Praising God Moment by Moment

Photo by Kelsey Rath

On January 1, 2013, I wrote about how the word Praise came to be my One Word for 2013. Knowing that God chose that word for me, I was all gung-ho to start the year. (To read that post, please click here: My One Word 2013—Praise)

But as you’ve probably experienced at one time or another, life sometimes gets in the way of good intentions. I haven’t written about my One Word since that first day of January, but I have thought about it every single day.

And I’ve had some very honest conversations with God.

“God, I know you gave me the word Praise, but I’m just not getting it! I don’t know what you want me to learn—what you’re trying to show me. Could you be more obvious? Please?”    

I don’t remember exactly what was going on the day of this particular conversation a few months ago, but I started to realize that I look at time in large chunks—the morning, the day, the week, etc. So, if I was having a rough day, I would remember it as a bad day, regardless of whether or not it was all bad.

I felt God moving me to look at shorter periods of time—moment by moment. And I began to see how He blesses my day, even on what seems like a really bad day.

Moment by moment, I find something to praise God for.

…a smooth morning while rushing to get out of the house on time.

…an unexpected opportunity for a heart-to-heart conversation with my daughter, no matter how busy the day is.

…the way God shows me grace when I know I’ve just disappointed Him.

…safe travel, even when bad weather tripled my commute time.

…an opportunity to stand up for what’s right, even when my knees were shaking.

It’s an ongoing journey—learning what it means to praise God…one that I know will never end.

But that’s okay.

I’m praising God for His patience with me.

And for repeating the same lessons over and over.

And over again.

How about you? If you have a One Word for 2013, how is it going?

In Christ,

Laura

Linking up with Winsome Wednesday, Thought Provoking Thursday, Faith Filled Friday, Spiritual Sundays, The Weekend Brew, and Melanie's One Word Linkup.

Praying Scripture Over One Another

One morning last week, as I sat at my computer at work, I received this text message from a new, but already dear friend…

“Good morning, sweet friend. I’m praying Psalm 9:9 over you this morning.”

Her text made me smile and was just what I needed that morning.

Not only did it touch me to know someone was sincerely and specifically praying for me, it led me to Scripture.

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.

Psalm 9:9 NIV

I read further to Psalm 9:10, and texted her back.

Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 9:10 NIV

Her simple text took me into God’s Word where I hadn’t been that morning.

And His Word changed my focus…away from what wasn’t going right…to Him.

I stopped dwelling on what was bothering me, and remembered His goodness, His grace, and His love.

It reminded me that God is, indeed, my refuge. He is my strength. And I can always, always trust Him…because He will never leave me.

I’ve had a few other friends pray Scripture over me, and I’ve done the same—prayed over someone when I felt moved to do so.

Is a text, tweet, or Facebook message the ideal way to share God’s love and blessings with another? Probably not. But God can and will work through any form of communication.

He did for me that morning. And I pray He will the next time I pray over someone.

How about you? Have you ever prayed Scripture over someone or had Scripture prayed over you? What are your thoughts?

In Christ,

Laura 

Linking up Holley Gerth, Soli Deo Gloria, Sharing His Beauty, #TellHisStory, WholeHearted Home, and Winsome Wednesday.

God's Glorious Grace {Ephesians 1:6}

In Christ,

Laura 

Linking up with Jumping Tandem – The Sunday Community and Spiritual Sundays

Brave

I was half asleep around 5:00 this morning when I decided to go online for Lisa-Jo Baker’s Five Minute Friday word prompt.

Brave.

I stared at the word and my mind was blank. After a few minutes of looking at the word (I actually wonder if I dozed off.) I decided this Five Minute Friday wasn’t the day for me to participate.

I moved away from the computer to my Bible and started to pray. Still brain-dead, I didn’t know what to pray, and words were slow in coming to mind.

I opened my Bible, wondering where to start reading when my eyes focused on an underlined verse.

Wait patiently for the Lord.
Be brave and courageous.
Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

Psalm 27:14 NLT

And there was the word “brave” again.

I thought about how it takes bravery to live for Jesus when the world values living for ourselves.

Bravery to stand up for what’s right, despite the difficult effort to do so.

Bravery to lay down what I want in life for what God wants in my life. And knowing the two may never be the same.

Bravery to wait patiently for God…for His plan in His time.

I remembered the KraftyKash necklace I received two weeks ago at the Jumping Tandem Retreat…with the word “Brave” on it. At first glance, I hadn’t made a connection with that particular necklace being meant for me.

But now…I think maybe it just wasn’t time for me to get it yet.

In Christ,

Laura 

Linking up with Lisa-Jo at Five Minute Friday, Faith Filled Friday, #TellHisStory, and The Weekend Brew.