Day 305: Trust In the Power of Prayer

James 5:13-18

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

I think sometimes we underestimate the power of prayer, or we doubt while praying. Why do we turn to prayer as a last resort, and why do we still worry or why do we doubt if we pray. When we pray we are having faith that God will answer us, that He hears us and that He is going to answer our prayer. Sometimes we allow what we see to make us doubt what God can do.

I love that the answer to all the questions in the above scripture is prayer. Whatever is going on in our lives we should pray. If we’re sick, upset, happy, in and out of season we should constantly be in prayer, Sometimes we allow our situation to dictate our prayers lives. I think all of us have been there. When we are in trouble, when things are falling apart we are in constant prayer. But when things are going good for us, when life is treating us right, why is our prayer lives reduced to close to nothing? Our situation changes the way we pray and what we pray for but it should not affect our prayer life at all. The truth is it’s sometimes easier to pray when things in our lives are out of control because we need God to fix them. We need God to deliver us and bring us out of the hard times. But what about the good times. When things are going good, praise God. There’s nothing like taking the time to thank and praise God for what He has done, for who He is and how He has moved in our lives.

Many times we feel ourselves praying to God for the same things over and over again, as if we want to make sure that He hears us, or has heard us. There’s nothing wrong with constantly praying for something, but at what point is that constant prayer bred from doubt. What I mean is, when we pray do we really believe that God can do it. Are we praying just to pray or are we praying in faith? Some things takes a lot of prayer, and sometimes we are doubting God. There is no use of us praying if we are going to doubt and worry anyway. This is something God has taught me, don’t pray and worry, don’t pray and doubt. It defeats the purpose of prayer. We must pray in faith and trust in the power of prayer, and that means trusting that God hears us and He is going to answer us. This does not mean that we will always get the answer we want. It means that we are trusting God and His plans.

When talking about Elijah Peter says before anything, “Elijah was as human as we are…” I think that is meant to encourage us, yes we are human, so was Jesus, and Paul, and John, and Peter, and Timothy, and all the Apostles, but when they prayed God moved. That is because they prayed in faith knowing that it was not by human hands or human power but it was through the divine power of God that these things were done. Yes, we are mere humans but we serve an almighty God who can do anything! The scripture goes on to talk about how Elijah prayed that it would not rain, and it didn’t rain for three and half years, exclamation point! Then when he prayed for rain it rained! This is the power of prayer, something that seems so simple yet so hard for many people is one of our most powerful weapons. Prayer changes things, God moves when His people earnestly pray to Him, having faith that He will answer. Elijah did not talk about how it should stop raining or how it needs to rain again, no He went straight to God in prayer and asked. That’s what we as the body of Christ must learn to do, we must learn to talk less, pray more, and watch what God does.

All this to say, do not doubt the power of prayer and what God can do. Do not pray and worry but trust in Him.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led, and pray. Pray about whatever is on your heart, allow the Holy Spirit to fill you, and just pray.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 306!

Day 304: When It's Out of Our Control

James 5:7

Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.

I love the analogy of a farmer waiting for the harvest, or the rains to come so the plants can grow. I know this scripture is about patience but what I get from this is that the farmer is not worrying or stressed about when the harvest will come. One because they know that it will come in due season, but also it is something that is out of their control. That’s what I want to discuss today, we as humans sometimes worry about things that we cannot control and we stress ourselves out for no reason.  We get to the point of worry or stress where we can’t eat, can’t sleep, can’t focus, can’t do anything. That is not healthy, worry does nothing but make the situation worse. I can tell you that worrying is never the answers, worrying has never fixed a problem.

How many times have you been worried in the past month about things that are out of your control? What about the last week? One thing that God has taught me is to always trust Him, His timing, and His plan. I used to worry about everything, the smallest things to the biggest things until I realized that there is no reason for me to worry because God already has it figured out and also why worry when there is nothing I can do about it. Let’s not stress ourselves out and go into early menopause or mid-life crisis because we spent all of our time worried about things that we can literally do nothing to change. All we can do is wait on God, like the farmer patiently waits on the harvest. When we spend less time worried about things we spend more time focusing on God. When our focus is on God we don’t have time to be stressing about what He’s already taken care of. When was the last time worry helped you through something? It never really helps all it does is give us unnecessary anxiety.

Recently I had an audition for a showcase that will be happening in Los Angeles. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s when actors get the chance to perform for multiple agencies, manager, casting directors, etc. As someone who is from Los Angeles and is planning on moving back after college this was a big deal for me. A huge deal! So I prepared for my audition, more than I’ve ever prepared in my life for an audition. I prayed, had everyone else praying and I went in there and did it. In my opinion, it was the best audition I had ever done. I walked out of there confident. We wouldn’t know if we were in the showcase for another week, so that week was a struggle. I had to continue to pray, not that I would get into the showcase but that I would not worry or stress myself out waiting for the results. I came to the conclusion that whatever happens it would part of God’s plan and two I had no control over what happened next, all I could do was have faith in God. A week later I got into the showcase!

-Dyamond

All this to say, sometimes we are so worried about the things going on in our lives, the results we are waiting on, or the things we are praying for that we forget to have faith in God. Don’t let your worry get in the way of you focusing on God. He’s got in all under control even when it looks like everything is going crazy, God’s got it under control.

Reflection

1. Do you ever find yourself worrying about things that are out of your control?
2. How has worrying helped?
3. How has choosing to have faith in God and His planned helped?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your pray, if you have a tendency to worry and be anxious ask God to free you from that.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 305!

Day 273: Recap!

Day 267: Exposing Darkness

Today we talked about shining a light on the dark places in our lives and exposing them for what they are. We talked about how, although we try, there is nothing we can hide from God, He sees all. We talked about how in order to be fully devoted to Christ we have to walk in light and that means getting rid of all things dark in our lives. We focused on Ephesians 5:11-14.

"...walk in light and when I say walk in light I mean walk in Christ."

Day 268: He Humbled Himself

Today we talked about taking a big dose of humility! We talked about how Jesus humbled Himself when He gave up a throne in heaven in order to come to earth and save us from our sin. We talked about how we are seeking honor from man and not God, how we are seeking honor from God without a relationship, and also how we just want to be honored and glorified. We focused on Philippians 2:6-9.

"If we do not humble ourselves before Christ we cannot grow. How are we going to survive if we cannot grow in Christ?"

Day 269: All Loss for One Gain

This one was probably my fave of the week. We talked about how sometimes we have to lose everything to gain one thing, Christ. We talked about how Paul said he would count it all as lost if only to gain Christ. Christ is everything we need and if losing everything gets us there then we will have gained everything! We focused on Philippians 3:7-8.

"I can live without these worldly possessions, tangible, and even sometimes intangible things that make up my life here on Earth, but I cannot live without Christ."

Day 270: Why Worry?

Today we talked about worry and stress and anxiety. We talked about how even though we have a million things to we can think of to worry and stress about, when we think of who God is we really have nothing to worry about. God has it already figured out so we just have to trust His plan, go with it, and see what happens. We focused on Philippians 4:6-7 and Matthew 11:28.

"We see the beauty of life when we begin to understand that God is completely in control. He has it all figured out and He’s guided us through it all. There’s comfort and peace in that.  We may not know or understand what God is doing in that moment, but there is beauty in it all, even in the unknown."

Day 271: All You Know

Today we talked about God's everlasting and unchanging love! We talked about how even though He knows everything there is to know about us, everything we've ever done; the good, the bad, and the definite ugly, He still loves us. His feelings towards us never changes. We focused on 1 John 3:20, Psalms 139: 1-6, Hebrews 13:8, 2 Timothy 2:13, and Romans 8:38.

"In the midst of everything we do in our lives, and every place we’ve been; from the highest moments to the lowest, His love never changes. His love stays the same."

Day 272: Chains of Freedom

Today we talked about how we are constantly running to the very things that keep us in chains, even though we have been freed in Christ. We talked about how we tend to hold on to the very things that are killing us as if it were going to save us. Comfort can do that to us. We focused on Ephesians 2:8-9, 4:22-24, Romans 7:15-17, and Romans 6:23.

"... don’t be so afraid of change that you die never knowing the freedom you could have had in Christ."

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening, be sure to share this with someone. Go back over your favorite discussion from this week and come back tomorrow for Day 274!

Day 270: Why Worry?

Philippians 4:6-7

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Let’s talk about worrying.  This is all too familiar to many of us. Why do we worry so much? There’s so much stuff for us to be anxious about, so much to be worried about. So many things to get us in a frenzy. Especially in our twenties, we’re graduating from college and figuring out what we’re going to do with the rest of our lives. We’re still figuring out who we are, and we’re constantly changing. Or maybe we’re making life changing decisions, coming into life changing responsibilities. Things are constantly changing around us. We’re just trying to stay afloat (life is so much more than just staying afloat, but that’s another topic for another day). We’re trying to live a normal life, working, going to school, paying bills, keeping in contact with family and friends, marriages, kids, and for those of us who are single, trying to have some type of love life. Maybe we’re trying to find the one (they’re always at church or coffee shops lol). On a serious note, there is so much for us to be worried about, so much for us to be anxious about, and losing our minds about. Many of us find ourselves in these places. But the passage of above tells us not to worry about anything but pray about everything. Really? All of my problems can be solved with prayer? Yes they can! It’s that simple, I’m not sure why we as humans like to complicate things (But that’s also another subject for another day). The next line goes on to say, ‘tell God what you need’. Remember when Jesus came and said, come to Him so He can give us rest?

Matthew 11:28

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

He doesn’t want us carrying those worries around. It’s a heavy burden, He says let me give you rest, put that burden down and take mine, it’s light. When Jesus was nailed to the cross He took all of our burden with Him. We don’t have to carry them.  Pray about it and leave it with Him, trust me He can handle it better than we can. We worry so much and that often takes the place of prayer in our lives. But God is like, ‘no, tell me what you need. I got you. Don’t worry about it, talk to me about it and let me handle it.’ Instead of worrying, I’ve learned to thank God in advance, thanking Him for the things that He has done and the things He is going to. Putting all my faith in Him, because He sees far beyond what my eyes could ever see or imagine.

Sometimes we’re focused on what’s right in front of us that we kind of forget who God is.  We have to sometimes look at the grand scheme of things, the bigger picture.  We begin to worry because we cannot see past our situation, that thing staring us right in the face. But the thing about faith is that is gives us the opportunity to see through the situation and see God.  We get so caught up in what’s in front of us that we cannot see beyond that to see that God has it all under control.  I think of it this way, why worry when God already has it figured out. I can worry about what I’m going to do with my life, but I know that God already has a wonderful plan for me, and even though I don’t know what that plan is, I’m going to trust Him to lead me. I may not know exactly where I’m going but I know that where I am isn’t the end. I know He has gotten me thus far, so I’m going to continue to put my faith in Him. We worry when things don’t go as planned. Even in those moments we must realize that God is moving. This is why we must keep a loose grip on our plans, because even in our greatest dreams, God is always doing something greater and bigger. If we truly believe that God’s plan is far greater than ours, why are we worrying about the little things that we think we have control over? Why worry when God does far beyond what we can ever think, ask, or imagine? I have come to the conclusion that with this understanding I have nothing to worry about, God has already gotten it figured out and it took me a while to finally get it.

There’s something about being worry free that makes life so much easier. We enjoy life more when we’re not in a constant state of anxiety and worry. It’s a beautiful feeling. We see the beauty of life when we begin to understand that God is completely in control. He has it all figured out and He’s guided us through it all. There’s comfort and peace in that.  We may not know or understand what God is doing in that moment, but there is beauty in it all, even in the unknown. The mystery of it all keeps us following Him. Just as the scripture says, “...Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.”

Well how do i just pray and not worry? Faith. Take a chance on God, leap and the net will appear. All it takes is a little faith to step out. Just take a chance and I promise He won’t let you down. Our faith cannot grow if it’s not tested, Our faith is tested most when we are going through hell on earth. It’s the moments when we feel like there’s no reason to pray or trust God. In those moment just trust Him, give Him a chance, jump, He will catch you. Trust me, He won’t let you fall.  

All this to say, have faith in God. Don’t worry about anything, instead, pray about everything.

Reflection

1. Are you a worrier?
2. Do you sometimes focus on the situation at hand as opposed to God’s plan?
3. Are you willing to take a chance on Him?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about what we discussed today. Have a honest conversation with Him. Lay down all your worries at His feet and leave them there. Take a chance on God today.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 271!