When the chips are down, in what do you place your trust? Money, friends, brains? God’s Word tells us that if we place our trust in anything But Him we’ll end up looking foolish in the end. To do the study “Hope and Trust,” please click on the link!

Image: Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Praying scripture is a powerful way to pray for yourself and others. I often use this way to pray when I find a scripture that seems to speak directly to a person or situation.

For example, I’ve often prayed Jeremiah 29:11-13 for my children. I pray that they will know that God has a plan for their lives, to give them a future and a hope, and that they will seek God with their whole hearts. These words of God filled with hope and affirmation seem just right to pray for my children.

Recently, I’ve realized that I can also take some of the scriptures that are warnings or admonishments and pray them for myself and others as well. I’ve not often used some of these words in prayer because of their negative connotation, but the Holy Spirit prompted me to pray the opposite of them.

For example, a few months ago I was reading in 2 Timothy and came across verse 7 “ Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth,” (NKJV). This verse perfectly describes a friend of mine who loves to study and learn, but thus far has rejected the truth of God’s word. I began praying the opposite of this verse for my friend. “God, thank you that you have given ______ an incredible mind that is always seeking, always learning. I pray that he will be always learning yet able to accept your word as truth. Amen.”

Another example of praying the opposites came to me just a few days ago as I was reading in Isaiah chapter 1. Verses 5 and 6 are talking about how the whole person has been stricken with sickness due to rebellion. Note: I am NOT saying that anyone who is sick is rebellious! In this particular case God was talking about rebellious Judah and how most of the people were in such rebellion that the “whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint,” (v 5). Verse 6 goes on to say, “From the sole of the foot even to the head there is nothing sound in it only bruises, welts and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil,” (NASB).

These words struck me, because if any of you have been reading a blog for Andrea Vellinga (For the Love of Andrea), a survivor of the Indiana State Fair tragedy, which her brother has been writing for her, one of the ways he has been asking people to pray for Andrea is a complete “head-to-toe healing.” As I read these verses in Isaiah, I thought, “That’s where his prayer came from!” Then I realized what a wonderful way this is to pray for anyone who is sick, no matter what the illness is. We can pray specifically for, say, someone’s diabetes to be healed, but if we also include prayers for healing from the “sole of their feet to their head,” we can also be praying for problems we don’t know about that may exist and could be contributing to the diabetes. And, these verses also refer to the whole person—the” whole heart,” so we need to remember that praying for spiritual healing or emotional healing is just as important as physical healing, and sometimes they are connected to each other.

Now, I don’t shy away from some of these “hard” verses, realizing that I can use them to “pray the opposites” for myself and others.

What about you? Do you have an opposite verse you like to pray for others? Feel free to share it below.

Pray on!

Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net (image of Bible and praying hands)

Scripture:

“Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” Luke 2:36-38

Focus: Hope

These short three verses in the Bible hold out much hope for us. Here is a woman who was married for only seven years when her husband died. Rather than living in misery and despondency, Anna chose instead to live a life to glorify God. She walked so closely with God that when Mary and Joseph arrived in the temple to present the baby Jesus, Anna recognized Jesus as the redemption of Jerusalem. She had the privilege of looking upon the Savior and knowing Him.

I can only wonder how many people’s lives Anna touched. How many young mothers and widows might she have encouraged in her lifetime because of her close walk with her God?

During this time of Advent, take some time to reflect on a disappointment or life change you may have suffered. How are you handling this? Are you allowing God to use this in your life, or have you become bitter over it?  Pray and ask Him to open your spiritual eyes, as He did Anna’s and look for ways that God can use this disappointment for good.

Prayer: Dear Lord,

We pray for the spiritual eyes to see how you can use our disappointments, life changes and even tragedies to bring about good. Help us to trust you to bring a blessing out of them, and make us wiling to be used. Amen.

Pray on!

“Being confident in this, that He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

The Greek translation of ”confident” is peitho, and it means to be convinced or to trust in (The Strong’s NIV Exhaustive Concordance). What stands out the most to me about this verse is that we can trust God. This verse tells us that God is going to take care of helping us grow and leading us through situations; all we have to do is trust in Him and listen to His leading. The phrase to carry it on to completion means to finish or attain a goal. We can also know that God has a goal and a purpose for our lives, and He is going to accomplish those goals in us if we allow Him to.

What are some examples of people in the Bible who went through hard times, but God used those times to prepare them for the goal He had for them?

Ruth lost her husband, went through poverty, and moved to a foreign land where she could’ve been considered an outcast. She lost everything she knew, but instead of allowing bitterness and grief to get the best of her, she chose to trust Naomi’s God, who quickly became her God. God not only brought her a home and a husband, but allowed her to be part of the kingly lineage of Jesus Christ.

Do we always see the end result of God’s plan for our lives while we are on earth?

Hebrews 11 is all about biblical heroes of faith who went through great trials on earth, but who knew that what they were going through was for a greater purpose. Verses 13-16 and 32-40 of this chapter show that they did not always see what the good of their situations were until they were in heaven, but they still chose to trust God and were joyful through their situations because they had faith.

What things have you gone through in your life of which you are still waiting to see the purpose?

How do we not lose hope when we go through troubles and we don’t necessarily see God’s reason behind it?

What steps can you take to keep a joyful and confident attitude in the midst of uncertain circumstances?

Don’t lose heart, but remember that God will complete His good work in you!

Brittany Jean is a nineteen-year-old college student living in the Midwest with her parents and younger brother. She is currently majoring in pre-law and is planning on using that degree for ministry.

At times, God calls us to wait on Him to act. While we are waiting we are to continue seeking Him. To do the study, Wait, Seek and Hope, just click on the link!

Jane VanOsdol

Last time we looked at how Jesus was able to maintain peace in His life and found out that prayer played a big part in His serenity. What I would like to look at today is how we can do that same thing in our own lives. Some of you may be thinking that if I only knew what situation you were facing right now, that I wouldn’t be so quick to talk about being peaceful.

Let me say, I hear you! I have been through a few tragedies in my life, and I know how desperation and despair feels. But, I have also seen my Lord move into each situation and restore hope in my life where it had previously been dead. What we need to focus on is not the situation, but the only One on heaven and earth who has the power to bring life out of dead things and peace out of chaos:  Jesus.

First of all, let me ask you, What situation do you need peace in right now? Let’s just start with the hardest thing and get it out in the open. Maybe you’re even afraid to mention it to your friends or family anymore because it has dragged on for so long, or maybe it’s a fresh worry. But acknowledge to yourself what it is. May I also suggest an activity for you?

I would like to suggest that you write down what it is that you need peace about in a notebook. Write down everything about it and your prayers for the situation. Ask God to give you a specific scripture(s) to pray for the situation and invite Him to begin working. Then try to rest in that. Continue to write and journal and pray about the situation and record how you see God working. It may be that over time you see a person you have been praying for changed. Or, it may be that it is YOU that God changes instead. It may be that an ill person you want healed for earth instead dies and is healed to heaven. If that is the case, continue to record how God is moving in the midst of that tragedy in your life. Over time, you will begin to see patterns of God living and working in your life.

Often times just the actual writing down can help bring us a peace, but the real peace comes from understanding this scripture:  And we know that all things work together for good to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

In the times when our prayers are not answered the way we want them to be, when the sick are not healed, or when the job does not come through for example, this does not make this any less of an answer; it is just a different answer. I begin to cultivate peace in these situations when I cling to God’s promise that He will work together to bring good out of this desperate situation. Be persistent in prayer and know that you have God’s word that He will bring good. Be waiting and watchful and record the good when you see it.

It also helps to keep the big picture in mind. Encouraging to me is the meaning of the word peace from John 14:27. The Blue Letter Bible defines peace in one instance as ” the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever that is.” When we know that our big picture is taken care of, other things tend to pale in comparison.

Cultivating a life of prayer and peace is only attained through persistence. God does not minimize our earthly trials. He walks and prays us through them.

Pray on!