Prayer for Colossae and USA and ME

Colossians 1: 9-10  For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
 ¹⁰That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
 
Paul prayed that the people of Colossae to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.  This is my prayer each day.  I pray the Our Father and pray THY WILL BE DONE IN MY LIFE as it is in heaven.  I also pray for WISDOM, not the world's wisdom but God's wisdom.  When I lean on my own wisdom, I miss the big picture.  I see life in the short term, not in the whole.  God sees this and wants me to trust Him.  I struggle with this daily! We have been living our own lives so long, we don't know how to die to self and live for Christ.  This part of discipleship is a daily act of putting God first in our lives all day long.  Out of 24 hours, how much of "my" time have I given to God? I refuse to answer on the grounds that it WILL incriminate me!  Dear Lord, please fill me with all wisdom and spiritual understanding.  Let this wisdom help me to walk worthy of the Lord, pleasing and being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.    

Quit looking at the problem! God has it covered.

Philipians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always ; again I will say, rejoice ! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

These verses could put me out of business as a therapist.  I deal with broken hearts and broken minds.  But this is the treatment perscription that I need too.  When we use our earthly eyes and our earthly wisdom it is not easy to rejoice.  Paul was telling the Philipians to rejoice while he was in jail in Rome.  He was rejoicing in prison and waiting to be seen for 2 years.  Yet he says to be anxious for nothing.  Boy I know I would be anxious and wanting to GET OUT!! Everything you are anxious about, pray WITH THANKSGIVING!  Once we get it.  Once we have prayed. Once we have thanked God. Now with our spiritual eyes, heart and mind know that God IS IN CONTROL, the PEACE of GOD WHICH SURPASSES ALL COMPREHENSION will guard your hearts and your minds.  This is hard for me.  I want things done my way NOW. 
Not Paul.  He was in Rome for two years.  Paul wrote his letters to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians and Philippians while under this house arrest in Rome. These letters were written around A.D. 60 to 61. Because Paul was under house arrest and imprisoned at the time, his letters have been called his imprisonment or captivity letters. While an earthly wisdom may have wanted to be out preaching and visiting the area churches, little did he know, his imprisonment was exactly what God wanted and was used for thousands of years to believers.  We only see the small view.  God sees the whole picture.   

Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 4: 29-32  Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. 
I do NOT want to grieve God.  When I speak out negative words or unwholesome words, I grieve God.  I want my words to be kind words, tender hearted words, forgiving words.  I have been convicted of this and continue to watch my mouth!!!  I want my tombstone to read "She spoke kind words always."  When I speak against someone I am not only hurting them, but I am hurting the people to whom I speak the words.  My words should be grace to the people to whom I speak.  So, how do I vent my frustration?  I will pray for them instead.  Now I can try and look at being irritated as an opportunity to really change the very thing I am irritated about.  Lord, please bless that driver and keep him safe on I-29! Lord please bless that politician and give him Your wisdom.  Lord, please bless me and remind me how powerful words are and how my words can grieve You or bless You and others.      

Accept this Amazing Prayer!!!!!

Ephesians 3:14-21 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom ^[a]every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, ¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the ^[b]saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
 ²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, ²¹ to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations ^[c]forever and ever. Amen.

Drink this in! This prayer is for YOU!  Be strengthened WITH POWER THROUGH HIS SPIRIT!  HE IS ABLE TO DO FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY BEYOND ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK!!!  Wow, I really needed this.  If I could keep this truth, if I could comprhend the breadth, length, height and depth of His LOVE!  Dear Lord Jesus, I accept this prayer.  It is for ALL GENERATIONS!  Thank you for this amazing blessing!!

Daddy!

Galations 4:4-7

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under ^[a]the Law, ⁵ so that He might redeem those who were under ^[b]the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. ⁶ Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir ^[c]through God.

I was adopted by a great DADDY!  I had a name my first parents called me, but when I was adopted or born into my new family, my new daddy gave me a new name.  My first name is Beloved, my last name is Daughter of God.  How differently, I would look at life, if I kept this truth in mind each day.  When the mail came, it would be sent to Beloved Daughter of God.  When someone met me for the first time and asked my name, I would say I am Beloved Daughter of God.  When I was waiting for my car at the oil change place and my car was done, I would hear my name Beloved Daughter of God.  Each of us gets this new name or one like it when God sends forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.  Love you Abba, Daddy, Father.    

Spritual Warfare in My Life

2 Corinthians 10:4-6
for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but ^[a]divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. ⁵ We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, ⁶ and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

There is a battle going on.  The battle is spiritual.  By love, by prayer, by obedience in what I say and do God is taking EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE.  Lord, help me to surrender to You. Help me to listen to the still small voice and prompting. Forgive me of my selfish ways.  This life is not all about me, but it is all about YOU!!

Aging and Renewing

2 Corinthian 4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ 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.

I'll admit it, when I look in the mirror, I see my outside shell getting old and I don't like it.  This picutre above speaks to the true reality.  Inwardly I am renewed day by day.  God has given me spiritual dreams since I was a child.  They are dreams of comfort, usually about the death of someone in my family.  After my mother died, I had a lot of sad dreams, but I also had some dreams from God.  In one dream, I was outside in a park and saw this little girl with long brown curly hair skipping and laughing.  I looked at her, and somehow knew it was my mom.  I said "Mom?" She giggled and just said "Yes" and continued to frolick in the park.  I knew in my dream this was her in heaven.  She wasn't old, or sick, but young and carefree in heaven.  I hold on to this when I see my reflection in the mirror, knowing each day I am a day closer to being in heaven, skipping and playing with my mom.