The one prayer you must pray

As I journey with my bible study group in prayer over the past few weeks, the one thing that drums loud in my heart is that we all struggle to pray. We have allowed the enemy to confuse us to think that prayer is only something that can be done using a certain posture, in a specific place, or at a determined time. We have been crushed by someone’s righteous praying, believing that their prayer is so much better and more pleasing to God. When praying, we struggle with the words and feelings toward prayer because we have built so much fear into our hearts when it comes time to pray.

Dead Prayers

I am tired of mumbling dead prayers. Even worse, my fears of praying dead prayers to others is something that plagued me for years. In our bible study session tonight, where we were focusing on prayer, we had a great discussion that sparked my desire to share with you.

Success in a toxic culture: 4 Life Lessons from Daniel

Success in a toxic culture: 4 Life Lessons from Daniel.

Scrolling through my social media feed, my hand paused over a headline: The Turbulent and Toxic State of the Nation’s Work Culture. This is not a topic that would excite me to dig deeper, but it brought to mind an earlier conversation I was having with my family.

How to pray powerfully

How to pray powerfully. The statement on the promotional flyer made me stop to read more. I wanted to understand how to do this. You may have read my earlier blog post where I admitted my fear of public praying and the steps I took to help me improve in that area. But any topic on prayer always has me eager to learn more.

Jesus stops for you

Ten more minutes. I only have ten more minutes. “You can do this” I recite in my head as I wiggle in my seat and roll my shoulders back. Gripping the steering wheel I press down on the gas and with a glaring focus, I speed along the highway. Thanking God as I exit the highway and turn down the final street to my destination, I am relieved. I have two more minutes before I can speed out of the car. In the corner of my eye up the road, I recognize an incoming disaster. “No no no… not now!” I chant.

The most important lesson for every successful woman

Walking into the room filled with anxiety and excitement, I pondered who would give me the best response to the question in my heart, “what is the most important lesson for every successful woman?”. An introvert at heart, I did not relish the idea of walking up to strangers to ask my deep-rooted questions, but I was uniquely interested in what persons in the room may have to say.

Stealing from your own

“Say what now?” I asked. I could feel anger building up in me as I heard the teenager’s story. Jumping on a call with my friend who was reminding me that I was meeting with a young lady to help her with her resume, we started reminiscing about our younger days with the child’s parents. Midway in the conversation, she expressed concerns for the child after the parents got divorced. The child was filled with bitterness and anger towards one specific parent.

Godly Woman Characteristic (Series): Not Malicious

Godly Woman Characteristic (Series): Not malicious

Godly Woman Characteristic (Series): Not Malicious. The previous post in this series can be found here.

Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked; they gnashed their teeth at me. – Psalm 35:16

“Hmmm. Maybe a little of this…” said my niece, muttering to herself in the kitchen. “Oh yes, some of this as well!”, she exclaimed. Looking up, I glanced over into the kitchen and asked, “Watcha ya doing punkin?”. “Experimenting,” she quickly responded.

“Oh boy,” I whispered.

Four steps to overcoming fear of praying in public

Four steps to overcoming fear of praying in public

“Please don’t pick me. Don’t pick me. Don’t pick me!” I lowered my head down in fear as watchful eyes scanned the room and the mantra of “Don’t pick me” chanted in my mind. It was the end of our bible study meeting and the leader asked someone to close with a prayer. It was the moment I dreaded most.

You were made for a time such as this

“You were made for such a time as this,”, I reminded my friend as we connected over Zoom.

These are not normal times and friends that I long to hug and just give a big squeeze, I find comfort in seeing their smile over our weekly chats. The big topics for the week included not only the delay in USPS shipments, but we lamented considerably over the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the US. As she shared her concerns, it reminded me of our first weeks of the announcement on the island, my fears and how I overcame them.