Turning Your Circumstances Into Prayers

If I had to wager a guess, I would say you're probably going through a trial or a storm right now. If you're not, it's also possible that you will be before long. These times of testing grow us, change us and prepare us for whatever God has planned for us next, but that doesn't make them any less painful.

The best way to thrive - not just survive - in these long days is simply to pray. We always want to do something, try something new or ask someone else to change something in our situations, but none of these are the answer. No one can begin to touch your circumstances the way God can with a simple touch of His hand. And whatever He has you going through at this precise moment is exactly what you need to mature in your faith and rely on Him for your every need.

But so many times we don't know exactly what to pray. Are we supposed to pray that the situation just goes away? No. Should we ask that God changes that other person so everything will be like it once was? Of course not. Can we pray that He punish someone for the harm they have inflicted? Not a good idea.

So how do you turn these difficult circumstances into a prayer? Here are just a handful of ideas to get you 
started.

* Pray for wisdom. (2 Chronicles 1:10) Solomon didn't pray that God would bless him with riches or power, but simply the wisdom to make the best decisions he could as ruler and king. If we ask the Lord to give us His wisdom in the midst of a trial, we can rest assured that His prefect guidance will get us through.

* Pray for God's peace. (Philippians 4:7) This is one that I have prayed more times than I can count. It's incredibly difficult to make good choices when you're anxious and worried, so it's such a blessing to be covered with His perfect, all-covering peace when times get tough.

* Pray for His hand of conviction in all involved. (Ezekiel 11:19) God is the only one who can change a heart - yours or someone else's. He can turn a stony heart to flesh, a cold heart to warm and a broken heart to one that can sing with joy.

* Pray for His will, not your own. (Matthew 26:39) Here is Jesus' perfect example of praying the Lord's will over our lives. How easy it is to simply enter God's throne room and complain about how life is treating us. It's another thing altogether to lay everything at the foot of the cross and leave it there.

* Pray to be used as a testimony, even in this. (John 3:32-34) While you're waging spiritual battle in the midst of difficult times, you stand before the world as a testimony of what God can do. Your witness will be even stronger in the hard times than the bad times because anyone can be faithful and true when it's all sunshine and roses. You will make the most impact when you stand firm in your faith even when the ground seems to be crumbling beneath you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holland Creme - That Amazing White Stuff In Donuts

Image
I remember going to the grocery store every Saturday morning when I was growing up, and my favorite place in the entire store was the donut case. All the glazed, powdered and filled baked goods drew me like a magnet. My favorites, far and away, were the ones filled with that beautiful white, fluffy creme. At the time I didn't know it was called Holland Creme - I just knew it was the most amazing concoction ever. Ever. Here is my version of this sweet treat. You can make your own fried donuts and fill them, or like I did here, you can cut a crevice into store-bought donuts with a knife and fill them with creme in a piping bag. Either way, you're going to love it. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup shortening 1 cup butter 1 Tbsp vanilla 7 cups powdered sugar 1. Make a simple syrup by combining sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool complet
Read more

Recovering An Old Card Table And Making It Usable Again

Image
This card table recover project has been on my to-do list for months. I've been using it as my workspace in the craft room for quite some time, and it sees a lot of abuse. Here it is now, with a neutral cover on it so I can take better pictures for my tutorials. There were dents and dings in the old blue covering from metal tools. And yes, I've used my embossing heat tool on it several times, leaving pretty good scars. The padding underneath the blue cover also made it difficult to keep paper crafts flat when adhering them together, so it was time for something new. That's where a simple vinyl tablecloth comes in handy. The process to recover the table is pretty simple, but I learned a couple of lessons the hard way. I share them with you now. First, don't do this on any surface but a carpet. I tried it on the deck int he sunshine to get better pictures, but all it did was tear up the cover. Second, get a second pair of hands to help you kee
Read more

Crafts For Teen Girls To Make

Image
In our teen girls Bible study, we're studying our way through the Proverbs 31 woman and it's been such a blessing to me, as I hope it's been to them. Every month we spend an afternoon or an evening together studying Scripture, making something amazing in the kitchen and creating something that corresponds to the verse we're in. Choosing the crafts each time can be a challenge for several reasons. It needs to be something they can completely finish (or do most of) because once they leave they're probably not going to work on it themselves - that's just the nature of teenagers. Remember? It also needs to be a project that keeps they're attention, is age-appropriate and is cool enough that they'll want to keep it or give it to someone special. But hey, no pressure on the Bible study leader, right? Here are just a few of the projects we've done together in the year we've been meeting. * This month's craft will be the adorable cross stit
Read more