My sweet friend Julie Gillies is here to share with us the story behind her new and beautiful devotional book “Prayers for a Woman’s Soul.” It’s resting on my bedside table and God’s using Julie to remind me how important it is to pamper my soul with prayers. Julie and our wonderful friends at Harvest House Publishers are giving away two copies of her book here today.
I didn’t start praying for myself because I was holy or wise. I started because I was desperate.
My marriage often felt like an emotional torture chamber. Negative and critical thoughts consistently bombarded my mind. And my emotions felt as shattered as a water goblet dropped on a cement driveway.
The hardest part was I felt stuck. It seemed like nothing was ever going to change, and I felt myself longing to give up on the inside. And that is when I sensed God nudging me to start praying for myself—regularly. Daily. I sensed that if I didn’t heed that holy nudge, I wasn’t going to make it.
So I began to pray for myself.
Initially the only uninterrupted time I could find to pray for myself was in the shower, so I prayed while I scrubbed, emerging to face each day with clean skin and an equipped heart.
That was the beginning of my soul-transforming prayer journey.
The truth is there are a lot of women facing incredibly hard circumstances right now. There are women enduring miserable marriages, women whose hearts still reverberate with pain from the past, and women who are in stressful situations that make them want to give up. Maybe you’re one of them.
Or maybe you simply have a sagging plate and a really long prayer list. Perhaps life is good for you, but both your to-do list and your prayer list are as long as your arm.
Or maybe, like most women I know, you’re a nurturer and a caretaker, a front-burner prayer woman who prays for whatever is boiling over at the moment—and there is always something boiling over—but you neglect to pray for yourself.
It’s counter-intuitive, praying for ourselves. I mean, we’re hard wired to help others—and that’s good. But God never intended for us to help others to our own detriment. He never intended for us to pray for our spouses, our kids, sick pets, our friends, and world events but not to take time to pray for ourselves.
Amazing things happen when we pray. I started praying out of sheer desperation, and God moved. He not only transformed my mind and healed my emotions, He transformed my marriage. I truly believe in the message of Prayers For a Woman’s Soul: that praying—for ourselves—is absolutely essential. Without it, we will languish. Equipped through prayer, we can soar through our days. As we take time to pray for ourselves, we partner with God and can watch in amazement as He moves and brings hope, healing, and transformation to our lives.
Enter to Win: Click on the words “Share Your Thoughts” below this post – to enter. All you need to do is practice what Julie’s preaching and leave a little prayer for yourself. I know that won’t be easy or natural for us girls, but we need this :). I’ll go first. You can find my prayer below when you leave yours. {If you’re reading this via email, click on the post title and hop over to my blog to leave a comment.}
Prayers For a Woman’s Soul is a holy invitation for busy, overwhelmed women with long prayer lists to take time to pray—for themselves. It’s a 52-week devotional that gives you one week to pray about a specific topic—like your emotions, your mind, or the guilt you’re hauling around. These short devotions contain personal stories, powerful biblical teaching, and specific prayer. And bonus: there are 365 topic-relevant, personalized scripture verses. One for every day of the year. So you can infuse your heart with God’s word while you pray.
Julie Gillies is the author of Prayers for a Woman’s Soul (Harvest House Publishers/January 2013). Healed from a traumatic childhood and awed that God saved her seriously troubled marriage, her message helps women pray with boldness, confidence, and the certainty that God hears. Julie is the Critique Groups Director for Proverbs 31 Ministries, and serves on the editorial team of P31 Woman magazine. She’s the wife of Keith, mom of two soldiers and one civilian, and grammy of four. Connect with Julie at: www.JulieGillies.com
Last week’s winners are: For the Husband Project – Jill, Patrice and Erin. For the Purpose Driven Mom Gift pan – Lana. Congratulations friends!
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Lord, I thank you for bringing me to this blog post today. I truly do believe that every single thing we do is for a reason, and this was directed right to me. I felt like You were speaking directly to me. Thank you for the reminder that I need to pray for myself as well as everyone else, and I need to do it daily. I ask You to help me remember to take time to pray for myself, and to keep You first in every single thing I say and do. In Jesus name, Amen.
I need to feel comfortable praying for myself…..that’s the first prayer….
then the battle in my head that puts me in discouragement even when
I’m trying to be a more faithful prayer and study God’s Word.
Lord, we often turn to you when we reached the end of ourselves and don’t know what to do. Help me to reach out to you first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. I never thought of praying for myself, except for you to keep me in the center of your will. Help me to be the help mate that my husband needs. I never been very outgoing, but I don’t want others to think I think I’m better than they are. If they could only see what you see in me. I find it hard to reach out to others. Your word says for a person to have friends you must show your self friendly. Help me to start being friendly. You guide me and help me to follow. Amen.
Heavenly Father, I just want to praise you for the work you have been doing in my heart. You’ve known the heart-break I’ve suffered in my marriage and you’ve endured my temper tantrums because you wouldn’t change my husband. But this month, while my husband has been away, my heart has been opened by your gentle nudging. It seems every devotional arriving in my inbox has been about how I must change me in order to have a blessed marriage. Thank you Lord for showing me in your word that my job is to RESPECT my husband; I had no idea!! Thank you for the book that shows me HOW to do this! Thank you for opening my eyes to realise all the nastly little things I did that only hurt my marriage, and I had no idea I did them. Thank you for a long-suffering husband who never complained, and actually did a lot of things right. Father, my prayer for me today is please help me to stay on this path. I am desperate to believe that my husband truly does love me, and isn’t just jumping through hoops to placate me. Help me to let go of the ‘record of wrongs’ I guard so closely. Please Lord, as I begin to incorporate the tips from the book into my marriage, help me to not expect any great changes in my husband in return. Help me just to love him, just because You love him. I have 30 hours to prepare my heart before he’s home and I so desperately want to do this right. I pray your Holy Spirit would continue to fill me with your Word and guide me in this journey, and keep me safe from falling into the pit of despair again. Amen.
Heavenly Father, I am burdened by my daughter’s infidelity and her young children having to sacrifice their normal life to be without their mama as they knew it. I am grieving for the loss of her happiness. I am afraid for her future having to make it on her own. I have been unable to see things her way even the slightest little bit. I am unhappy with her mistakes she is making but I need your help to avoid attempting to control the situation. Kind Jesus, I pray that I can overcome my need to control. I ask Your forgiveness for the hurt that she and I have caused each other. There have been harsh words, wrong assumptions and accusations. I pray that You will help me with a better way to communicate during this troubling time. Give me the right words to say and take away the need for constant criticism. Fill me with the peace that only comes from You, the peace that passes all understanding. Amen.
Lord, I pray that you would help me to stop complaining and focusing on the negative, but focus on You and on the promises in Your Word. I pray that I would be encouraging to my husband and lift him up and show him love. I pray that I would be a good example for my son, and that I would be the best mother I can, lifting my son up and not tearing him down. Help me to keep my eyes on You and grow closer to You. Amen.
Lord, Empty me of me and fill me with You. Thank you for all the blessings in my life.
Thank you dear Jesus for your word and that its true and that we can come to you any time. Lord help me to remember daily to do that and remember that I can’t do this without you or on my own strength. Lord give me the strength and the courage to do the things that I need to do daily. Lord I need you so much and espically right now when hubby is working overtime and the load as a wife and mother seem even more overwhelming. Help me to go to you instead of others and to know that you are there when no one else seems to be and that you will help me even when no one else is. Lord help me to hear from you when I don’t know what to do and give me the words to know what to say when I don’t and help me to be patient and forgiving and teach me how espically when I feel I can’t Thank you Lord i could not imgine life without you and thank you for never leaving me even when I may h ave forgotten or left you alone
I Love that the book provides a focus for prayer for each week. My life can be so overwhelming with an autistic 5 year old, full time job, a neglected husband, a neglected prayer life, stressed., lonely – that I often fall to my knees but struggle to focus on what to pray on or for. I guess I am a “front burner” prayer but I want more. I should not be online right now, I am supposed to be working but I believe it is a blessing that I found Renee’s page and the introduction to Julie’s book. Thank you!
Lord, I thank you for the daily reminders to come before you in prayer, and especially for being there as I talk to you about my innermost thoughts! I thank you that regardless of what I divulge to you, you will never leave me nor forsake me, you will forgive my transgressions, and remind me that you love me and I can trust you. Father, I seek your help with my negative thought life right now – I so want to just focus on and believe your truth, yet I keep finding myself spending time believing the lies of the enemy. I think step one is just what Julie is getting at – I need to not only be on my knees for others, but need to remember to come to you for myself as well. I thank you Father for your gentle reminder, and your open arms! I lift my prayers to you in the sweet name of my Savior Jesus! AMEN!
Lord, thank you for this ministry. I come to you asking for a clear mind and direction for priorities with my family. I feel like when I’m faithful and making progress in one area, I’m failing in another. I can’t get it all straight. Help me get my priorities aligned with you. Make me the wife and mom you intended me to be and rid me of the negative emotions I carry. Fill me with your love so it pours out to others especially my family. In Jesus name, Amen.
Dear Lord,
Please guide and direct us in the decisions we need to make this week about our daughter’s and my care. Please heal our family. Please help us to be more honoring to you. I love you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.