Category Archives: Prayer

Sometimes I Thank God For Answered Un-Prayers

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Sometimes I Thank God For Answered Un-Prayers... Ever had God give you something that you wanted but never even prayed for?

Sometimes I Thank God For Answered Un-Prayers

Do you guys remember that old Garth Brooks song “Unanswered Prayers”? The song tells a story about a man and his wife bumping into an old high school girlfriend. Years before he would pray that that old girlfriend would one day be his wife. Then he goes on to say that some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. Well, today I’m not actually going to talk about unanswered prayers but about another gift from God: answered un-prayers.

I’ve discovered that God often answers “prayers” that we’ve never actually even prayed. I often look back and see how God has worked things out, and I didn’t even have to pray! I don’t know why I get so shocked by it sometimes. 

God often answers “prayers” that we’ve never actually even prayed. #answeredunprayers

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A potential scheduling fiasco

The Story of Christmas...as told by kids!

The Nativity Story…as retold by the kids!

Recently, I experience some answered un-prayers. My mom had asked me to get a hold of my siblings and arrange a date to do our family Christmas party. We do a separate gift exchange for the adults where the adults get together and play Dirty Santa. While the adults are playing all of the kids get together and organize a play or a retelling of the Nativity Story (ALWAYS entertaining).

Dirty Santa invite

My family Dirty Santa invite I sent out

Sometimes it can be a bit stressful trying to arrange a function that accommodates everyone. I was having trouble trying to find a date that would work for everyone. We had already been struggling to find a day and time to do the annual Christmas pictures of all the grandkids. Then it’s also occasionally difficult to work around families with shared custody with ex-spouses in order to work with what weekends they have the kids.

On top of that, it’s hunting season, so we have to accommodate the hunters in the family. Then we also have to schedule around volunteering for the church Christmas functions, attending church Christmas services and the rest of the holiday obligations (Christmas concerts, work parties, other family gatherings, gatherings with friends, and so on). It’s a lot to try to fit in this time of year!

The dilemma 

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Scriptures About Speaking To Others And Knowing What To Say

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Here are some scriptures about speaking that will help you with what to say to others. Use these scriptures as a prayer for help on figuring out the right thing to say or as a positive affirmation that you will say the right things at the right time.

Scriptures About Speaking To Others And Knowing What To Say

Sometimes not knowing what to say to others can be very intimidating. Often we find ourselves in situations where we might have to have a difficult conversation or confrontation. Occasionally, we might even have to defend ourselves from time to time. Some situations are less serious, and we just need some wisdom or guidance on saying the right thing or clearly communicating a message. Fortunately, I have found some scriptures about speaking that I like to turn into a prayer request depending on my need at the time.

Personally, I’ve spent a significant amount of time in prayer using these scriptures about speaking to ask for God’s help to say the right thing at the right time. They also help me to ask for help to clearly explain something. Actually, I pray many of these verses before I write a blog post as well because I truly want my posts to be God-led, clearly explained and contain information that will help anyone who reads them. I also use these scriptures before a difficult conversation or confrontation when I know I’ll need to tread lightly and when the right words are so important. I even use them to help me discern when to keep my mouth shut! Lastly, I always want the words that come out of my mouth to only mirror what God would say.

I’d like to share some of my go-to scriptures for speaking that I use when I’m in these types of situations. Some I have found on my own with research on the topic. Others have been shared with me by close friends when I’ve reached out for prayer. My hope and prayer is that you might find a few go-to verses for yourself that help you know what to say when you are at a loss for words or need a little help. 

Scriptures can help you clearly explain yourself with the right words at the right time.

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Scriptures about speaking the right words and having the right timing: Continue reading →

Help From God Might Come As Help From Others

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Help From God Might Come As Help From Others

Help From God Might Come As Help From Others

To wrap up our recent talks about “help”, I thought I’d leave you with a reminder. Help from God might come as help from others. So often many of us pray to God for help, and for some reason we get these ideas of how that help will appear. We think God will somehow miraculously intervene. We think that God might empower and strengthen us to handle situations on our own. It doesn’t always come the way we imagine though. Occasionally, it’s much more humbling than we imagine.

Our prayers for help may come in the form of help from others. Frequently we may find ourselves having to admit that we need other people to help fix things we are dealing with or going through. Our gut reaction may be to decline that help because we trick ourselves into believing that we are somehow “less” if we accept help from others. However, we may be refusing God’s help when we don’t accept help from others that He may have sent on our behalf. 

Help from God doesn’t always come in the way we imagine.

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It reminds me of a fable or parable I heard years ago… 

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Top 10 Posts of 2015

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Happy, Healthy & Prosperous Top 10 Posts of 2015

Top 10 Posts of 2015

“Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered” Psalms 105:5 (ESV)

This week I’m sharing the Top 10 Posts of 2015.  I like to take the first of the year to recount some of the top or most popular posts of the previous year.  I like to share them for a couple of reasons…

First, there are several new subscribers/followers who may not have seen or read these posts and might find some of them to be helpful.

Secondly, looking back also helps me to remember what God has done and is still doing through this website (that I oh-so-reluctantly started…and sometimes still reluctantly continue!).

Lastly, it helps me (and hopefully you too) know how to pray based on what the current need or demand is, and when I know that I know how to continue to pray for others.  For example, 3 of the most popular posts have to do with leading someone to Christ or praying for someone to come to Christ.  For starters this makes me SUPER excited to know that people are actively seeking these types of websites out.  To me this means that the body of Christ is continuing to grow, and I know to continue to pray for the people who have come across these posts to have boldness to lead someone to the Lord and to agree in prayer with them that their unsaved loved ones will be saved and grow in their relationship with God.  Another example, is that the posts about being unloved and unwanted are overwhelmingly popular…which makes me so sad to know that there are so many people feeling unloved and unwanted.  I continue to pray that they will know and fully experience the love of God and of others.

Take Some Practical Steps:

  • As you look through this list of most popular posts, please take a minute to pray for one or more of the topics that stand out to you (like my examples above).
  • Please click on and read or re-read one or more of the posts from which you feel you may be able to receive some benefit or of which you might need some reminding.
  • Pay it forward…if one or more of the following posts has benefited you, please forward it/them to others you feel they may benefit (you might prayerfully consider who to share them with), or consider sharing them on your social media channels (sharing links are available at the end of each post).
  • Lastly, please pray for me this year to #1-continue to help others, #2-for me to have to right words at the right time, and #3-for the right people to be directed to my site for God to help them.
    Remember what God has done for you and pay it forward!

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Top 10 Posts of 2015

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Funny Friday: Dear God

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Dear God...Funny kid's letters to God

Funny Friday: Dear God

To go along with our topic of prayer this week, I came across these cute and funny “Dear God” letters from kids.  Some of these are great!  I’ve kinda always wondered about the giraffe too. 😉

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Jeremiah 33:3 (ESV)

How to Pray for Unsaved Loved Ones

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How to Pray for Unsaved Loved Ones...specific things to pray and what to expect

How to Pray for Unsaved Loved Ones

“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NLT) 

We are instructed to pray for our unsaved loved ones.  Sometimes it’s just hard to know how or what to pray.  I encountered this same problem, so I did some study and research to find the best ways to pray for unsaved loved ones.  I say “unsaved loved ones” but really these things could be prayed even for those who are saved that may have drifted away from God for some reason.

It’s very hard to see someone you love so lost or far from God or even questioning God.  You want so much to help them, to fix them but you inevitably know that it’s not within your control.  To receive Christ and to have a life-changing relationship with God is a personal and individual decision that we can never make for someone else, no matter how badly we want it for them.  We can “plant seeds” (i.e. talk to them in a non-threatening and non-pushy way and/or show example in our own life), and we can pray for them.  The rest is up to them.  God gave us free will.  Jesus Christ is his free gift to us, ours for the taking.  However, a gift demanded or forced is no gift at all.  We don’t have to take it.  Sometimes we want something more for someone than they want it for themselves.  It kind of stinks to feel this way, but guess what…You’re in good company.  That’s how God feels all the time.  All is not hopeless though!  Prayers are extremely powerful!

“…The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16b (NLT) 

I have heard numerous people tell stories, my pastor included, that they are where they are today as a result of someone praying for them.  God will go to work on our behalf, but we have to ask.

After studying and researching how and what to pray for unsaved loved ones, I compiled a list of things that I started to use.  I actually wrote the list of what to pray in my notes of my phone and would open it and pray through the list for my unsaved loved ones.  However, you don’t have to pray ALL of these things all of the time.  I have done that, but for the most part I just picked a couple of these things to pray for each day (or whenever my unsaved loved ones came to mind—not necessarily every day).

Take Some Practical Steps to Pray for Unsaved Loved Ones (text in red are example prayers):

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How to Overcome Feeling Unloved or Unwanted

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Learn How to Overcome Feeling Unloved or Unwanted

How to Overcome Feeling Unloved or Unwanted

**Please read the companion posts too: How to Recognize Love and Feel Loved by Others, and subsequent posts on What If God’s Love Isn’t Enough? and Recognizing God’s Love by Building Your Relationship with Him–Part 1 and Part 2. 

Feeling unloved or unwanted is one of the 9 Common Causes of Insecurity that we previously discussed.  When we feel loved, we tend to feel good about ourselves.  The opposite is true too, and that’s why we can become insecure (click here to read more posts on overcoming insecurity and poor self-esteem and how to realize your true value/worth).  There might be several reasons for someone feeling unloved.  Below are some examples of the types of people who might sometimes feel unloved or unwanted.

People who might feel unloved–You might see yourself in one or more of these examples.

  • Those from a family of divorce
  • Those who have gone through a divorce themselves
  • Those on the receiving end of infidelity
  • Those who have lost a job
  • Adopted children
  • Those on the receiving end of a breakup
  • Those living in a dysfunctional family
  • Those from a family of absentee parents
  • Those from an abusive home or situation
  • Victims of sexual abuse
  • Those who have made a lot of mistakes (or feel like they’ve messed up so bad they don’t deserve to be loved)
  • Those who have difficulty finding a significant other
  • Those who have experienced rejection in any form

An unloved girl in the bible

In the bible, Leah was married to Jacob, but she was not his first choice as a wife.  Her father actually deceived Jacob into thinking that he was marrying Leah’s sister, Rachel.  Jacob eventually did marry Rachel too, and he favored her above Leah.  Leah felt unloved by her husband (and rightly so) which made her insecure and believe that if she gave her husband children then he might finally love her.

“So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “The lord has noticed my misery, and now my husband will love me.”” Genesis 29:32 (NLT)

You can’t earn love. It must be freely given. #feeling unloved

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Come to the understanding that you are loved and wanted by God

People often try to overcome feeling unloved the same way Leah did—by trying to earn it.  Continue reading →

How to Lead Someone to Christ

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Learn how to lead someone to Christ here...

How to Lead Someone to Christ

Knowing how to lead someone to Christ may seem like a no-brainer to some.  However, for me this was an issue that made me extremely nervous.  I was always afraid I wouldn’t do it right.  Even though I had seen and heard people be led to the Lord countless times in church, I still questioned myself on how to do it.  To be honest, I hadn’t had much experience personally on how to lead someone to Christ.  I had only led my kids through the prayer and a couple of their little friends (it’s a lot less threatening with kids for some reason!).

One time though, I had the opportunity to lead a very special friend through the process.  Talk about being a hot mess!  I was terrified.  This was the most important decision that they would ever make in their life, and I didn’t want to screw them up.  We said a prayer out loud together (I had them repeat after me).  To be completely honest, I really don’t even know what I said because I was such a nervous wreck.  In my efforts to make sure we did it correctly, I pulled out my iPhone, opened my Bible app, and read Romans 10:9.  Then, I googled how to lead someone to Christ just to double check!  I know…I’m a goofball sometimes! 🙂  I felt a lot better because it really was as easy as it seemed.  For some reason though, it just didn’t seem like it should be that easy.

In an effort to help you, should you ever find yourself in this situation, I would like to share with you how to lead someone to Christ.  Continue reading →