A Christmas Prayer

A Christmas Prayer by Robbie Iobst

Empty me, Lord, of
the idea of a perfect Christmas.
Fill me with 
accepting life as it comes.
Empty me, Lord, of
the pressure to have my home decorated like a Martha-Stewart-worthy Winter Wonderland,
Fill me with
the peace of simple beauty.
Empty me, Lord, of
the gluttony around Christmas sweets and treats.
Fill me with
glad-hearted moderation.
Empty me, Lord, of
the need to have my calendar full of holiday fun.
Fill me with
the desire to spend extra time with You.
Empty me, Lord, of
the temptation to spend more than I have on gifts.
Fill me with
the kindness of unpretentious thoughtfulness within my budget.
Empty me, Lord, of
the black hole of “gotta-get-It-done” that tries to swallow me in December.
Fill me with
the unending pool of Your peace each moment, each day.
Empty me, Lord, of
the tyranny that Christmas can become.
Fill me with
the wonderful joy of Your birthday party.
Amen.

Following God's Direction in Your Life

"If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them." - James 4:17
So how do you know the direction God is guiding you? In James 1:5 it says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

Prayer is central to communication with God, but hearing God's answer isn't always easy. Sometimes we struggle with the guidance He's given us, or it seems too challenging. Our human nature often guides us to take the path of least resistance or to doubt the power of God's plan or question it entirely. There is a certain peace in trusting in God and his plan, however. In Philippians 4:7 we read, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Peace is something that we all seek in our lives. In our marriage, work life, and even when we eat or sleep. It's difficult to stay focused in times of turmoil and stress. Believing in God's plan and His will in our lives is often difficult, but when we experience the peace of knowing we're working to serve Him, the storms of life aren't nearly as intimidating. As challenging as life can seem, He is with us through it all, and your labor is not in vain. When we are trusting in the Lord and His direction in our lives, even death will be swallowed up by victory through Jesus Christ.

"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." -1 Corinthians 15:58

~ Matt Croti Maddalena

It's All About Me

Sometimes people negatively proclaim, "He thinks it's all about him."

I tell myself sometimes that this (whatever it is) is ALL about me...seriously...

It really is all about me...

It is all about how I'm supposed to use this situation to learn, grow in my faith and become who JESUS wants me to be...through the struggles and trials that come my way...how will I respond...what will I do...who am I becoming...am I bringing glory to God...?

What am I willing to sacrifice because of what God has called me to do?  What will I do without in order to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ?

All that being said it is all about me when it is happening to me...

And it is all about you when it is happening to you...

But not in a selfish way...in a way that humbles me and you and shows us our need for a forgiving, loving, teaching God...

We need each other...we need prayer, we need support, we need encouragement.  Be there for your brothers and sisters...be there for them when it is all about them...and they will be there for you when it's all about you.

When we get right down to the heart of the matter...it's all about HIM! Allow Jesus to work in your life in the midst of the heartache, challenges and even the disasters. When the world peeks out and sees your response and my response, they may decide that a life with Jesus is what they need too.

The Bottom Line

This is my prayer for my youngest child who is full of life and love. May God bold you into exactly who HE wants you to be and may you be obedient to HIM always!

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. ~ Romans 12:9-13 (NIV 1984)

31 Day Challenges

I found these challenges on Facebook and wanted to share them here in case anyone would like to join the challenge...

31 Days of Prayer for Your Husband


31 Days of Prayer for Your Children
31 Days of Prayer for Your Pastor
31 Days of Prayer for Your Pastor's Wife
31 Days of Letting Go

Moms in Touch

I just found out about a new prayer group called Moms in Touch. Check out their website for more information about becoming a part of a worldwide community of mothers praying for children and schools. They have tons of resources to guide women as they pray for children.

National Day of Prayer

The theme for this year's National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 7 is Prayer ... America's Hope! It's based on Psalm 33:22, which says, "May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You."

To learn more visit National Day of Prayer website.

I hope you will join with millions of other Americans on Thursday, May 7th, to observe the 58th annual National Day of Prayer.

Prayer: The Most Beautiful Gift

I recently received one of the most touching gifts for my precious baby daughter. I will cherish the card that came with it until the day I pass it along to my daughter in her scrapbook.

"Enclosed is a blanket I made for J. The funny thing is that I finished it on November 30th (the date of her birth). Each time I sat down to crochet I would say a prayer for J regarding a certain aspect of her life. I prayed for her health as a fetus, her birth, her immunizations, her teeth, her bones, organs and development. I prayed for her infancy, her toddlerhood, her youth, her schooling. I prayed for the Special Spiritual gift God would give her and that she would come to know Him early. The outer layers of the blanket represent time spent praying for her future spouse, her marriage and ultimately her children. Each stitch was done in love. I sat at God's feet asking for blessing upon blessing for J, you, Rick and your other children. May God hear each word that was prayed on your daughter's behalf."

What a beautiful gift! Thank you so much to the special one who spent time in prayer for my newborn and family. I am greatly touched by your love and commitment to prayer! Thank you!

I encourage others to consider the gift of prayer my daughter and family received when sharing of their love while gift giving whether it be for baby gifts, Christmas or birthdays. Telling the person of your prayers in a written note (like my friend did) takes the gift to the next level because your note will remind the person of your prayers each time the note is read. Giving should always be bathed in prayer!

Again thank you to this special person!!

Edited December 21, 2008 to add:

I was just reading at Tiffany's blog and found a great quote on prayer that goes well with this post...

"If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this will lead us to prayer. Intercession is a way of loving others."

~ Richard Foster, quoted from Prayer

Challenges of Marriage

Marriage – even the best marriages have challenges. When you take two people with different family backgrounds and experiences you are bound to have at least some conflict. I appreciate when people are real about their struggles because it helps the rest of us feel normal. When you look around the church and see all the happy, smiling people you could believe that they have no idea what it means to have a “discussion” about finances or about the best way to discipline the kids. We all walk through similar circumstances and can help each other by being honest about our struggles and successes. Sharing our testimony of God’s work in our lives could be the turning point or at least a slice of hope for another.



Someone close to me is in the process of going through a divorce and it breaks my heart to see this young family torn apart. One spouse sent me some information about marriage intensives and desires to save the marriage and family. They have young children the age of my children and it hurts to know that they are dealing with the pain of separation from one of their parents and that divorce is looming in the future. The problems the spouses are dealing with are definitely bigger than me and bigger than both of them. It appears that only one party is willing to attempt counseling, but God is bigger. Another hurdle is that marriage intensives and counseling in general are quite costly. HE can work a miracle in this situation that seems impossible. Please join me in praying for a miracle for this young, hurting family.

Pray for Our Leaders

This campaign/election process has been a long ride, but now it's history and we as Christians must unite (regardless of who you supported) and pray for our leaders. I've read several blogs that say it better than I could...

Randy Alcorn - It’s Over; but It’s not Over (one Day it will be)
Kay Day - The People Have Spoken
Robbie Iobst - Hope is a Good Thing
Tiffany Stuart - America's Choice My Response (go to post dated November 5)

I think its great when Christians can have different opinions and agree to disagree. Most importantly we need to unite in prayer! Check out the Presidential Prayer Team and commit to pray for President elect Obama. Go here to sign up to receive a 77 Days of Prayer for Our New President email in your inbox every morning until Inauguration Day, January 20. There is also a Presidential Prayer Kids page in case you have children who would like to join us in prayer (as of today it hasn't been updated, but hopefully soon will).

Scriptures to Consider:

Pray for those in Authority - 1 Timothy 2:1–2
Submission to the Authorities - Romans 13:1-3
Heal Our Land - 2 Chronicles 7:14-15

Join me in praying for our country and our leaders!

God's Presence and Work in Your Life

A good while back I read a book, Opening Windows: Spiritual Refreshment for Your Walk with Christ compiled by Mary Fairchild with entries written by a number of well-known Christian authors and speakers. Each chapter was followed with questions that encourage contemplation. Below is one of them. Feel free to share some, all, or none of your answers in the comments section. Regardless of whether you share ask yourself these questions and allow God to work in your life.

Reflect on God's presence and work in your life yesterday. What meaning do you see in your work, your conversations, and your activities? Then write a four-sentence prayer that includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.

~ taken from Opening Windows p. 111

Quick Update

I haven't been on the computer too much lately for a couple reasons. This weekend we suffered some damage to our house and I've been very busy trying to get everything in order again. And for the past three days my allergies have been bothering me a great deal. I couldn't even sleep last night due to the congestion and pain, so I ended up going to the doctor's today. I found out that I have a sinus infection - antibiotics are flowing through my system. Hopefully they will help kick the illness quickly because I have so much to do and my house is in a shambles now because of the other problems. Please keep our family in your prayers. Thanks!

Up for a Challenge?

I receive email newsletters from Nancy Leigh DeMoss (Revive Our Hearts Ministries) and she posed a challenge in a recent message. Actually she gave options for multiple challenges (involving husbands, your pastor, your pastor's wife, and the television). Check out this link and decide on the best challenge for you and your situation. I think all four of them our worthy of consideration and any of the four could be a catalyst for spiritual growth in our lives.

Give it a try it could change your life!

Prayer of the Heart

Please join in prayer with my friends, Tam and Papa. This week Tam shared a post - "Pressed to Pray" and Papa just today sent out a call to Please come pray with us! so I thought it would be a good time to continue sharing from Opening Windows compiled and edited by Mary Fairchild. I'm going to spend the next few posts sharing the discussion questions from Your Fresh Take.

On page 97 at the end of the chapter by Leanne Payne – Open to “Prayer of the Heart” the questions are:

Think back over your recent petitions to God. What do your requests tell you about the desires of your heart? For the next week, keep a daily prayer journal that includes a list of your petitions.

When I was thirteen I started my "letters to God" in a spiral notebook, when that book was full, I started another and on and on. Somewhere along the way I quit recording my prayers and regret it. They show you so much. First of all they give hope because you can see how God worked in situations you have long forgotten and secondly you see changes in yourself and realize that God is making you into His image one day at a time. You can also watch your handwriting mature - haha

As you have matured in your faith and knowledge of God, how have your prayer petitions changed? Do you sense that your heart is more closely aligned with God’s heart than it was five years ago? How or why?

My prayers definitely changed from the time I was 13 to my mid-twenties when I quit journaling them. They changed from fairly self-centered to thinking more about what God desires. I still have room for growth as I'm guessing most of us earthbound souls do... I'm a different person than I was five years ago because God has changed things about me that needed changing, but as I see myself now I know that I still have more needed growth in Him.

Choose several Scriptures passages that are meaningful to you. Turn them into petitionary prayers. To edify other Christians, discuss how God has made His presence real to you as you have turned biblical promises into petitions and waited in faith for God to work.

What role does prayer play in your life?

I'm reading a devotional thought type book called Opening Windows by a variety of authors - compiled and edited by Mary Fairchild. At the end of each chapter the author challenges the reader in a section called Your Fresh Take.

On page 61 at the end of the chapter by Thelma Wells - Open to Constant Communication the questions are:

Identify two or three times in your daily schedule when you are least aware of God. What conscious changes can you make to increase your awareness of God in these parts of your day?

For me the times I'm least aware of God are when I'm trying to be in control of my world when I try to take things into my own hands. I need to let go and trust God with all things especially the things that seem out of my control - because they most likely are...

How would your day change if God were the first thing you thought of when walking in the morning and the last thing on your mind before sleeping?

I do make an effort to have God be the first thing I think of in the morning and the last before going to bed, but I don't always succeed. I find that when I do things go better and I don't feel as much need to be in control because I KNOW that God is in control.

Do people who are important to you know you are praying for them? If not, what will you do to assure them of your prayers?

I'm pretty sure those important to me know that I'm praying for them. For some people mainly my immediate family and close friends I will pray with them during times of crisis. I'm feeling convicted that I should stop and pray with more people immediately as they share requests. The times friends have done that for me it has really impacted me in a positive way.

Feel free to share your answers in the comments section or just think and pray about them during your time alone with God.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Looking for Love

March 26, 2007
Our family was leaving the gym and one of my husband's friends said something to us. My daughter (7) blushed and whispered to me that daddy's friend was cute and she wished she could marry him (not a chance thinks this mama he's in his late 30's or early 40's). Then we got in the car and my son says (with a straight face), "I'm never going to find a wife!" I was puzzled since he just turned 4. Has he been searching already??? I told him that I'd help him find a good wife. After a little while, my son asked, "How did Daddy get to be so lucky to find you for a wife?" That's my boy!

Yesterday (3-16-08) while I was making dinner, the kids were playing quietly...(every mother knows what that means)...

I'm sure you've heard of Superman, Batman and Spiderman, but there is a new Superhero in town...

My son (now 5) introduced me to Superloveman. Yes, I just typed what you read. My daughter (recently turned 8) drew a big heart on her brother's chest with a black pen and wrote LOVE in a all caps. The little guy made himself a cape out of a little blanket and went flying through the kitchen shirtless (so you could see his emblem I'm sure) to rescue the beautiful princess, his sister.

Oh my... this was while I was making dinner tonight...

Seriously, I want my children to live lives that are pleasing to the Lord and to find a godly spouses when the time is right. I want their lives to be living testimonies to God's grace, love and power.

Let's all pray for our children, regardless of their ages, that they find godly spouses one day and that we are able to impart godly wisdom to them during their formative years as they become men and women after God's own heart. If your children are already married, pray for them and their spouse that they continually look to the Lord for solutions to life's problems and that they become examples of God's unconditional love in a world in need of love - God's love.

Dear Lord,

Please protect my children from my mistakes and shower them with all of YOU and help them to become the mature, godly, responsible adults that YOU want them to be so they can have marriages, lives, ministries, etc... after YOUR plan. Amen!

Listen to this song and get your tissues ready just in case - Find Your Wings by Mark Harris

Be there for Someone

Think back over the years of your life and reflect on the people that God has sent your way to love, accept and pray for you through it all. God has especially blessed my life with caring, loving and amazing women. Some of these ladies may not even realize the depth of the impact they have had and continue to have on my life.

Women who loved and accepted me when I felt unlovable. Women who shared their wisdom and directed me to God's Wisdom when my own was lacking. Women who helped me to make the best of my situation. Women who shared their failures and successes with me to encourage me in the journey. Women who allowed me to be me and accepted me just as I was and prayed for me to become the woman God dreams for me to be.

So having been loved much, I want to love others too. I want to share the love God has showered upon me with those I come in contact with on a daily basis. Pray that I see the opportunities before me and do what God leads me to do...

Many years ago, I claimed 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 as my life verse:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."

So my challenge to you is to find someone who needs love and acceptance and give them that gift. You never know how your kindness will effect a person's life and possibly the lives of many...

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." ~ Hebrews 10:24

Thank You Jesus for loving me unconditionally and sending some beautiful humans to help me understand how special I am to You. My heart is full of gratitude to these ladies who were channels of Your love to me and please help me to be a vessel of Your love to those around me. Amen!

AIDS Crisis

Sunday night at church we had our monthly mission emphasis meeting and we learned more about the AIDS crisis in Africa and India specifically and AIDS in general. What a terrible disease! A while back I read Jenna Bush's book on AIDS that was written for young adults. She had some useful information. For more information, check out the post here.

We had a worksheet at church with the following information:

AIDS CRISIS = MATH MADNESS

40+ - Weekly work hours for many AIDS orphans

5 million - People infected with AIDS annually

330 - Number of self-help groups begun in India

8,000 - Children are orphaned each day

15 million - Number of AIDS orphans worldwide

240,000 - Number of deaths from AIDS per month

1 - Number of people necessary to make a difference


Some problems require more than a band-aid...

~ Pray for those dying with AIDS that they find Christ before it is too late.

~ Pray for the millions of children who have lost their parents and who are struggling to survive; pray for people to invest in their lives so they may learn Jesus loves them.

~ Pray for the physical, emotional, and educational needs of AIDS orphans.

~ Pray that God opens you heart to whatever HE would have you to do to help in the AIDS crisis.

Prayer Request

A friend shared a prayer request for a young couple dealing with uncertain times. I went to the husband's blog and was encouraged by his faith and perseverance. Tricia has cystic fibrosis and was hoping to be put on the list for a double lung transplant. However, when she found out she was pregnant she couldn't be put on the list. She is currently five months pregnant and in the hospital now. Their faith is simply beautiful. Please keep Nathan, Tricia and their unborn child in your prayers.

What Have Your Kids Taught You?

I was cleaning out files on an old computer this evening and came across something I wrote when my daughter, B was 2 and 3/4 years old.

This morning as B and I were walking ouside to run some errands she exclaimed, "Look at the beautiful leaves that Jesus made." Then she stopped on the steps and said, "Jesus, thank You for the leaves You made and for this beatuiful day and all my friends. Amen!" Then she opened her eyes, raised her head and kept walking down the steps.

How many times do we stop in pure joy as we are scurrying out into the world and thank Jesus for what He has made? I'm guilty of not doing this enough, but I'm so thrilled that B's spirit is soft to things of God.

Another instance around that same time frame:

The other day B's eczema flared up again and I suggested that she pray to Jesus about it. She instantly stopped what she was doing and said, "Jesus thank You for my eczema." Hmmm - Are we adults so quick to thank Jesus for the pain that comes our way?