i pray

short podcasts to bring the sacred into your everyday

Do you only have a few minutes for prayer today? You’re in the right place! Try one of our new i pray podcasts. A few minutes is all you need to pray God’s word into any situation by interceding for friends, family, and yourself. 

Today we’re praying about broken hearts. While our emotions may betray us, we can’t always see the state of a person’s heart. Many of us, however, are walking around with broken hearts due to divorce, estrangement, a tragedy, the death of a loved one, or failed relationships. Whether you’re suffering or someone you love is, join Only By Prayer today in praying for the brokenhearted. God can bring about healing. We will be using Psalm 34:18 and Psalm 147:3 to pray.

Day 10:Abundant Life

 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

“He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works. Exodus 3:35

Our God is a very creative God. In the opening verses of the book of Genesis,  we first meet God in the midst of creating. When studying Scripture, first mentions are very critical. Since God chose to open Scripture with the act of creation, we can assume creating is a very godly thing to do. Combining the study of Scripture and creating works of art is very pleasing to our Father.

The Heart Speaks is a very visual reminder of how the contents of the heart affect the words we speak. Whatever we store in our heart will be spoken by the tongue. As we go throughout the day we gather words, thoughts, and memories , good or bad, and choose to discard them or store them in our heart. If we decide to keep them, we will eventually speak them because, “Out of the treasures of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

What does your heart speak? Does it speak words of hope and life or does it speak bitterness, complaints, and criticism? Do you hide God’s Word in your heart so you can speak grace and peace into your life and the lives of others?

Please join me a little Scripture and canvas, The Heart Speaks,  by clicking on the link below.

Bible Scripture Art: The Heart Speaks

With the New Year comes a fresh start free from mistakes, regrets, and failures of the past year. Hope and possibilities and expectations jostle  for space in my soul as I look to the future. Yes, if I’m honest, some anxiety too. But mostly excitement for what lies ahead. Like sojourners of times past, I want to welcome the Lord into these next 12 months. Or should I say, I with Him. I want to be sure the door of my heart is open to Him this New Year.

I recently read about an old Scottish tradition that placed much importance upon the New Year. Folks visited from house to house as the New Year rang in, wishing each other a good year while celebrating with food and drink. Once midnight passed, each household watched expectantly to see who would be the very first guest to cross the threshold of their door, thus portending what the next year would hold.  I can just envision a knock on the door and families gathered around the hearth to see who would take that first important step into their home.

To acknowledge this tradition, the Celtic Daily Prayer Book includes a “first-footing” prayer for the New Year, on page 238 called The Opening Door, in which the pray-ers welcome Christ to be the “first foot” into their home to bless them. What a lovely idea!

I was so taken with this thought that I wrote a short prayer myself to welcome Christ into my New Year.

Open Door

By Jane VanOsdol

I open the door of my heart this New Year …

to see Your glory all around me;

to hear the whisper of Your voice;

to smell the fragrance of Jesus in my life;

to taste the fruits of Your blessings;

to feel the presence of Your Spirit.

Welcoming your footsteps across the threshold of my heart,

Anticipating the gift of another year.

Amen.

I wonder if your heart is open to God this year? Do you feel the anticipation of new adventures waiting to be lived, or have difficulties of time past left you dreading the door before you? Open the door to Jesus so that He is the first one to set foot in your heart this year.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20

May you experience the peace of Christ and the joy of living life with Him this year.

Pray on!

*Image courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net artur84

Ever since my daughter was a preschooler, she’s been able to memorize things so easily. She put this skill to good use when we enrolled her in Awana. Amber loved working on her Bible verses every week. It seemed as if the verses just effortlessly implanted themselves into her mind and heart and rolled off her tongue. Many of those verses stuck with her through the years, and now as an adult, they’ve become words of life that she is able to apply.

That’s why I love Psalm 119:11: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” When I stockpile God’s word in my heart, I can easily pull out the “ammunition” that I need at a moment’s notice.

If I’m feeling fearful, I can recall 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

If I am depressed I can recite Nehemiah 8 :10 “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

If I need wisdom I can meditate on James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

What are you in need of today? The Bible surely has something to say about it. God has given us a storehouse of supplies to draw upon everyday — and amazingly this stockpile is never depleted. The only thing that is limiting us is how often we go to it to replenish our own supplies. We need to read His words and memorize them so that we are fortified for our battle in this world.

Pray on!

Last week was not a week that I am proud of.

My attitude was weighing me down, becoming progressively worse as the week went on. If I am totally honest about it, I have to admit that I was mired in anger, frustration, and stress and really didn’t want to listen to what God wanted me to do about it.

The result being that by the time I was willing to listen, I was pretty much a mess.

Had I just listened to God from the start, it wouldn’t have been such a painful process to fix things, but my stubbornness got in the way, so I had to do things the hard way. As a result, I spent some time in Psalm 51, which is a panacea for sin.  King David penned this prayer of despair and hope after he made a mess of his relationship with a married woman, Bathsheba.

As I read through his heartfelt plea, I added my own regrets to the Psalm and felt the refreshing words of forgiveness wash over  my soul. I decided to write a prayer of forgiveness based on Psalm 51 to help me truly remember this lesson. I share it with you in the hope that it will encourage another struggling soul. Feel free to share your thoughts and feelings in the comment section. Remember, forgiveness is just a prayer away~

(If you’d like to download a free Bible study on forgiveness, just click on The Sinner for a study by Mary Kane.)

Pray on!

O merciful God,

Once again I come to you humbly, asking for your forgiveness, that You will remember my sins no more.

You love me with a depth of love that is difficult for me to fathom. It is not based on me living up to my part of the bargain, because I can’t do that. It is based on who you are and your unfailing love.

I know my sin all too well. Just when I think I have finally mastered it, it masters me. And I sin against you. From my earliest days, my soul has been marred by sin, yet you never give up on me. You continue to instill Truth deep into my soul and dangle tidbits of Wisdom for me to grasp until I am hooked by the absolute rightness of your way and the futility of mine.

I am sorry. Forgive me.

You scrub my soul with the hyssop of the blood of Jesus, making me whiter than freshly fallen snow. I draw a deep, life-giving breath and offer you my undivided attention, ready to learn from my mistakes, welcoming the joy and light back into my parched soul.

I ask to serve you with a clean heart and a spirit that is determined to cling to you. I need your presence with me and the Holy Spirit to guide my steps. Otherwise, I wander my own paths that lead to destruction and destinations far from you.

A broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart are the incense of my sacrifice to you. Released from guilt, my praises pour forth, and I am set free to proclaim all you are. You take my offering and heal me, one step closer to the person you made me to be.

Amen.

By Jane VanOsdol June 2013

OnlyByPrayer.com

If you would like a nice, printable copy of this prayer, click on this link My Failure, God’s Forgiveness for a pdf.