reading this in an email, you can leave a comment and enter the give-away by CLICKING HERE.

He Always Hears

One of the things I struggled with as a new believer was knowing that God really heard me.  And by that I mean truly understanding and believing He heard me—whether I whispered, shouted, groaned, or just plain talked to Him.

I mean, why would the God who created the universe want to listen to me? And how could I be certain—really certain—that He heard me at all? Can you relate?

As my faith matured I began to understand two critical things:

1.  I’m not a nobody. I belong to the One who valued me enough to pay for my very life, and He longs to hear from me.

When I was a young mom of a six month old baby, I couldn’t wait for him to be able to talk. His jabbering delighted me but oh, how I longed to converse with my precious boy.

That’s how God feels about us—and it never ends—even when we grow up. J He longs to hear from us and is especially delighted when we open our hearts to Him.

2.   He’s always listening.  I’m a mom of 3, and I’ve never not heard my kids. When they were little, I heard their every 2am whimper. As they grew older my ears still picked up their every move.

And that is how God is with us.

He hears ours sighs, He listens when we’re venting to Him, or thanking Him, or just reaching out to Him. Don’t you love knowing that?

Here are seven Scriptures that reveal God always hears. Meditate on these until you know—really know—that He hears you. {Because He really does!}

• But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from His sanctuary; my cry to Him reached His ears. (Psalm 18:6 – NLT)

• The Lord hears His people when they call to Him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. (Psalm 34:17 – NLT)

• Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw His unfailing love from me. (Psalm 66:20)

• So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted His eyes and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard me. Yes, I know You always hear and listen to Me, but I have said this on account of and for the benefit of the people standing around, so that they may believe that You did send me. (John 11:41-42- AMP)

•  O Lord, You have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. (Psalm 139:1-2 – NLT)

• And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for. (1 John 5:15)

• And the Angel of the Lord continued, See now, you are with child and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael (God hears), because the Lord has heard and paid attention to your affliction. (Genesis 16:11 – AMP)

If you struggle with knowing God really hears you, I totally understand. Please leave me a comment and I will be honored pray for you this week, sweet friend. J

  

 

When Everything In You Just Wants to Quit {And a Free Printable Download}

If you’ve got a calling on your life (and I believe that we all do), there are going to be times you want to quit because it feels too difficult. 

Whether it’s a call to stay in your marriage, write a book, become a doctor, join the military, learn another language, or get free from your past, you’re going to face days that make you want to not only throw in the towel, but stomp its ever-loving terrycloth loops to smithereens. (Ahem.)

I’m convinced that, more than anything else, the enemy simply wants us to quit.

I know, because I’ve been the target of those feelings many times. I’ve thrown in the towel, stomped on it, and tossed it right out the window. I flat-out gave up and told God I just couldn’t do it anymore.

Which is right where the enemy wants us.

If we can be convinced that it’s too hard, that we’ll never make it, that it’s no use, well, he’s won. And we will miss our God-given destinies. Just knowing that helps us keep things in perspective.

When we feel strongly tempted to quit, we would be wise to do three simple—but powerful—things:

1. Pray. Get raw-honest with God—He knows how you feel anyway. Then ask Him to help you not to quit. It’s really that simple. And don’t ask just once. Keep asking. (See Matthew 7:7)

2. Sing. I know, singing is probably the last thing on your mind when you’re in a towel-tossing fit. But when we dare to worship God in the middle of our ugly, His beauty rushes in and transforms our hearts like nothing else.

3. Absorb. Scripture is not mere words on paper. It’s living and active and it accomplishes all that God intends. Declaring and agreeing with God’s word is the supernatural boost that will enable us to keep going strong. I’m so convinced of this that I’ve created a new printable, 7 Scriptures To Keep You Going Strong. Get your copy by CLICKING HERE.

Whether you're about to quietly give up or you’re on the verge of a towel-stomping, tossing, quit-fit, leave me a comment and I'll pray for you. I treasure your comments and pray over every one.

If you are reading this in an email, you can comment by Visiting My Blog.

A Faith That is Willing to Climb

Does it ever feel like your circumstances tower over you? Like it’s hard to see clearly because that thing—that one thing you’re going through—just seems to be all up and in your face?

I so understand.

Our towering circumstances can make us feel miniscule. Insignificant. And try as we might, we just can’t seem to see above, around, or past them.

Sometimes what we need more than anything is fresh perspective and fresh eyes of faith to see beyond what is staring us in the face—to see the potential and the promise—not just the lousy facts.

This week I re-read the story of Zacchaeus, the short-statured man who strongly desired to see Jesus but couldn’t because those crowding around him were all taller. (See Luke 19)

Everything around him blocked his view.

So, Zacchaeus got desperate and did something unexpected. He climbed a sycamore tree.

Zacchaeus determined to get to the place where nothing—nothing would block his view of Jesus. And once he climbed that sycamore tree, not only did he see Jesus, he captured Jesus’s attention.

When everything around us is blocking our view of Jesus, we need to ask ourselves a question: When was the last time I got determined to do whatever it takes to see Jesus?

Are we willing to climb up—in prayer—in faith—so that we might see Jesus in spite of the circumstances crowding around us?

Perhaps, like Zacheus, our faith feels small. Perhaps WE feel too insignificant for Jesus to notice us at all. But when we determine to rise above our circumstances and climb up in faith, we will secure a holy vantage point and fresh vision.

We will see Jesus.

And Jesus will take notice.

Our determination to rise above our circumstances actually draws Jesus to us. And the beautiful part is, He will come and stay in our homes—our hearts.

Sweet friends, when Jesus is with us, it changes everything. I encourage you this week to get determined and climb above your circumstances—until you can see Him.

And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. (Colossians 3:2)

 How about you? Is there a situation you need to climb above? Are you battling a crowd of stuff that’s blocking your view of Jesus? Leave me a comment and I will pray for you this week.

The WINNER of a signed copy of Prayers For a Woman’s Soul (chosen randomly from last week’s commenters) is Ritam Safari. Congratulations! Please send me an email with your mailing address by April 9^th.