He Gives Good Gifts

(Intentional Prayer)

Pray the Scriptures – My Prayer:

Lord, Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is Yours, O Lord, and this is Your kingdom. I adore You as the one who is over all things. Nothing is outside of Your control, O God, and You know what is best for me.

Absolutely nothing happens in my life that You are not privy to. Your desire is that I converse with You and pour out my heart, as a child seeking reassurance from a loving parent. You give the gift of your love and compassion towards me.

You have more good gifts that You desire to pass along to me.

As I follow You, Yahweh Roi, the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything that I need. When my emotions attempt to get the best of me and they fluctuate over the array of possibilities, Your rod and staff they protect and comfort me. I have been given the gift of coming to You in prayer, bringing my heart and placing all of my cares at Your throne of grace.

When I attempt to trust in my own strength, You tenderly remind me that it is You who renews my strength. Because You love me, You guide me along right paths. I only need to place my confidence in You.

I will not allow anyone to mislead me. I will not forget that You, Yahweh Roi, make happen the good that I experience each day; from opening my eyes at morning’s break, to each breath that I proceed to take. Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to me from You, my Father, Elohim, God, Mighty Creator, who created all the lights in the heavens. You never change.

I am your prized possession, Your child, chosen by You.

Your dear Son promised that If I remain in Him and His Words remain in me, I may ask for anything I want, and it will be granted.

Oh, what a phenomenal gift!

Don’t Be Fooled by the Distraction – You Are More Than Enough

Today was kind-of an off day for me. I’ve had many of those over the past several years. You know the kind of day that I’m referring to. You woke up feeling excited about a new direction that God is taking your life in. You feel His favor showering upon you. Those days of nothingness are starting to feel like there is substance and purpose and finally, direction. That joy you have been seeking, well, it appears to be on the horizon. You have a little extra pep in your step. When you speak, you hear it yourself. “Hmmm, I think I might be experiencing peace.” Peace. Joy. A little bit of happiness. All in one day. You take a deep breath. “Wait a minute? I’m actually breathing again.”

Then, those old feelings of defeat begin to resurface. Anxiety tries to work it’s way back in. You’re thinking, “I knew this was too good to be true.” At first, it’s not even about you. Every text message, every phone call, it’s regarding some stressful event in someone else’s life. No, the news is not brought to you with the intention of bringing you down, but Satan tries to use those moments as a way to creep back in. You want to be compassionate and offer a listening ear and support, but you are starting to drown in the cares of everyone else’s life. Then, it happens. You begin to start doubting the direction you thought your life was heading in. You begin to even start doubting yourself. “Am I really enough? Can God really use me?”

This was my day on today. I began to feel unworthy of the blessings that God is manifesting and about to bring into my life. “I’m just little old me”, I constantly heard myself saying; as if I’m unimportant and what I have to share with the world is not enough.

But God says, not so. You are enough, because you have ME.

You are enough because God is ordering your steps. Do you see how Satan works? He oftentimes won’t come at you directly, but he’ll try to use everything else that is happening around you to try to distract you. He wants you and I to feel defeated and exhausted and overwhelmed, just by life itself, so that we don’t have the time for and the desire to continue to pursue the things of God. He tries to bring all of these questions of doubt into our minds.

So, what’s the solution? In spite of everything that is going on around us, we must choose joy and have a thankful heart.

Philippians 4:4-9 is a familiar passage of Scripture. But just because something is familiar does not mean that we do not need reminders and a renewed mind. Isaiah 26:3 (NLT) tells us that God will keep us in perfect peace, all who trust in Him; all whose thoughts are fixed on God! So, when Satan comes to distract us, we must go to God and allow Him to renew our minds.