The song "Let me tell you 'bout my Jesus" is in my heart! 

What a great thought nothing can stand in our way, no battle scars will overtake our lives if we go to Christ continually. 

 Holy Father in heaven, We ask today that you'd deliver us from anything that has an evil influence over us. 

 Personally, Lord, help me put food in it's place, it's just something we need, it's not our comfort when troubled. 

Lord, you've set me free before from this desire so much so that after losing 65 pounds back in the 1990's I've not gained it back. 

Lord, thank you for the peace! 

But Lord you see me now, just "grazing" when I'm not really hungry, I need YOU LORD, more of you and less of my desire for food. 

 Thank you Lord, that You have promised to "deliver me from every evil work and preserve me" for Your kingdom (2 Timothy 4:18). 

 My battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, rulers of the dark age and against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12) 

 Praise Your Holy Name! You've put all these enemies under Your feet (Ephesians 1:22), and

 "there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known " 

(Matthew 10:26). 

 LORD, "My times are in Your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me" (Psalm 31:15) 

 "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name." Psalm 91:4 

Praise, honor and glory for our Holy Father, His Holy Son and The Holy Spirit... 

In Jesus, Amen and Amen 

So when life seems hopeless ask Christ Jesus for help. 

He's alive. 

He's well. 

He's talking to His Father about us. 

He's never too busy. 

He waits to hear from His children. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you; make his face shine upon you and give you peace!

My Mother's God Answers Prayers

Must share this story with you, I just hung up the phone after having an interesting conversation with a dear friend! She mentioned that at 9 years of age she heard her mother pray, "Oh, Lord, please take me home" and it scared her to death! Her mom did not know that the 9 year old heard the prayer. Of course that is not the only prayer she had heard her mother pray. But she knew that when her mother prayed she got answers so even as a 9 year old she was not surprised when her mother died within two weeks after that prayer. Her mom got to make her transfer to heaven!
The 9-year-old daughter turned out to be a Christian that depends TOTALLY on God because of this Mother's prayer life and then death. What example are we setting for our children? Do you pray out loud with your children? Will they one day say "My Mother's God Answers Prayers." ? "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Rom. 12:12

Prayer Focus for 2010

Just a reminder: focused prayers for 3 weeks-started yesterday, November 29, 2009 – December 19th, 2009: Be inspired by Daniel 9-10 as Daniel prayed for three weeks making his request to God. Pray...as we reflect on 2009 and move toward God's will to be done in 2010. Pray for the grace and peace of God (Revelation 1.4).

When You Speak, God Hears

Those who pray keep alive the watch fires of faith. For the most part we don’t even know their names. Such is the case of someone who prayed on a day long ago. His name is not important. He is important not because of who he was, but because of what he did.
He went to Jesus on behalf of a friend. His friend was sick, and Jesus could help, and someone needed to go to Jesus, so someone went. Others cared for the sick man in other ways. Some brought food; others provided treatment; still others comforted the family. Each role was crucial. Each person was helpful, but no one was more vital than the one who went to Jesus.
John writes: “So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick’” (John 11:3, emphasis mine).
Someone carried the request. Someone walked the trail. Someone went to Jesus on behalf of Lazarus. And because someone went, Jesus responded.
In the economy of heaven, the prayers of saints are a valued commodity. John the apostle would agree. He wrote the story of Lazarus and was careful to show the sequence: The healing began when the request was made.
The phrase the friend of Lazarus used is worth noting. When he told Jesus of the illness, he said, “The one you love is sick.” The power of the prayer, in other words, does not depend on the one who makes the prayer but on the one who hears the prayer.
We can and must repeat the phrase in manifold ways. “The one you love is tired, sad, hungry, lonely, fearful, depressed.” The words of the prayer vary, but the response never changes. The Savior hears the prayer. He silences heaven so he won’t miss a word. The Master heard the request. Jesus stopped whatever he was doing and took note of the man’s words. This anonymous courier was heard by God.
John’s message is critical. You can talk to God because God listens. Your voice matters in heaven. He takes you very seriously. When you enter his presence, the attendants turn to you to hear your voice. No need to fear that you will be ignored. Even if you stammer or stumble, even if what you have to say impresses no one, it impresses God—and he listens.
Intently. Carefully. The prayers are honored as precious jewels. Purified and empowered, the words rise in a delightful fragrance to our Lord. “The smoke from the incense went up from the angel’s hand to God” (Rev. 8:4). Incredible. Your words do not stop until they reach the very throne of God.
One call and heaven’s fleet appears. Your prayer on earth activates God’s power in heaven.
You are the someone of God’s kingdom. Your prayers move God to change the world. You may not understand the mystery of prayer. You don’t need to. But this much is clear: Actions in heaven begin when someone prays on earth. What an amazing thought!
When you speak, Jesus hears.
And when Jesus hears, the world is changed.
All because someone prayed.

by Max Lucado
From
For These Tough Times:
Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope and Healing
© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

Why Pray Now? or Where is God?

Where is God?

It is important to recognize that God dwells in a different realm. He occupies another dimension. “My thoughts are not like your thoughts. Your ways are not like my ways. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8–9).
Make special note of the word like. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are they even like ours. We aren’t even in the same neighborhood. We’re thinking, Preserve the body; he’s thinking, Save the soul. We dream of a pay raise. He dreams of raising the dead. We avoid pain and seek peace. God uses pain to bring peace. “I’m going to live before I die,” we resolve. “Die so you can live,” he instructs. We love what rusts. He loves what endures. We rejoice at our successes. He rejoices at our confessions.
Our thoughts are not like God’s thoughts. Our ways are not like his ways. He has a different agenda. He dwells in a different dimension. He lives on another plane.
What controls you doesn’t control him. What troubles you doesn’t trouble him. What fatigues you doesn’t fatigue him. Is an eagle disturbed by traffic? No, he rises above it. Is the whale perturbed by a hurricane? Of course not; he plunges beneath it. Is the lion flustered by the mouse standing directly in his way? No, he steps over it.
How much more is God able to soar above, plunge beneath, and step over the troubles of the earth! “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (see Matt. 19:26). Our questions betray our lack of understanding:
How can God be everywhere at one time? (Who says God is bound by a body?)
How can God hear all the prayers that come to him? (Perhaps his ears are different from yours.)
How can God be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? (Could it be that heaven has a different set of physics than earth?)
How vital that we pray, armed with the knowledge that God is in heaven. Pray with any lesser conviction, and our prayers are timid, shallow, and hollow. Look up and see what God has done, and watch how your prayers are energized.
This knowledge gives us confidence as we face the uncertain future. We know that he is in control of the universe, and so we can rest secure. But important also is the knowledge that this God in heaven has chosen to bend near toward earth to see our sorrow and hear our prayers. He is not so far above us that he is not touched by our tears.
Though we may not be able to see his purpose or his plan, the Lord of heaven is on his throne and in firm control of the universe and our lives. So we entrust him with our future. We entrust him with our very lives.

by Max Lucado
From
For These Tough Times:
Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope and Healing
© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado
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LAWS of the Lighthouse
• Love God more than you fear hell.
• Once a week, let a child take you on a
walk.
• Make major decisions in a cemetery.
• When no one is watching, live as if
someone is.
• Succeed at home first.
• Don’t spend tomorrow’s money today.
• Pray twice as much as you fret.
• Listen twice as much as you speak.
• Only harbor a grudge when God does.
• Never outgrow your love of sunsets.
• Treat people like angels; you will meet
some and help make some.
• ‘Tis wiser to err on the side of generosity
than on the side of scrutiny.
• God has forgiven you; you’d be wise to
do the same.
• When you can’t trace God’s hand, trust
his heart.
• Toot your own horn and the notes will be
flat.
• Don’t feel guilty for God’s goodness.
• The book of life is lived in chapters, so
know your page number.
• Never let the important be the victim of
the trivial.
• Live your liturgy.
To sum it all up:
Approach life like a
voyage on a schooner. Enjoy the view. Explore the vessel. Make friends with the captain.
Fish a little. And then get off when you get home.
From
In the Eye
of the Storm
Copyright 1991 Max Lucado

YOU could be “asking” or “answering”
By Carolyn “Jo” Gower

Jesus told his disciples the good news and the bad news; best of all was the answer. The good news is that the harvest is plentiful and ready. The bad news is that the workers are few! Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Matt. 9:37-38 (NIV)

When we look around us, we see that the harvest is truly plentiful, and the workers are few! However, we also see the good news. You may be the person praying for the lost or praying for more workers, or the worker in need of prayer; in many ways God is using you to bring others to Christ. Praying that God will open a door in our community so that Christ will be proclaimed is one way, just as we read about in God's word - And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ...Colossians 4:3. Don't give up...keep on praying!

Pray for Children

FEET of Children…

July 3 – 6, 2008, Paul, Schell and Noah came to West Monroe for a few days. They stayed with us; it was so great to have them back home.

While they were here, I was holding Noah, and I looked down at his precious little feet (he is about 2 months old) and I prayed “Lord, please guide these feet – where Noah should go and what he should do for You oh LORD GOD of heaven and earth.

Then, I said “Schell, please take a picture of Noah’s precious little feet…isn’t that adorable?" So she did. Today, as I’m praying for my children and grandchildren, I began to think about the “feet” spoken about in the Bible; how do I pray for Hugh and I; for my children and grandchildren in regards to their feet? Sounds silly huh? But think about it for a moment…

“Feet” is mentioned in the Bible 262 times. Some of those times refer to the 'measurement' but often it is speaking of human feet. Many references are to “washing feet” but I began to read about how God took care of His people’s feet and discovered that when God’s people were wandering in the desert for 40 years not only did their sandals not wear out but their feet did not even swell. God took complete care of them…every detail. While we're here on earth...it is our "wandering in the wilderness" but we have nothing to fear because of the great God we serve...

{4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Deuteronomy 8:4 (NIV)}

PRAYER:Today, July 7, 2008, I pray Holy God…
You LORD are worthy to be praised, You alone are worthy! Thank YOU that You created little Noah (2 months old) and (6 year old) Madelyn and brought them to earth to be raised by Paul and Schell (Noah); Luke and Melissa (Madelyn). Thank you that you’ve allowed Hugh and I to be their Grandparents, please give us wisdom as we love them day to day.

Please give their parents Paul & Schell and Luke & Melissa a special measure of wisdom as they raise their children. Lord God I pray you’d protect all of them from the evil one; thank you that you surround each one of them with your protection and angels that are assigned to each of them. I pray that all Hugh and I tried to do to raise Paul and Luke for you would forever be in their hearts…that YOU LORD GOD would ever draw them to you so that they will lead their families close to You. I pray that one day we’ll all be in heaven together.

As I thank you Holy Father for their precious feet…My prayer is that you will guide those feet. May they never follow after evil but always after YOU LORD GOD, to Your glory and honor. You tell us in your word….
33 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.
34 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. 2 Samuel 22:33-35 (NIV)

So I claim that promise in Your Word for Noah and Madelyn; their parents and grandparents! Thank You LORD GOD ALMIGHTY for all that You do for each of us. In Christ Holy Name I Pray AMEN

We wait in great expectation as the one and only true and living God answers our prayers for our children, grandchildren and all the children on earth. So that when this life is over our children and grandchildren will be able to say that Pop and GG’s feet followed God closely…like what we read in Job 23:10-12 (NIV)…
10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
11 My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

Till next time, {GG} Carolyn 'Jo' Gower