Happy Day After Christmas!

Hi Everyone!

And a "Happy Day After Christmas" to you!  What?  You mean no one has ever wished you a "Happy Day After Christmas" before?  Then let me be the first one!  My wonderful son introduced me to this very beautiful song, and I felt the message was so beautiful that I wanted to share it with you all as well.

I hope you had a good Christmas--spent with loved ones.  Our family had a wonderful time joining another family from our church and visiting at a local nursing home.  We sang LOTS of Christmas songs, read two Christmas stories, put on a skit, played instruments, and finally passed out paper snowflakes that my eleven year old daughter had spent the earlier part of the week making for them.  The patients LOVED the paper snowflakes, so I am so happy we had that idea of making them so we could leave a little something with each person.  :)  We had a WONDERFUL time, and hope we can join in next year and do the same thing again.

We have just a few more days left of this calendar year.  It is a good time to give some thought of how your past year has gone, and what you may be able to change in order to grow closer to Jesus in the year to come.  Our world is a huge mess.  But our God is a huge Savior!

~Susan

How to Organize Your Prayer Life--Part 8

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back!  We are at the end of our class on how to organize your prayer life--yet in reality we are only at the very beginning.  What you "get" out of your Prayer Binder is going to depend upon what you "put" into it and the time you spend with your Creator.  Make your Prayer Binder work for YOU.  If you do not have an area in your life that someone else does, don't put that as a topic in your binder.  Think about your own life, and the people God has put into it.  Personalize your binder to fit YOUR life!  After you have worked with your binder for a couple weeks, change anything that is not working for you.  Rearrange your topics, change your categories, do whatever you need to in order to make it work for you.

Suggestions for personalizing your binder:

~Make your binder attractive, so it will be something that you will love to pick up and spend time with.  Give it a pretty cover--or if you are into photography, what about taking a special picture of something that appeals to you and printing that out for your cover!

~Include pictures of people that you are praying for.  Those family pictures that often come with Christmas cards can be a good source of photos. :)

~If you are praying for little ones, trace around their precious little hands to look at as you place them in the secure hands of our Savior!

~Keep a couple note cards tucked inside your Prayer Binder so you can write out a quick note of encouragement for a person you have prayed for.

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I would like to share with you a longer quote this time.  In our church class I printed this out and passed it to each class member so they could keep it in their Prayer Binder and refer to it from time to time.  I found this to be a VERY good read--it goes along so very perfectly for when I get busy and I don't have enough time to pray!

Important Things Take Time

     "It's correct to say that anything that is truly important to you will require your time and attention.  And praying for your spouse and children is definitely a top priority.  Think about it:  Your children are your flesh and blood.  They are closer to you than anyone else, other than your spouse.  That means you should be willing to give up some of the time you spend on secondary things so you have more time for the primary thing--praying for your marriage partner and your children.
     Prayer requires time.  And if your immediate response is that you're too busy to pray, then you need to somehow, somewhere, free up some time to carry out this priority.  The Bible refers to this trade-off of lesser things for the greater things as 'redeeming the time' (Ephesians 5:16).  When it comes to you and your children, God has given you an allotted "season" of time with your children under your roof.  It will truly fly by!  That's why you must make the most of your time with them.
     Here's a quick exercise you can go through almost every day:  Think about how much time you spend each day watching the news, or sports, or a favorite program or two, or even The Weather Channel.  Or consider the amount of time you put into exercising, surfing the Internet, going on Facebook, or emailing friends and associates and taking care of your personal business.  When you add up all this daily expenditure of your minutes and hours, you'll realize that you definitely have time for prayer--especially prayer for each family member's life and soul."

By Jim George

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Wasn't that a good and sober reminder?  Definitely something to spend some time seriously thinking about. . .

And just a few more closing thoughts for you as you set off on your own Prayer Journal experience.  Here are two more quotes that I have collected.  They are very precious to me, as they speak of how much Jesus loves me!

"As an earthly shepherd knows his sheep, so does the divine Shepherd know His flock that are scattered throughout the world.  'Ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.'  Jesus says, 'I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.'  'I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.' Ezek. 34:31; Isaiah 43:1; 49:16

Jesus knows us individually, and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.  He knows us all by name.  He knows the very house in which we live, the name of each occupant.  He has at ties given directions to His servants to go to a certain street in a certain city, to such a house, to find one of His sheep."

Desire of Ages p. 479 Ellen G. White
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And my last one:

"Every soul is as fully known to Jesus as if he were the only one for whom the Saviour died.  The distress of every one touches His heart.  The cry for aid reaches His ear.

Desire of Ages p. 480 Ellen G. White

Thank you for joining me on this series!  I pray that it has been a blessing to you, as learning this method has been for me!

Please share in the comments things you have found or collected or discovered that has blessed you in this method of organizing your prayer life! :)

~Susan

How to Organize your Prayer Life--Part 7

Welcome Back!

Today brings us to the very last post where I share about creating the sections of a Prayer Journal to help organize your prayer life.  I do hope this has been helpful to you!

We have two more sections left in our weekly tabs--at least we have two more if you are doing like I do and having weekly tabs just for the week days.  If you are making seven tabs in your weekly section you may have a couple more.

Our last two sections, sections four and five, or Thursday and Friday, are saved for our Leaders.  This may be church leaders, both local as well as in the Conferences, church members could be prayed for here, teachers--both Sabbath school/Sunday school teachers as well as school teachers in our church schools, colleges, and public schools.  Look around you--there are leaders everywhere!

Missionaries also fit well here--is there a special mission family you are helping to support?  If so, put them and their mission needs in your Prayer Binder!  Don't have a mission family to pray for?  Find one in the Adventist Frontiers Mission magazine!

Find a missionary family here!

And last but not least, what about praying for our Government leaders, and the President of our country?  It is easy to complain about them--but praying for the will do far more good!

And of COURSE we have to have some Bible verses to go along with our sections on leaders!

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.  For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others?  Do not even the Gentiles do the same?"
Matthew 5:43-47

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And then some quotes from other Christian books:

"Cultivate the habit of speaking well of others. . . When tempted to complain of what someone has said or done, praise something in that person's life or character."
Ministry of Healing p. 492 Ellen G. White

"Because of the wrong actions of those in positions of trust, do not let envious feelings fill your heart.  They are to be judged according to the deeds done in the body.  You only need to pity and pray for them.  The Lord knows every dishonest transaction, and will award them according as their work shall be.  The Lord rewards every unselfish action.  Pray with heart and soul and voice. 'O God, impress more deeply upon my mind and heart the exceeding great and precious promises, that I may not in my duty and work fail or be discouraged, but perfect holiness in thy fear.'"
Letter 178, 1899, p. 9 (November 6, 1899)  Ellen G. White

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So there you have it--the last sections in our Prayer Journal are now assigned.  So think about the leaders you know, and the leaders who you feel impressed to pray for, and start pages for them in these sections!

And your assignment--come back and share in the comments what leaders you have felt impressed to pray for.  Are you praying for your children's teachers?  Are you praying for our government?  Sharing will help give others ideas!

We will have one more post in our Prayer Journal series, so come back next week for our wrap up!

Have a beautiful week praying--talking with your Best Friend!

~Susan

How to Organize Your Prayer Life--Part 6

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back to our series on organizing your prayer life using a Prayer Journal! :)  If this is your first time joining us, make sure you go back to the beginning to check out the starting instruction.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

If you have already been following along, you already know that we are using a Prayer Journal as a method of organizing our prayer life into different parts to pray for each day.  We have talked about starting our prayer time with turning our thoughts towards God, then moving onto prayers for the specific things in our own personal life, praying for our immediate family members, and finally a section where we can keep our Bible study notes, Bible questions, special quotes, etc.

Our Bible Study section of our Prayer Journal is sort of the dividing point in our journal.  I think of it as the "equator"--in the middle between our daily prayers sections, and what will be our weekly prayer sections.  Now--before you start telling me that we should pray for everyone every single day, I will just say right now that I agree with you!  And if you have a burden on your heart to pray for someone daily, please do!!!  But for me, I know I can easily become overwhelmed with feeling like I cannot leave anyone out, and before you know it I end up not praying for people at all because I can't pray the "right" way.  Well, remember--these Prayer Journals are supposed to be a way to help simplify our lives!  So I am sharing with you a way to divide the people who are special in your life into regular times to pray for.  And this way, you will be sure to be coming back to a person and praying for whatever they have going on in their lives that you know about or that you feel impressed to pray for.

O.K., so for our second half of our Prayer Journals we have come to the part where we will be praying for people and needs on a weekly basis, instead of on a daily basis like we were in the first half of our Prayer Journals.  If you sit down on a Monday morning, you are going to start your prayer time with your "God" section, then move to your "Me" section, and finally sections 3 and 4 where you have put in your immediate family members.  If you have anything you want to record or write down in your "Bible Study" section you will do that, but then you will move to the first of the weekly sections which is labeled very creatively as "Monday"!  :)  I think I have previously mentioned, I do not personally have weekly tabs for the weekends.  If you want to, go right ahead!  But for me, I am going to church early in the morning and doing other non-regular schedule types of activities on the weekends, so I simply have my weekly tabs go from Monday to Friday.

So in our sharing for today, I want you to make up your first three sections for your weekly half, which for me is Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  For the first half of my Prayer Journal I traced on scrapbook paper and then laminated some dividers.  For the second half, the weekly section tabs, I simply used the yellow dividers that are commonly available.  I already had some in my house, and I was using what I had.  So do whatever you would like to do--if you want to make all your tabs out of pretty paper, you can.  If you want to purchase two packets of the commercially made tabs, that is fine too.  The purpose is to use this to simplify and enhance your prayer time--not to get side tracked thinking that your Prayer Journal has to be perfect.  You can always change things later over time, after you have used this method for a while.

Your first three sections of your weekly tabs are used for other people who are not in your immediate family that you will pray for on a weekly basis, not daily like the previous sections.  List specific people by name and pray for specific needs in their lives.  Leave room to write in the answered prayer if you become aware of an answer.

Here are some suggestions for whom to pray for, but whatever is closest to your heart is what you should list.  Include the weekends if you are able to be consistent.

Monday--Extended Family Members

Tuesday--Christian Friends

Wednesday--non-Christian Friends or strangers that you have been asked to pray for by others

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As you already know, I like to collect Bible promises and verses that seem to me to apply to certain sections in my Prayer Journal, so I thought I would share with you the verses I have collected for these sections in my weekly prayers:

Job 19:14--My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me.  (This is a verse that reminds me NOT to forget my family and friends in prayer!)

Mark 5:19 ESV--And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

John 15:12 ESV--This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Psalm 25:14 ESV--The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.

Don't you just love that last verse?  Have you ever thought about God being your friend?  And YOU being God's friend?

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In addition to Bible verses, I have also collected these quotes that talk about friends and friendship and praying for others:

"Not all are called to personal labor in foreign fields, but all can do something by their prayers and their gifts to aid the missionary work."
Testimonies vol. 6, p. 29 Ellen G. White

"Select another and still another soul, daily seeking guidance from God, laying everything before Him in earnest prayer, and working in divine wisdom.  As you do this, you will see that God will give the Holy Spirit to convict, and the power of truth to convert, the soul."
Medical Ministry, p. 245 Ellen G. White

"It is a part of God's plan to grant us, in answer to the prayer of faith, that which He would not bestow did we not thus ask."
The Great Controversy, p. 525 Ellen G. White

Wow.  Did you catch that last quote?  God is ready to give us even MORE blessings--but He wants us to come to Him and ASK.  Are we asking Him for help?  Am "I"?  Something to think about, for sure!

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So here is your assignment for this next week!  Think about your extended family and friends and decide on how to best pray for each one.  Write their names down on a blank page in your journal, and then start listing needs that you know they have and that they need prayer for.  Then come back here to this blog and share what categories you came up with for your first three sections of this weekly half of the Prayer Journal.  Sharing your ideas will help others as they organize their prayer life!

We are almost finished with our series--just one more post to come on the weekly prayer sections, and then I will have some closing thoughts.  I pray this has been a blessing to you!

Have a beautiful week with Jesus--and don't forget to talk with Him each day!

~Susan

How to Organize Your Prayer Life--Part 5

Good Morning Everyone!

You just KNOW I am going to ask you--how is your Prayer Binder working out for you so far???  I hope it is becoming a dear "friend," as you spend time with it and use it to talk to our Dearest Friend!

Today I am going to share the next section with you--section five.  To review, remember that our first section is about our Father in Heaven, our second section is where we concentrate on our own needs, and then the third and fourth sections we are using to pray for our immediate family members.  Our section five is going to  be a little different than the previous sections, because this is where we are going to gather our Bible Study notes.  So my section five is labeled just that--Bible Study!

This is the dividing section, between the things you pray for on a daily basis, and those to come that will be once a week prayers.  I use this section in a variety of ways:

~Notes I take on sermons

~Bible passages I am working on memorizing

~Insights I have as I study the Bible are recorded here

~New Bible study methods that I want to try

~Bible studies that I want to mark in my Bible

~Topics that I want to do Bible research on

So you see, this section can be used to collect a variety of things.  It could even store little thoughts or quotes that you want to remember.  In our class at church, I shared the secret of being glad--this is something I have stored in my Section Five:

How to be Glad!

G---go to the Lord
L--leave your burdens with Him
A--adore Him
D--do these things daily

Isn't that a good reminder?  No, it isn't original with me, and I am afraid I cannot remember where I first read it, but it is something I want to remember, so I keep it tucked away in my section five of my Prayer Binder.

I also shared in our church class the S.O.A.P. method of Bible reading.  Again, this is not original with me, but I tried to share with our group things that other people might find helpful.  So if you want to give this Bible study method a try, here is how to do this method:

S.O.A.P. is a method of Bible reading and journaling.  It can be used with any daily Bible reading plan.

S is for Scripture
~Open your Bible to today's reading (according to whatever plan you are following).  Take time reading and allow God to speak to you.  When you are done, look for a verse that particularly spoke to you that day, and write it in your journal.

O is for Observation
~What struck you and caught your attention in what you read?  What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture?  Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you.  Paraphrase and write this scripture down in your own words.

A is for Application
~Personalize what you have read, by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now.  Perhaps it is instruction, encouragement, revelation of a new promise, or corrections for a particular area in your life.  Write how this scripture can apply to you today.

P is for Prayer
~This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this scripture, or it may be a greater insight on what he may be revealing to you.  Remember, prayer is a two way conversation, so be sure to listen to what God has to say!  Now, write it out.

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So that is the S.O.A.P. Bible study method.  I have done this quite extensively in times past--but am not currently using this method.  But I wanted to share a variety of things with you for each section, just to help give you ideas to get started in your own Prayer Binder.  For me personally, right now I am using my Section five primarily for a place to store my notes I take on our weekly sermons at church.  But mainly it is a section where I know I "can" tuck away little things or ideas that I want to remember for later.  So use this section in a way that will be useful for YOU in YOUR prayer life!

I am so happy that I have heard from some of you that this Prayer Binder method of organizing your Prayer life is already being a blessing to you! :)  That was my desire in sharing--as I stated in the first post of this series, these ideas are not original with me.  I have gathered them from quite a few places I have read, both in books as well as on-line, and what I am presenting  to you is simply what ended up fitting MY prayer life best.  Change things to fit YOU, and share with your friends as it may be a blessing to them as well.

Homework--so here is a little assignment for you:  leave a comment here on this post of one thing you think you will use your Section Five for.  Are you going to take notes on weekly sermons?  Use the S.O.A.P. method?  Something completely different?  Let's share and bless each other with ideas!

Have a beautiful week with Jesus.  He will never leave you nor forsake you!

~Susan

Virtual Field Trip--Chickamauga Battlefield

Today Austin--my son--is guest posting over at a homeschooling site! 😊 If you are at all interested in American History, then you are going to love reading his post!
Virtual Field trip--Chickamauga Battlefield

Enjoy the History lesson!

~Susan

How to Organize Your Prayer Life--Part 4

Welcome back Everyone!

I am so glad you are joining us in this series on organizing your prayer life!  If you haven't been reading along from the start, make sure to go back and read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 to catch up!

We have already been working on Section 1 of our Prayer Journal, which is about "Almighty God," and Section 2 of our Journal which is about "Myself."  Today we are going to move to the next two sections--Sections 3 and Sections 4, and these two sections are going to be divided up and used to pray for your immediate family.  Now, each person's immediate family is going to be a little different, so you are going to personalize these two sections to fit YOU and YOUR family.  And don't forget that you can group family members together in one binder section.

In my Prayer binder, my spouse is Section 3 and both of my children share space in Section 4.  If you are not married, you may have Section 3 be praying for your parents, or even a sibling, and Section 4 may be praying for your Grandchildren--really, just think about YOUR life and whomever you could consider YOUR immediate family.  Sometimes "family" may not even be your blood relation, but a close friend who is dear.  

My hubby's name is "Mitch," so I just labeled his name right onto the tab of his section in my Prayer Journal.  On the back side of my divider I chose a Bible verse that is my "theme" verse for this section.

This is a lofty goal, perhaps, but this verse is what I WANT to live up to in my life with my husband!

Then comes my divider section for my kids.  Since I cannot fit both their names onto one tab, I simply decided to label it "Children."  It works!  Inside, I have a full page with my son's name on it, and my pages with prayers for him are right behind this page.  Then there is a page with my daughter's name on it, and following it are the pages with my prayers for her.  You "could" have a separate divider for each child, but I will say that too many dividers can start getting your Prayer Journal a little complicated.  But do whatever fits YOU and YOUR life.

And if you want to, choose a theme verse for that section as well. :)

If you are married, pray for your spouse.

~Praise God for the gift of your spouse and list all of their qualities that you are thankful for

~Pray for their love and devotion to God

~If they are not a believer, pray for their salvation

~Pray that they will spend quality time with God each day, allowing God to shape them into the godly person God has called them to be

~Pray that God will give them wisdom and discernment in every decision they make throughout the day

~Pray for specific needs and struggles in their life

~Pray for their health

~Pray for your marriage

 If you have children (or grandchildren!) pray for them.

~Praise God for the gift of your children

~Pray that your children will come to know Jesus

~Pray for angels of protection all around them

~Pray for hunger and love for God’s Word

~Pray for friendships with siblings

~Pray for them to be a godly leader one day

~Pray for protection from evil traps in this world

~Pray for the ability to make and the discernment to choose good friends

~Pray for specific needs and struggles for your children

If you have parents that are still living, pray for them.

~Thank God for parents that taught you about Him

~Pray for special needs they may be facing as they age

~Pray for them to trust God to meet their needs

~Pray for their health

~Pray for their social needs, especially if they have lost their spouse

~Pray for wisdom in how to help provide care for them

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Just as we did in our Sections 1 and 2, feel free to write down any Bible verses you find that you feel are applicable and you want to remember, or that will be an encouragement as you pray for that person  You can also include other quotes you have found that you want to remember.  I share below three quotes from one of my favorite Christian authors that speak of intercessory prayer.  I forget sometimes, about how important it IS for us to pray for one another, so these quotes help me to remember this!  You are welcome to copy down these quotes as well if they are an encouragement to you--or write down other quotes from reading you do. 

“In private prayer all have the privilege of praying as long as they desire and of being as explicit as they please.  They can pray for all their relatives and friends.  The closet is the place to tell all their private difficulties, and trials, and temptations.  A common meeting to worship God is not the place to open the privacies of the heart.”

Ellen G. White

Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, 578

“We should pray to God much more than we do.  There is great strength and blessing in praying together in our families, with and for our children.”

Ellen G. White

Child Guidance, 525

“Nothing will give such clear views of self as secret prayer.  He who seeth in secret and knoweth all things, will enlighten your understanding and answer your petitions.  Plain, simple duties that must not be neglected will open before you.”

Ellen G. White

Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, 163

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In our class at our church, I shared the following prayer story with our class.  It is a story that touches me, so I thought I would share it here with all of you as well.  It is hard sometimes to not let ourselves get discouraged when we do not see quick and even immediate answers to our prayers.  But it is important that we continue to trust the results of our prayers with God.  Our "job," so to speak, is to pray.

The following is an excerpt from the book “Things God Can Do With Ashes” by Tim Crosby, published by The Quiet Hour, p. 96:

"Sometimes it takes a while for our prayers to take effect.  Josephine Cunnington Edwards prayed for her brother Bill for 50 years, but Bill wanted nothing to do with God.  Josephine even got a small church involved in the act, and Bill’s life slowly began to change.  Still, though, he was not religious.  But then something remarkable happened.

One day Bill’s wife Mary found Bill in tears.  He explained, “I heard the door open behind me.  I turned around, and—Oh Mary, it was the Lord! I knew Him by the nail prints in His hands.  No picture can ever portray the love in His eyes.  He said ‘Bill, I have a special request I have to make of you. I have 50 years of prayer for you to answer for.  Your parents went to their graves believing that they would never see you again in the kingdom.  Bill, I would love to have a grand surprise for them when they get to heaven.  Won’t you give your life to Me so that I can present you to them there?’ “

Within weeks Bill was baptized. “If you had seen Jesus,” he said, “you could never refuse Him anything that He asked of you.”

Friend, if you have a loved one who does not belong to God, never give up.  You have immediate access to a vast reservoir of untapped prayer power.  Claim those promises.  Your persistent prayers can sway the destiny of those you love and perhaps of generations to come."

So there you have it--the end of my "instruction" for Sections 3 & 4 of your Prayer Journal.  Now it is up to you!  It's time for YOU to think about your immediate family and get them written into one of these two sections of your Prayer Journal.  Remember, make this work for YOUR life, for YOUR family.

And your assignment for this week?  Leave me a comment telling me how you used these sections for your family.  Did you list your spouse in one and your children in the second, like I did?  Or did you use a section for your parents?  Or something different?  

Sneak peek!  I will tell you that we will have a section coming up later for "other" family members--so do not feel like you have to fit EVERYONE into these two sections.  But remember--we are trying to simplify our prayer lives as well, so use these sections for whomever you consider your IMMEDIATE family.  And don't forget to leave me a comment and tell me about it!

Have a blessed week with Jesus--and start using your Prayer Journal to help you talk with Him more!

~Susan

Save your Sanity with Loop Scheduling!

Hi Everyone!

If you are a homeschooling family, do you find yourself frequently leaving out subjects and materials that you really do want to cover?  Do you find yourself running out of time in the day and the "fun things" always get left out?  If so, you may find some helpful scheduling ideas in a guest article I wrote on this subject over at this link! Save Your Sanity with Loop Scheduling!

I hope this method helps you in your home school like it did me! :)

~Susan

How to Organize Your Prayer Life--Part 3

Welcome back Everyone!

So how has your Prayer Journal been working out for you so far???  Have you been using your Section 1 each day in your Quiet Time?  I hope so!  I hope you are collecting your own list of Bible verses which testify to God's power and might.  I have found this to be a real encouragement to me, especially when I am facing a problem!   It is good to focus your mind on how great your God is!

Are your ready for the next section?  Good--because I have more to share with you today!  We are now going to focus on your second divider--Section 2 of the daily prayer part of your Prayer Journal.
This section is going to be focusing on you!  Each day during your prayer time, after you have spent some time praising God and focusing on Him and thanking Him for all He does for you, then you are ready to bring your own personal needs and requests to Him.  So get your Journals out and label your next divider with "Myself," or your name, or your nick name.

Oh--and I forgot to mention one other thing in last week's post, so I will share it now.  You don't have to do this, but I have found it kind of fun to pick sort of a "theme verse" for each section in my Prayer Journal.  I take this theme verse and kind of claim it as my own, and I write it on the back side of my divider.  So here is the theme verse I have chosen for my "Almighty God" section:

Yes, you are right--I couldn't choose just ONE so I chose two verses. :)  And here is the verse I chose for my "Myself" section:

Some ideas for this part of your journal are as follows:

Section 2:  Myself

~Ask Him to examine your heart and reveal your sinful ways

~Confess those sins and ask Him to rule in your heart and life

~Confess total weakness and sinfulness and confess your need for God

~Acknowledge your desire to be dead to self and alive in Jesus

~Ask Him to help you take your eyes off yourself and on to Him

~Pray that God’s will be done in your life today, not your own will

~Ask God to help you listen for His voice/guidance and show you how He would like to use you today

~Surrender the inmost places of your heart and mind to Him, which is the essence of Godliness

~Ask God to use you as a tool to spread the Gospel to non-believers and be an example and encouragement to fellow Christians

~Ask God to protect you from things that keep you from having a gentle and quiet spirit:  unconfessed sin, unforgiving spirit, neglecting responsibilities, anxiety, anger, self-centeredness, physical disorders, fatigue

~Petition God for the following:  to be drawn closer to Him, direction to His will, to be a man or woman of God’s Word, to be a man or woman of Prayer, help to live a life above reproach, wholehearted devotion, wisdom, knowledge, discernment, intuition, servant’s heart, discipline, self-control, fruit of the spirit to be present in your life, attitude of gratitude, wise with time and money, discipline and self-control with exercise and nutrition, thoughtful of others, compassionate, desire to see lost people come to know Jesus, giving of self (time, money, possessions, spiritual gifts, other talents), energy, strength, courage, boldness, compassion, sensitive to sin and quick to repent, to accept God’s rest and not fill that special time with other things to do, to know Him more and more, remember and keep priorities straight, to be pure in mind and heart, to be humble, diligence, good health

~Thank God for His gift of salvation

Some Bible verses I have collected that apply to the "Myself" section are as follows:

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning;  great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ “  Lamentations 3:22-24

“For he will abundantly pardon.”  Isaiah 55:7

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”  James 1:5

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  Psalm 27:1

“For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.  And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.”  Psalm 27:5 & 6

“Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils.  Of what account is he?”  Isaiah 2:22

“Pray without ceasing.”  1 Thessalonians 5:17 NASB

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.”  Psalms 32:8

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can also record any special quotes that speak to your heart.  These are two that are precious to me:

“. . . whoever comes to Me, I will never cast out.”  John 6:37 ESV

“If you have nothing else to plead before God but this one promise from your Lord and Savior, you have the assurance that you will never, never be turned away. It may seem to you that you are hanging upon a single promise, but appropriate that one promise, and it will open to you the whole treasure house of the riches of the grace of Christ.  Cling to that promise and you are safe.  ‘The person who comes to Me, I will never cast away.’ 

Present this assurance to Jesus, and you are as safe as though inside the city of God.”

Ellen G. White

10 Manuscript Releases 175.1

“Not one sincere prayer is lost.  Amid the anthems of the celestial choir, God hears the cries of the weakest human being.  We pour out our heart’s desire in our closets, we breathe a prayer as we walk by the way, and our words reach the throne of the Monarch of the universe.  They may be inaudible to any human ear, but they cannot die away into silence, nor can they be lost through the activities of business that are going on.  Nothing can drown the soul’s desire.  It rises above the din of the street, above the confusion of the multitude, to the heavenly courts.  It is God to whom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard.”
Ellen G. White

Christ’s Object Lessons p. 174

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there you have it--we now have the first two sections of our Prayer Journal started.  So when you have your Quiet Time for the next week, you will each day start with praising God and then move to speaking with Him about your concerns and needs and stresses.  Leave your problems with Him when you get up from your devotion time--He is well able to handle all of them!

Assignment for this week:  Please share something in the comments that you have decided to write in your Prayer Journal either in Section 1 "Almighty God", or in Section 2 "Myself."  Share special Bible verses, poems, quotes, or even encouraging thoughts that you had as you prayed through these two parts of your Prayer Journal.  

See you next week for Part 4 of our series!

~Susan

How to Organize Your Prayer Life--Part 2

Hi Everyone!

Did you get last week's assignment done?  You found or purchased a binder, you made or bought ten dividers and you have a little paper to begin with?  Great!  Then we are ready to dive right in!

The whole concept behind this type of a Prayer Journal is the realization that you do not have time to pray for every single thing on every single day.  This type of thinking--feeling like you have to pray for everything EVERY day-- can easily lead to feeling overwhelmed, and kind of a "why try since I always fail?" attitude.  And--of course--if you are anything at all like me, you also have a hard time even remembering the prayer requests that you have heard about at church or been asked to pray about by your friends or even seen posted on Facebook.  You WANT to pray for them. . . you INTEND to pray for them. . . but once the week gets started life is a blur until the next weekend when you see your friend at church and realize that you totally forgot to even pray for their request.  Well, those days are over now that you are going to have your Prayer Journal to help you be organized!

So the big picture of our Prayer Journal is this:  Some areas you are going to pray for daily, and some areas you are going to pray for weekly.  There.  I said it.  And the sky didn't fall.  You don't have to pray for EVERYTHING on EVERY single day.  And it's o.k. to do that!  Now that doesn't mean that if there is a special and urgent prayer need you have to WAIT until the day that is assigned for that area--no, of course not!  But I am going to teach you a method of organizing your prayer life, and you are going to know that if there is something that is a crisis and needs to be prayed for right away you just go right ahead and pray about it--even if it is not the "day" assigned for that area.  Does that make sense?

O.K., now that we have THAT clear, we can continue.  We are going to start the first section in our Prayer Journal.  Our FIRST section is going to be the section that reminds us of what needs to be FIRST in our lives--our Creator!  So our first divider--our Section 1, is going to be the topic of "Almighty God."  If you are using the yellow dividers you can write the name on your paper and slip it in the tab.  If you are using dividers that you made from card stock, you can write your label right on the paper.  And if you ended up laminating some scrapbook paper like I did, you might want to use a label maker to make a label for this section.  I couldn't fit "Almighty God" on my tab, so I decided to shorten it.  I thought about putting "God," but then finally settled on using the term "Father," as it seemed more personal to me.  Put whatever you call God in your prayers--whatever title that will make sense to you and tell you that this section is the section about your Creator-God.

Section 1:  Almighty God

~Start your prayer time off with worship.  You might write out song lyrics or write/read a Psalm.  The point is to ready your heart and focus your mind on Him.

~This is your love section to God and for God—focus on Him, without using “I” or “me”. . . write “You Lord. . . “  For example:

You are my King

You are my Creator

You are my Father

You are my Counselor

You have made all beautiful things (maybe list beautiful things in creation that you have experienced)

You are huge—my mind cannot comprehend your power

You hold the universe in your hands

You are: omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (everywhere), omniscient (all-knowing), immutable (unchanging), eternal (everlasting), love (agape)

~Write your praises to God and list characteristics of God that are special to you

~Tell God of your love for Him and your desire to know Him.

~Include any significant prayers, poems, scripture, or quotes

~Pause for a moment to quiet your heart and mind and just listen

 I like to use this section to collect favorite songs about God and His power.  In our class, we shared four different songs about prayer.  In our class together we sang these songs each night.  On your own, you can sing or hum them to help remind yourself of how great God really is!  I find this is a great way to prepare your mind for the rest of your prayer time.  And don't worry if you don't think you have a great singing voice--God made your voice and I would guess He thinks it's great! :)  If you play an instrument, you could even play a song or scripture song to God as a way to bring your heart in tune with Him!

Here are the prayer songs we shared:

Joseph m. Scrivener, 1855 lyrics

Charles c. Converse, 1865 tune

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged—

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful,

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge—

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,

Thou wilt find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised

Thou wilt all our burdens bear;

May we ever, Lord, be bringing

All to Thee in earnest prayer.

Soon in glory bright, unclouded,

There will be no need for prayer—

Rapture, praise, and endless worship

Will be our sweet portion there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Words & Music: James D. Vaugh­an, 1908

I need the prayers of those I love,

While trav’ling o’er life’s rugged way,

That I may true and faithful be,

And live for Jesus every day.

Refrain

I want my friends to pray for me,

To bear my tempted soul above,

And intercede with God for me;

I need the prayers of those I love.

I need the prayers of those I love,

To help me in each trying hour,

To bear my tempted soul to Him,

That He may keep me by His pow’r.

Refrain

I want my friends to pray for me,

To hold me up on wings of faith,

That I may walk the narrow way,

Kept by our Father’s glorious grace.

Refrain

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lyrics and Music: Anonymous

Whisper a prayer in the morning,

Whisper a prayer at noon;

Whisper a prayer in the ev’ning,

To keep your heart in tune.

God answers prayer in the morning,

God answers prayer at noon;

God answers prayer in the ev’ning,

To keep your heart in tune.

Jesus may come in the morning,

Jesus may come at noon;

Jesus may come in the ev’ning,

So keep your heart in tune.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

William w. walford 1845 lyrics

Wm. Bradbury 1861 published

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!

That calls me from a world of care,

And bids me at my Father’s throne

Make all my wants and wishes known.

In seasons of distress and grief,

My soul has often found relief,

And oft escaped the tempter’s snare,

By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!

The joys I feel, the bliss I share,

Of those whose anxious spirits burn

With strong desires for thy return!

With such I hasten to the place

Where God my Savior shows His face,

And gladly take my station there,

And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!

Thy wings shall my petition bear

To Him whose truth and faithfulness

Engage the waiting soul to bless.

And since He bids me seek His face,

Believe His Word and trust His grace,

I’ll cast on Him my every care,

And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!

May I thy consolation share,

Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height,

I view my home and take my flight.

This robe of flesh I’ll drop, and rise

To seize the everlasting prize,

And shout, while passing through the air, “Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another thing that is good to do in Section 1 is to collect Bible verses you come across that tell you how powerful your Creator-God is.  Our problems can seem oh so big to us, but once we take into proper perspective how big they are compared to the King of Kings, well, it just kinda shrinks our LARGE problems down to the proper size--nothing--compared to what God can do!  

So here is your assignment for this coming week:  Start using your Prayer Journal, even just having this first section labeled and going.  Write down songs about God that speak to your heart.  Start a list of favorite Bible verses which give glimpses of God.  If you find a poem about God--or want to write a poem yourself, put that in.  To help get you started, I will share a list of Bible verses about God that I have collected:

“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.”  Isaiah 59:1 NIV

“For no word from God will ever fail.” Luke 1:37 NIV

“It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear.”  Isaiah 65:24

“Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there, if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”  Psalms 139:7-10

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You.  Because he trusts in You.”           Isaiah 26:3

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains---where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”  Psalm 121:1-2

I hope your mind is brimming with ideas now! :) 

And one additional assignment--please share with me in the comments section one thing that you are going to put in your section 1 of your Prayer Journal.  Is there a special song or hymn that speaks to your heart?  What song is it?  Are you going to write out a poem that you love?  Tell me about it! Is there a Bible verse that to you tells of God's love or power?  Share it with me!  Even if it is a verse already listed by me or by someone else--let's encourage one another and share special things that we find!

Have a beautiful week with your Beautiful Savior!  And see you again next week! :)

~Susan

Fall Break!

Hi Everyone!

I.  Have.  Been.  SO.  Busy!

Between homeschool, cooking healthy meals from scratch, and co-leading a series on Prayer Journals at our church, I have felt like I don't even have time to breathe!

But this weekend was our Fall Break--ahhhhhh!  It was busy getting ready for it, especially since we were taking off for a day trip on Friday which meant I needed to have all my Sabbath prep done ahead of time as I would not have Friday to do what I normally do around the house.  But it was worth it!

Our family took off and had a day trip to Little River Canyon in northern Alabama.  Such beauty, and so refreshing to get out in God's nature!  We had a beautiful day--and had a fun picnic until a yellow jacket became a little TOO interested in what we were eating for lunch, so we packed it all up quickly and finished the picnic INSIDE our van!  But it was still fun!

I hope you enjoy the pictures!  And I hope to find some time to write up some posts on the Prayer Journal class that we held.  It's finished now, so maybe I can share the information from the class here on my blog.  I am hoping to, anyway!

Have a beautiful rest of the Sabbath day--and enjoy these pictures!

~Susan

 A beautiful waterfall--just a short hike from the parking area. :)

 Even our furry family member was able to come along!  Pets were welcome in the park!

 I was trying to get a picture of us with Holly and she gave me a doggie kiss!

 Alison and Daddy at the Falls.

 Beauty is everywhere--if you look for it!

 I thought it was neat how the leaf was sticking out straight from the flower!  It was also a very flat leaf!

 Picnic--pre-bee!

 Picnic--post-bee!

 Driving part of the eleven mile road in the park.

 The canyon--you can see the river way down there!  The canyon is 600 feet deep!

 Alison and I at one of the overlooks--doing what else, but looking!

 It was simply a beautiful drive!

 A rock in the middle of the eleven mile drive, called what else, but Mushroom Rock!

And right there in the woods, was a REAL mushroom!

Hope you enjoyed the little picture tour!

The Lord is my Strength and my Song

Good Morning Everyone!

Just popping in here real quick.  Life just does not slow down, does it!  I have actually been looking forward to the school year this year so our family will stay put for a while and not be traveling--and maybe I can get something done!  But oh yes--how we do tend to forget how very busy we are once homeschool has started up again!  Ah well, it is always nice to at least THINK we are going to have more time at a future date, right? ;)

I wanted to invite all of you to join me in an upcoming memory challenge that I will be participating in.  Now I know what you are thinking--how am I going to fit in Scripture memorization when I was just complaining about how busy we are?  Good point!  And I honestly have to confess that I am not alway successful when I set about memorizing Scripture.  In fact, if I am remembering correctly, I believe that I have only succeeded two out of the last four Bible chapters that I have tried to memorize.  But you know what?  I have decided that two out of four Bible chapters memorized is FANTASTIC!  And besides that, the time I spent meditating on God's Word, and the verses that I did manage to memorize from the chapters that I "failed" on are never wasted.  They are never a failure.  Every minute spent reading God's Word to me is a success!

That being said, this next memory challenge is small and doable--only six verses!  I think I can do that!  And I think YOU can do it too!  We will be memorizing Isaiah chapter 12--I confess that Isaiah is my absolute favorite book in the entire Bible--SO many encouraging promises in there!!!

So spend some time thinking about it.  Better yet, spend some time praying about it!  And one of the most helpful things I have found in Bible memory success for ME is to join in with a memory group. Being part of a memory group is encouraging and helps keep you going when you are feeling like throwing in the towel.  And with the wonders of the internet, if you don't have a Bible memory group near you (I don't!), you can still have the encouragement of one in an on-line community! :)

So go check out this link--and read all about it.  And after you read about it, prepare to join us as we memorize Isaiah 12!
Why Should I Memorize Isaiah 12?

Have a beautiful week with your beautiful Savior!


~Susan

Negative CDs in my Head

Hi Everyone!

Summer has been SO very busy!!!  Half the time I haven't had the time to post anything here, and the other half my computer has been acting up and refusing to turn on!  That problem is still not fixed, and I am not sure yet if a computer repair will fix it or if I am really going to have to break down and buy a new one. . . I am hoping a repair can take care of it, but we will see!

Anyway, I thought I would drop in quickly today to share something which was a blessing to me. 😊 Today in my email box I found a wonderful little post talking all about those negative thoughts we play in our mind.  It is so very very true--but happily there IS a good solution!

So read on at this link:
Negative CDs in my Head

May you have a wonderful day!

~Susan

Independance Day Photo Contest--A Plea for HELP!

Good Morning Everyone!

I have a quick plea for help today!  Our local police department is running an Independance Day photo contest.  We were to submit a photo we took which we felt best illustrated the concept of Independance Day.  Since our country was founded on the principle of religious freedom, I felt it was illustrated ncely by a picture of a church in Cade's Cove that I took recently.

My church photo is currently in number one position--but only by TWO votes!  It is up against some adorable children pictures, so this is going to be a VERY close contest!

If you wouldn't mind--I would appreciate it EVER so much if you would follow this link and click "like" on the church photo.  And if you shared the link, that would be even better!!!!  Even ONE vote is definitely going to count in this contest!

Only "likes" that are on the official Collegedale Police FB page will count in the voting process, so simply "liking" a post on your own FB page doesn't end up being registered.  Voting is open for today only--July 6--and ends at 8:00 p.m. EST

Thank you SO much!

Independance Day Photo Contest

~Susan

True Freedom

 Happy 4th of July Everyone!

I love celebrating the 4th!  I love everything about it--picnics, family togetherness, parades, and fireworks.  But most of all, I love what it stands for--Freedom.

Freedom is a wonderful thing.  Our country was founded on the foundation of religious freedom.  People for many years have fled to the shores of our great land to escape persecution for their religious beliefs, and they have thrilled to finally see that lamp of Lady Liberty lifted beside our shores.

But in spite of the wonderful freedom to be found here, there is one freedom that our country can not provide--and that is freedom from the grave.

 God is the first one who gave humans freedom.  Way back in the Garden of Eden, He gave His newly created Adam and Eve freedom to choose.  Freedom to choose to obey Him--or to listen to the deceiver.  They were not created as robots who could not help but follow the programming.  Genesis 2:16 & 17 tells us "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die."

We know what happened next.  And it's not pretty.  They disobeyed, and now they had a new freedom--the freedom to die.

But that's not the end of the story!  Our rescue is coming!  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."  John 3:16 & 17

And if you skip to the back of the book, the best is yet to come!

"I saw the Holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' " Revelation 21:2-4

No more death.

At last!  After disobedience and "earning" the right to die, we will be rescued by our Savior.  Rescued from this world of sin.  Rescued from tears and mourning and crying and pain.  Rescued from the grave.

One year ago today, my dear friend lost her son to his battle with cancer.  He was young--younger than my own son.  And for now, he sleeps in the grave.  But his Jesus is coming back for him!

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?  Though she may forget, I will not forget you!  See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. . . "  Isaiah 49:15 & 16

For now, sleep dear Jethenro.  Your rescuer is coming--and He brings with Him true freedom!

Virtual Field Trip--Elmshaven!

Hi Everyone!

Thought some of you might enjoy reading a guest blog post that my son Austin wrote about a very special site named "Elmshaven."  This house is especially interesting not only because it is on the National Historic Register as a Historic building, but also because it was the last home of Ellen G. White--one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist church.

This home is very near and dear to my heart, because I used to live just down the road from it and for years I volunteered as a docent and gave tours to the MANY people who came to tour the house.

So if you are ready for a Virtual Field Trip to Elmshaven, just follow the link!

Virtual Field Trip--Elmshaven!



~Susan

Four Reasons Why We Should Forgive

Good Morning Everyone!

Today I have another awesome, thought provoking video from Kim Cash Tate to challenge your thinking! :)

The topic is on forgiving.  Oh, I know what you are thinking.  As a Christian, I do not think any of us would disagree with the concept that we should forgive others.  It is a very easy phrase to say, but when someone has deeply hurt you, it is not always so easy to actually do.  In fact, sometimes I am afraid to say it almost seems like we are a bit prideful in holding onto our pain and hurt.  Sort of like we are trying to teach the other person a lesson or something. . .

Kim lists four reasons why we should forgive in the video.  A short list, but very powerful!

Four Reasons Why We Should Forgive

Was there anything that especially stood out to you?  For me, it was when Kim said that forgiving is NOT letting go of something and letting it fall to the ground, but rather it is letting go and GIVING IT TO GOD.  For me, that is a huge, huge difference!

What caught your attention?  Or what other thoughts do you have about forgiveness?  Please share in the comments!

Have a beautiful day with your beautiful Jesus!

~Susan