Prayer Hotline – Prayers for Sorrow, Failure, Fruitfulness, Sin, and Worry

Posted on February 13, 2019 by Lynn

Many times I find myself confronted with a specific problem, challenge or an area in my life that I need to bathe in prayer.  However, it is not always easy to find the right words to pray.  It is then I pray Scripture.  Praying God’s Word back to God gives me a peace and clarity over my particular situation, and when I use God’s own words by praying Scripture, I am aligning myself with His heart and praying according to His will.  Over the next few days, I will post Scripture to pray on a variety of topics.  Here are the first five:

Prayer Hotline – Prayers for Sorrow, Failure, Fruitfulness, Sin and Worry

When in sorrow, pray John 14:1-4  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

When men fail you, pray Psalm 27:1-3.  “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?  When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.  Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.”

If you want to be fruitful, pray John 15:1-8.  ““I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. f you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

When you have sinned, pray Psalm 51:1-12.  “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.  Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.  Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.  Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.  Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

When you worry, pray Matthew 6:25-34.  ““Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Posted in 25 Encouraging Bible Verses - Topical, Inspiration & Devotion, Proverbs 16:9 - Journey Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Pride Goeth Before A Fall

Posted on February 6, 2019 by Lynn

My mother used to say, “Pride Goeth Before a Fall”, especially when my brother and I were acting out or doing something she thought particularly foolhardy for attention, but honestly, I had no idea what it meant then and I only recently learned that the expression is probably a misquote from the King James Version of the Bible of Proverbs 16:18.

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.“

We recently had a thought-provoking discussion in our Sunday School class on “pride”.  We came up with a lot of definitions, but we still seemed a bit baffled by what it means in the theological sense of the word and whether or not pride is really as bad as they say it is.  For instance, several questions were posed whether it is so bad to take pride in your work, your children, your looks?  Is it bad to take pride in your nation?  So, the question remains: is pride a virtue or a vice?

“Pride derives from the French word “prud,” which is a late Old English word variously translated as “excellent, splendid, arrogant, haughty.” It is thought that “having a high opinion of oneself” might reflect the Anglo-Saxons opinion of Norman knights who called themselves “proud.”

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers multiple definitions for “pride.” A positive one is “A feeling that you respect yourself and deserve to be respected by others.” This seems like a healthy aspect of pride. But then there’s: “A feeling that you are more important or better than other people” and “inordinate self-esteem.” This appears to be a common, not-so-healthy conceit, reflected in statements like, “He had too much pride to ask for help” or “her pride prevented her from admitting she was wrong.”

Since “pride” has conflicting definitions, it may be wise to use a different word to affirm our worth and value.”  Psychology Today

Obviously the Bible is very clear that PRIDE earns its first place amongst the Seven Deadly Sins.  (envy, gluttony, greed or avarice, lust, sloth, and wrath being the other six).

In Proverbs 8:13, Wisdom takes on a persona and says, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”  (NIV)

Look at other translations of this verse:

“The [reverent] fear and worshipful awe of the Lord includes the hatred of evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way, And the perverted mouth, I hate.” (AMP)

“The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.  Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.” (ESV)

“To honor the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil ways and false words.” (GNT)

“The fear of the Lord is to hate what is sinful. I hate pride, self-love, the way of sin, and lies.” (NLV)

“All who fear the Lord will hate evil.  Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech.” (NLT)

“Pride” in this verse means to act in a way toward others that makes it seem that you are better than they are.  You are puffed up, “arrogant”, you have “self-love” and therefore you show no humility.  Since humbleness is a character trait God favours, we oppose God when we are prideful.  (James 4:6)  “Evil” in this passage means you are bent on going in a different way that is contrary to the Lord’s direction.  Lastly, you habitually say things that are the opposite of what is good and kind so as to create antagonism and division.

It is obvious that God despises someone who is proud because this leads to selfishness, self-love and a disregard for others.  Pride causes us to define ourselves by what we can achieve on our own rather than be fully reliant on God, and rather than giving Him the Glory whenever any of our plans succeed, we take full credit ourselves.

So, I come back to our Sunday School discussion on taking pride in work, children, nation etc. etc. I find it interesting that as I was researching this, Psychology Today, a predominantly secular magazine, seems to agree with the Biblical view on Pride:

“We might believe that healthy self-worth means taking pride in our achievements. But if value is tied to our accomplishments or self-image, it’s built upon on a fragile foundation.

There’s nothing wrong with feeling satisfaction when we achieve some goal, such as getting a promotion or buying a new car. But if we allow these things to define who we are, we set ourselves up for misery.”…

“Perhaps there’s good reason why pride has been considered one of the seven deadly sins. We’ve all been repelled by people who have an inflated view of themselves. They may talk about themselves excessively and rarely show interest in others. They pump themselves up and come across as snooty–exuding an attitude that makes others feel judged.

Such over-confidence and arrogance pushes us away. Instead of relating to us as equals, they display an obnoxious superiority that makes us feel small. They have the knack of making us feel the shame that they refuse to face within themselves.”  (Psychology Today)

 

“But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. “For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” 

2 Corinthians 10:17-18

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What Do You Say to a Person Who is Struggling?

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Lynn

I remember vividly how awkward it was to carry on a “normal” conversation with people when I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  People did not look at me the same way.  Some stared at my breasts.  Yes, it’s true.  It was like they were trying to see if I was lopsided, or maybe they thought if they stared hard enough they could visualize my cancer.  I don’t know.  All I know it was weird.  Some people had that pitiful, sorrowful look that was morbidly accentuated by their use of low, mournful tones when they talked to me.  To me it sounded like they had already written me off.  The worst though, were the ones who totally ignored me, or would have little contact with me.  Maybe they thought they were in danger of catching cancer from me.  It was even more hurtful when they went out of their way to avoid me…even in church.

I have since learned that all of these reactions from people is very normal.  In fact, in my experience, very few people know exactly what is the right thing to say or do when they learn their friend, colleague, or even a family member has a serious disease.  They are desperate to help but don’t know where to start.  They may be so worried about offending by saying the wrong thing that they say nothing at all.

Sadly, I have seen some marriages fall apart because the spouse has no idea how to comfort and minister to their spouse during a health crisis.  I have seen some friendships wither, because they just do not know what to say or do in response to their friend’s diagnosis.  Some people with a serious illness have walked away from God, angry with Him for allowing this to happen to them in the first place, and then becoming disillusioned because they demanded His healing and didn’t get it.

On the flip side, a health crisis can also bring about the very best in people.  In my case, I had an incredibly supportive family and church family.  Yes, there were some awkward moments when I talked with some people after my diagnosis, but I learned to forgive the careless comments, the uncomfortable stares, and I made a point of verbalizing my needs to those who wanted to minister to me in practical ways.  I did not blame God for allowing this to happen to me.  On the contrary, my faith-walk was strengthened through the battle, and I was prepared to accept whatever His Will was for me.  Yes, that even meant coming to terms with the possibility I might die.

Over the last few months we have been praying for several friends who are battling cancer in some form or other, most recently the granddaughter of a friend of mine.  Jasmine is only thirteen and will be in hospital for six months undergoing chemotherapy treatments for leukemia.  She is a fighter!  She has an incredible support system which is awesome.  Most of her family and friends are Christ Followers who know that God is in control!  Prayers are lifted up daily for her and her family, and people are responding practically by showering the family with meals, encouraging words, and a GoFundMe page that has raised over $10,000 to help with the family’s finances during this time.

Still, many people are at a loss how to respond, what to say, what to pray, or what to do when someone they know is going through a serious illness.  Having gone through cancer myself, I feel somewhat qualified to give some advice on what words you can say, write, share, or specific, practical actions you can take that will bring comfort to a person (and their family) during a time of intense struggle.

1.  It is always appropriate to write or tell them that you are praying for them and ask them for specific prayer requests.  Then pray!  Don’t just say you’ll pray, do it!

2.  It is appropriate to say that you are there for them if they need anything.  Again, if you say you are there for them, be there!  It means putting your money where your mouth is.  Don’t say they can call on you if they need anything and then not respond when they actually call.

3.  Don’t hesitate to acknowledge that what they are going through is hard.  Avoiding the elephant in the room is not necessary.  They need to know that in spite of this difficult journey ahead for them, you are with them every step of the way.

4.  As they battle, acknowledge their strength, fortitude, courage and tenacity.  Send Scripture but make sure it’s appropriate for the situation.  Context is king here too.

5.  Rejoice with them over small victories won.  (On the day of my last chemo treatment, I came home and found a huge poster taped to my front door with the words: “Yay!  You did it!”  One of my friends at church had marked that milestone for me in a way I still remember fondly to this day.)

6.  Don’t stop praying, writing, and encouraging a person even after the battle may be won or over.  There is much fear and trepidation after a cancer diagnosis.  I still have a measure of anxiety whenever I have a doctor’s appointment or I have a blood test.  I also know from experience that families who have lost a loved one to illness, to old age, or to accident still grieve years later.  Remember them in prayer!  Acknowledge the tough “anniversaries”, and let them know you care.

7.  Acknowledge that God is Sovereign.  We may not understand His plan and purpose in His allowing illness, trials, or struggle to affect our lives, but don’t ever question His enduring love for us.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18  “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

 

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