Home Archives for personalizing prayer

Standing Triumphantly Against the Spirit of Deception

4

It’s easy to become overwhelmed with the deception in the world today, sometimes even in the church. If you have the Holy Spirit living inside you, and every true Christian does, it’s easy to decipher the enemy’s attempt to deceive. Sadly, many are falling into Satan’s sly trap.

A favorite tool of the enemy is using words and semantics to hide evil. Here are some examples:

  • “Pro Choice” means pro-abortion. A woman choosing to have her baby never calls this “pro-choice.” She says, “I’m going to have a baby!” No baby chooses their own death
  • “Women’s Healthcare” is used to disguise abortion where one of the patients, the baby, always dies. Murder not healthcare.
  • “Trans rights.” Trans is a concocted word to describe a mentally ill or perverted man or woman who feels they have the right to impose their confusion or perversion on others. They don’t have that right.
  • “Immigrants” or “Undocumented” used to disguise illegals who broke into our country illegally.
  • “Calling Islam a religion.” Islam is a political deadly ideology whose goal is to wipe out Jews and Christians, and to replace the Constitution and rule of law with Sharia law.
  • “Democrat Socialism” is a soft word for Communism. They added “Democrat” so they could run as Democrats in elections. When they win, they’ll drop Democrat and destroy the Democrat party from within.

Democratic Socialists of America have officially adopted a radical platform that includes:

1. Abolishing the Senate

2. Granting full amnesty to all illegal aliens and noncitizens allowing them to vote

3. Replacing the President and Supreme Court with bodies subordinate to Congress

4. Defunding and destroying the Department of Defense, the Pentagon, and our military

5. Ending ICE and deportations allowing open immigration

6. Defunding the police

7. Government control over housing, industry, and private property

The deceived try to defend “Democrat Socialism” as taking care of the poor. Do you see anything about helping the poor in the above platform? Under socialism and communism, everyone becomes poor except for the elites in control of government and the money.

The Democrat Socialists’ plan is to destroy the Constitution and Bill of Rights and replace our Republic with a socialist state.

Already Mamdani, the Communist /Islamist NYC mayor, is calling for a 16% increase in his annual salary and a raise for other senior government officials while not providing any of the “free stuff” and “affordability and “progressive economic policies” he touted in his campaign.

Communists, Socialists, and Islamists lie and only the undiscerning believe them!

People my age lived through the threats of the cold war and Reagan’s famous “Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall” between communist East Berlin and free West Berlin. We were taught in school America’s true history and the perils of communism, yet there are actually boomers today deceived by Communist propaganda.

America is no longer in a political battle between Democrats and Republicans. It’s a spiritual battle between good and evil.

The discerning and the undiscerning.

One side believes our rights come from God and government exists to protect us. The other side are atheists who do not believe in God but believe government is the highest power, their god, and your rights are whatever the people in charge decide to let you have.

Ronald Reagan famously and discerningly said, “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem!” Amen!

They can change the label: Socialist. Democratic Socialist. Communist. National Socialist. Fascist. Islamist. It all means the same thing: loss of individual rights and freedom.

Remember, NAZI stood for the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

USSR stood for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Cuba was sold as a people’s revolution and became a communist dictatorship that generations of people risked their lives to escape.

The point is not that every socialist is Hitler, Stalin or Castro. The point is that every generation seems to produce another group of people who think THIS TIME they can give government enormous power and somehow human nature will be different.

It never is.

Discerning people know Socialism/Communism’s rudder is envy, jealousy, and the desire for power.

Lack of Discernment Fuels Conspiracies

Last week, during the preliminary hearing, we relived the horrors of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Much of the incriminating evidence presented against Tyler Robinson was known last year. Robinson’s confession in person, in letters, and texts. The rifle wrapped in a towel with his DNA. His own parents recognizing him in videos before and after the murder convinced him to turn himself in to the authorities.

Yet, since Charlie’s untimely and tragic murder, ridiculous deceptive conspiracy theories have been highly publicized and believed by the undiscerning.

Conspiracy theories are prevalent against Israel, Iran, Jews, Christians, Patriots, and just about anybody. Before Senator Lindsey Graham’s cause of death was even known, the media and social media was rampant with conspiracy theories.

And that’s the heart of most deception!

Lying, deceiving media that gives voice to the devil and people who should know better like boomers, Christians, bloggers, podcasters, and even pastors falling into the devil’s trap.

How Do You Resist the Spirit of Deception?

Resisting the spirit of deception requires vigilance, discernment grounded in God’s Word, and prayerful reliance on the Holy Spirit.

The Bible repeatedly warns believers about deception. From the earliest chapters, deception is portrayed as a tool of Satan, as seen when the serpent deceived Eve in Genesis 3, leading to humanity’s fall.

The Apostle Paul cautions in 2 Corinthians 11:3 that believers’ minds can be led astray from devotion to Christ, echoing the danger of subtle deception. Paul also instructs in Colossians 2:8 to avoid being taken captive by human philosophies or empty deception, highlighting the importance of grounding faith in Christ rather than worldly ideas.

Jesus Himself warns in Matthew 24:4-5 about false prophets who will mislead many, emphasizing the prevalence of spiritual deception. Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many.“

The Holy Spirit is essential for discernment, as Jesus promises in John 16:13 that the Spirit will guide believers into all truth. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.“

Ephesians 6:10-18 describes the Armor of God: the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Tools to stand firm against the devil’s schemes.

Dave and I pray the Armor of God every morning. I’ve often said, I might not be alive today had we not started this spiritual practice when we were first married 33 years ago! I highly recommend you add it to your devotional time if you don’t already.

1 Peter 5:8 tells us . . . “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.“

Sadly, many people you and I know have been devoured by CULTure. I hope and pray it’s not you.

Believers are instructed in 1 John 4:1 to discern whether information aligns with Scripture.
“Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.“

It’s important to remember though that even the Devil knows Scripture and people like James Talarico, the heretic running for Senate in Texas, has misused and misinterpreted Scripture. He actually is part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which is not a church of God. 

My Faith Votes “Friday Five” on 7/10/2026 discussed the 226th General Assembly, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approving a resolution supporting expanded access to gender-affirming medical care for transgender individuals and opposing state laws that restrict such treatments, particularly for minors. The resolution also builds upon the denomination’s recent approval of an amendment adding gender identity and sexual orientation to its constitutional anti-discrimination provisions, pending ratification by its presbyteries.

As Christians, right away your discernment antennae should go up not only against the deception of this denomination, but Talarico falsely portraying himself as a “Christian.”

Unfortunately, there is a growing challenge facing many churches today: whether we will stand on the unchanging truth of God’s Word or allow CULTural pressures to redefine what God has already established.

There’s no redefining or reinterpreting Scripture that plainly teaches God created mankind “male and female” and while every person is worthy of love, dignity, and compassion as one made in His image, we must also lovingly uphold His design for humanity.

The enemy delights in sowing confusion, division, and deception, but Jesus declared, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

Jesus is our discerning guiding light to separate truth from the enemy’s lies.

Psalm 37:1-3 encourages us to . . .

Do not fret because of those who are evil
    or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
    like green plants they will soon die away. 3 Trust in the Lord and do good;

Practical Steps to Stand Firm and Triumphant Against Deception

Prayer and Spiritual Warfare: Targeted prayers, especially during quiet or reflective times, can break the influence of deception. Prayers can include asking God to expose lies, dismantle strongholds of deceit, and protect your mind, will, and emotions from demonic influence. Seek the Holy Spirit’s intervention and clarity.

Scriptural Grounding Against Deception: Regular study of the Bible equips believers to recognize false teachings. Being rooted in God’s Word allows you to distinguish truth from lies, even when deception appears subtle or convincing. That’s why it’s vital that Christians read their Bible daily more than listening to the news or scrolling on social media, which can be so deceptive. 

It isn’t enough to sit in church on Sundays. If you’re not opening your Bible everyday . . . you will be ripe for deception. 

Nehemiah 6 illustrates how steadfastness, prayer, and discernment help resist manipulation and false accusations. Stop right now and read how Nehemiah stood firm against deception. I love the Book of Nehemiah. 

Renouncing Deception: Actively rejecting lies, false visions, or misleading influences through prayer and declaration strengthens spiritual protection. This includes renouncing any agreements with deception, whether knowingly or unknowingly, practically or even in your mind. I actually find myself denouncing lies in the name of Jesus that I hear on the radio or TV.

Walking in Love and Truth: Love for others and adherence to God’s truth serve as defenses against deception. By prioritizing Scripture over human opinions and worldly philosophies, believers maintain clarity and spiritual integrity.

However, some are so deceived, words will never change their mind. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. So earnest prayer is the hope they someday see the truth.  

Whether the deception is political, conspiracy theories, media propaganda, social media, or even in your family or church, this is no surprise to God. Numerous Scriptures warn us to depend on the Holy Spirit, not the CULTure of the world.

    Prayer to Stand Strong Against Deception

    Heavenly Father, in the Name of Jesus, I thank You that You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I take a stand against any deception trying to take root in my mind, heart, and soul. I bind every lie and shatter every false vision sent to mislead me. Holy Spirit, search my heart and reveal any area where I have believed a lie, replacing it with Your unchanging truth. Please help me to always walk in discernment, love, and faith, protected by Your Word. Give me Your Words to use when standing firm against the evil of the enemy. I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11) Amen

    Please leave a comment here.

    July 13, 2026
    Return to top of page

    Praying for President Trump: A Call to Action

    3

    As you read this blog, you may be getting ready to watch President Trump’s inauguration as the 47th President of the United States, or maybe you’ve already watched it. Regardless, history is being made as he becomes only the second president in United States history to win non-consecutive terms as we launch into a new era that Trump has called the “Golden Age.”

    Most of us would agree that the past four years have been hard, but we made it. I personally can see many reasons that God had President Trump wait until this year to reenter the White House and perhaps I will save that for a future blog. Today, I want to do something a little different and suggest a call to action to pray for success, protection, and wisdom for our new President and all those who will be serving our country with him and his family who love and support him. So, pray with me please and feel free to add any prayers the Holy Spirit brings to your mind in the comments.

    Dear Heavenly Father,

    We come together today using these humble written words and Your Words to praise You and pray for newly elected President Donald J. Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, cabinet members, and additional staff who will be serving the American people in the federal government. And we pray for all their families.

    Father, You tell us in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 that You command us to pray for those in authority because it is vital to the success of any leadership, and we want this administration to be successful. You say, I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

    As Your followers who want to live peaceful and quiet lives, we pray that our national, state, and local governments would rule with godliness and holiness and seek You always for wisdom, guidance, and discernment in governing.

    The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations and thwarts all their schemes. 11 But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken. 12 What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance. Ps. 33:10-12

    So first, we pray that President Trump, his advisers, cabinet, and team would look to You, Lord, as they make and execute their plans for our Nation. That they would humbly and patiently seek Your will and not their own. We trust Father that if they would simply ask You will help them with all the decisions and policies they will be making, changing, or discarding. The king’s [President’s] heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases. (Pr. 21:1)

    For those, Lord, who refuse to seek You, we pray for their removal from positions that would inflict anything on constituents which goes against Your Word and Your will. We especially pray for eyes to open and hearts to break for the imperative need for righteous protection of the unborn. The removal of evil teaching policies and sexual grooming in the education of our children and grandchildren and that You, Lord, would be brought back into our schools along with a patriotic love for our country. We pray that marriage and sex would be governed as you designed in creation and not as man has “reimagined” and distorted it.

    Lord, Your Word tells us in Proverbs 29:2 that, When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan. Lord, we have been groaning now for four years under a heavy burden of wickedness and unrighteousness with evil, lies, and injustice in our government. We identify with Old Testament people as they vacillated between bad and good judges and kings. We praise You and give You gratitude for hearing the pleas of over 77 million Americans who voted for a return to civility, common sense, and biblical principles and values in our country as our founding fathers envisioned in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

    We praise You, Lord, that there are some godly people now in positions of authority. We pray not only that they would not bend or break in their devotion to You in all their actions, decisions, words, and policies, but that they would also be a witness of the power of Jesus Christ in their life as they serve along some who may not know you personally. Let the faithful never be afraid to share that their hope, strength, and power originates from You, Lord. “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” Matt. 10:32-33)

    Please let each official who knows You as his or her Savior remember Your counsel to live by and govern with a biblical worldview and be ready to explain the reasons why. 1 Peter 3:15-16 advises how to do this.  But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

    We pray Lord that You will protect President Trump from physical, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual harm. We know that the worst of all the world’s enemies is Satan who prowls around like a roaring lion night and day looking for someone to devour. We’ve watched satanic evil target President Trump in assassination attempts to take his life and lawfare to falsely slander and imprison him. Yet still he has prevailed. We see in his words that he understands it is You, God, who has saved him physically, and we pray he is saved spiritually. Let all the attempts of the evil one against President Trump, his family, his cabinet, and his team bounce off their shields of faith and boomerang back on the assailants. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Eph. 6:16

    Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection. Pr. 30:5 NLT

    Franklin Graham reminds us that, “As we pray, remember above all that our hope is in the Lord, not men. Only [You] God can save souls and only [You] God can bring revival to the nation—a moral and spiritual transformation that brings stability, true peace and God’s blessings.”

    Oh Lord, You never fail and You always achieve Your good and rightful purpose. Let us be people who continue to pray for our president and government not just on Inauguration Day, but every day. Even when we can’t see clearly what You’re doing, You tell us to partner with You in praise, prayer, and purpose. So, we now humbly submit and commit to You that we will do just that to the best of our ability. We will give You all the praise and glory for the blessings You have given each of as American citizens currently and Heavenly citizens for eternity.

    “We have no King but Jesus.” John Adams

    If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chr. 7:14)

    For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jer. 29:11-13

    Amen

    If you would like to add a prayer thought or leave a comment, please click here.

    January 20, 2025
    Return to top of page

    God Fights for Prodigals When We Pray His Will!

    2

    “You know how it feels when you see any glimmer of hope in your prodigal.” —A praying mom

    If you follow my blogs and newsletters, you know I wait on the Lord to tell me what to write about each week. God is so faithful to not only give me a word, but also back it up with confirmation that I cannot ignore. So I know today there are parents and grandparents in my reading audience experiencing sorrow over prodigals in your family because that’s what God has told me to write about in this blog. It’s not the first time I’ve written on this topic, in fact, I wrote an entire book about praying for our prodigals.

    Last week, hubby and I participated in a prayer group where the common request was for prodigal children, most of whom were in the millennial age range in their thirties and early forties. That was the age of my own prodigal years. Even children raised in Christian homes sometimes want to explore their independence, which might mean venturing into the world’s ways. So, we prayed that night for the spiritual awakening, or reawakening, of all the prodigals.

    Then the next night, Dave and I watched a recorded Flashpoint program, which aired originally on the same night the group was praying for prodigals. Gene Bailey, the host of Flashpoint, interviewed Pastor Kent Christmas about his new book, Turning Sorrow Into Joy: A Journey of Faith and Perseverance. Here’s the interview: Kent Christmas on FlashPoint with Gene Bailey Interview Segment 4.9.2024 (youtube.com). If you have a loved one engaging in sexual sin, I highly recommend you listen.

    In the interview with Pastor Christmas, they referred to the previous night’s program when again the topic was praying for prodigals. Now God really had my attention, so we watched it also. Gene Bailey interviewed Pastor Tim Sheets of Awaken Ministries and his daughter Rachel Shafer who wrote together Come Home: Pray, Prophesy, and Proclaim God’s Promises Over Your Prodigal. Even as parents and grandparents agonize and grieve with tears on their pillow every night, Pastor Sheets and Rachel offered assurance that God will forgive returning prodigals.

    They emphasized that while you wait, stay rooted in God. Your feelings and emotions will lie to you, but God’s Word is truth, as I wrote in last week’s blog Knowing and Speaking Only the Truth Will Keep Us Free!

    Come Home contains 90 decrees in Scriptures to pray for bringing prodigals home.  In the interview, the authors mentioned several verses with the prophetic message of hope. Belief accelerates the power of God. Believe in a future where your children will come home physically and spiritually.

    But now this is what the Lord says: “Do not weep any longer, for I will reward you,” says the Lord. “Your children will come back to you from the distant land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for your future,” says the Lord. “Your children will come again to their own land. Jer. 31:16-17 NLT

    God promises He will fight for and save your children! You must believe and claim these promises and pray them over your children with unwavering faith.

    Who can snatch the plunder of war from the hands of a warrior? Who can demand that a tyrant[a] let his captives go? 25 But the Lord says, “The captives of warriors will be released, and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved. For I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children. Isaiah 49:24-25

    The Message translation of Isaiah 49:24-25 says: Can plunder be retrieved from a giant, prisoners of war gotten back from a tyrant? But God says, “Even if a giant grips the plunder and a tyrant holds my people prisoner, I’m the one who’s on your side, defending your cause, rescuing your children. And your enemies, crazed and desperate, will turn on themselves, killing each other in a frenzy of self-destruction. Then everyone will know that I, God, have saved you—I, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

    Those verses emphasize that God’s on our side. He’s going to save our children. While we want to believe this, it’s tempting to take back our concerns and worries even after we cast them onto God. We should quit putting power into earthly circumstances and instead magnify God and His heavenly perspective as these following Psalms emphasize.

    All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 28 for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. Ps. 22:27-28

    They [prodigals] will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior. Ps. 24:5 NLT

    My Daughter and My Prodigal Story of Redemption

    I wrote Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter: Hope, Help & Encouragement for Hurting Parents with input from my daughter of what she was thinking and feeling during her prodigal years. For seventeen years, I was a prodigal raising a prodigal until God reawakened my spirit at a Harvest Crusade where I rededicated my life to Christ. On the stadium floor, I knelt and told the Lord, “Your prodigal has returned. I will go where you send me.”

    Kim didn’t receive well the dramatic change in my life. She was happy with the way we were living before. In spite of her resistance, I felt an urgency for Kim to also surrender her life to the Lord. I remembered a time when I stopped eating beef and switched to turkey burger. One day Kim, who was probably in middle school, said, “Mom, don’t you care about my health too?!” I thought she would still want hamburgers, but she wanted to be healthy like me. She hasn’t eaten beef since.

    After my rededication, I heard a message on the reality of hell. I couldn’t stand the thought of my daughter going there. I had a dream that I looked down from heaven and heard her saying, “Mom didn’t you care enough about my spiritual health to not give up on me?” That’s when I began praying Scripture for my daughter daily, biblically, expectantly, persistently, sacrificially, unceasingly, and thankfully.

    In Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, Kim writes, “Mom, I saw the book Praying God’s Will for my Daughter in your bathroom one time, and I felt resentful that you thought I was ‘lost’ and needed you to pray for me. You turned your life around so completely, and I couldn’t relate to the new, ‘weird’ you. All the praying stuff was outside of my comfort zone. When I learned you were praying for me, it upset me. I felt that I could take care of myself and didn’t need your prayers.”

    From the devotional Kim referred to above, I learned how to personalize and pray Scripture for her, which allowed me to pray God’s will while I journaled my will to release my feelings and concerns on paper. I share those journal writings throughout the book and include “40 Days of Praying Scripture for Your Prodigal” on page 313. Kim thanks me today that I never gave up praying for her.

    Satan is Targeting Children!

    Today, Satan is blatantly attacking the family and children more openly and abrasively than ever before.  Abortion for teenagers or gender changes without parents’ consent. Parents who want to know what their children are being taught in schools labeled domestic terrorists! Drugs are rampant and killing our children. Child suicide has reached record numbers. Schools are teaching young children about perverse sex practices as “sex education,” even as young as kindergarten. As “gay rights” became mainstream and legalized, Satan had to move it up a notch to transgenderism. Children are given drugs and surgically mutilated, irreversibly in many cases, and deceived into thinking they can change their gender from the way God created them. Drag grooming is considered entertainment for children, even though it’s a precursor to pedophilia.

    This isn’t normal or biblical. It’s satanical. Satan really is coming after our children, but Christians have the weapons we need to ward off the attacks of the enemy. Prayer. God’s Word. Civic action like voting, running for office, and activism.

    I’m not writing this article to promote my book, or any book, but there’s a reason God had these pastors and me write about saving our prodigals. Because we all need to know how to love and pray scripturally for children and grandchildren, while still maintaining a relationship with them without backing down from our biblical beliefs. Their very lives depend on it!

    If you have a child or grandchild involved in sinful activities, it doesn’t make it right. Yes, I know it hurts and it’s painful. Parents often think they need to go along with what their child is doing or risk losing the relationship instead of being godly parents and getting them the emotional, spiritual, and mental help they’re so desperately crying out for, while also praying unceasingly for them. If they were a murderer, and some are, you still love your child, but you don’t decide that murder is acceptable because your child committed it. That applies to any and every sin.

    I chose to unconditionally love but never condone. In God’s eyes, all sin is wrong, and all have sinned. Only repentance and asking forgiveness from Jesus for our sins places us in a right relationship with God. Salvation.

    We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. 23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. Romans 3:22-24 NLT

    Never Stop Praying!

    Declaring God’s Word over your prodigal activates your own faith!

    None of us know when Christ is going to return for believers. We watch the prevalent evil today and wonder how long it will be before the Lord says enough. No parent or grandparent wants to have a child or grandchild left behind. That was the urgency I felt when I was praying for my daughter’s salvation. Then I prayed for each of our eleven grandchildren to be saved with the assurance that I would someday see them all again in heaven. Yes, there’s been a few regressions, and I just pray all the harder because I know what God assured me with my daughter: God wants our prodigals back even more than we do!

    Don’t give up and let Satan win the spiritual battle for your prodigal’s heart and soul. Though it may seem contradictory, the more rebellious, defiant, stubborn, and argumentative your prodigal becomes, the more you should cling to this hope and encouragement: God is working in his or her heart, and they’re resisting. But that means they haven’t surrendered completely to Satan and are experiencing tormenting guilt. God hasn’t given up and neither should you. There’s still hope.

    I know it’s hard to do when your heart is breaking and you don’t see any change in the situation, but never stop praying for your prodigal. Pastor Christmas prayed and interceded for 14 years. I prayed Scripture for six years for my prodigal. Previous blogs from prodigal Alycia Neighbours whose story is in Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, shared how long her parents prayed for her return: Never Stop Praying for Your Prodigal! and After the Party for the Returning Prodigal.

    Alice prayed for 27 years. She said, “It’s all you can do when everything else is out of your control.” In the chapter on Praying Biblically in Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, Alice told how she prayed Scripturally for her daughter, which is how I prayed for my daughter EVERY DAY! It’s simply personalizing and paraphrasing God’s Word as a prayer back to Him. Here’s an example of how Alice said she prayed Scripture for her prodigal.

    “I’ve learned to pray for my daughter by praying back the Scriptures to God. For example, I pray Ezekiel 36:27-29 for Liz’s heart to soften and for her to return home: “God, give my daughter Liz a heart of flesh to replace her heart of stone toward spiritual things. Through Your Spirit, move her to follow Your decrees and carefully keep Your laws. Help Liz to return home Allow her to live in the land You, God, gave to her spiritual forefathers; may she be Your child, may You be her God. Save her from all her uncleanness.”

    As another praying mom Suzanne said, “I know God isn’t done with her, and I choose to see her the way He does!”

     “Never stop praying!” 1 Thess. 5:17 NLT

    Photo Credits: http://www.sharefaith.com

    PS Hear the interview I did on Solomon and Jamila Jefferson’s podcast about praying for your prodigals, It’s Not How You Start But How You Finish. click here.

    PSS The principles I share in Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter also apply to sons and grandchildren. There are questions at the end of each chapter for use in a Support Group or Bible study group.

    Library Update

    • VICTORY!! Idaho’s Governor Little signed the Children’s School and Library Protection Act, finally addressing the widespread library porn issue in a meaningful way! It goes into effect this summer so I’ll  follow up with our local library to be sure they enforce it.
    • Gov. Little also signed Bill 538 that bars teachers from referring to a student by a name or pronoun that doesn’t align with their birth sex unless parents consent.
    • Last month, the governor signed House Bill 668, which blocks the use of public funds for gender-affirming procedures.
    • Gov. Little also signed House Bill 421. It states, “In human beings, there are two, and only two, sexes: male and female. In no case is an individual’s sex determined by stipulation or self-identification.” Most notably, in addition to ruling that sex and gender were synonymous, this bill “codifies in state law biological definitions for ‘woman,’ ‘man,’ and other sex-based terms, making [Idaho] the fifth to exclude men who identify as women from being legally recognized as female.”

    Idaho is on a role! What’s happening in your state?

    Please leave a comment here. I always reply!

    April 15, 2024
    Return to top of page

    When Did Bible-Believing Christians Start Being Labeled “Right Wing”?

    8

    The title of my September AHW Ministries newsletter’s opening article is “Lord, Bring Our Prodigals Home!” I wrote that article because of the recent interest and activity around a book I wrote almost fifteen years ago as a memoir of being a prodigal mom raising a prodigal daughter, Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter: Hope, Help & Encouragement for Hurting Parents. My daughter Kim shares her journey during that time too and each chapter also includes the story of other moms with a prodigal daughter and some of those daughters share their story.

    The key to praying for my prodigal I discovered was praying and personalizing Scripture. Praying God’s Word back to Him for my daughter. Instead of just praying my will, I prayed for His will in her life. The back of the book has a section 40 Days of Praying Scripture for Your Daughter and this can also be applied to prodigal sons or grandchildren.

    In the past few months, the Lord has brought Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter to my attention in a variety of ways. One of the contributing mothers in the book sent me a praise for her daughter’s return to the Lord and to her family after 10 years of praying. A few days later, another mother emailed me that she had just read the book and it was helping her in communicating with her daughter. Sales on the book have suddenly increased noticeably. A couple who has a podcast, “It’s Not How You Start But How You Finish,” contacted me for an interview on the book, which you can listen to here.

    Again, I hope you’ll read the full article in my AHW Ministries newsletter of what God is doing with this book and listen to the podcast because I don’t want to repeat it all here for those of you who already read my newsletter. If you don’t receive my newsletter, you can sign up on my website or let me know and we’ll sign you up.

    But here’s what I do want to talk about in this blog. Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter has been out since January 2008, so I hadn’t looked for a long time at the comments on Amazon. I’m not an author that is always checking my reviews because I’m usually on to writing the next book or article, but with all the activity lately, I decided to take a look. God wanted me to see a comment which was right on top.

    At first, I chuckled, but then I was sad for the mother. It was the best “worst” review I’d ever had.

    The reviewer returned the book, gave me only 1 star, and headed her comment “This book is for the deeply and devoted right wing Christians.” This was startling since it was my first time being referred to as a “right-wing” Christian. I’m always clear that I’m a Bible-believing Christian and in today’s culture that can set you apart because anyone can say they’re a Christian, but fewer and fewer people are connecting Christianity with the Bible and that’s a real travesty.

    Here’s the first paragraph of the reader’s comment. I would encourage you to go to the page on Amazon if you want to read the remainder because it makes it even clearer why she thought my book was only for the deeply devout Christian and yet I ask: how can you be a Christian and not be devout?

    “I have no judgment for the author or the tone of this book. For Christians who are devoted to God and extreme in their beliefs, this book is for them. My own struggles with my prodigal daughter led me to buy the book with hope to help guide me through my pain. However, the book is not so much about daughters coming home to their family as it is daughters coming home to Jesus. Over and over again, the dilemma was about the prodigal daughter coming back to Jesus and religion.”

    I was elated that she got my point in the book that the answer to any prodigal’s life-changing return is first their return to Jesus! But I was deflated that she rejected this truth as too “right wing.” She added the term “religion,” but I talk about a relationship with Jesus NOT a religion.

    My Thoughts on Being Called Right-Wing Christians

    I don’t receive or acknowledge “right wing” as an acceptable term for Christians. I find it offensive to make it sound like we’re eccentric or on the edge to be extremely in love with Jesus and the inerrant Word of God, the Bible!

    I don’t accept “Cultural Christian” or “Progressive Christian” as a description for any Christian because you’re either with the culture or with Christ. There’s no in between. The Bible is clear that we will have to be in the world while we’re alive, but we must not become of the world. Christ came to change the culture and turn people away from sin, not embrace sin as acceptable because it makes them feel good.

    Christ came to make us holy NOT happy! What so many don’t understand is that when you let go of the secular culture and grab the hand of Jesus, you will be happy for eternity.

    14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. John 17:14-17 NLT

    I had a Facebook “conversation” where someone told me God did not create her or the climate. So I asked well then who did? She said that I needed to study biology instead of the Bible, which she referred to as “fantasy.” I said, well one thing the Bible and biology both agree on is that we’re all going to die and I know where I’m going to spend eternity. Do you know where you’re going when you die? The conversation ended.

    The Bible tells us this world is but a bleep in the big picture of our life. Attempting to be a Christian who thinks that Jesus died on the Cross so that we could keep on sinning because He loves us so much or that the Bible doesn’t apply to today’s world is left-wing, wrong-wing, believing Satan-infused-demonic wing progressive lies and rationalizations.

    Every Christian must make the decision to remain Christ-like and be a Bible-Believer no matter what names they call you. In fact, if someone isn’t calling you a name in today’s culture, you might not be wearing Jesus on your sleeve, and I’m not talking about a t-shirt.

    Christians are not left wing or right wing, we’re under Jesus’s wing!

    He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Ps. 91:4 NLT

    In Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, my daughter, Kim, came to the realization that being a Christian cannot be inherited or passed down through your family. Living in a Christian family doesn’t make you a Christian. It educates you and certainly wraps you in Christian love, but choosing Christ as your Lord and Savior is an individual decision only you can make.

    Kim wrote about an experience she had in the Bible-based premarital course Dave and I gave her and Toby as an engagement gift, which they didn’t appreciate, but that is where they were both saved!

    “Pastor Pete made it clear we couldn’t get to heaven on our parents’ faith—something I had been counting on—it had to be our own personal decision and relationships with Christ. That really got us thinking. I know that because we committed our lives to Christ, God has blessed our marriage.”

    You’re either Holy Spirit-filled, or you’re not. I think God is putting the pressure on currently for the true Bible-believing Christians to step forward. The words I wrote in Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, still ring true today because they were based on the premise that Jesus is the Only way, a truth that never changes.

    And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Phil. 1:9-11

    Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

    Note: Dave and I saw the movie SuperSpreader about worship leader Sean Feucht’s journey in starting the ministry Let Us Worship during a time when Covid was closing churches and not allowing people to sing in church. A powerful movie only in theaters until 10/6 so I hope you’ll find out where it’s playing in your area. Sean lives out Isaiah 6:8

    Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

    I said, “Here I am. Send me.” (NLT)

    My book Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter is also available on my website signed and personalized.

    If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

    I apologize if you receive an email of this blog twice, but we’re having problems with MailChimp our delivery mechanism and it didn’t send out the blog to the majority of our mailing list the day it posted so we’re reposting it again.

    October 3, 2022
    Return to top of page

    Turning Panic into Praise

    10

    Many people are panicked right now and worried about how Russia invading Ukraine might affect them personally. Are we going to see WWIII? It’s understandable also to be concerned with the rising costs at the gas pumps and the grocery stores. This is especially disconcerting for people like us on a fixed income or those who find themselves living paycheck to paycheck with rising inflation.

    But imagine those families in Ukraine living a normal life one day and the next hovering in a cold basement or bomb shelter because a crazed dictator has decided he wants their country for himself! Just like that, the Ukrainian people are thrown into panic yet we still see many video clips of them singing hymns and praying to God as they await their fate. No doubt, there will be many testimonies of God’s protection, provision, and intervention.

    CBN News reports “Ukrainians are setting up bomb shelters and turning to God. They continue to pray Psalm 31 amid deadly uncertainty.”

    O Lord, I have come to you for protection;
        don’t let me be disgraced.
        Save me, for you do what is right.
    2 Turn your ear to listen to me;
        rescue me quickly.
    Be my rock of protection,
        a fortress where I will be safe.
    3 You are my rock and my fortress.
        For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger.
    4 Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me,
        for I find protection in you alone.
    5 I entrust my spirit into your hand.
        Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God. -Psalm 31:1-5

    How My Own Panic Turned to Praise

    My husband Dave is having his second knee replacement surgery on March 9th and there are so many things to do to get ready for him being in a recovery mode for a few months. If you follow me regularly, you know his first knee replacement surgery in May 2021 was difficult and we’re praying that this one will go much smoother, while also trying to be prepared if it doesn’t.

    So a couple weeks ago, I woke up at 4 am in a panic thinking of our long to-do list. We live over an hour away from “civilization” in a small rural mountain community so there are many things we need to stock up on and many preparations to make in advance. After about an hour of mind reeling panic, tossing and turning, I was praying for God to quiet my mind when I sensed the Lord saying gently, “I will be with you, right beside you through it all.”

    In relief, I said, “Oh, Lord, of course you will. Thank you for reminding me.”

    Back to sleep I went as my panic turned to praise.

    God was preparing me for the next week’s events that I could’ve never predicted. As if the Lord wanted to make turning panic into praise personal to us, a habit if you will, Dave and I had two back-to-back “panic” causing experiences. The first one was last Monday when we were at the VA Hospital for Dave’s Pre-op for his upcoming surgery. While in the X-ray department, Dave’s phone rang and I could hear the person on the other end describing our car, which was in the parking garage. As Dave was called to go in for his X-ray, he gave his phone to me and said, “Here, you get the information.”

    Police Officer Joe proceeded to tell me that our car had been involved in a “minor accident” and could we come out to meet a police officer at our car. We agreed I would call when we had finished all our appointments. Of course, my mind started panicking again while praying, “Lord, how are we going to fit this in with all the things we have to do before Dave’s surgery? Will our one and only car be drivable? Am I going to be driving a wrecked car while Dave recovers for the next few months? Will we need an estimate and when do we have time for that?” You get the idea of what you’d be thinking too.

    When officer TJ met us at our car, he proceeded to tell us how a little old man in a small car backed into us and the officer happened to be driving by as the accident happened. We breathed a sigh of relief as we could barely see the scratch on the back fender. Something about the officer’s gentle and kind way told me he was a Christian, so I asked him, and yes, he was!

    Dave and I immediately started praising God for protecting our car, it could’ve been so much worse.

    We went from panic to praise!

    The very next day, we were back in the car headed to Boise again, but when we backed out of our garage, our driveway was a sheet of ice from the night’s rain. As Dave went to turn and navigate down the driveway, our car lost traction and spun out wedging us between two snow embankments. We were stuck! When we tried to step outside the car it was like being on a skating rink, even though we both had boots on we couldn’t walk on it.

    We began frantically calling everyone we could think of to come help us, but all we got were voice mails. We were both panicking, but I kept a continual prayer going for the Lord to send someone to rescue us. After almost an hour, a neighbor drove by and stopped to help dig us out enough to free the car as we slid on down the driveway to the street below. We thanked God for sending Bob to our rescue, our calming guardian angel sent from the Lord!

    We went from panic to praise!

    Someone reading this week’s blog needs to go from panic to praise. I don’t know who or how many of you need to hear a word from the Lord, but I felt He wanted me to share with you the message learned from our experiences. We’re living in a time of what seems like one crisis after another, and yet, as Christians God wants us to still display the joy of the Lord and believe the words He told me when He said in the dark of night, “I will be with you!” Which He declares over 300 times in the Bible, yet still we forget and panic.

    God is with all the Christians in Ukraine and in Russia. He was with those in Canada a few weeks ago, and He is with you and me every day, even when we panic. Yes, there will be trouble in this world but remember . . .

    I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NLT

    But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
        O Israel, the one who formed you says,
    “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
        I have called you by name; you are mine.
    2 When you go through deep waters,
        I will be with you.
    When you go through rivers of difficulty,
        you will not drown.
    When you walk through the fire of oppression,
        you will not be burned up;
        the flames will not consume you.
    3 For I am the Lord, your God,
        the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.     Is. 43:1-3 NLT

    “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

    Then I will rejoice in the Lord.
        I will be glad because he rescues me.
    10 With every bone in my body I will praise him: “Lord, who can compare with you?
    Who else rescues the helpless from the strong?
        Who else protects the helpless and poor from those who rob them?”     Psalm 35:9-11 NLT

    A Brief Sabbatical

    I’ll be taking a sabbatical from writing for a few weeks. As I wrote in the above blog, my husband Dave is having his second knee replacement surgery on March 9 and I’ll be devoting my time and energy to his recovery. Many people want to comfort us with, “Well, it will be easier now that you know what to expect.” But Dave and I each look at each other knowingly and gently reply that because we know what to expect it’s definitely not easier!

    We both covet your prayers as we go through this journey together yet again. We each know we’ll need to rely solely on God to turn any times of panic into praise.

    You might enjoy reading an article I wrote for Crosswalk that just posted 23 Uplifting Bible Verses About Loving Each Other

    If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

    March 7, 2022
    Return to top of page

    Police Officers Have Our Back; Let’s Have Theirs!

    11

    Another press conference was held last week where a Police Chief tearfully makes statements like this one: We’re heartbroken to make this announcement of the ambush and fatal shooting of one of our officers, a son, husband, and friend, and his partner who was gravely wounded and hospitalized. We ask for your support and prayers for our fellow officers and their families as we try to cope with yet another tragic event in our police family.

    Five New York police officers as of this writing have been shot in the month of January alone!!! Let that resonate with you. Then before I could even post this blog, another tragic headline loomed on my phone on Sunday morning: “Texas Deputy Constable Shot Dead During Traffic Stop.” Cpl. Charles Galloway, 47, a 12-year veteran of the force.

    Sadly, as I turn off my computer Sunday night, I see this alarming headline “War on Cops” announcing that a DC Police Officer was rushed to the hospital after getting shot tonight! I fear, I will wake up in the morning to more heartbreaking police shootings.

    With today’s rise in crime, shootings of police officers have become far too common. These murders are notoriously rising in liberal blue states because of “defunding the police,” elimination of cash bail, redefining and lowering the bar for crime, and Soros funded DA’s who refuse to prosecute while setting criminals free on the streets to maim and kill innocent people, including police officers!

    Weak governors like Newsom in crime-ridden California who apologizes and asks forgiveness for calling the criminals looting trains exactly what they are, “gangs,” only emboldens the criminals. “Forgive me,” Newsom stutters on camera, “They’re organized groups.”

    After the murder of the young rookie New York police officer, even some of the progressives who led the charge on defunding and reimagining the police are waking up to the reality of their stupidity! But that won’t bring back the life of Officer Jason Rivera! Defund the Police Backers Sing a Different Tune After Rookie Cop is Slain.

    It’s Personal

    I understand the toll this job can take on the police officers and their families. I was so proud of my handsome father when he put on his California Highway Patrolman uniform and badge. Until the morning I woke up to wails and sobs coming from our living room filled with people. Even as a ten-year-old, I knew intuitively my father was gone. When he kissed me goodbye as he left for work that evening, it would be the last time I ever saw him alive. A reality our family lived with every day, but one we never thought would happen to us, until it did.

    My father’s “last watch” was sixty-four years ago and yet the memory never fades. Embedded deep in my heart is the tragedy of my beloved thirty-six-year old father being shot in the heart with his own gun by a suspect who wrestled with him during a traffic stop. It was national news. The nation mourned with us.

    The job of a police officer is to run toward danger, at the risk of his or her own life, to save and protect strangers. It once was a noble respected profession, but today’s culture has come to expect and accept that many will die senselessly. Their death barely makes the local news.

    I know many people prayed for our family. The year after my father’s murder, I became a Christian at a church camp when a counselor sat on my camp cot and asked, “I know you’ve lost your earthly father. Would you like a heavenly Father who will never leave or forsake you?”

    Maybe you have police officers in your family or friends and you know the dangerous position they’re placed in by today’s evil governments and lawless culture. Now many police officers desperately needed to protect their communities are actually being fired because of the insane vaccine mandates! Yet you and I are dependent on them when an emergency arises. We rely on the police to do their thankless jobs, even in states that decide the feelings of criminals are more important than the protection of the community!

    What Can We Do to Support Our Police Officers?

    I’ve always said we can make a difference with our voices and our votes. How do these unjust DA’s, governors, and mayors keep getting elected? Maybe we need to join the campaigns of those running against them and not be afraid to take a stand for justice.

    For sure, we know these police officers need our prayers, encouragement, and backing. Let’s pray for the police officers you know and those you don’t know. Those who’ve helped you and even those who might have cited you or given you a ticket, or worse. It’s not a respected or appreciated profession today, and yet brave men and women put on the uniform to answer the call when you’re in trouble.

    Here are four prayers to personalize and pray for police officers and their families. I hope you’ll share this blog because our lives could depend on it!

    Prayer for Protection

    Lord, we don’t know why you have implanted in the hearts of brave men and women to choose a profession that requires them to walk into danger and put their own life on the line to stop lawlessness and crime. You’ve given them a willingness to enforce the law to protect the communities where they serve. Are they fearless? Unintimidated? Thrill seekers? Or do they truly love their neighbor more than themselves and want to do their part in justice for all?

    Only you know for sure Lord what motivates them, but we do know they need a band of angels surrounding them with a hedge of protection. Lord, they face evil and the dark side of life every day. They see the worst of people and people at their worst. Their work tools are weapons. I pray Lord for their safety as they walk up to a car or house or unknown situation never knowing what danger awaits them. If they know you Lord, remind them to say their own prayer of protection and ask you to intervene against any foe. Perhaps something like David prayed, “I come to you for protection, O Lord my God. Save me from my persecutors—rescue me!” (Psalm 1:7 NLT).

    And when they emerge safe and victorious, Father, as David did when he was rescued from Saul, give them a heart to give you the glory. If they don’t know you as their Savior, become real to these officers. Let them know you took the bullet for them. Amen

    But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. (Psalm 5:11)

    David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.” (2 Samuel 22:1-4 NLT)

    “God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.” (2 Samuel 22:31 NLT)

    Prayer for Wisdom and Guidance

    Lord, police officers’ days are filled with uncertainties and unknowns as they make quick and often life-changing or life-threatening decisions. Help them to be wise and invoke all their training and experience before moving or speaking. When they have the opportunity to investigate a situation before taking action and engaging, give them patience not to rush to judgement or anger. If they discern a quick decision or movement is required, direct them to move swiftly but safely. If they need to wait for back up or ask for help, don’t let them be prideful or rash but consider the best outcome for everyone involved.

    For those who have a relationship with you, remind them that when in doubt you’re always there for them, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking” (James 1:5 NLT).

    Guide them with their conscience and their code of conduct. Help them remember the protocol and give them the courage to do the next right thing for the best outcome.

    When they need to take orders from their chain of command, give them humble but steady hearts and guard their words.

    Give them compassion when they determine there is no ill intent but also a keen awareness for deception. Remind them that they may not have all the evidence to make a final decision. Help them to see the good in people, and don’t let their hearts become hardened and calloused by the deceit and dark-side of life they encounter daily. Amen

    I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes. (Psalm 119:125)

    So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. (Colossians 1:9 NLT)

    Prayer for Their Families

    Father you’ve so graciously given two families to every police officer: their personal or extended family and their professional family.

    To their personal families, please give strength to endure the demanding schedule of a police officer. Provide understanding and flexibility for the times when their officer isn’t available for special occasions because police officers’ shifts can be anytime day or night seven days a week, even on holidays, weekends, and birthdays. It’s disappointing when their officer has to work and they want him or her home.

    Instill the family with compassion to not take it personally when he or she doesn’t want to talk about their work and give the family intuition to know when their officer needs the space to decompress when returning home. May the family never minimize the significance of a police officer’s work. Let home be a place of solace when he or she returns safely but perhaps scarred by what they’ve seen and experienced.

    Lord, it takes a special kind of love and patience to live with police officers. Remind the family members to pray for their officer daily and to let him or her know they’re prayed over, appreciated, and loved.

    Help family members to be alert and responsive when their officer is showing signs of stress, overwork, and trauma and encourage them to seek help. Likewise, Father surround the family with those who will notice the tenuous relationships that can develop within the family members.

    Father, these precious and brave families make sacrifices few understand. Fill their homes with love, peace, joy, grace, and closeness because they support a police officer even at their own sacrifice.

    Lord, every officer also has a close work family bond. They’re a team who have each other’s back and depend on one another for support, encouragement, skill, and camaraderie in facing the challenges of the job. Lord, bring unity and synergy to these men and women as they guard each other’s lives while working together to keep the streets of their communities safe and free of crime.

    Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. (Romans 12:10)

    For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.” (Psalm 122:8)

    Prayer for Mourners of Those Lost in the Line of Duty

    Father, there are no more heart wrenching screams than, “Officer down.” Except perhaps the torment of a family opening the door to see two fellow officers of their officer standing with grim faces and tears welling in their eyes as the family falls to its knees with guttural shrieks, “No God, please no!” Or maybe you hear them wailing, “Why God, how could you do this when they were only trying to protect our community?” “Lord where were you when they were dying?”

    Lord, how does anyone comfort this family? Like Jeremiah they wail, “My grief is beyond healing; my heart is broken” (Jeremiah 18:18 NLT). There are no human answers to satisfy or soothe their agonizing wounds of grief, anger, and sorrow. Only you can Lord. Psalm 147:3 assure us that “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” And Psalm 34:18 NLT confirms, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”

    We beg of you to surround them with love. Bring others to their side who have experienced their pain and understand the deep ache in their heart and will pray with and for them. Keep away those who patronize and tell them everything will be all right, because for this family, it will never be alright again.

    Father, you know the fellow officers who mourn with the family, especially those who were with the fallen officer. Remove from them the repeated nightmares of asking themselves what they could have done differently or why wasn’t it them in the coffin. Lord you know, that the death of their fellow officer will always haunt them and the memory will never fade. Father guide them to the help they need to recover from what they’ve seen and don’t let it cause division among the unit or place any in danger with fear and hesitancy. Guide them in keeping their focus on work when they’re on duty and help guard their minds from the “what-ifs” when they try to sleep at night. Help them rest and renew their resolve to do their job to the best of their ability.

    Father we know you mourn with both these families. Give them whatever they each need in their lives. Walk beside them Father. If they know you as their Lord and Savior, draw them into your embrace and fill them with a peace that passes all understanding. For those who don’t know you, open their eyes to seek you, the only source of relief from their anguish. Let them feel your presence grieving with them. Your tears. Your hugs. Your love. Amen

    Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains. (Proverbs 14:13 NLT)

    Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds, rejoice before him—his name is the Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. (Psalm 68:4-5)

    We Honor Our Police Officers with Respect and Appreciation

    Use respectful words when talking about and to police officers. Thank them for their service. Pray when you see police officers patrolling or a police car on the road. Don’t pray for yourself that they don’t pull you over, but pray because you don’t know what awaits them the next time they do make a traffic stop. Never let the death of an officer become commonplace in America or in our hearts. When you hear a siren, pray. We never know when we, or our loved ones, might be the life they’re rushing to save.

    If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

    The opening picture is a magnet available on ebay!

    January 24, 2022
    Return to top of page

    Prayers for Peace and Calm During Pandemic Fear

    2

    In unsettling times, we find our peace in the presence of the Lord. He is the only effective cure and antidote to treat and temper the contagious fear epidemic our world is experiencing today.

    We live in a fallen world that thrives on keeping us fearfully treading from one crisis to the next. It seems like every morning we wake up to a new peril: Covid variants, alarming statistics, recession, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, riots . . . . Even the threat of an enemy attacking us with our own weapons, the heartache of young fallen military men and women, and stranded Americans left behind in a botched attempt to end a war.

    Sensational media headlines keep us stressed, agitated, and fearful because fear-fueled news sells. Press-induced or politically motivated panic will stoke more pandemic fear and consequences than the source of the crisis.

    We must stay current with pertinent accurate information that might affect us personally, but don’t overwhelm yourself reading everything written on the internet or listening to multiple “news” programs or scrolling through social media.

    Then there are our own financial, physical, relational, health, and personal crises that often catch us by surprise and strike terror into our heart. We feel helpless as events seemingly spin out of our control.

    Fear is a powerful human emotion that can cause us to respond inappropriately or motivate us to take positive action. Or fear has the ability to paralyze us from taking any action. Fear can even stop us from turning to God, our Rescuer, who knows every personal and world disruption we will face.

    God’s timeless Word, the Bible, has all the answers for keeping us calm, cool, and collected. He assures us, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

    We want to trust God but there are times when peace eludes us. We’re worried and anxious. We don’t want to be brave this time. Then God reminds us, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

    Courage is fear that prays and calls on God.

    I’m going to do something different this week and offer five prayers I hope will help you faithfully transcend from panic to peace. I prayed these prayers myself as I wrote each one out in first person for you to personalize and provided Scriptures to also pray.

    1. Take Your Worries to the Lord

    Lord, I know that Satan created the spirit of fear, anxiety, doubt, and worries to torture and entrap my mind and rob me of my joy, peace, and sleep. When what-ifs wake me in the dark of night, please help me to denounce Satan and remember 1 Peter 5:7 where you say internal peace is as simple as casting all my anxiety on you because you care for me. I am comforted that you see into the depths of my heart and the intricacies of my mind where unhealthy fears dwell. You already know what’s troubling me, but you want to hear me share my concerns with you to release the stronghold grip they have on my thoughts and emotions.

    Father, I trust that you don’t want me to waste a moment of my life fretting. Please calm my racing heart and fill my troubled mind with hope and my spirit with peace. Assure me that no weapon formed against me will prosper and you have a plan and a purpose for me in this time of turmoil. Show me your ways Lord and grant me the courage to follow where you lead. Amen

    You will keep in perfect peace
        all who trust in you,
        all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah 26:3 NLT

    The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

    “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

    2. Believe God Hears Your Prayers

    Lord, it saddens me that many people don’t understand the power of prayer and even mock me for taking my worries to you in prayer. So I pray first for those who do not believe in you. Where is their hope? I’ll admit that sometimes you seem silent when I so desperately want to hear from you. It’s torture waiting on you, and yet I will wait because I know my prayers are not in vain.

    I don’t know if the latest crisis will affect my family or me, but you are omniscient Lord, so I pray that you will spare us. But if fallout touches any of my loved ones, please comfort them with your healing balm. Sometimes our own choices can put us at risk. So Lord, I pray that we would all be judicious in our actions and interactions. I can remain in perfect peace because I put my future in your capable hands. Amen

    You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” Lamentations 3:57

    Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

    Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
        will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
    This I declare about the Lord:
    He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
        he is my God, and I trust him. Psalm 91:1-2 (NLT)

    3. Pray with Expectancy and Anticipation

    Lord, as I pray with confidence and great expectation, I anticipate your gracious answers to my prayers. When I remember your faithfulness to all generations, excitement and eagerness replace concern and discouragement. Please help me to remember that doubt and faith can’t coexist in my heart. If I’m doubting or anxious, my shield of faith has slipped.

    God I know that you’re looking at the big picture and I can only see a small glimpse distorted by my confusion and perspective. I realize that having faith doesn’t mean there won’t be setbacks or difficult times, but if I’m going to enlist your mighty powers, then I must prayerfully trust that your will is done on earth as it is in heaven. I pray for a miracle of your design.

    Your answer isn’t always what I want to hear, or the option I was hoping for, but whatever it is I will give you the glory because regardless of the outcome, my eternity is with you. Thank you Lord for your Son Jesus Christ enduring the brutal cross for victory over our sins and sicknesses and I claim that victory in my life and for my loved ones. Amen

    But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6

    Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

    He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

    4. Remain Wise and Discerning

    Lord, I want desperately to take your Word to heart, but a tsunami of negativity and fear engulf me. My thoughts wander to worse case scenarios. I need your insight to diligently untangle truthful facts from embellished hysteria. I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in filtering out what I should avoid listening to or considering.

    Infuse me Lord with discernment and wisdom. Give me clarity of mind and heart. Guard my mouth that I don’t spread gossip or hearsay to alarm others. Help me to exhibit love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Like the apostle Paul, may I learn the secret of being content in all circumstances, knowing that I can do all things through you who gives me strength to fulfill your desires. Praise you Lord. Amen

    Let the wise listen and add to their learning,
        and let the discerning get guidance. Proverbs 1:5

    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

    Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:5-6

    5. Look for Opportunities to Comfort Others

    Lord, we won’t live in a perfect world until we join you in heaven. This current situation won’t be the last crisis for the world or for me. I can’t outrun, outpace, outdo, outsmart, outlive . . . trouble. It has a way of popping up even in the good and prosperous seasons in the culture, my life, and the lives of those around me.

    Lord, quiet my raging emotions so that I can be a beacon of healing love and peace to those in my sphere of influence who are overwhelmed by panic and fear. Please help me memorize John 14:1 to share with others who ask me where my peace comes from: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” These are the words that your Son Jesus spoke to His disciples to comfort them and they also give me comfort when I don’t know how the story ends. Use me Lord as your disciple to bring healing to a hurting world. I love you Lord. Amen.

    There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

    Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

    After You’ve Prayed . . .

    Taking recommended and reasonable steps to protect yourself and your loved ones will give you a sense of control that helps to manage uncertainties. Prudently, continue your normal activities that typically bring you joy. Healthy coping mechanisms like exercise, rest, eating properly, reading your Bible, staying connected to friends and family, and listening to praise music can help soothe frazzled nerves. If you have medical anxiety, contact your doctor.

    Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

    I saw this sign in a window, so yes that’s me in the shadow taking the picture, but I wanted to share the message which so beautifully summarizes the heart of this blog!

    *Portions of this article I originally wrote for Crosswalk 5 Powerful Prayers for Peace Amidst Pandemic Fear. I’ve rewritten and shared it here for you because I feel it’s so timely. I pray it blesses you.

    If you received this article by email, please leave a comment here.

    September 13, 2021
    Return to top of page

    Trust In God, Not the Government

    6

    It doesn’t matter which party is in power or who is in government positions, we should always place our trust and hope in God, not the government or politicians. That’s why it still says on our money and in the House Chamber, “In God We Trust,” which became our nation’s official motto on July 30, 1956, when Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill proclaiming it the law of the land!

    I think many lawmakers walking the halls of Congress and many voters forget that God is the only One who is trustworthy, regardless of how many politicians try to put themselves in His place.

    Last week, as Biden gave his first public address to the nation, he painted a “dark” picture of our country and tried to tell us that our only hope of living free again in the land of the free was in his words as he leaned into the camera, “trust the government and science.” A government that wants to tell us when we can hug grandma and grandpa and maybe have a backyard BBQ on the 4th of July if we obey and follow the government’s ever changing “science-based” rules and guidelines for living everyday life.

    What he grossly omitted from his lecture to America was mentioning the Only source of hope out of any darkness or trouble: Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ together in our churches on Easter Sunday next month!

    For a child is born to us,
        a son is given to us.
    The government will rest on his shoulders.
        And he will be called:
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
        Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
    7 His government and its peace
        will never end.
    He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
        for all eternity.
    The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
        will make this happen! Isaiah 9:6-7 NLT

    Discernment and Rational Thinking Seem to Be Masked

    During the election, a group of prominent Pastors and Christian leaders who called themselves, “Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden,” baffled me. It seemed an oxymoron. They wanted to believe that Biden’s campaign would honor a verbal agreement to check with them before making any abortion legislation, so they supported him and tried to get others onboard.

    Yet, with only a little investigation and discernment while listening to his campaign points directed to his core liberal constituency, they would have easily deducted that he actually would . . .

    • Reverse the Hyde Amendment, which he once supported but now Democrats call racist
    • Make himself the champion of a “woman’s right to choose” and call it “healthcare”
    • Force taxpayers to pay for abortion up and through the point of birth
    • Reopen the case against the Little Sisters of the Poor and reinstate the policy that every organization had to pay for abortifacient contraceptives
    • Reverse the Mexico City Policy, which prevents taxpayers from funding abortion overseas
    • If SCOTUS overturned Roe V Wade, he’d go to Congress and make it the law of the land
    • Oh and BTW, his running mate was a liberal advocates for abortion.

    They would know that the head of the U.S. Catholic Bishops wrote a public scathing rebuke of Catholic Biden’s radical support of abortion and redefinition of gender.

    You had to be completely oblivious or in denial not to know that the Biden/Harris administration was going to not only support and liberally promote abortion, but also radical gender identity issues.

    Yet still the Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden are now publically outraged and feel betrayed?!

    “We are very disappointed about the COVID-19 relief package’s exclusion of the Hyde Amendment, a longstanding bipartisan policy that prevents taxpayer funding for abortion. We’re even more upset that the Biden administration is supporting this bill,” the group declared in a recent statement.

    “As pro-life leaders in the evangelical community, we publicly supported President Biden’s candidacy with the understanding that there would be engagement [with] us on the issue of abortion and particularly the Hyde Amendment,” the group said. “The Biden team wanted to talk to us during the campaign to gain our support, and we gave it on the condition there would be active dialogue and common ground solutions on the issue of abortion. There has been no dialogue since the campaign.”

    How could any Christian be so deceived? How did they think they would find common ground with the Biden liberal agenda even if they had been consulted? They weren’t betrayed; they were used. He’s doing just what he said he would do. Joe Biden is being Joe Biden.

    Wouldn’t you think that Pro-life Evangelicals, and even Catholics who voted for him, could’ve seen through his political two-sided facade?

    What made Joe renege his Catholic faith beliefs and reverse position on many policies he once championed like the Hyde Ammendment? Power. It seems that the temptation to compromise became too great. Becoming President overshadowed his once core beliefs.

    It’s so important as citizens and Christians that we diligently do our homework and persistently pray for wisdom and discernment. Look at facts and details with clear unbiased eyes. We don’t want to become jaded with cynicism, but we do want to be realistic and pursue all avenues before making final decisions or placing our support behind a person or issue.

    Often Christians are characterized as naïve and gullible, and honestly, the Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden being so easily manipulated and duped, only reinforces this misconception. But it’s the opposite of who we are! We know the Author of Truth who is just a prayer away.

    We are naïve and gullible when we trust those who do not have the same values and beliefs that we do. If we have doubts or concerns, then we do our own research and don’t rely on political rhetoric.

    Give discernment to me, your servant; then I will understand your laws. Psalm 119:125 NLT

    My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them. Pr. 3:21 NLT

    Rich people may think they are wise, but a poor person with discernment can see right through them. Pr. 28:11 NLT

    Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall. Hosea 14:9 NLT

    Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

    Science Continually Changes, God Never Does

    What so many people forget is that science and faith are not mutually exclusive. God created science and gave man the potential to explore and study it. God created the world; only He knows when it will end. God created and controls the weather and the climate. God created gender, male and female.

    Covid was man-made by scientists and yet we’re continually told to trust the science as government uses the pandemic to control us.

    God knows what we should do in all circumstances. Who we should trust and who has evil motives. We just need to take our concerns and questions to Him. Then listen for His answer!

    Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. Pr. 29:25

     Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Ps. 20:7

    It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in humans. Ps. 118:8

    God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. Ps. 46:1-2

    What Does God Want Us to Learn About Placing Our Trust in the Wrong Places?

    When we pray about decisions, God gives us a confirming peace or a check in our spirit that something isn’t quite right. If you’re experiencing unrest right now, pray and ask God to fill you with discernment and wisdom then trust that the peace you feel moving forward is coming from the Lord.

    Dave and I often pray about big and little decisions on our own and then together. Then we wait until we’re both in agreement that we’re doing the right thing. It might take a while and each of us might need to change some preconceived ideas or do more research, but God will speak to us in unity through our prayers and reading our Bibles. Often one of us will say to the other one, “I was thinking the same thing.” Then we know we’re close to a decision.

    If you’re not married find a prayer partner that you feel comfortable and confident sharing with each other.

    We’re not going to find the way God wants us to go by relying solely on outside input like the culture, media, or social media. We’re children of God, not children of the world.

    “Every Kingdom citizen is called to be a conformist toward God and a nonconformist toward the world’s systems. Let the Spirit change the environment within you; then trust the power within you to change the world around you.” Chris Tiegreen

    If you now regret decisions that you’ve made in the past, join the club. We’ve all been there, but we can learn from our mistakes and with God’s help, choose a better way next time. He’ll never make us go it alone.

    I hope that as you pray over the Scriptures I’ve included in this article that you’ll feel a peace come over you, like I did. We do our part to further the Kingdom, but we do it out of a sense of peace and not stress or fear. Shalom!

    “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense ; he has become my salvation.” Is. 12:2

    You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal. Is. 26:3-4

    Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Ps 143:8

    When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? Ps. 56:3-4

    Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. Ps. 112:6-7

    If you received this article by email, please leave a comment here. I read and reply to all of them.

    The quotes from the Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden came from an article by Mike Huckabee and also a link he shares, but they were readily published in the media. As I read their comments, I sensed that they still didn’t understand where they went wrong as many said they would still vote Democrat even knowing the liberals support everything they don’t support? Voters’ Remorse – Latest News – Mike Huckabee

    March 15, 2021
    Return to top of page

    My Thanksgiving Prayer for You!

    4

    Count your blessings this Thanksgiving and Pray like Paul did in Philippians 1

    Many of you read my blog regularly, though we’ve never met, and others I know quite well or we’ve had the opportunity to meet and fellowship together. But I want you to know that when I write this Monday Morning Blog,  my monthly newsletter, or any of my books, you are on my mind. I’m wondering what you’re thinking about world events, what’s happening in your life, and how I can encourage you with the Word of God and my words.

    Often you tell me that a particular blog or book was just what you needed at the time, and we both know that it was God using me as His messenger. To God be the glory!

    As I read Paul’s letter to the Philippians, I noticed that Chapter 1:3-11, 27-28 in the NIV translation has the heading: Thanksgiving and Prayer. I thought how appropriate to personalize this passage as my Thanksgiving prayer for all of you.

    Adapted from Paul’s letter to the Philippians Chapter 1

    Thanksgiving Prayer (Adapted from Philippians 1:3-11)

    I thank my God every time I remember my family, friends, peeps, neighbors, church family, readers, blog/newsletter followers, brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow authors and speakers . . . .

    In my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy for those who partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in and through you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

    [Tweet “I always pray with joy for those who partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in and through you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”]

    It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart whether I am chained to the computer writing the next book, blog, or newsletter, on a plane to a speaking event, or defending and confirming the gospel and mentoring . . . all of you share in God’s grace and ministry with me spiritually, and sometimes physically, through prayer, communication, and social networking. God can testify how I think of all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

    [Tweet “Share in God’s grace and ministry with me this Thanksgiving and every day through prayer, communication, and social networking.”]

    And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best for you, our country, and those you love and cherish, and that you will remain pure and blameless for the day of Christ.

    That you will lead, guide, encourage, parent, serve, and mentor others and be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

    [Tweet “Lead, guide, encourage, parent, serve, and mentor others, be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”]

    Living a Life Worthy of the Gospel (Adapted from Philippians 1:27-28)

    [Tweet “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ”]

    Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I know you, or never meet you but only hear about your great work, I will know that we stand firm in one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose us. This is a sign to them that they will face destruction if they oppose God’s ways, but that we will be saved by our faith in Jesus Christ—so says our Lord.

    From Janet

    [Tweet “This Thanksgiving, and every day, bravely represent Christ to a depraved and fallen world”]

    This Thanksgiving, and every day, bravely represent Christ to a depraved and fallen world so that because of your living courageously as a woman of faith and sharing the Good News of Jesus, more people will be saved than lost (“destroyed”) when Christ returns.

    I thank God in remembrance of each of you.

    About His Work with you,

    Janet

    A Thanksgiving prayer for you.

    You can sign up for my monthly online newsletter or weekly blog on my website.

    If you receive this blog by email, leave a comment here.

    *This blog is an update of a 2017 prayer.

    *Picture from clip art

    Everyday Brave: Living Courageously as a Woman of Faith available on Amazon and signed by Janet at our website.

    November 25, 2019
    Return to top of page

    Are You The Woman Today You Want Your Daughter to Become?

    2

    If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know I’ve been writing, editing, and proofing a new book, Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness. Last week, I turned in my final proof edit to the publishers, Leafwood Publisher, as I anticipate it’s September 12, 2017 release. Then I learned the exciting news that this book is now on Amazon ready for preorders! You can order now, and as soon as it’s in stock at Amazon, you’ll receive your pre-release copies. The more preorders, the more they bring in stock. Will you help me get this book into the hands of mentors and mentees, those wanting to know how to be a mentor or mentee, and Women’s Ministry Directors to guide women in all seasons of their life.

    This book will guide and equip women from tweens to twilight seasons in how to biblically mentor or be a mentee! I think it’s the first book of it’s kind written for both M&M’S! One endorser has already said every Women’s Ministry Director needs this book in her library. As the summer goes on, I’ll share more tidbits about this book for all women.  So drum roll please . . . I’m unveiling the cover!

    The Mothering Season

    [Tweet “When I speak to woman about mentoring, I tell them that their first mentoring responsibility is to their daughters if they have daughters or nieces. “]

    When I speak to women about mentoring, I tell them that their first mentoring responsibility is to their daughters if they have daughters or nieces. They’re the role model for these young girls and they’re mentoring to them what it looks like to be a woman today: either a woman of the world or a woman of the Word. And then, I ask the question: Are you the woman today you want your daughters to become because they’re watching you, and as much as they don’t want to be like you, they will probably become just like you at sometime in their life.

    In Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, I share how during my backsliding years, my daughter wanted to be just like me. I realized some of the poor choices she was making were a reflection of the poor choices she was watching me make.

    That was a huge revelation to me that I needed to make some changes in my life. When I did rededicate my life to the Lord and start living a godly life, she didn’t want any part of it. She liked the way we were living more by the world’s standards than by God’s ways. And that’s the story I talk about in Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter. I went down on my knees and prayed Scripture for her daily for six years; all the time showing and role modeling for her the blessings of being a rededicated woman of faith.

    [Tweet “I went down on my knees and prayed Scripture for my daughter daily role modeling a woman of faith.”]

    I’m happy to say our story took a happy turn and Kim did eventually give her heart to Jesus, and she has done a much better job than I did raising her three children in a Christian household. She’s mentored them in character qualities that her two daughters and son are obviously noticing. For a school project, 3rd grader Sienna was to write why her mom should be in People Magazine. I must admit, I was troubled by this teacher’s choice of a magazine that 3rd graders had no business knowing about or writing an article for, so I was relieved when Sienna said she had no idea what People Magazine was, anyway!

    [Tweet “Would your children see these character qualities in you?”]

    But what did impress me were the character qualities Sienna wrote that she saw in her mom. My daughter is a fitness instructor with a fabulous figure, she’s gorgeous, dresses stylishly, and always looks beautiful. So when Sienna decided to write about why her mom should be on the cover of People Magazine, she easily could have talked about these superficial, outward qualities, but at eight-years old this is what she wrote, exactly how she wrote it, no edits from Grammie:

    My mom should be on the cover of the People magazine. My mom’s name is Kim Mancini. My mom is medium height, has brown hair, and her eyes are brown. There are so many reasons why my mom should be on the cover of the People Magazine.

    One of the amazing things about my mom is that she is trustworthy. My mom trusts me all the time. My mom does not lie. My mom is trustworthy with my whole family. Now you know why my mom is trustworthy.

    My mom is the most honest person in the world. She is honest with me. She once said, “Do not be scared that’s not real.” My mom is honest with my grandparents. There is no doubt, my mom should be on the People Magazine because she is so honest.

    My mom is so helpful. My mom helps me when I am hurt. My mom helps me with my homework. She helps me get ready for school. My mom should win an award for being the best mom ever. My mom is the best mom in the world.

    By Sienna

    “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

    Sienna’s mom, is trustworthy, honest, and helpful. Later she wished she had included hardworking. Isn’t that what every mom wants all her children, not just her daughters, to say about her?! Good job Kim.

    What would your kids write why you should be on the cover of People Magazine?

    The Mancini family. Sienna is next to her brother

    If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

    June 5, 2017
    Return to top of page
    Next Page »
    Return to top of page · Copyright © 2026 Crown Laid Down Designs All Rights Reserved · Our Privacy Policy