God Granted His Request!

1 Chronicles 4:10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.

Greetings,

I love the Bible. It has eye-opening verses that were written from God to you and me so we can pray confidently.

When we ask God to bless us, increase our sphere of influence,

and invite His hand to guide and keep us from harm, it all works together like one big powerful and heavenly umbrella to shield us from pain. Could this mean that if we don't pray this way we will suffer needlessly? Maybe, but I don't plan on finding out! 

Life is full of pain already it; God knows it.  But He also knows that when we pray to be spared and protected, we are - from a lot of junk.  

Several years ago Jorge, the kids, and I were on the Palmetto expressway headed to my in-laws in the middle of a bad rainstorm.  Suddenly, the car directly in front of us swirled out of control and did several complete 360s.  This started a chain reaction of several other cars, ours included, slamming on their brakes and steering to get out of the way at 60+ mph in the pouring rain.  When it was all said and done, the traffic was at a standstill, car upon car sat within a few harried inches of one another, and our car was completely facing west instead of north. It was so close to another car that was facing east that not even a child could have fit between the two cars. But there was not one accident in sight.  

My family and I were kept from harm and pain that day, Amen.

Let's take God at His Word, be as bold as Jabez, and ask to be kept from pain. Look at how the verse ends: GOD GRANTED HIS REQUEST!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Bless us! Enlarge our territory.  Prosper us with the finances we need to meet our obligations, prosper our bodies with health, prosper our relationships so that those we love are receptive to learning about you. and prosper our souls with peace, joy, and hope. And keep us from pain - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Extend Your hand over us all like a mighty shade of protection, and deliver us from evil. Thank You for granting our request. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Helicopter Parent~

Psalm 33:13-15The Lord looks down from heaven;
    He sees every human being.
From His dwelling place God observes    all who live on earth...God knows everything they do.

Happy Monday:)

This past weekend I was remembering a time when my granny said, 'Yenisita, I can't take my eyes off of you for one minute; you're always getting into trouble."

She said it in response to my changing the time on the kitchen clock a couple hours ahead.  When it hit 7 PM, which was really five, and grandpa still hadn't come home and cell phones didn't exist, my precious Mama nearly panicked.  

Why did I do it? I do not recall.  But thinking about that made me think of our sweet Lord.  For you see, He never takes His eyes off of us--not even for a second.  

Left to our own devices, who knows what kind of trouble we could get into.  And what about our kids?

Stormie Omartian, whom I love says, and I am paraphrasing here, that God's protection is like an umbrella.  It covers us when we go out in the storm.  But sometimes we purposely get out from under it.  We make unwise decisions that leave us exposed.  When our kids are tempted to do something silly or actually do something wrong, our prayers invite God to pursue them with the umbrella anyway.  Amen to that!

I have several friends whose kiddos are away at college, and sometimes thinking about the countless ways they could get into trouble can be overwhelming and worrisome.  But in reality, sometimes even those who live with us in the same house are up to mischief and we had no idea. The key is to pray.  Only God can be with any of us 24/7.  He is the ultimate helicopter parent, and we need to be grateful. 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that even when we are not physically near our families, You are there.  You are 100% aware of what is going on, so we come to You and ask to be fully covered with Your powerful umbrella of protection.  And even if we try to scoot out from underneath it by our choices, have mercy, and keep it firmly in place.  Thank You for Your willingness to always answer us. In Jesus' name, AMEN~