BRINGING OUT THE OLD SPIRITUAL TOOLS AND WEAPONS

BRINGING OUT THE OLD SPIRITUAL TOOLS AND WEAPONS

The other day at work we got to talking about sculpting, and I remembered the falcon sculpture I started years ago. I still have the soapstone shape and the rebar sculpting tools a friend made for me. I always loved the feel of those tools. Tonight I picked one up, got my mallet down off the peg board and cut away a few chips of soapstone. I remembered the feeling of apprehension, then satisfaction as I chipped away at the stone. Then the Lord gave me a new revelation I didn’t think of before: use a marker and draw the general shape of where the wings will cup around the body and how far the tail feathers go out, and draw this right on the stone. I decided to start using those wonderful tools again. Our spiritual tools are like that.

 

We sometimes forget how useful and satisfying it is to rebuke demons and make them flee, or to pray perfectly for a situation by praying in tongues. Or what about getting down on our knees to pray like we did when we were children? (When was the last time you did that?) Or what about the golden rule of treating others as we would want to be treated? Or how about when you decided to read the Bible cover to cover and God opened your eyes to so many new amazing things?

 

There are some of those good Bible principles and/or weapons in our arsenal that we may have forgotten about. Maybe it’s time to take inventory. Just like God just gave me a new key to jumping back into my sculpture, He will give us new revelations as we go back to revving up some of the old Bible habits we had years ago.

 

In the Bible we see that God often urges His people to remember the things of old, bringing them to mind again.

 

David has a great way of saying it in Psalm 77. The whole chapter is beautiful, but here I want to show you verses 5 to 11:

 

“I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.

 

“Will the Lord cast off forever? And will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone forever? Doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah [consider this carefully].

 

“And I said, ‘This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.’”

 

David was having a hard time so he started to have a good heart-to-heart talk with himself and he searched for an answer. He wondered if it was God’s fault, or if it was God that had forsaken him. He deeply considered the possibility. But then he woke up! “This is MY infirmity!” So David was his own enemy. It wasn’t God at all. And when he realized it, he made himself remember the good things God had taught him in the past. That was his answer and sometimes it’s ours too.

 

Let’s take inventory and list some of the good things God showed us or did for us in the past.

 

Let’s do some refreshing of our lives by sharpening our old weapons and Bible tools that worked well and still do.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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ARE WE THINKING AND ACTING LIKE OUR BEST SELF?

 

ARE WE THINKING AND ACTING LIKE OUR BEST SELF?

My friend DeNece took this picture of me at work. She said the way my hair was sticking out of my face mask at the sides made it look like I had puppy-dog ears! It made me think about disguises. Sometimes we use masks and disguises to hide who we really are. But God sees it all, and He loves us right where we’re at. Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us: “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God.” He knows exactly why we act the way we do. He sees when we’re acting like the true spiritual men and women that we are, and when something has pulled us away from being our best self.

 

I was getting sloppy in thoughts, words, and actions. I was letting myself stay grumpy longer, not caring so much about what I said, and generally not acting very godly. I was actually enjoying being somewhat rude as if I had a right to be rude, and I didn’t even know why I felt that way.

 

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you’re not acting like yourself, and you wonder why? I’m sure there are several reasons why this happens, but one is that we let ourselves act badly because it acts kind of like a defense. We don’t want to face something and so we go into a defensive mode so that people leave us alone. This is not a healthy way to respond, and it doesn’t reflect who we really are on the inside. On the inside we are children of a loving God, with all the ability to follow in His ways.

 

So what do we do when the mask we’re wearing is ugly, mean, angry, and snippy? We take it off and get right again.

 

Fortunately, it’s not that hard to get back to what’s real. The Bible says that we can repent and change our mind. Anybody can change their mind, but when we’ve taken Jesus as our Lord, we’ve been given the supernatural ability to switch back to the super great person that we really are, in an instant. It’s only a thought away.

 

Romans 12:2 tells us: “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” It all starts with the mind. I needed to get my thoughts back in line with God’s thoughts.

  

With God, it’s all about Jesus and the Body of Christ – what we can do together with Jesus as the head—the brains—strategizing the best for all members of the body to be blessed, functioning in our perfect places, to the glory of our Father, God.

 

There’s no place for big egos in the Body of Christ. Galatians 6:3 tells us: “For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another’s load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.”

 

Even Jesus said: “I am able to do nothing from myself [independently, of my own accord—but only as I am taught by God and as I get His orders]. Even as I hear, I judge [I decide as I am bidden to decide. As the voice comes to me, so I give a decision], and my judgment is right (just, righteous), because I do not seek or consult my own will [I have no desire to do what is pleasing to myself, my own aim, my own purpose] but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent me” (John 5:30).

 

That’s pretty humbling and what a great goal. If I am only to do the will of God, then I should be glorifying Him at every turn. I have to do that one thought and one action at a time.

 

I’m going to write myself a note and put it in several places, so I’ll look at it: “Are you giving glory to God?” I think it will help me and maybe you’ll want to do something similar.

 

“So then, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you may do, do all for the honor and glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). It’s got to be one thought and one action at a time, and even though we’ll put on different ugly masks at times, God knows we have His Holy Spirit on the inside, and He always loves us.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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SEIZING THE DAY

 

SEIZING THE DAY

A couple weeks ago I noticed my vision was a little fuzzy through my glasses. I was straining a bit more to see what I could see clearly just a month ago. I told myself that I would wait until this political stuff was over and then I’d make an appointment to get my eyes checked. This morning, though, I realized, that was stinkin’ thinkin’.

 

Matthew 6:34 tells us: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” In other words, seize the day and get done what we can do now, because we don’t know what challenges could come up tomorrow. I’m not to be ruled by circumstances, but by the word of God. And in this case, I need to see better NOW. So I went right over to my eye doctor and made the earliest appointment I could get.

 

Every day can be a good day in some way, because Psalm 118: 24 tells us: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

 

God has so many blessings for us, He says in Psalm 68:19 that He daily loads us with benefits: “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.”

 

I was hesitant, because of circumstances, to go after what I wanted and needed, but I woke up and went for it today.

 

The Lord has blessings and benefits for us every day without a miss. So let’s not let circumstances talk us out of taking what’s ours.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

More true stories of how the Bible is pertinent to our lives today.

 

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STAND AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD

STAND AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD

Patricia Love, one of my Facebook friends, told a story about a neighbor’s tree that was leaning over the fence into her backyard. Several times it caught on fire and Patricia and her daughter prayed for the fire to go out and it did. Had the fire not been stopped by God, it would have destroyed their house. The weird thing about this tree being on fire is that there was never any evidence, no scorching, no evidence at all of a burn. The final fire was the most ferocious, and once again Patricia and her daughter took a spiritual stand against it. The neighbors called the fire department each time, but after this last fire, the neighbors cut down the tree.  That ended Satan’s plot to destroy the house. Patricia has moved, but the old house remains.  

 

When I read Patricia’s story yesterday, I was reminded of how important it is for us to take a stand on what is right. Patricia and her daughter would not allow that demon fire to take them down. They stood against it every time and the devil had to back down.

 

That’s how we need to be. The Lord tells us in Ephesians 6:4: “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.” When we know the truth, we stand boldly for what is right, without wavering.

 

I can tell when I’m standing in faith for the right thing to happen; there’s a sense of deeply-rooted peace in my insides. It’s unnatural, considering the circumstances, but it’s become one of those Biblically normal feelings for me. Philippians 4:7 calls it peace that passes understanding. The context of this verse is prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving for things that are true, just, and right.  

 

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

 

We feel a very strong sense of peace, but it seems like it doesn’t make sense because in the natural we feel like we should be very worried. But when we recognize this supernatural peace, we know that we really can’t worry because we’re kept in the flow of that peace.

 

What does it mean that we’re “kept” in peace? The word “keep” in this verse comes from the Greek word that means “to guard, protect by a military guard, to prevent hostile invasion.” In other words, this peace is impenetrable.

 

After God rescued the Israelites from Egypt, they had second thoughts about this crossing the wilderness thing, and they didn’t like it one bit. They wanted to go back to their old lives; yes, they had been in undeniable slavery, but they were used to it. This wandering business with all the new challenges and hard decisions, was not going to be comfortable at all. All of a sudden, they decided Moses was the enemy, and they hadn’t really wanted to leave Egypt in the first place. They complained like crazy, saying:

 

“Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.’

 

“And Moses said unto the people, ‘Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.

 

“The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace’” (Exod. 14:12-14).

 

God knows what the right things are, that need to take place. When we trust Him, we can stand strong for what is Biblically right and be guarded by peace, through the storm. God is already fighting for us, individu(ally and in the nations, and He will perform all His will.

 

Ezekiel 36 gives us a hint of what is on the other side of this journey. (This was a prophesy to Israel, but Jesus brought the Gentiles also into the flock of God).

 

“Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. 

 

“And they shall say, ‘This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.

 

“Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it’” (Ezek. 36:33-36).

 

Let’s stand against those demon fires like Patricia and her daughter did. We will stand for truth. We will stand to see the salvation of the Lord, and the peace of God will guard our hearts.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

P.S. I just read the whole chapter of Ezekiel 36. WOW!  I think you’ll love reading it as soon as you can. I believe it speaks loudly to our world today.

 

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE LOVE OF GOD

 

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE LOVE OF GOD

I didn’t want to really hear it, but now I’ve seen that to serve God properly, I can’t avoid it. Paul says: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:2). I ask myself, “Why couldn’t he have said: “Love, pastor, be nice, be gentle.” Those are good things, but here it says “reprove, rebuke and exhort.” According to God’s Word, they are good things too. No one really likes reproof or rebuking, and exhortation to do better isn’t that popular either. But, admittedly, we all need it.

 

To “reprove” in this verse is translated from a Greek word meaning “to convict, to expose, to call to account, show one his fault” and “to demand an explanation.”  “Rebuke” is “to award, in the sense of merited penalty, to charge sharply, to restrain or forbid.” And to “exhort” is translated from the Greek word “parakaleo,” which means to call to the side, to console, to beseech, beg, entreat, to invoke, encourage, strengthen, instruct and teach.”

 

So what Paul is telling Timothy is that, as a leader, he needs to call people out on their sins, make them own up to them, and then beg them and encourage them to change, letting them know that he totally believes they CAN do it!

 

Paul was a great example of this, and we see many examples in the epistles of him reproving, rebuking and correcting. And good parents are well practiced in this task, as well.

 

But as we get older, we not only get tired of correcting others and figure someone else will do it, but we also get lazy in our own lives and start letting things slip without correcting ourselves. We have to stop doing that.

 

Second Corinthians 5:20 says: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ.” As representatives for Christ, we can’t afford to get lazy. We should be the examples of holiness, virtue, honesty, integrity, kindness and all the good things the Bible says about how we should and can be living.

 

John 8:44 tells us the devil is the father of lies, so he loves it when he can get Christians to compromise on truth, even in the smallest ways. Satan is quick to offer us convincing excuses and justifications for doing things that are against the good practices of the Bible. And we buy into them.

 

I had a male friend, Jacob, who had the saddest, most honest-sounding story of his and his wife’s relationship. He bemoaned that she never wanted to have sex and only conceded because she wanted children. But after their three children, she was finished having any physical relationship with him. He said he still loved her, but he was a man with physical needs as well. He was very up front with his situation and I almost felt sorry for him. But when I heard that he used this same story with every single woman he met, I realized this was his “come hither” story—well rehearsed and it actually worked on at least two women that I knew of. Jacob had a convincingly compelling story, but his “reasons” weren’t from God.

 

In the USA, schools used to have a poster of the 10 Commandments on the wall. The kids knew what they were. They learned that it was good to obey your parents and bad to steal. How many of the Ten Commandments can you name? I tried to recite them and I only got 6 of them right, so I figured I better  review them every once in awhile!

 

They’re found in Exodus 20:1-16 and Deuteronomy 5:7-21.

1.You shall have no other gods before Me.

2.You shall not make idols.

3.You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

4.Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5.Honor your father and your mother.

6.You shall not murder.

7.You shall not commit adultery.

8.You shall not steal.

9.You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10.You shall not covet.

 

People say that all the Old Testament law was fulfilled in Christ and that love is a greater law than what they had in the Old Testament times. They quote Galatians 5:14: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” But if we don’t know what the old laws are, then we don’t really understand the scope of  what the New Testament love covers.

 

That’s why the New Testament apostles, prophets, teachers, etc. had to write things like, “lie not one to another,” etc., to remind us of the details God wants us to get right in showing His true meaning of love. Love includes admitting that we’ve believed wrong things, and acted in bad ways. We accept God’s forgiveness, but then we need to change our minds and actions to go along with what the Bible says, no matter what.

 

But when are we most willing and even happy to make perhaps radical changes? We should be willing all the time, but it usually doesn’t happen that way.

 

But when we are convinced that we are loved unconditionally and uncondemned, we’re much more willing to take reproof. When we know that God will always love us and never give up on us, we’re more willing to change our thinking, knowing that it’s better to be right with God, than right with men.

 

Matthew 5:8 says: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” A genuine metal is purified by fire and water. The fire burns away the impurities and the water washes away all that’s left. Let’s ask God to purify us with His fire, wash us clean with the water of His perfect Word.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

SIN, REPENTANCE, AND A CLEAN HEART

 SIN, REPENTANCE, AND A CLEAN HEART

I let myself get emotionally distraught by the way someone was acting, and what did I do about it? The wrong thing! I started bad-mouthing the person in my mind and then it came out of my mouth. By the end of the day, I realized I’d really messed up. But then the Lord reminded me of the times people had said about me that I had a pure heart. Being emotionally mean and having a pure heart just don’t go together. So I repented. I was totally carnal in how I reacted. You know how certain things people do really set you off, and sometimes you just don’t even know exactly why? Well that was me. I was mad and didn’t even bother to ask myself why I was so riled up.

 

Maybe it was because I was reacting to something in myself I didn’t like? That’s often the case. We see something we dislike about ourselves in someone else and we react to them because it’s easier than taking the time to examine the same thing in ourselves! But the Lord constantly gives us opportunities to change lingering sins from the past and become the new creation in Christ that He’s called us to be.  And by the way, we have at least one angel or two, from the time of our birth, to help us to get to our final destinies. In Matthew 18:10 Jesus tells us: “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.’” Angels to minister to us as children, and the Bible never says they’re taken away. Think about that for a minute.

 

Anyway, back to my story. I felt bad about being so weak as to let my emotions get to me, and God urged me to go back in my mind to a time when I was around 15 years old, reading the beatitudes in the Bible. I read Jesus teaching his disciples, saying:

 

“³Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. ⁵ Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. ⁶ Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. ⁷ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

 

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. ⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. ¹⁰ Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

 

¹¹ “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ¹² Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” ((Matt 5:3-12).

 

I remember thinking, “I want to be blessed;” Then asking, “Which of these do I want the most?” Verse 8 rushed into my heart. I wanted to see God more than anything, so I wanted to have a pure heart.

 

So when I was awful last week, and God reminded me of my desire from so many years ago, I went to Psalm 51, which is where the Lord has taken me so many times when I’m not such a nice person. It’s a psalm that David wrote after he sinned with Bathsheba, and killed her husband.

 

¹ “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

 

⁴ “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. ⁵ Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶ “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. ⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. ⁸ Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. ⁹ Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.”

 

Psalm 51 is so great, but verse 10 is the one that for me speaks louder than even all the rest:

 

¹⁰ “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹ “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. ¹² Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. ¹³ Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

 

¹⁴ “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. ¹⁵ O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. ¹⁶ For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

 

¹⁸ “Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. [i.e. make us strong] ¹⁹ Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.”

 

The shepherd David, who became a king, could ask God to forgive him, create in him a clean heart, renew a right spirit within him, and make him strong once again. We have the same privilege from the same God who cares for us.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

I HAVE A VARIETY OF BOOKS AND BOOKLETS ON CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN LIVING. I KNOW YOU CAN FIND SOMETHING THAT WILL RESONATE WITH YOUR LIFE AND HEART DURING THESE CHALLENGING TIMES.

 

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NEHEMIAH SHOWS US HOW TO DO "COURT-CASE PRAYER"

 NEHEMIAH’S SHOWS US HOW TO DO “COURT-CASE PRAYER”

Nehemiah was one of the Israelites who was taken into captivity in Persia. God gave him favor and made him the personal assistant to the King. When Nehemiah found out that there was a big problem in Jerusalem (over 900 miles away), his heart went out for the people, much like our hearts go out to the people we care about. The first thing Nehemiah did was pray. But it was a different kind of prayer than many of us are used to. Nehemiah asked God for a hearing. I call this kind of praying “court-case prayer.” It’s a little more involved than regular praying, but well worth the effort, first in what we learn about ourselves and second, what we learn about what God likes in a close relationship with us.

 

There are several places in the Bible where God shows us how to pray this “court-case prayer.” In at least one situation, He required it of Isaiah. He says to Isaiah: “Meet me in court! State your case and prove that you are right.” That’s the Contemporary English Version. The Amplified reads: “Remind me [of your merits with a thorough report], let us plead and argue our case together; State your position, that you may be proved right.” And the KJV: “Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified” (Isa. 43:26).

 

We can see the elements of court-case prayer by looking at the record about Nehemiah.

 

1. RECOGNIZE THE FEAR OF GOD. Nehemiah addressed Him: “I beseech thee, O Lord God of Heaven, the great and terrible God” (Neh. 1:5). The word “terrible,” in the Hebrew means “to be feared, or morally to revere. It means to cause astonishment, to be held in awe or godly fear.

 

Nehemiah was well aware of the wrath of God Almighty, the vengeance of God that took place when He merely took His hand of blessing off of people and let them reap the consequences of bad behavior. The results, as Nehemiah had experienced personally, were perilous, destructive, miserable, full of anguish, failure and deep depression—all the things the devil loves to put on God’s people.

 

Nehemiah verbally recognized God’s right to be angry.

 

2. REMIND GOD THAT HE IS A GOD OF MERCY. Nehemiah reminded God that He is the God “that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments” (v.5).

 

3. CONFESS AND REPENT FOR SINS. Nehemiah not only confessed and repented of his own sins, but he also confessed and repented for the sins of the people. “I pray before thee now, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments” (vv.6-7).

 

Notice that Nehemiah mentioned the sins of his father’s house. There are sins we commit on purpose; we know better but we do them anyway. Then there are “sins of our fathers.” The Bible term for this is “iniquity.” These are patterns of thinking and acting that we “naturally” fall into, sins in our blood line. They are sins we may or may not even be aware of until we see the painful consequences they bring to our lives. Nehemiah’s heart was broken when he heard about the people in Jerusalem, and he knew that they had fallen back into bloodline sins: apathy, moral compromises, rebellion, stubbornness, pride, abuse, ungodly priorities.

 

Nehemiah understood and repented for the people.

 

4. PRESENT THE EVIDENCE. This is where Nehemiah went back to the scriptures to present evidence of God’s mercy to His people even after they sinned. He reminds God of how He worked in the time of Moses, how He told Moses if they didn’t do right, they’d be scattered and how if the people would turn back to Him, He’d gather them back and bless them. Then Nehemiah put his plea forward and basically said: “Since you did it for Moses, how about us?”

 

5. ASK FOR PARDON AND A WAY TO MOVE FORWARD. Nehemiah then asked God: “O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer” (v.11). In the same verse, Nehemiah also asked God: “Prosper [move forward and make successful] thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man [the King of Persia].”

 

Nehemiah’s court case with God was a huge success. As it turns out, God blessed Nehemiah by working in the King to send Nehemiah to Jerusalem to take care of the problems. The King also sent letters to those in authority to make sure Nehemiah had all the physical supplies he would need to totally rebuild the walls and gates of the city. Building the walls and gates turned out to be much more of a blessing than just protection. It unified the people, strengthened their hearts, turned them back to God’s ways and healed them.

 

Just to confirm the five elements of Nehemiah’s prayer:

 

1.      RECOGNIZE THE FEAR OF GOD

 

2.      REMIND GOD THAT HE IS A GOD OF MERCY

 

3.      CONFESS AND REPENT FOR SINS

 

4.      PRESENT THE EVIDENCE

 

5.      ASK FOR PARDON AND A WAY TO MOVE FORWARD

 

I pray that God will help us to remember this type of prayer when we need it.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

USER-FRIENDLY BIBLE PRINCIPLES FOR EVERYDAY LIVING by Carolyn Molica

Get your copy today 😊 WINGS: A JOURNEY IN FAITH VOL. 2

 

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