My Top 5 Reasons to Pray: When Jesus was on earth, He taught his disciples to ask for everything from forgiveness to their daily bread. But if God knows what we need already, why do we have to ask? I’d like to answer that in the first part of a little series I’m calling my top 5 reasons to pray.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” ~Matthew 7:9-11~
“How does a man who is out of work celebrate when his friend gets a fantastic new job? How does a woman grieving a miscarriage attend a friend’s baby shower? How does someone crippled with pain wholeheartedly rejoice over another’s miraculous healing, without that whisper deep in the soul, ‘Lord, what about me?‘
As I confessed, ‘I don’t have it in me,’ the recognition filled me like a deep breath of peace. Of course, I didn’t have the power in myself, just as I didn’t have the power to forgive those who hurt me, or sing a song of praise through a throat raw with tears, or to serve day after day in small ways that seemed to offer no evidence of results. I can’t do any of it.
But Jesus can. And He lives in me.” ~by Sharon Hinck from Mornings with Jesus 2012~
This excerpt is just one example of the practical, encouraging words found in the devotional,Mornings with Jesus 2012. This particular reading caught my eye for two reasons. First, because I’ve corresponded with award-winning author and freelance editor Sharon Hinck. She’s a truly humble, godly woman, who has helped many of us sharpen our writing skills. Second, because I just finished my two-part blog “series” on whether or not God plays favorites—so Sharon’s words touched my heart. (You really need to buy the book and read the entire entry.)
Other reasons to buy the book: MWJ shares a verse, a reading on the character and teachings of Jesus, and a faith step to help apply the message for every day of the year, contributed by authors who are doubly qualified to compose such a book. They are talented writers who have received awards and acclaim for their professional efforts. And they are also wives, mothers, and daughters who have experienced the same struggles and trials common to us all. Their insights are sure to strengthen and inspire you. This book makes it easy to spend time with Jesus each morning!
Two ways you can get your hands on a copy:(1) Enter this drawing! I’m giving away my extra copy of Mornings with Jesus 2012. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post for a chance to win. (Contest ends Thursday, February 23.) (2) Or follow this link to purchase the book. (You may want to buy two, and share with a friend.) ***Thanks for Litfuse Publicity for sending a copy for me to review.
You can find the contributing authors at these links:
Beyond Molasses Creek by Nicole Seitz tells the story of two women, who live on opposite sides of the world, and the events which bring them together. The story is shared through dual viewpoints from the women, Ally and Sunila. For brave, optimistic Sunila, life means taking the risks necessary to leave Nepal and find a new life in the United States. While Ally’s journey involves an end to years of running when she returns home to Molasses Creek. In Sunila’s chapters, we follow a trail that leads to revelations about her future. In Ally’s, we delve into the secrets of her past and all her life could have been. For me, Ally’s story is a cautionary tale of how choices which begin as temporary fixes for pain or confusion can transform our lives into very sad journeys. I was glad when the threads of hope the author sprinkled throughout this novel eventually blossomed into a joyful ending.
Want more details? Here’s the book blurb: Having traveled to the ends of the earth as a flight attendant, Ally Green has finally returned to the Lowcountry to bury her father as well as the past. But Vesey Washington is still living across the creek, and theirs is a complicated relationship. He was once her best friend and also part of the reason she’s stayed away so long. When Ally discovers a message her father left behind asking her to quit running, it seems her past isn’t through with her yet.
As Ally’s wandering spirit wrestles with a deep longing to flee again, a young woman on the other side of the world escapes her life of slavery in the rock quarries of Nepal. A mysterious sketchbook leads Sunila Kunari to believe there’s more to her story than she’s ever been told, and she’s determined to follow the truth wherever it leads her. A deep current intertwines the lives of these three souls, and a destiny of freedom, faith, and friendship awaits them all on the banks of Molasses Creek.
About the author: Nicole Seitz is the author of several critically acclaimed novels – The Inheritance of Beauty, Saving Cicadas, A Hundred Years of Happiness, Trouble the Water, and The Spirit of Sweetgrass. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism, and also has a degree in Illustration from Savannah College of Art & Design. Her paintings are featured on the covers of her books. Visit her at @NicoleSeitz, Facebook and www.nicoleseitz.com for more information.
PARTY and GIVEAWAY: Nicole is celebrating the release of Beyond Molasses Creek with a fabulous “Friendship” Facebook party! She’ll be giving away a ton of great stuff (KINDLE TOUCH, some of her own beautiful artwork, a Book Club Prize Pack (10 copies of the book for your small group/book club and a Live Skype Chat with Nicole), and more!
CLICK the button (below) to RSVP for the party – then join us on February 16th for a book chat, story sharing and prizes! Hope to see you there!
Lord,
I crawled across the barrenness
To You
With my empty cup,
Uncertain in asking
Any small drop of refreshment.
If only I had known You better,
I’d have come running
With a bucket.
~Poem by Nancy Spiegelberg~
“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water
Welling up to eternal life.’”
~Promise by Jesus from John 4:13&14~
This week, I’m linking with Soli Deo Gloria and Call Me Blessed.
Did you ever wonder if God plays favorites? Have you looked around at the blessings others received and worried that God had forgotten you? Click on the video below to hear some encouraging words concerning “God’s favorites.”
“God leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs—to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that [the Christian] is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be. Hence the prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best . . . He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased even with their stumbles.” ~C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters~
When your best friend has breast cancer . . . you guard the privilege of driving her to doctor’s appointments, keeping her company at home, and sitting by her side in waiting rooms for many hours. Those precious days leave you changed.
Nancy at Relay for Life
You see her body waste away, but you also clearly see her spirit grow stronger, as she lives out the truth of II Corinthians 4:16 & 18, “Though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day . . . while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
You’re constantly in awe of her ability to focus on eternity. When it becomes clear healing is not to be, she draws a Bible on a piece of paper, taps it with her pen, and whispers, “This is still true!”
You get to observe an encourager in action. Especially when you visit her hours after an operation and she says, “Don’t worry about me. You should see the woman in the next bed. She really needs you.”
You learn that chemo treatments do not stop fashion. You help her apply eyebrows, wrap scarves, and find stretchy pants that don’t look old lady-ish. You buy the most luxurious prints you can find to brighten each outfit.
You discover that God prepares His children for whatever they have to face. You become the one comforted as she calmly assures, “I’m almost finished with this suffering. Two more days. Two more days, and I’ll go home.”
But, still, you are amazed when she is right.
Nancy, Me
Two years ago on February 4, I lost my best friend, Nancy Jean Clum, to breast cancer. She was an amazing woman whose light for Christ brightened our little corner of the world. She left behind a husband, children, grandchild, and friends from every walk of life, all of whom cherish her memory.
Did you ever wonder if God plays favorites? Have you looked around at the blessings others received and worried that God had forgotten you? Click on the video below to hear some encouraging words concerning “God’s favorites.”
Here’s the whole story from John 11:
6 “So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. 21 ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’
23 Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’
24 Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’
25 Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’
27 ‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. ‘The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.’ 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
So the next time you worry that God has been playing favorites or that God has forgotten you, open your Bible to John 11—or pop back over and re-watch this video!
Any books I review on my blog were provided by the author or publisher with no strings attached. Or I purchased them myself. I have never been compensated in any way for providing my opinion in reviewing these books.
