Do you really want to try that yourself?

I was thinking of all the times that I was going to save money and tried to ‘do it myself’

There was the time I tried to trim my bangs years ago, only to have to go in and get them fixed a few days later. They were much shorter than I would have desired,  if only I would have went to my amazing hairstylist in the first place. She has always been fantastic and making sure I could afford to get a cut, so why did I cut it myself? Because, I thought the trip into town would be too inconvenient, so …snip !

Then there is the self hair color job ! Ya, that one was because my hairstylist doesn’t  color hair at her shop, and there is that pesky cost, then travel to go to my amazing friend. So here I thought, oh I will just do it myself!  The hair turned out;  body, shirt, three towels, walls, floor, and sink stained later, I realized I could have just went in and probably saved money and a lot of headache, heck I even could have felt pampered for once!

Or how about that time ( very recently), that I was going to fix my dryer. The dryer drum fell, cutting wires, causing a fire and scaring me near to death.  The fire chief had said if I was still touching the dryer as I had moments before, I could have been electrocuted to death!

Look at these three instances. The degree of damage varied. The first example was not too bad, the hair would grow back. The dye job, was a little more costly but manageable with some elbow grease and even reusing damaged towels and clothing.  The last could have resulted in electrocution, leading to my demise! Even though that did not happen, there are scorch marks in my laundry room, fire department came out and dryer needed to be replaced. I put a lot of effort into cleaning the mess that was left behind. I even had three clean folded loads of laundry I just finished that had to be completely redone, along with a closet full of smelly blankets.

Where am I going with all this? My mind got to wandering today.

How many times have I tried to ‘fix’ things in my life, rather than going to the Lord, for the transformation needed within me?

There have been times I have wanted to fix my attitude, so in my own power, I tried really hard not to get angry. I would bury my feelings and by golly I was going to be kind. I would smile even though I was simmering underneath, but I was being kind! I was not showing my anger ! I had control of my attitude!!! Only then there would be that day, that everything would go wrong, everyone would push my buttons and then “SCREECH” mean woman mode was set loose!

I have learned for true transformation, life-giving transformation, I had to go to the right source. I had to go to the one that created all my intricate details. The one that knew my coming and going. Even the numbers of hair on my head. I had to go to the Lord for a renewing of my mind and transformation of my heart.

There were some areas in my life I was just not going to fix on my own.  I was tired, and worn out from trying. I was burdened with my inability to repair things on my own. It was time to surrender to the one that truly knew how to do it.

I still struggle with trying to take on things I have no business taking on. Sometimes it is very hard for me to admit I need help in areas. But after I seek my own way, make a terrible mess, throw up my hands and cry out “HELP” , He always does!

I am at the point now where I want to ask, “Do you really want to try that yourself?”

Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

How to pray

I just knew in my spirit last night that I would be following up the post “Prayer… it is important“. I even mentioned the fact on my Facebook page when I shared my post.

However, I may have forgotten all about it, being wrapped up in my blankets eating hot soup, as I fight and conquer this cold and flu season, until I came across a Facebook post asking, “How do I pray?”

So let’s look at this topic shall we? The best way I know to find out what the Lord would have for us to do, is going to the word. Let’s go to scripture and see what the word of God says about prayer.

But before we do that, let me share my heart with you. We have a relationship with God through His son. When we have the right as His children, to come to His throne room, we may speak to Him as a father.

We may ask, “Father, hear my heart! Know my desires!” And we can be assured that He does. I for one feel that when we pray to the Lord, we do so in relationship. We can speak to Him as our Father, our provider, our friend or our savior. We just need to speak, in our heart or out loud, in our quiet place or while I am grocery shopping. I speak with Him all day long. I regard His opinion and instruction on my day-to-day life and I know that He hears me when I call!

How can I pray? The first scripture that stands out to me on prayer :

 Matthew 6:5-12 

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.

Isn’t it wonderful that we can go to a quiet place and pray to our Lord? We can ask for His will to be done! He knows our heart even before we speak it!
This is so encouraging to me!!! You may read this scripture and wonder, “What, I can’t pray in public?” I think the very heart of this scripture is to examine your motives. We are not to shout it out on rooftops that we are praying for the sake of people seeing us pray. It is not about an image we are trying to bring of ourselves, but a heart condition. We should be praying, because we want the Lords will in our life and others, not just so people can see what we are doing.

 1 John 5: 14-15 

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

The key is to know the Father’s will. Look in the scriptures and make sure the very thing you are believing for, lines up with the word of God. If you find that your heart is in agreement with God’s will,  ask it of Him and know with CONFIDENCE that He hears us. We can trust that He is able to do His will in all situations. we just need to ask.

Psalm 50:14-15 

 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
    and perform your vows to the Most High,
    and call upon me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.

This scripture shows me that we have the right to speak to God. We are to offer Him our thanksgiving. Be thankful and REJOICE! For He is good. We can call out to him in our trials. He will hear us and we will glorify Him.

This is one  scripture that I LOVE :

Philippians 4:6-7

 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

We are instructed right here, take everything to the Lord! Tell Him what you need! Thank Him for all He has done! Thank Him that He has heard your cries.

Just as I said in yesterday’s blog, when we pray we sense God’s presence. We sense His peace when we rejoice and give Him thanksgiving. We do not have to worry, we do not have to fret. We can know that the Father, knows our hearts cry, and hears our prayers. Do not let the enemy fight you and say you are praying wrong so you may as well give up. Don’t let Him tell you, that you are not receiving the results you are believing for you so you may as well not bother. God HAS heard your cry and that is enough to stand on. Keep praying my friend and if you need someone to stand in agreement with you feel free to visit my prayer and share corner. I would love to pray for your needs and rejoice over your testimonies!!!

May His Spirit quench your thirst and you hunger no morer~

Shaey  Writing for Joy

My son found his voice

When the depression was at it’s peak in our household, I had thought only I was being affected. This is how depression works, you are completely inside yourself and can’t drudge yourself up to notice what is going on around you. As I realized I had been depressed and sought after joy, my eyes began to see that my son was struggling as well.

Shortly before his victory over depression, my son wrote two songs. One describing the way his heart had grown “numbed”, as his depression resulted in bullying and being torn down and the other he wrote was called ‘relief‘, as he was giving up the pain to the only one that could truly remove it.

God uses the seasons of pain in our life to bring about good fruit, joy and peace to others, if only we use the tools He placed within us. We do not have to remain in the darkness, but allow that moment to be used for the Glory of God!

He has given His children all they need to reach into the lonely and hurting areas of our lives and into the lives of others as well. There is hope for the future. He does know the plans that He has made for us. Plans to prosper us.

It is a matter of surrender and asking ‘Take away the pain!”

These songs are available to purchase, but they are also free to listen.  So listen to “numbed” and how he examined his hurt and then listen to “relief” and how he was freed from the burden of his pain! Just click the links to give a listen and be encouraged this day my friends!