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Thursday, December 18, 2014

Preparing for a Session of Powerful Prayer

Preparing for a Session of Powerful Prayer

If you have never participated in a session of powerful prayer over someone, it’s an incredible experience. If you’re nervous about what to say or how to say it, trust God and just have faith. If you’re still a bit nervous, here are some things that I would personally recommend:

Examine yourself. If you know you are going to be praying over someone, first examine your own heart. Are you harboring things in your life that you need to ask forgiveness for? Spend some time praying over yourself first. Find a quiet spot and talk to God. Get in the Word and seek His guidance. Tell Him how you’re feeling. Ask forgiveness for your own sins and ask him to wipe your slate clean. Ask Him to make you a vessel for His almighty power. 

Listen. Talking to God is easy, listening in response to those prayers is hard. Feel it in your spirit. You’ll know what God is leading you to do by paying attention to your gut. If God is wanting you to do something, He’ll bring it up over and over again. You’ll feel led to it. If you feel like you are being led to pray over someone, listen to that call. 

Take it seriously. If you are going to God and asking Him for a miracle, firstly trust in His divine plan. Secondly, understand that He may not answer your exact prayer. He may use the circumstances in another way. You have to be ready to accept that fact. If God doesn’t answer your prayer exactly how YOU want it, it’s because it’s going the way that HE wants it.

Make it important to you. Are you praying for someone just to pray or do you REALLY want healing? Invest in thought and meditation over it. Make it important to you. Make it a priority for you. Be in constant prayer and meditation.

Fast. Fasting is a great way to humble yourself and continuously remind yourself of something. Fasting is Biblical. Jesus himself fasted for 40 days. Do it safely. If you are unfamiliar with fasting, there are all kinds of websites and materials you can read to help you understand how to fast and why you should fast.

Claim it. Sincerely believe in miracles. God works miracles every single day. We, as believers have the power to intercede on behalf of other people. God hears the cries of His people. Believe in your heart that a miracle will happen. Speak it out loud. Speak affirmations about what you are praying about. Claim it in the name of Jesus. 


In the name of Jesus. John 14:13 says: Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Jesus’ disciples drove out demons with the name of Jesus. You can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit by just speaking His name. 

Rebuke the Devil. Understand that Satan is also a powerful force. He uses his own demons to carry out his will. Rebuke the Devil and he will flee from you! James 4:7 says: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 
Have courage. When you pray over someone, pray with confidence. God is an almighty God and you are doing His work and being obedient by praying for others. It’s an incredible opportunity to touch someone’s life. Do so with confidence. Have courage, and God will give you the exact words to say to someone in need. 

Laying hands. Laying on of hands is certainly not essential, however, here are some reasons why laying of hands is used. 1) It offers comfort for the person you are praying for. Sometimes it can feel odd just standing or sitting there, placing your hands on someone can make them feel a little more comfortable 2) it displays faith that God can use you to intercede for another. God can work through you, and the physical action of laying on of hands demonstrates that. 3) Laying hands on a specific part of the body can help you visualize exactly what and where you are praying for. If you are praying for a cancer patient, pray over his/her tumors.  

Be specific. If you are asking God for a miracle, don’t just ask for healing. If someone is suffering, pray for the particular ailment. Visualize what would need to take place for healing to take place. Ask God to remove cancer cells from every part of the body. Pray for tumors to be removed and for them to never return again. Pray for specific healing. 

Thank God. Thank God for what He will do through the situation. Thank him no matter what the outcome, because either way, it will play out exactly the way He wants it to. Thank Him for his power and His might. He has the power to do anything He wants. If the miracle you desire doesn’t come to fruition, it’s because He has something else in mind. It’s too big for us to understand. Thank Him for His might, anyways.

I hope this has helped you in some way. Prayer is powerful! If you don’t know what to do when you’re going to pray over someone else, just seek God and He will guide and direct you. 

Monday, November 3, 2014

Being Grateful

Six weeks ago I gave birth to the most beautiful 10lbs 8oz, 22 1/2in baby girl. Look at her... she's perfect.

She's everything I could possibly want in a child. BUT... her delivery was a nightmare. Getting her into this world was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do.

An hour before Caydence decided to enter this world, my epidural decided it wanted to stop working. It just checked out on me. I felt utterly betrayed by that epidural. It had kept me nice and comfortable for the last 12 hours. I was counting on that epidural to keep me calm and pain free during delivery. But it had different plans. They couldn't figure out why it had stopped and Caydence was on her way. That's right, ladies and gentlemen... I gave birth to a ten and a half pound baby... naturally (insert pat on the back). That wouldn't have bothered me so bad if it weren't for the fact that she got stuck, literally. One of her shoulders got stuck behind my pubic bone. Everyone freaked out for one small moment while they dealt with something called shoulder dystocia. I was a hysterical mess. I have the pain tolerance of a chihuahua. I yelp at literally everything. At this point I thought I was dying. I pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed and she wasn't going anywhere. After a significant amount of manipulation, she finally emerged, and I passed out. Literally. I came to with Caleb's face in my face and a baby on my chest. It was the most painful thing on the planet. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I would rather cut my own foot off with a butter knife than to ever experience that amount of pain ever again. It felt as though every single bone in my body was being broken all at once. I felt like this chicken. 

Caydence had to have an immediate x-ray to see if her collar bone was broken. Her entire body was bruised up, but other than that, she was absolutely perfect. 

The pain during her delivery has scarred me for life. I still have nightmares about it. Nightmares about my body being ripped in half. They plague me. Caleb jokingly tells me I have PTSD. I wake up in a cold sweat and make sure Caydence is still in her bassinet. It was horrific for me. But like I said... I'm a weenie. 

I talk about my delivery like it nearly killed me. I talk about the pain of childbirth like it was the worst thing in the world... but the other day a thought occurred to me that hit me like a ton of bricks... what if I had never been able to have children?

What if I had never been able to have children at all? Millions of couples around this world struggle with infertility and here I am complaining about childbirth. Do you know the number of women who literally would hack off their own feet for the opportunity to give birth? Millions. 

How ungrateful and selfish am I!? God gave me the gift of reproduction. He allowed me to procreate and he gave me the honor of raising children. I can not imagine not getting to do that. I have felt a human move inside me and I have been entrusted to keep that human alive. What an absolute privilege I have been given! Not only was I allowed to create life from nothing, but I have given birth to those two lives that were created. Do you know how many women who have had miscarriages that would have loved to experience such a traumatic delivery? Millions. 

Millions of women every year cry themselves to sleep over miscarried babies or infertility. Here I am humbled by something that is far greater than me. Shame on me for taking something so serious for granted. 

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!" Psalm 127:3-4

Is there something in your life today that you are taking for granted? 

Are you complaining about things that you really shouldn't be complaining about? Are you complaining about a job when you have a job, when there are people all over this country that are struggling to provide for their families? 

Are you complaining about your spouse when you've actually got a loving and caring husband/wife? 

Are you complaining about your small house, when you've got a roof over your head?

There is always someone out there who has it worse. There will always be someone who wishes they had what you've been given. There will always be discontentment in your life if you fail to see the good that is already there. 

"Do all things without grumbling or complaining." Philippians 2:14

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18



I encourage you to think before complaining. Be grateful for what you have.