Keeping a Heart of Thanksgiving

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Keeping a Heart of Thanksgiving

Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:18c-20 ESV

The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us. But giving thanks is not something set aside for a certain time of the year and to be forgotten outside of that time.

The apostle Paul implores us to: “[Give] thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20 ESV). I don’t know about you, but I find it difficult to give thanks for everything.

Yet, this scripture encourages us to do it. But it doesn’t stop there. It tells us how we can do it. We can do it in the name of Jesus. Praying in the name of Jesus is praying in faith. And praying in the name of Jesus gives us power to reach the throne room of God. Today, let’s lift our hearts in a prayer of thanks for all He has done.

Aren’t you thankful that the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit living inside of us (the children of God) gives us the strength to give thanks ALWAYS and for EVERYTHING.

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31 Day Prayer Planner

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31 Day Prayer Planner

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;

 incline your ear to me; hear my word.

Psalm 17:6 ESV

Are you struggling to pray?

When it feels like the world has turned upside down, it can be hard to pray. In fact, the enemy will do everything he can to keep us from praying. He knows if he prevents us from communicating with our Father, then the distance will eventually separate us.

Dividing us from the One who unconditionally loves us is crippling. It makes us vulnerable to believing the enemy’s lies. Lies that whisper: God doesn't hear our prayers. Has forgotten us. That somehow, He has lost control.

Once we begin believing these lies, we exchange… continue reading to find out how to get your free prayer journal today.

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Anchored in the Names of God || Part 4

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Anchored in the Names of God || Part 4

Today, we are wrapping up the series on the names of God. I pray that your heart, like mine, is securely anchored to our Lord and Savior as we become more intimately acquainted with Him.

Although we have not exhausted the list of names for God found in Scripture, this series has reminded me that no matter the circumstance or need that I have, our Father is in it, working through it, and supplying it. I pray that discovering His names does the same for you.

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You Can Trust the Potter's Hand

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You Can Trust the Potter's Hand

“Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand.”

Jeremiah 18:6b NIV

I entered my first pottery class with nervous excitement. After carefully choosing a misshapen ball of moist clay, I heard the instructor’s directions, “You have to throw the clay hard onto the wheel to make it stick.” Hesitatingly, I dropped the clay and as soon as the wheel began to turn, the ball slid from side-to-side. It was unpliable in its present state. My foot released the pedal and the wheel slowly stopped. I reattempted my beginning. This time, I slung the clay onto the surface with force and made solid contact with the center of the wheel.

In Jeremiah, God describes Himself as the Potter and His people as the clay.

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5 Ways to Cultivate Biblical Hope

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5 Ways to Cultivate Biblical Hope

We all experience situations when it’s hard to keep hoping. What ifs? How to’s? And Why’s?, flood our minds. Visions of possible catastrophe dance before our eyes. Hope plummets with every ticking second.

I’ve learned some things through the darkest seasons that I would never know had God not allowed me to walk there. And my faith was sustained by God’s grace by putting these five things into practice.

Here are 5 ways to keep hoping when hope is waning:

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God's Memory Book

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God's Memory Book

The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance 

was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.

Malachi 3:16b ESV

One summer I spent hours sorting, cropping, gluing, and embellishing family photos that my grandmother had collected over her lifetime to compile a memory book. As my grandmother shared the stories chronicling her life, and the lives of her children and grandchildren, I carefully penned the details beside the pictures. Along with birth dates and wedding dates, it was important for her to note when each family member invited Christ into their hearts––the day they chose to fear the Lord above all else.

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Cultivating an Attitude of Prayer

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Cultivating an Attitude of Prayer

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

For years I struggled with prayer. We may not know how to pray, what to say, or find it difficult to find time to pray. Additionally, there is always something vying for our attention––cell phones, tv, family members, or responsibilities––that get in the way of time with the Lord.

My grandmother once told me that one of her friends exclaimed, “Rose, I pray every minute, every hour, every day.” And with laughter in her eyes, my grandmother followed up with, “You know she was lying.” But in 1 Thessalonians, Paul instructs us to “pray without ceasing.” If it is an impossible task, why would God implore us to do it?

Because it’s not impossible––but it is a choice. I am learning that this instruction is less about the task of prayer and more about having an attitude of prayer. So how do we cultivate an attitude of prayer?

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12 Ways to Pray

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12 Ways to Pray

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28 ESV

As I sit here mulling over all the uncertainties in my personal life, the future of those I love, our nation, and the world, I hear the Spirit whispering, “Come to me…. Come to me with your brokenness, your heartaches, your fears, your concerns, and your questions.” He is inviting me to enter His presence in prayer. If I run into the shelter of His wings, I will find solace there.

It can be difficult to know how, or what, to pray when our hearts are overwhelmed. But Christ implores us to come to Him to find all that we need. If you are struggling with praying today, here are 12 prayer prompts to inspire your prayer life, along with Bible verses to read and encourage your heart as you pray.

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Three Scriptural Prayers for Peace

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Three Scriptural Prayers for Peace

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace

at all times and in every way.

The Lord be with all of you.”

2 Thessalonians 3:16 NIV

Lord, when I look at what is going on in this world today, my heart bends to anxiety. Yet, I know You know me by name, and exactly what I am facing in my life. And You have designed my circumstances.

Help me trade my anxiousness for Your peace. Fill me with hope. Assure me You are with me, Jesus. May I hold tightly to Your promises and walk through this day with peace that is beyond understanding. My heart is Yours. In Jesus’ name Amen.

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The Hope of Resurrection

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The Hope of Resurrection

While they were talking and discussing together,

Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

Luke 24:15-16 ESV

Two men, Jesus’ disciples, are walking down a dirt road leading into the town of Emmaus. They witnessed the death of Jesus on the cross three days ago, and they just heard that His body has disappeared from the tomb where He was buried. The women told them an angel proclaimed Jesus had arisen from the dead, but they’re finding this news difficult to believe.

Heads hung low, and brokenhearted, they’re wondering how they could have gotten it so wrong. After all, when Jesus said He was the One they were waiting for––the One who came to set the captives free––they wholeheartedly believed Him. They’d sunk their hopes into His promise of a better life. But now, all those dreams have vanished, and they are filled with dismay.

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Hope in Troubling Times

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Hope in Troubling Times

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.

Psalm 138:7a (ESV)

The first daffodils are blooming here in the South with bright golden hues, and the first day of March ushered in 80-degree temperatures. Certainly, Spring is in the air, and I must say I’m welcoming it after two snow falls in January (a rarity). And just as the weather has already set records in this new year, this season in my heart revealed its own record of pain––my family has experienced another great loss.

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Replacing Lies with God's Truths

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Replacing Lies with God's Truths

Holding the crisp pages in my trembling hands, I kneeled and spread the note before the Lord. My sense of direction, peace, and joy was lost. The enemy’s whispers had become resounding. I realized the only way to regain steadiness was to go to God for answers. It was time to face the enemy’s lies that had replaced God’s truths in my life: the lies that kept me bound to fear, disappointment, and discouragement.

The paper I held so tightly contained the lies from the enemy that constantly swam in my mind. And I came to petition God for reassurance of the truth. At the Holy Spirit's prompting, I searched His Word to find out His answer to the taunts, and I replaced them with the truth.

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When Only Peace Will Do

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When Only Peace Will Do

And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”

Mark 10:51 ESV

I could hear the low rumble of my car’s motor as the cool air from the ac blew strands of hair into my face. The summer heat in the South pushed a band of perspiration across my forehead, and with one swipe of my hand I pushed back the hair, patted the sweat, and wiped a stray tear from my eye.

The summer of 2019 was a rough season for me as depression sunk deep into my soul. The welcome of new crops to the local farms signaled new life all around me, but I felt like I was slowly dying. I couldn’t contribute this heaviness to just one thing. There was a list of uncertainties consuming me.

That’s why, for the second time on that same Sunday, I drove back to church in hopes of hearing something that would shake me out of the doldrums that I felt locked inside. As my grip tightened around the steering wheel, I whispered the same words again, “Help me, Lord.”

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Finding Beauty in the Darkness

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Finding Beauty in the Darkness

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:5 ESV

The weather report revealed snow actively falling which sent me bounding across the hardwood floors to open the door and peer outside. Snow is so rare here in the South that when it comes I don’t want to miss it. At first glance I could not see it. Its beauty was obscured by the darkness of the night. It was only when I shifted my gaze to the streetlight that I could see the wisps of powder circling in the air. My soul quieted as the fluffy flakes fell. I wanted to perch by the window in a state of wonder at the glory showering down from heaven.



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A Christmas Prayer for Grieving Hearts

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A Christmas Prayer for Grieving Hearts

Today is the day.


I sit here staring at the twinkling white lights on my Christmas tree as “Silent Night, Holy Night––All is calm, All is bright,” rings softly in my ears. But I’m struggling to stay calm and things don’t feel so bright. There’s a knot in my stomach and a choke in my throat as I walk through this day with a weight on my chest that I can't bear on my own. The beauty and the pain of the season intertwines together. And I wonder if this is what it truly means to hold joy in one hand while grief weighs heavy in the other.

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Steadiness in Changing Seasons

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Steadiness in Changing Seasons

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV

Spring turned into summer, and summer has turned into fall. I’m not completely sure how it all happened so fast. Time does fly.

I sit staring out the balcony window as leaves flutter from the trees in bright hues of gold, orange, and red. The temperature is 68 degrees (today’s high), and it will be followed by a low of 43 degrees tonight. I don’t know what your dream temperature is, but these days are like heaven to me. I would like for it to stay like this forever. But nothing in this life remains the same. It is ever changing––leaving us with the before and after.

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Glorious Hope in Despair

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Glorious Hope in Despair

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.” (Psalm 42:1 NASB)

My hands tremble and my body shakes uncontrollably as the cold air of loss blows deep into the hollows of my soul. Like a broken record, I keep hearing the words, “He has passed…He has passed.” In my mind, I’m running away. It’s as though my heart has grown feet and they leap in response to the runner’s gunshot as I speed to out-run my opponent—in this case, reality.

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Finding Provision in Praise

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Finding Provision in Praise

“Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!” (Psalm 47:6 NKJV)

Anxious thoughts and an unsteady heart propelled me to my quiet place on the porch. Sitting in the old, paint-peeled rocking chair, I slowly began rocking as I opened my Bible. I plead with God to give me the words to pray because I felt empty.

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