More Prayer, More Power! "Her Priorities"

Boaz Ministries

"Lord, help my wife to make our home a peaceful sanctuary. Regardless of our financial state, give her the wisdom, energy, strength, and charity of mind to transform our dwelling into a beautiful place of refuge that brings joy to each of us. Show me how I can encourage and assist her in that.

Holy Spirit, I invite You to fill our home with Your peace, truth, love, and unity. Through wisdom, let our house be built, and by understanding may it be established. Reveal to us anything that is in our house that is not glorifying to You, Lord. I say that 'as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord' (Joshua 24:15).

Text:
'She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27'"

More Prayer, More Power! "Her Husband"

 Boaz Ministries

"Lord, I pray that You would bring my wife and me to a new place of unity with one another. Make us be of the same mind. Show me what I need to do in order to make that come about. Give me words that heal, not wound. Fill my heart with Your love so that what overflows through my speech will be words that build up, not tear down. Convict my heart when I don't live Your way. Help me to be the man, husband, and spiritual leader that You want me to be.

Text:
'A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh...Let each of of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5:31, 33'"

More Prayer, More Power! "His Wife"

Boaz Ministries



"Lord, I confess the times I've been unloving, critical, angry, resentful, disrespectful, or unforgiving toward my husband.

Help me to put aside any hurt, anger, or disappointment I feel and forgive him the way You do -- totally and completely, no looking back. Make me my husband's helpmate, companion, champion, friend, and support.

Help me to create a peaceful, restful, safe place for him to come home to. Teach me how to take care of myself and stay attractive to him. Grow me into a creative and confident woman who is rich in mind, soul, and spirit. Make me the kind of woman he can be proud to say is his wife!

Text:
'Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 2:3-4'"

More Prayer, More Power! "His Wife"

Boaz Ministries

Lord, I lay all my expectations at Your cross. I release my husband from the burden of fulfilling me in areas where I should be looking to You.

Help me to accept him the way he is and not try to change him. I realize that in some ways he may never change, but at the same time, I release him to change in ways I never thought he could.

I leave any changing that needs to be done in Your hands, fully accepting that neither of us is perfect and never will be.

Only You, Lord, are perfect, and I look to You to perfect us. May we be 'perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment (1 Corinthians 1:10).'

Text:
'Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32'"

More Prayer, More Power! "Her Husband"

Boaz Ministries

 
"Lord, show me how to really cover (wife's name) in prayer. Enable me to dwell with her in understanding and give honor to her so that my prayers will not be hindered (1 Peter 3:7). Renew our love for one another. Heal any wounds that have caused a rift between us. Give me patience, understanding, and compassion. Help me to be loving, tenderhearted, and courteous to her just as You ask me in Your Word (1 Peter 3:8). Enable me to love her the way that You do.

 Text:
'Husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. Ephesians 5:28-29'"

More Prayer, More Power! "Her Husband"

Boaz Ministries

"Lord, create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10). Show me where my attitude and thoughts are not what You would have them to be, especially toward my wife. Convict me when I am being unforgiving. Help me to quickly let go of any anger, so that confusion will not have a place in my mind. If there is behavior in me that needs to change, enable me to make changes that last. Whatever You reveal to me, I will confess to You as sin. Make me a man after Your own heart. Enable me to be the head of my home and family just as You created me to be.

Text:

‘The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.’ James 5:16"

More Prayer, More Power! "His Wife"

Boaz Ministries 

"Lord, help me to be a good wife. I fully realize that I don’t have what it takes to be one without Your help.

Take my selfishness, impatience, and irritability and turn them into kindness, long-suffering, and the willingness to bear all things.

Take my old emotional habits, mindsets, automatic reactions, rude assumptions, and self-protectiveness and make me patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled.

Take the hardness of my heart and break down the walls with Your battering ram of revelation. Give me a new heart and work in me Your love, peace, and joy (Galatians 5;22, 23). I am not able to rise above who I am at this moment. Only You can transform me.

Text:

‘Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.’ Mark 11:24-25"

More Prayer, More Power!

Boaz Ministries

More Prayer, More Power!

This gem - by author of "The Power of a Praying Wife", Stormie Omartian, is a must-have for believing couples. Omartian is also the author of "The Power of a Praying Husband." We have brought the 31 days of prayer for husbands, and for wives; expounded on the importance of family prayer and encourage everyone, single, marriage-minded and married, to pray without ceasing.

These are troublesome times, and the body of Christ needs to be fortified to withstand the firey darts that come against us on a moment-by-moment basis. We can't stress enough, the urgency of establishing and maintaining a prayer life: personal and corporate, within your marriage. This book is filled with prayers - a section for husbands, and one for wives - and the author simply invites the reader to "pick a prayer, any prayer, and let the Holy Spirit lead you from there."

Bruce shared this book with me. And in the coming days and weeks, we'll select some powerful prayers to share with you!

Knowing the Will of God

I was part of a Bible study series a few years back where we took a step-by-step walk through the Word to determine God's will for His people. For many folks, Christian or not, the concept of knowing God's will seems to be something out of reach; mysterious.

The study came about as a result of other studies we'd had previously. And it was truly an "aha moment." First of all, just looking around "Christiandom", we could see that the people of God were lacking in the defining area of "Love." We didn't even have to look far, because the church where we had regular fellowship was struggling with in-fighting and back-biting. It was beyond sad;  there was nothing "Christ like" about the behaviors we saw on display. So, right away, we could tell that believers were not exemplifying the love Christ speaks about in the New Testament. We took our time digging into the Word, using Strong's Concordance, and found everything we could on how love should behave among the Body of Christ.  We knew for certain, that having and showing love for one another, is the will of God.

Jesus said it very clearly in John 13:34-35 ...So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. (New Living Translation)

The Apostle, John, repeats the love theme over and over in his 3 epistles in the New Testament. In 1 John 4:8, he goes in: Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. So much more is explored in John's short letters - and as believers, we are left with no doubt about God's will for us concerning love. 

As we look at the very character of God, the Book reveals, by the Spirit that guides us into all truth (John 16:13), that our Heavenly Father is loving, kind, merciful, faithful; He cannot lie, will not abide idolatry among His people, will punish the wicked- and means every Word He says. In Galatians 5: 22-23, the Apostle Paul provides a list of characteristics that the people of God possess:


..the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Many people have a very negative view of Christianity - and, unfortunately, the ones who call themselves by that name are the ones portraying those negative images. The good news is, the Truth of God's character is revealed through His true sons and daughters. God's will is known and shared by those who seek Him with their whole hearts.(Psalm 119:10) And we live out the love in our daily lives - planting seeds of kindness into those who would become believers; encouraging those who already believe.

If we're curious, we will find out what the Lord requires of us, and we will learn exactly how to access the Power to do His will.  Prayer is key. Before we begin a season of study, we must pray for the Lord to open our minds and hearts, by the power of His Spirit - for discernment and understanding, which will, in turn, transform us. The Bible is replete with verses regarding God's will for His people. 1 Thessalonians 5 (written by the Apostle Paul), has a wonderful outline of how we are to live and interact with one another. He admonishes believers to encourage one another, to build each other up - and to.. pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess. 5:17-18)

Knowing God's will isn't a mystery. It's not something that cannot be understood. As the prophet Micah wrote in Micah 6:8, there are three key things God requires:

He has made it clear to you, mortal man, what is good and what the Lord is requiring from you— to act with justice, to treasure the Lord's gracious love, and to walk humbly in the company of your God.

I pray that we be drawn fully into the light of God's love, and experience the transforming power of His grace in our lives. When we truly love someone, it's just our natural desire to find out everything there is to know about them!

...The Man of the House

The opportunity presented itself, and there I was

just inches away from my camera

I do not lie when I say

it was a thing to behold -

He was in the midst of research, preparing for a piece he was writing,

and listening to smooth jazz playing softly through the speakers

A special collection shuffle

With quiet and contemplative eyes, he would type, stop, think,  re-think, adjust his glasses

and repeat the process...

(there was all kinds of rhythm in that flow!)

For me, it was magical - it's always magical when he writes

Like Phoebe Snow said, "I'd like to get behind his eyes

and sing and cry from that position..."

Bear with me just one more minute, please...

 Overcome by the very atmosphere of creativity,

 I was compelled to capture everything in that frame

In that moment

So, no...

 I couldn't resist -  and in my own defense

I have to say, I'm proud to say...

"Rare moments were meant to preserve for all time"

(And yes! I'd do it again!)

 

The opportunity presented itself, I took aim

 and here he is,

 Ladies and Gentlemen...

©2014

"I am wealthy from the things that matter." C. James

C. James and me

I've been richly blessed with beautiful sister/friends in every phase of my life. I have friends from childhood, and whenever we get together, it's like yesterday all over again!

Over time, a pattern began to emerge, or, I became aware of certain events along my path that I knew weren't coincidental. Every work experience, every situation - anything having to do with my interactions with others, had a specific purpose for me. In some cases, I learned that my associations and/or friendships were meant for my edification and growth. In other instances, someone else was to learn and grow from my influence in their life.

It got to be so real, that I would look for the lessons in situations; try to discern the strategy. And the Lord would reveal it in time. Some experiences were complex and convoluted; but every one brought about much needed growth.

One of my dear sisters I met at work just a few years ago, has health struggles. Her body is in constant pain and the doctors are unable to heal her.  She's a powerful sister with the gift of discernment that has blessed me in a way that I know she's in a tight relationship with the Lord and allows His Spirit to use her. Her incredible peace in the midst of excruciating pain amazes me. God revealed to both of us that we were to work together and encourage each other during a season in which we both found trying and uncomfortable. And we made it through!

To this day, this woman of God encourages others, even from her sick bed, in times when her body is weakest. August 1 was her birthday, and after being absent from social media for a few months, she thanked everyone for their prayers and birthday blessings.

My friend has a devoted husband, whose life I watched become transformed as he witnessed and experienced his wife's unwavering faith and unconditional love. (Yes! I was watching him watch her! A double blessing!) They have two adult children and a granddaughter. There are loving friends, family and House of Faith where folks continually lift them in prayer. This family is indeed blessed!

It was her testimony of the goodness of God that inspired this post today. What she said resonated with me as she thanked God for another year of life:

"I suppose at this age, there is nothing that I need or want. I am wealthy from the things that matter."

There was no mention of the healing for her body that we all have been praying for. And this can only mean that she desires His will alone.  This is my prayer...that God work in me so that I am aligned with His will - to be a blessing, and an effective witness of His grace and mercy. God is faithful to perform whatever is needed in our lives to the saving of our souls.

When we accept the Gift of Salvation - we're truly wealthy, and nothing else matters. Amen.