National Day of Prayer

I hope everyone will take a few moments today to pray for our nation. Also we can pray for one another. Through the day, I'll be praying for our nation and others. Please feel free to leave a prayer request if you like.

This morning as I read blogs, Lysa TerKeurst had a list of prayer scriptures. I've listed the scriptures below.

"…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).

"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always" (1 Chronicles 16:11).

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

"My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning I will direct my prayer to You, and I will look up" (Psalm 5:3).

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matthew 6:5-8).

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful" (Colossians 4:2).

"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).

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18).

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing" (1 Timothy 2:8).

Shut My Mouth

"but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison" (James 3:8, ESV).

I spent the past weekend at the baseball park. Living in West Texas, strong winds occasionally blow. Wind alone may not be so bad, but the barren lands of the West has nothing but dust. So with the gusts, comes the dirt.

While watching the games, I desired to chat with other team mom's. Yet, it seemed as though every time I wanted to speak, a blast of wind came along with the dirt. If I opened my mouth, it would fill up with dirt.

That game was a pretty quiet game other than occasional cheers from the stands. But it was a not only a difficult game for the players, but a difficult game for me. Going to the games is my social time. The blowing dust put a damper on my visiting hours.

I realized after the game that perhaps I can learn from the blowing dust to keep my mouth shut. Sometimes talking too much can seem harmless, but can lead to more trouble.

James tells us in how the tongue "is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." With our tongues, we can say things that will hurt other people.

Each time I opened my mouth during the gusts, I ate dust. I ended up having to wash out my mouth quite often. It reminded me how my mother used to say to me when I mouthed off to her, "Do you want me to wash your mouth out with soap?"

After speaking unkind words, it will leave the taste of dust in our mouths. We have to wash out our mouths by repentance.

I can and shall learn to shut my mouth when necessary so I hopefully I won't have to eat anymore dirt.

In the Mind

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~~ Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

Have you ever noticed that the worst thoughts come when least expected? Maybe I'm the only one like that.

My mind tends to lean toward worrying about situations I have absolutely no control over. I confess--I have worried about decisions my husband will make. I worry about my adult son. I worry about my children's future. I worry about my friend who is battling cancer. None of my anxiety can solve any of those problems.

Therefore, I decided I had to be more intentional with my thoughts. Like pulling the weeds that pop up in the garden, I must remove the ungodly thoughts from my mind. But as in the garden, it's not enough just to remove the weeds. Something else must be planted in its place or the weeds will come right back. Thoughts that are removed from the mind will come right back if not replaced with other thoughts.

To go to work in the garden of my mind, I decided to take God's word and speak it out loud to myself when unacceptable thoughts come my way. I started with the key scripture above. I broke it down into the phrases separated by commas.

"Do not be anxious about anything." Okay, I'm not to be anxious about this situation (with my husband or my children). So now what?

"But in everything." Everything? That means all things or situations.

"By prayer and petition." I will tell the Lord everything on my heart and mind. He knows it anyway, so I might as well just say it all to Him.

"With thanksgiving." I have to stop and count my blessings. I have so much to be thankful for starting with Salvation through Jesus, forgiveness of my sins, my family, our health, our provisions and so much more.

"Present your requests to God." I ask Him for what I want to happen and then trust Him to give the answer He desires. I must realize I can make my requests, but need to trust He will answer in a manner that is best. I have to accept it may not be the way I want it.

After I went through this step by step process this past week, I experienced the peace of God in my mind. Have the circumstances around me changed? No. But my mind is protected by the word of God. His peace guards me.

I will continue to allow God's peace to protect my heart and mind this week by applying His word to my life. What's in your mind?

Volcanic Eruption

Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm. ~~Psalm 37:8 NLT

The Iceland volcano is spitting out ash 30,000 feet into the air. It has diverted lots of European travel plans. All travelers face the same predicament whether the travel is for business or pleasure. Millions of people lives have been affected by the eruption.

Sometimes I feel like my emotions stir around on the inside of me. Then when the right catalyst comes along, they spew out. It could be tears, anger, joy or even something I can't identify. But when the emotion of anger is there, it is like the volcano ready to explode.

But what comes out of me can be like the ash cloud over Europe. My emotional display impacts those who are in my life. It covers them up with a dark cloud and hinders their lives.

Ephesians 4:26 states, “don’t sin by letting anger control you" (NLT). We can fall into sin with anger. I have certainly been there. I have said hurtful words that I cant take back. I have made wrong decisions out of anger.

The key scripture this morning states that losing our temper leads to harm. Acting out in anger hurts others in our lives. Once it's out there, it cannot be taken back.

Just as there is not anyway to collect the debris from the volcano so people's lives can return to normal, once a hurtful action has been displayed, it cannot be taken back. Forgiven, yes. Undone, no.

Jesus felt every emotion we have. He's mastered his emotions instead of allowing his emotions to master him. Unlike the earth's eruptions, we can keep our emotions from exploding. We can exercise self-control.

Some self-control techniques I've learned to use are not responding to a situation until the emotions have had time to subside. This gives me time to think more clearly and rationally. Not having an immediate response also gives me more time to pray about the situation. Of course, not all circumstances allow for time. If possible, seeking godly counsel helps too.

We can control anger and not explode like a volcano. Or else we'll impact people's lives in a way that can lead to harm.

In This World

I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ~~ John 17:14-15 (NIV)

Moving to the city has its advantages and disadvantages. Even my twelve-year-old son recognized differences from the small town environment and the city. The other day he said, "There is a lot more to do in the city and a lot more choices, but it takes a lot longer to get there."

The other day I headed to the Lifeway Christian Book store. I came up to a corner where panhandlers normally work. At the stop light I saw a gentleman simply handing out postcards with information on it. As he approached my vehicle, I lowered the window just a bit. He slid the card through the window and I was appalled to see a perfectly airbrushed woman on the high-gloss card.

I raised my voice, "I don’t want that!"

He asked, "You don’t?"

"No, I don’t. Take it and go on."

Stunned. I couldn’t believe what just happened.

Throughout the city, gentleman's clubs dot most of the major the streets. The card the man wanted to hand me advertised the club just down the street from the Christian book store. Definitely something we did not see in a small town.

I asked the Lord, "How do I deal with this difference?" Immediately the thought of Daniel popped into my mind. Daniel, a young man in his youth when Jerusalem was taken captive by Babylon. He learned to live in a pagan culture without conforming to it.

We must be able to live where the Lord placed us without conforming to the world. It doesn’t take a seminary degree to see the sinful nature around in our communities. But Jesus has us here to be a light to the world living in darkness.

It is comforting to know that Jesus prayed for us. He knew that the world would hate us. But he didn’t pray that we be taken out of this world as soon as we accept Him as Savior. No, he prayed that we be protected from the evil one.

We're here in this world for the time God appointed for us. We do not have to conform to the world; we're to be a light while we are in this world.