Just a little "Friday Funny" to make you smile

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Praying the Word

There's such power in praying, confessing & decreeing the promises from God's Word. Not only speaking them out loud, but personalizing them. I wanted to share some of my favorite Scriptures out of Ephesians to pray:

Ephesians 1:17-19

I pray "that the God of MY Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give ME the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, I pray that the eyes of MY understanding will be enlightened; that I will know what is the hope of His calling (for ME), what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance (for ME), and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward ME, who believes, according to the working of His mighty power."

Ephesians 3:16-19

I pray "that He will grant ME, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in MY inner man, and that Christ may dwell in MY heart through faith; that I, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, length, depth & height to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; and that I may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Ephesians 6:10-17

"I will be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. I will put on the whole armor of God, that I may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For I do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, I will take up the whole armor of God, that I may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, I will stand therefore, having girded My waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod My feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, I will take up the shield of faith with which I will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And I take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God..."

Let's pray these prayers & confess this over our lives this week and see what awesome things God does & reveals to us.

I'd love to hear some of your favorite Scriptures to pray & confess as well.

Good Stuff outweighs the Bad

In the powerful and insightful words of Stan Lee, the author of the comic book series "Spiderman",

"With great power, comes great responsibility"

Deep thoughts...

So why am I thinking about power & responsibility? I'm actually reflecting on God's power, and MY responsibility to reveal it here on earth. We've each been given gifts and a measure of faith. We are to sow seeds of faith so it can grow, and we're supposed to use our gifts to glorify God.

Often as we are on our journey with the Lord, even if we're in His perfect will, we will face conflict with others who either don't know God, or who don't like that we are pressing on to a deeper level of intimacy with Him. Jesus warned us this would happen in John 16:33,

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

I was reading in Jeremiah this morning where it says he was lamenting to God about how people were treating him. Then God answered him in Jer. 12:5

"If you have run with footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?"

I thought this was so interesting - instead of answering Jeremiah by assuring him that it was all going to be alright, cheer up, it's almost over; God basically says, "if you thought that was bad, just wait until you see what else you're going to have to go through. This has just been a warm up". How many would like to hear that?

I was thinking about how most people want more of God, more of His presence, more blessing, more anointing, to see more of His glory...more, more, more (of the good stuff).

We don't however, want ANY more battles, complications, problems, obstacles, friction, whatever or however you would describe tough times. I can't tell you how many prayers I've prayed asking God to give me more...and when more problems often accompany that prayer, I spend the rest of my days & energy begging God to get me out of it!

I've learned three important lessons over the past several years of real struggle in my life.
1) God uses obstacles to show you His faithfulness & power,
2) God uses our circumstances to tear out the worldly things in us, and renew our minds & hearts. To become "partakers of His Divine Nature" (2nd Pet. 1:4)
3) Just like God has a plan for you, so does the enemy, and he will ALWAYS try to discourage you from God's plan.


This unwelcome accompaniment to God's blessings, these "problems" were so severe at one point in our lives, that my husband & I were almost afraid to pray for any more of God. Yet, that's not the answer, it only leaves us empty & unfulfilled. I have come to understand that I would rather have more of the Holy Spirit working in my life, even with all the junk the enemy will try to throw my way, even with all the junk the Holy Spirit Himself will bring up in my life so I can deal with it, I still wouldn't trade hearing His voice and having His Spirit lead & guide me for anything in this world!

If we are going to ask God for more of His great power, then our responsibility is to also trust Him to handle things when great trials arise, and not to grow weary in well doing.