I wish we could sit in a coffee shop and chat today.
I’d love to talk with you about things that may be weighing you down. They always seem to lighten when shared with a friend.
I’d tell you about the year I let my problems pile up… and how all that pressure almost took me down. It’s all in chapter 9 of my book, A Confident Heart, including the story about the time I accidentally took my dogs medicine. Yes ma’am. I sure did.
At the end of every chapter, I also share a prayer – weaving my tangled thoughts and sometimes-consuming concerns with His Words and wisdom. Praying in this way helps me to take my cares to Him with confidence, knowing when I pray His Word I am praying His will for me {and others}. Here’s the prayer that was birthed out of my piling up and tumbling down year:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. When concerns consume me, remind me that You are with me, holding me by my right hand and guiding me with Your counsel. Though my flesh and my heart may fail, You are the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Help me turn my burdens over to You, knowing that You will take care of me.
Because You are my shepherd, I shall not be in want. You promise that when I dwell in the shelter of the Most High, I can rest in the shadow of the Almighty. You are my refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve my life; You stretch out Your hand against the anger of my foes, and with Your right hand You save me. Thank You for making known to me the path of life and filling me with joy and peace in Your presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen. {See Psalms 139:23–24; 73:23–26; 55:22; 23:1; 91:1–2; 138:7; 16:11.}
From A Confident Heart by Renee Swope, Chapter 9
© 2013 by Baker Revell Publishing. All rights reserved.
Over the past few years God has been changing me and rearranging me. He’s taught me how to use prayer to turn my worry into worship. He’s also given me a practical way to physically hand Him my concerns! Since we can’t chat in a coffee shop today, I’d love to share them with you through this short video message:
Message Notes: You can download my “Video Message Notes” in a PDF here or in a Word doc here. They include the points of my message, verses and blanks to fill in. {If you’d like to watch more FREE Confident Heart videos based on my book, click here.}
FREE DOWNLOADS:
Download my “Printable Prayers Collection: How to Pray for Those You Love from Head to Toe.” Today, I’m offering “Praying for Your Husband from Head to Toe” {click here to download}YOU CAN also RECEIVE “Praying for Yourself from Head to Toe” and “Praying for Your Children from Head to Toe” when you sign up here to enter your name and email. Then come back so you can enter to win today’s giveaway below!
TODAY’s GIVEAWAY:
Share one thought or something you want to apply after reading today’s devotion, blog post or hearing my video message. Click “share your thoughts” right below this post and do just that. 🙂
Enter to Win one of 4 copies of A Confident Heart, OR the grand prize which includes A Confident Heart book PLUS a coffee shop gift card and a Godiva chocolate bar.
$40 in Confident Heart Resources {FREE}!! When You Purchase A Confident Heart this month, you can receive over $40 in FREE RESOURCES and EXCLUSIVE downloads.
Update on My Mom:
Thank you for your prayers for my mom. She’s had ups and downs but her kidney pain is less and less each day. Ive been concerned she had gotten pneumonia because she started running a fever, coughing, has had pain in her lower lung and some breathing issues {plus she has a history or pulmonary embolisms and has been off of her blood thinners for surgery.} We’ll be seeing her doctor on Monday to check on her kidney and lungs. I think she’s okay but it will be good to hear the doctor confirm that. 🙂
Hi Rene, I want to thank you for writing this Holy Spirit inspired book. Back last year there was a free day to download your book which I did. Well in my business like ‘Martha’ I didn’t check to see if it downloaded properly. Then a few months later a friend of mine contacted me and asked if I had ever read your book as it so reminded her of my life and my walk. She said I should read it as all of her siblings and mother had a copy and were reading it. That is when I discovered it had not downloaded properly. So I went to the bookstore and just asked if they had a copy of it. Well the woman immediately looked it up and said that they had just ordered a copy in the day before. It wasn’t ordered for anyone in particular so I knew this was definitely Spirit led. Since I picked up this book and read it 3 times now it has encouraged me in so many ways and I have been able to share with other women the truth and power of praying His Word.
You have been an incredible inspiration to me to follow the things that God has placed in my heart to encourage other women to be all that God has created them to be.
Once again a reminder that we have a ‘choice’ in what we are to do each day. He gives us a free will to do things His way or be lead astray by many things. Of which these many things may seem good but not all these good things are beneficial. The most important thing is to seek Him first and ask Him to lead and guide us in every detail of our lives. He cares about everything in our lives and will lead the way if we let Him.
Thank you again for this constant reminder of His goodness, grace and mercy in our lives!
You truly are an inspiration and a blessing!
This devo is perfect for me! Thanks! I need prayers for health issues and a relative’s many issues. I have your book on Kindle, read it, and loved it. I want a print copy though so I can mark in it, rifle through the pages over and over! Thanks for the giveaway.
Blessings on your ministry~~~~
Sometimes when I voice or write down my concerns it makes them more real. Then I worry that thi gs won’t work out my way. Thank you for the reminder that Gods ways aren’t always my ways, but he does have me in the palm of his hand, protecting and loving me through the hard times,
For some reason I have struggled with prayer. Why do we need it if God is all knowing. I realize now, it was that I did not know how to pray to Him. I always talked with God throughout the day, but after getting married and having children, my time with Him became almost nonexistent. I have recently purchased other books on praying and am excited to start back in. I realilze as others have mentioned, it is the relationship that God wants. Thanks for the post. I will be back for more!
Worry is a huge struggle for me. Thank you, Renee, for the video today. I am going to start writing my worries on cards and giving them to Jesus. I can see how the act of doing this will be a visual reminder of who wants to take my worries away. I pray that I would consistently give my worries to God and leave them there, so I can live my life confidently and for His glory.
A group of friends of mine will begin this as a book study here in the next month. This group originated from a preschool mom’s group organized at church. Our children are now in high school/college and some are no longer at the same church, but the fellowship and friendships built, continue because of the reinforced strength of studies like this and shared love of Christ. We all wished each other a Happy Mother’s Day just this past week, acknowledging that none of us could have done or continue the job without each other. We each have different stories from our pasts and in our presents that are loaded with doubt and unsure situations, so this is our next adventure & we look forward to becoming more confident with our relationship with Christ.
I have been working in an emergency shelter for girls here in our town and your book A Confident Heart is not only helping me with my confidence – but it is also giving me some good things to help boost the girls confidence.
You see they are beaten down – feeling unloved and up rooted from everything that they know – most of the time the shelter is better than where they come from. Hopefully at best they will get placed in a foster home or at worst another emergency shelter. You see these girls are between 10-18 and most foster families don’t want the older girls because they come with so much emotional baggage and issues. My heart just breaks for them. I wish that I could afford to buy your book for all of them – unfortunately I can’t afford them. I would need to purchase at least 20 books maybe more – this home only allows 10 girls at a time and they are only allowed to stay for 90 days. Just about the time they start to trust us and believe what we are telling them about our Lord they get moved out of the shelter. We provide them with a Bible and hope that they will continue to believe the things that we are trying to teach them.
If you could add these girls to your prayer list I would be very grateful. And if you could pray that the Lord provides us with the tools and the words to help them to grow their faith.
Thank you for allowing me to tell you about this.
Sue
Yes. I need to be reminded every moment of every day that God already knows my heart. It benefits me to formulate my thoughts so I can understand what is really motivating my worries and fears. I often feel like I am praying at God giving Him a laundry list of my worries instead of really speaking to Him and listening to what He has to tell me. Thank you for reminding me that it is not just the casting of all my cares on Him but also the He truly cares for me.
I have been struggling with weather god is hearing my prayer and prayers of friends praying for my daughter and grandaughter that are in a very dangerous and scary divorce situation. I had even sent a prayer request to proverbs 31. Yesterday we received word that could only have been god answering prayers. My daughters ex pulled a gun on a man and it was not in self defense. We think it was during the time my grandaughter was with him. The man is filing charges against my daughters ex. So I plan to use today’s devotion to pick out scipture and turn it to prayers.
Thank you for using your wonderful abilities to bless so many.
Over the past year there have been many struggles,and if we did not know to pray and seek God the stress would have been unbearable!
I thank God for so many wonderful teachers and teachings He has placed in my life.
I am learning fresh new ways to walk in His loving presence daily!
God bless you
I loved today’s devotional. It was perfect for me, reminding me that God does know the plans He has for me and my loved ones, and He does want me to have a hope in my future, and the future of those I love. Trusting that God’s will is really what is best can still be a struggle, when I want things to turn out a certain way, but knowing I can pray confidently, asking while believing that God’s will is going to be done just lifts the burden of worry right off my shoulders. Thank you for that reminder. Bless you!
I feel like the book would help me so much. I know that I can cast my prayers on The Lord. But in the past few months I have just gotten lazy about it. And would rather somebody else pray for my worries instead of go to him.
My prayer is that He will recall to my mind His word that applies to each situation. That His word becomes more alive and active in my prayer life as well as everyday living. Thank you for sharing that this is what He does for you. Blessings
I too have struggled with prayer in the past, thinking I am not conveying what I want, it isn’t in eloquent enough language, my tongue becomes tied, my mind goes blank, but lately with my husbands cancer diagnosis I have realized that God is my best friend, my comfort, my peace and I talk to him in prayer like I would a dear friend. I still have trouble praying in front of others or at Bible study.
The one thing a cancer diagnosis has pointed out to us is that God is in control, fear, worry, anxiety, grief all come to the forefront, you have to lay your cares at God’s feet and give him the burden or you will not make it through this life. Praise God, He loves us, He cares, He listens and He lifts us up at the most amazing times, I have learned to Be Still and Let God. To thank Him, worship Him, praise His name even while I have no understanding of why this is happening or where this road is taking us.
I still have purposefully STOP, and give my fears, worries and concerns over to Him, every day, sometimes 100 times a day, I know he his saying Martha, Martha, have I not told you I have this under control and you are to go on in living your life, loving, following My Word and I will take care of you, I will always be right there by your side, even when you turn from mine. This devotional just really hit home with my past year and some of the struggles, worries and concerns in my life. I hope it touches others to lay it at The Cross and feel God’s amazing love, mercy and grace.
God is gracious and He wants to carry your burden. Even now, He is protecting and healing your husband in His way. May you continue to trust Him and draw close to Him. You’re in my prayers.
I am so excited to have the prayer download for your husband , children & myself. Thank you! One thing I need to work on ,regarding prayer, is simply to pray consistently & more -much more- than I do. Thank you for the devotion,blog & printable. Prayer does change things- i know because I have seen it happen but life sometimes crowds out that which which is very important-like prayer. I am encouraged to try again with GOD’s help to pray consistently, specifically & regularly. ~Blessings~
Thanks for inspiring me to pray with confidence and to pray with scripture. Great way to start my day reading your blog. Thanks!
This such a wonderful chapter and helped me realize that I do fall into some healthy patterns of worrying. Renee nailed it, I’m afraid if I stop worrying about something, God won’t care about it either. Unless I do something about it, nobody else will. But it’s comforting to remember that He is in control. He knows and sees everything and nothing is outside of His grasp. I enjoy the power verse this week from Deuteronomy 33:12. It’s important for me to remember that I am God’s beloved and he wants to protect me and give me rest. How difficult it is to be Mary in a Martha world! One the woman leaders at my church admitted that she is definitely a “Martha” with “Mary” moments.
I’m finally understanding that the things God gives to us, we’re only meant to deal with them once. But if we choose to worry, then we are essentially dealing with them multiple times before they’ve even happened! Surrender is my key word this year. God wants me to surrender my worries and fears. His promises are enough for me.
“I’m finally understanding that the things God gives to us, we’re only meant to deal with them once. But if we choose to worry, then we are essentially dealing with them multiple times before they’ve even happened!”
That is so good Julie I never thought of it that way but you are sooooooo right!! Thanks for sharing that!!
I have felt the same about thinking God will not care….
You have no idea how many times what you said has been reiterated by several different people to me in the last 2 days!! Thank you for speaking God’s inspiration and praying for the joy that comes with surrender!
Feeling in a slump and my heart is anxious. I want to do God’s will and I am not sure what it is right now. Sometimes I think it is me lacking confidence and not trusting.
Dear Jennie, my heart goes out to you. I know how you feel, and I want to encourage you that God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, He never did. That’s why He came down for us. Don’t be so hard on yourself, it is a vicious cycle and that’s what the enemy wants. If you are not sure what God wants, maybe God actually doesn’t want you to know right now….that the answer is still not ready to be given…be patient, and wait on Him.
Easier said than done, so do something else while you wait – REST, REFLECT on His faithfulness, and READ….His answers may touch your heart through His Word. All He wants is your surrender, as a child in His arms – in your weakness HE is strong!! Your trust will grow more through time – remember, He’s not finished with you yet!! Give yourself some grace!!
“With God’s strength behind you and His arms beneath you, you can face whatever lies ahead of you.”
I love the writing our worries and cares on cards and then brining them to the cross and laying them at Jesus’ feet. I have a metal cross that hangs on my wall I am going to start writing them down and put them around that cross and I want to encourage my children to do the same.
Thank you so much for this book and online study. It has already made such a difference in my life. I am a little behind on the reading assignments but I don’t want to rush it. I want it to penetrate my heart and change my mind.
I read a devotion yesterday it was titled something like when you don’t feel like your enough…
There was a statement in it that spoke to me it said
“Those who keep tally want to know that they count”. I though how true. I have kept tally by comparing myself to others because I was trying up find value. I struggle in relationships with other women because it always seems like we are all in competition. This statement helps remind me we all want to know we matter and have value and until we find that value from God we will keep trying to keep score.
I wish I could just wave a magic wand on all the hearts of woman, we all have struggled and felt like less than what God created us to be. But we don’t need a magic wand because we have a loving Heavenly Father who is God who wants to fill us we just have to let Him fill all those empty hurt places and believe Him for it.
Thank you God for loving even me. I pray You help every woman in this study to be filled with Your love and confidence.
Love today’s devotional – thank you for your God-inspired wisdom! Not only have these tips inspired my own prayer life, I’m hoping that they will bless my daughters too as I encourage them with the same. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your devotional today and your video. What touched my heart the most was the visual of writing my concerns on an index card and laying them under the cross which represented casting my cares to Jesus. I have been working so hard these last nine days trying to detox my mind of negative thoughts and replacing them with God’s word, but yet I still seem to be hanging on to those cares and concerns. Thank you for sharing your heart and showing me that I am not alone. May GOD bless you abundantly for ministering to other women of GOD who feel inadequate.
This is just what I needed to hear today…. my husband and I just moved away from my family, our beautiful home and him being on staff at a large church to come take over a smaller church on the other side of the country. Thank you!
I try every morning to lay quietly and pray for strength and peace as I step out in the world. LORD be with me. Through out the busy and hectic day I try and stop and prayerfully look up and pray to God for help. I know that our strong and wonderful God is mightier than any problem. Needless to say I fail but I know I’m not a failure in my GOD’s eyes. Thank goodness my heart is only known to GOD. I know that my convictions are heart felt but yet I over look those feelings during my busy day at work. Thank you GOD for you only know my heart. Matthew 15:18 says “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart and these make a man unclean”. Keep my heart clean LORD.
I really appreciate hearing from you that at one time you had struggled with prayer. I realize that those I can learn from in ministry are not better than me spiritually, but they are someone that has been where I have been and didn’t give up when praying was hard. Thank you.
Thank you Renee for reminding me that His words are so powerful. Often times when I am struggling in my prayers I have not remembered that I can pray His words to Him. God is SO good, isn’t He? I am really going to put into practice your suggestion of writing down my worries and physically putting them away like that. So often I give them to God and then take them right back to worry about again! This will be a wonderful visual reminder that I have given them to God and need to keep them there. Thank you so much for your ministry!
I am going to take the time today to unload whether in my journal or verbally through prayer… I need it at this point in time. Life is getting real and I cannot just keep continuing on without unloading or soon I will crack under the pressure. Prayer for me please…
I always think my prayers are too simple so I don’t like to pray in front of others. I need to be reassured that God hears all our prayers. I don’t like to pray at a bible study I go to because I worry about what the other ladies will think of my prayers because I pray like I am talking to God like I talk to a friend not elaborate prayers like the other ladies do. I have had a lot to worry about the past few months because my husband has leukemia, his second bout with cancer in a year and a half and had double blood clots in his lungs that the doctor said should have killed him. A week after he got out of the hospital for 31 days our children & grandchildren were in a wreck. Thank God none of them were killed but did have injuries which God is healing them from.
God sees and He protects and provides. Trust that He can heal your family, physically, mentally, and spiritually. There is nothing wrong with praying simple prayers. God hears it all in our hearts.
Hey friend,
I cannot believe we are both doing this study and didn’t even know it! I admire you so much! God hears the heart of our prayers, not our words. You have such an amazing heart! I know God hears you and loves who you are! I love you too
Praying for a daughter who keeps me way at a distance…I feel she focuses her anger towards me for her bio mom dying of cancer when she was 3. She refuses to let me get close. (she is now almost 20) This encourages me to pray verses over her. Thanks.
you’re in my prayers today –
God promises to take care of us…
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19
Hello Renee,
I’m sitting hear drinking coffee out of my mug that says, “Amazing Grace”, as I read your devotion and listen to you share your heart for us…God’s heart for us. His timing is always so perfect. This is the scripture I read this morning before receiving your words of encouragement…
1 Timothy 1:5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.
Daily, I am learning to lean upon Father God and trust in Him for ALL my needs and my family’s needs.. We have walked 15 years with our son who has the diagnosis of autism. We are weary and much healing is taking place within my family. Daily, learning to not to worry and choose peace. Do I always succeed? no, but God’s Amazing Grace covers and am reminded to let go and let God.
Thank You so much for sharing your heart and prayers in God’s Word. My prayer is to have a “Confident Heart” in the Lord, so I can share and encourage others in their journey. I will be forwarding your devotion to a friend, who was sharing with me the other day, “What does God want me to do?”
Renee, you are a Blessing!!
Thank you so much for sharing about prayer. I just love that we can pray Scriptures and don’t always have to know what to say. I’m so thankful God gives us His Holy Spirit to guide us, not only in prayer, but in life. I appreciate your reminding me of these important Truths!
Renee thanks so much for your videos they have truly been a blessing in my life. I am a HUGE worrier. There was a time not to awfully long ago that I was traveling every weekend. I felt like I was being pulled in a million directions. my family and husband needed things from me, friends were complaining that they had not heard from me, and I felt like God himself knew I was having a difficult time and also wanted my attention! I am not sure I always hear God and that I know what his plans are for me. I listen a lot to my inside chatter …..How do I know if it is God talking to me ? I must say though, God did point out that I was not reading my bible, I was not spending time in my bible study and that I was not talking enough to him. I mean he didn’t take a brick and drop it on my head or anything, but some of my kids on our gymnastics team did say to me, ” Coach Chris are you ok you seem really sad lately “. It was at that moment some of the girls gave me hugs. I felt God’s arms around me. Like I was being held by God himself.
I can totally relate to travel stresses…the worst part is not the physical travel, but having your regular routine pushed out of whack. Quiet time with God is usually the first thing to go, and then the family pressures…it’s amazing anything gets done. But you’re right, reading the word, learning to listen to God in spite of distractions is key. Renee put it so well, that we need to set a “DATE” with Jesus, the same way we make time for people we are in relationships with. I know I have to be creative with this, especially when I’m busy, but it is so rewarding. He does want to hug you, and show you He can give you rest.
Renee I have been living everyday for the last three years in FEAR!!! I am doing your online bible study with your book. I have posted a couple of times about the abuse I endured as a child and the fact that I have been receiving mri’s and cat scans every three months watching this abnormality I have of the brain. it is a growth that has been maintaining one size and just recently has increased in size. So I am of course on lots of meds. Well a couple of weeks ago I received healing and prayer for this specific ailment. Today was my three month testing and the amount of time it was taking for the the tests seemed endless. I was told The doctor would call me around two with the results. So now was the endless wait of FEAR one more time. you know what, I was not anxious, stressed, and I had no anxiety at all. Was calm my time waiting on the phone call was Gods complete cover. The doctor called around 3:30 to tell me that there was NO evidence of an abnormality !!! Praise God it was totally his healing and wonderful promises that have restored my health. God is so faithful and loving.
Good Morning Renee and all the Ladies. Thank you Renee for todays word and video. Thus is so meaningful and i now have to put it into action and apply.. I give this trip that I m taking today alone to My Jesus I worry about it I am anxious and I do have fear a about following the directions correctly. I give this trip to You Lord and I thank You for always being with me never leaving my side. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
thank you for sharing yourself through Gods Word,making it easier to see God,and to trust Him more.Thank you for your e mails and your book The Confident Heart. Watching your video makes me feel like I am not alone in wanting to grow closer to God daily,not letting circumstances dictate what God is, or is not to me. I look foward to reading this book and then sharing it with a close friend.Thank you for allowing God to work through you .
I used to pray scripture often for myself and others but have gotten away from that practice. This is a good call to action for me! There is such power in God’ s word!
I have never had a strong prayer life, even tho I have seen several of my prayers answered. Lately, it seemed that life has crowded in on me and when I start to pray it just seems like it is a struggle knowing what to say. I have prayed scripture before and love doing that. Thank you for your devotions and inspiration.
Hi Renee,
thank you so much for putting these nifty God’s Word-based prayers for us (now we do not have any excuse not to pray God’s Word! 🙂 )….and thank you for incorporating into today’s devotion’s prayer to ask God to point us to verses that He wants us to pray…I will have to do just that from today on, and surely hope I will remember to do it! 🙂
Renee thanks for the video, I love hearing your sweet, soft, comforting voice on them to start my day. Oh the index card idea is awesome and I love the cross on your bed stand. What a great idea to physically lay those cares at the foot of the cross. I am going to look for one to do the same. The action of doing that is something I need to help me release those cares to God. Thanks for all your creative ideas that you use and share with us for helping you in your day to day walk with the Lord. I am not so creative to think of those things, but I am a good copier 🙂 And thank you soooooo much for all your PDF video notes and the free downloads, and your prayers of praying God’s promises, they are so helpful to me. You are such a blessing and I praise God for you everyday!! ♥
Thank you, Renee! Here is another tool in helping the body of Christ become healthier! I can’t wait to share it with my summer book club!
Thank you Renee, I struggle with prayer, with peace with the turmoil in my life right now. I know the anchor for my hurting heart and restless soul is my God. I want powerful, peaceful, heartfelt prayers that are more than a wish list. I am going to take time to start personalizing prayers by going to His Word and praying them back, little by little, pieces at a time and I think I’d like to keep them all together in a journal.
Thank you for this encouragement and please pray for me, my husband for us.
Blessings,
Karen g
Renee, I love how u pray scripture. I just ordered your book & I can’t wait to get it. God bless you!!
Hi friends,
I’ve wanted to post here all day but I am actually sitting at the hospital with my mom after a simple procedure this morning to remove a kidney stone turned into a big deal.
But God… He knew. And He time it perfectly that it would all happen on a day when I had a Proverbs 31 Ministries devotion about praying God’s word and a video message I recorded for you about giving our cares to Him.
I was reminded of these truths all day. And as I prayed God promises and kept giving my cares to Him, He did take care of me.
Mom is now resting and the extreme pain the Drs couldn’t get under control seems to be responding much better to the pain meds tonight. She had a kidney stone removed but the wire that was used to scope her kidney also tore a place in her ureter and they think that urine may have leaked into the area around her kidney and cause severe problems. We’re praying that tear heals quickly and that no surgery is needed – no infections are caused and that her recovery goes back to what she had last time {which was simple, fast and almost pain-free}.
She’s such a trooper and it was so hard to see her in such agonizing pain. But tonight she is resting and quiet and I am so grateful to be by her side. And to have this minute to stop by and connect with you.
Praying we’ll get to head home tomorrow. Im reading your stories and praying for each of you. And we’d treasure your prayers for mom too. 🙂
Renee, praying for your mom and asking Gods healing upon her that she will be free of pain, and will heal quickly, and praying that He will give you strength and find rest in His loving arms. I love that you say your mom is a trooper…..I had just sent my sister a text telling her that our mom is a trooper… I give thanks to God that you are able to be with her, and thank you for finding time to touch base with us…God bless you all
Renee, praying for your dear Mom this morning that all will be well and that she is free of pain! She sounds a lot like my mom, too! Strong but gentle! I can’t count the times over the last two years that I have waited by my sweet Mama’s hospital bedside awaiting news of some procedure or test….however, I have never failed to feel the precious Holy Spirit encouraging me and removing all fear. My the Lord bless you and your entire family the same way this very day!
Hi Renee praying for your momand the whole family. Hope you get to go home soon. In Christ Love
Praying for your mom and all of you. Kidney stones are rough surgery even without the complcations!
1 Peter 5:7 is just the verse I am in need of! Just this week, I’ve learned that there will be big changes coming to my workplace in regards to compensation, benefits, and other policies & procedures. I have been reading through the new manuals that I received with a try-not-to-worry-heart. I have been praying to the Lord to take away my worries, and to help keep me keep a sound mind. He has reminded me of the statistics I read in chapter 9 that 12 percent of our worries are about opinions of others that cannot be controlled. In my situation, I am unable to control the changes that are to come. All I can do it trust in Jesus that the changes will only benefit me, and not burned me. Sufficient onto today, is my Lord!
How refreshing to read the excerpt from your book. A dear friend and I were just sharing how The Lord has taught us that nothing short of His Word brings true healing, hope, and power to walk in His ways amidst the daily as well as momentous struggles that we face. Thank you for compiling a book that weaves the power and authority of His Word into the application of walking with and in Him!! I can think of several people for whom I will share your book.
Praying scripture is very powerful and I have tried to continuously use this method in my prayer life. Thank you for the reminder and your encouraging words.
Since Dec. my family has been going through some very rough times, My oldest son had to go to rehab my youngest son is in the military and couldn’t be here for his brother. I have cried and worried until I was absolutely exhausted, so I have a crystal cross that my oldest son gave me one year for christmas…well I wrote down my concerns and left them at the cross, it has helped me so much, I still worry because I’m Mom but at least now I can breath because I left those worries with God.
It’s a great idea to write down our concerns and “give” them to God. A mother’s heart is always with her children, just remember that they are God’s children too. He’ll take care of them always, and you too. May you find peace in Him today.
Thank you, Julie! I appreciate your kind words of encouragement and I will be praying for you, as well! May the Lord bless you!
Thank you, Renee, for the truly God inspired word today on worrying and becoming weary. For the last couple of years or so I have been trying to live through similar experiences you shared in your video today. My precious Mama and I live together and have done so since my father was killed while working at his job 19 years ago. She is an awesome woman of God and she’s my best friend. We have struggled financially, but the Lord always provides. However, over the last 3 years she has been challenged by unbelievable health issues. I am the youngest of five children, but my siblings do not wish to share in her daily care or even call her. Four of them haven’t spoken to her for the past year and they live in the same town as we do. Plus, I have been dealing with a broken engagement by a man I truly loved. In the process, I lost almost 30 pounds and became very weak and anemic. Thanks be to God…He has healed me and my mom, but there have been days of late that I thought all the pressures would crush me…even asking The Lord to take me home to Him. I still have a hearts desire to marry a truly Godly man and have children. Not to be rescued but to be my helpmate and to be his. I’ve waited for him so many years and am trying to not give up! Also, thank you for the story about taking your dog’s meds…I have almost done the same thing when I was stressed and multitasking! Please pray for my mom, Katherine, and me. We are still dealing with some pretty heavy issues,regarding finances and trying to keep our home… I trust in the Lord that He already has this worked out for His glory! Love, Cynthia Renee
Thank you for sharing these very difficult struggles. Sometimes, problems arise all at once and everything feels so overwhelming. But God is good and He doesn’t give us more than we can handle, though He may push us to the end of ourselves so we will depend on Him. May He continue to heal you and provide for you, dear sister. You’re in my prayers!
Julie, oops! Think I replied in the wrong section! Thank you for your prayers and encouragement… I will be praying for you, too! Cynthia
Wonderful study teaching me yet again to cast my cares on Him. Sometimes as a single mom life gets very dificult and the enemy keeps whispering in my head, I am so glad that I have learned to turn to my Bible and keep claiming God’s promises for our life.
Thank you for your encouraging words. I too often feel inadequate when praying and then I am reminded that God knows all my thoughts and He understands whether I have the right words or not. I continue growing in my prayer life for which I am thankful and being a prayer warrior is one way I can help others when I am mainly confined to home as a caregiver.
I’ve always struggled with prayer! I always feel inadequate or not smart enough. I’ve learned a lot through life recently that my thoughts are powerful and the Lord know heart regardless of my words.
I’ve struggled with prayer too Jessica. I had always talked to God like he was sitting in the room with me having a coffee. But it became a struggle while at bible college when a tutor told me I couldn’t pray that way as it was disrespecting the power of who God is. From that moment I felt inadequate and didn’t pray aloud for nearly 20 years. But even now I sometimes have to force myself out of fear mode of what others think and just pray my way. Our relationships with God are all different and because of that we need to speak to him as we normally would no matter what others think. You are not inadequate, your relationship with God is just that ‘your relationship’ You pray how you want to. We don’t need big smart words God knows our hearts. Anyways in Matthew 6:7 he tells us not to babble!
I am now going through this study with my girls. It is the second time for me and I love how it continues to minister to my heart. It’s been wonderful to read this together with my daughters. We are all growing and enjoying it so much. Thank you!
As I lay my head on my pillow after what seemed to be an endless day and actually became the next day, I am going to heed your advice and counsel and cast the days’ cares to Jesus… I will leave them at the foot of the cross and trust Him to take any worries and/or anxieties and fill their empty vacancies with His peace and love…
AMEN, Miss Mary! when i find myself worrying, i have to pause and admit that what i’m really saying is: i don’t trust you, God. i don’t believe you are who you say you are. i don’t believe your Word, and i’m not going to live it.
since i’ve chosen to trust God, and i DO believe His Word, that puts an end to my worrying 🙂
thank you for this…I needed to hear some truths about my worrying lately. I do trust and I do believe!