Tag: prayer

Chapter X

Hello, my lovelies 💓

How’s the new year going? It feels like I blinked, and January flew by. It’s been rapid.

As you gathered, I didn’t end 2024 on a high. I was conflicted on New Years Eve, and it wasn’t a nice feeling. As the days have gone by, things have gotten better.

Although I was upset with God, myself, and just lots of emotions and questions, I love the fact that I have a God who doesn’t shy away from our emotions and pain. He sits with us in our pain, and He longs to bring healing. He brings scripture, songs, and people our way to help us.

A few days ago,  I listened to a short clip which was talking about how the church and Christians deal with the issue of pain, in particular emotional pain, be it grief, loss, whatever form it takes. There appears to be a notion that we need to rush to leave that state. This is obviously a generalisation, but I think there’s some truth to it. We struggle to comfort people in pain, as though their discomfort further serves to discomfort us, so we seek to quickly see the end of it. We use some phrases (usually stock phrases) that dress it up as noble encouragement, but it leaves me wondering where the kindness and compassion are. Thankfully for me, God had in his mercy surrounded me with people who, for the most part, have been compassionate and haven’t put pressure on me to “snap out of it.” This is an aside, but I feel the need to encourage us as Christians to be more compassionate. You don’t need to have an answer for someone’s pain. Just let them know you’re thinking of them and that you care for them.

My main point today was to share something I was thinking about a few weeks ago. I was thinking about what remains constant through life’s changes and seasons. Of course, there are quite a few things, but chief of them is love, specifically the love of God. You see, all the time I was upset, one thing I never doubted was God’s love for me. I might not have felt it, emotionally, at the time, but there was an assurance that in spite of things, God loves me. I remember God saying to me that if I’m ever unsure of everything, and nothing feels real, I can always count on his love for me.

These words aren’t platitudes to make you feel better. They’re based on God’s word to us. You might not feel able to access or acknowledge love, but that doesn’t mean it’s not present.

Guys, life is hard. To deny that would be a lie. Some days, your pain or situation would cause you to question a lot of things you took for granted, but God is our present help in time of trouble. You might not feel a spooky presence with you, but you know he can be with you through the people he places around you, who hold your hand through hard times.

One of my aunties sent me some verses to encourage me (after a long period of her listening to me), and a lot of them blew my mind. This one (below), in particular, challenged me a lot. It really made me think and analyse my heart and mind posture.

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to these things, so these are MY opinions, based on my experience.

In summary, I’ll leave you with these three things and end with a prayer.
1. Life gets hard sometimes, but God’s love will never let you go
2. People might try to rush you or even gaslight you, pay them no mind!
3. Take your time and while doing that, be honest with God about how you feel. Don’t say he knows. Telll him with your words; articulate how you feel
4. An extra for those at the back LOL, please let’s be kind to one another. Be compassionate.

Lord, we know that life sometimes hurts, and things don’t seem to make sense. We feel angry, lost, or disconnected from you, but it’s comforting to know that we are not alone in our feelings. David did a good job of capturing some of those emotions we feel, and yet he always came back up, somehow. This gives us hope that joy can come in the morning. We thank you for your love that can withstand any situation or power. We thank you for your love that never ends and never fails. We thank you because even when every structure crumbles around us, we can be sure that we are held by everlasting, all-powerful arms, and we can put our faith in you. Lord send us help from Zion. Place compassionate people around us and, more importantly, teach us to be the compassionate people we’d want to help us in our life’s struggles, amen.

NB – The hyperlinks (underlined words) contains the links to the full verses I’m referring to. Please click on them 🙏

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Prayers I’d like to share

Hello dear people ☺️

Sorry for the abrupt, unscheduled break in transmission. If you’re not new, then you’re probably not surprised as it’s not the first time   🤭  🫠 The last few months have been full of ups and downs, mainly ups to be fair. That’s quite typical of life, isn’t it?

Anyway, this post is going to be different, and I might bring a similar version back in the future. Over the last few weeks, I’ve written some prayers based on bible verses, which I’d like to share with you. First, I’d like to share a prayer that I’ve not written. I found it on a website I’d been using as part of my devotional. It resonated very strongly with me, and when I shared it on WhatsApp, it resonated with some others as well. I hope it blesses someone.

Now, for some of the prayers I’ve written, I know they won’t be for everyone. When I wrote them, I wrote them for myself, but if someone else finds it helpful, I’ll be even happier.

Isaiah 50 prayer
Thank you Lord that I am your disciple. Thank you for teaching me. I receive your teaching. Thank you for wakening me daily and wakening my ears. My ears are open to hear you. I will not be rebellious or turn back in disobedience. I receive your strength to obey fully. I am helped by you. I receive your help and empowerment. I recognise your help. I will not be ashamed. I will not be confounded or confused. I am determined to do your will as you reveal it to me, so I set my face like a flint. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen

Psalm 95 prayer
Thank you for being my God. I am so blessed to be the sheep of your hand and to be among your pasture. As my shepherd, you lead me and instruct me on where to go. I thank you because I know your voice and I recognise it clearly as you speak. As you speak to me through this period, Lord help me to maintain a soft heart of flesh towards you. I rebuke, renounce, and refuse any trace of hardness of heart in me. I declare my heart is soft, good soil where your seed can be planted and bear good fruit. As you sweetened the waters at Meribah, please hasten to sweeten this situation also. I do not want to tempt you, grieve, or disgust you like my forebears (the israelites) did. I do not want to experience the work of your judgement. Please help me and be merciful towards me. Help me not to err in my heart, and as you search me, please expose every element of error so that I may repent, be forgiven, restored, and placed back on track. I do want to enter into your rest, and I want to experience and enjoy my promised land, the land of blessings you have prepared for me. I thank you for all these things I have received from you, my Lord, and my God. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen


Psalm 55:22
Lord, I thank you for your welcome, your call to me to come with my burdens. You ask me to release the weight of it by giving it to you. You take the weight off me, and I feel so light and free. Thank you, Jesus. You promise to sustain me so I receive your sustenance. You keep me going, Lord, not scraping by but with an abundance of grace and strength. Because I’ve been made righteous by the blood of Christ, in your kindness and faithfulness, you won’t allow me to be moved. I will not stumble, slip, fall, or fail because I am backed by the Most High who doesn’t fail. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen 🙏

Please let me know what you think of this kind of post.

Blessings
Sinmi

Posted on by Sinmi 4

A simple prayer 🙏 🙌🏽

Sometimes, we overcomplicate prayer, and this can make prayer a daunting, insurmountable task that we’re doomed to fail at. So, of course, we fall at the first hurdle because in our minds, we don’t think we can do it or be good at it.
Today (the day I wrote this) as I started listening to a preach/talk, a phrase popped into my head. It is a simple prayer, one that is always relevant, always useful, and speaks to God’s heart. It can be used alone or in conjunction with other prayers.

Be it unto me according to your word oh God

No matter what is going on in your life, these words will always be relevant. Sometimes, they will be very hard to say and actually mean, but they will never be the wrong thing to say.

As I wrote this, I was reminded that we have a beautiful example in Mary, the mother of our Lord, who said these words. She must have been perplexed, confused, and dumbfounded. Not only will she be pregnant by God’s spirit, but her aged relative will also have a child. What’s Mary’s response? “Let it be done as you have said”. She doesn’t know how it’s  all going to work out. She doesn’t have a precedent to relate this to; she doesn’t have all the answers and yet she says “Let it be according to what you have said” because she knows God’s word will never come to destroy but to build and mould us into his vessels.

There are different ways to pray with this verse, and I will list three of them:

Praying this by “itself”

Praying this by “itself”, you can draw on God’s word to you.

Lord, I know you have great plans for my life, and you have made me for a purpose. Lord be it unto me according to all that’s written in your book for me.

Help me, Lord, to know what your plans are for me and how to fulfil them. Help me to stick to the path you have set for me so that my life can be all that you have in mind for me.

Praying it with general scripture

Sometimes, it feels like we don’t know what God is saying specifically to us,  perhaps about a situation or about our lives in general, and we don’t know what to pray. There’s a treasure trove of promises in the Bible waiting to be discovered. With the age of the Internet, you don’t have to be a bible scholar to find the promises. All you need is Google and Internet connection. Search God’s promises about x or bible verses about x, and you’ll be surprised at what you find. I’ll encourage you to read, not just the verses in isolation but the chunk of scripture that it’s a part of. Present what you read to God. For example, Lord be it unto me according to your word. Your word in Proverbs 16:3 states that I should commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. So Lord, I commit my ways and works to you.

Lord, sometimes I don’t know what to do but I trust that you will guide me because your word says in ‭‭Isaiah 30:21 AMPC‬‬ “And your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left.” So Lord, I declare that my ears are open to hear your voice, and I walk in obedience to your word.

Praying it with a specific promise God has given you.

Lord, you have said concerning me that x. Lord, I agree with your word. I say Amen, be it unto me according to your word.

So this month, why don’t you give this a go, when you feel stuck, worried, harried, content, agree with God regarding what he’s said about you. The more you agree, the more that’s internalised, and you manifest what you say. You build up a faith in you that spurs you onto good works. The internal work that is being done in you will become apparent, and you will bring glory to God. That’s the sum total of our lives, to bring glory to God.

This is not to say this is the only way to pray. That’s the beautiful thing. There are so many ways to pray. This can be a starting point for you. Whatever way you pray, you can be sure that God hears you. Sometimes, there’s a tyranny of choice, and we feel paralysed or unsure  how to proceed. This just helps to simplify things.
God bless you.

Be it unto you according to God’s word for you!

Posted on by Sinmi 0