Husband Prayers: Day 4

We're in the first week of our 30 Day Husband Prayer Challenge. Want to join us?

Day 4: Praying for His Sexuality

Father, there is so much pressure today on my husband in this area. I pray that you would help him to flee from sexual immorality. Every sin he would commit is outside the body, but if he commits sexual immorality it is against his own body. Remind him that his body is the temple of Your Holy Spirit. I pray that he would glorify you with his body. (I Cor 6:18-20)

Lord, you command him to “drink water from his own cistern, and running water from his own well.” Please forgive me for my own bad attitudes and thoughts and actions that may have hindered him in this. Forgive us for our past mistakes and sins, and help us begin to love each other in our marriage as you have asked us to. I pray that I would not use our love as a punishment or bribe, but would be instead as a loving deer and a graceful doe, satisfying him at all times and enrapturing him with my love. (Prov 5:15-19)

Increase my love for him, Lord, and help me in this area of our life.

“Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.”  Psalm 119:37

“Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.  Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.  Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”

Proverbs 4:25-27

“A man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths.”

Proverbs 5:21

Husband Prayers: Day 3

We are in the beginning of a 30-Day Challenge to pray Biblically for our husbands. Come join us!

Day 3: Praying for His Finances

Lord, you know all the details of our financial situation, and I give it over to you. Please help us be good stewards of everything you have given us. Forgive me for bad decisions I have made in the past, and help me walk with wisdom according to your will. 

Please give us neither poverty nor riches, but give us just enough to satisfy our needs, because if we grow rich, we might deny you and say “Who is the Lord?” And if we are too poor, we might steel and insult Your Holy name. (Prov 30:8-9) 

Help us have hearts that want to share with others, and remind us that all we have comes from You (Prov 28:27). When I get worried about tomorrow and the day to day concerns of money, please remind me that you will supply all of my needs (Phil 4:19). I trust you for that today. 

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money.

Matthew 6:24

Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

Proverbs 11:28

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether in plenty or in want.

Philippians 4:12

Then Jesus said to them, “Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Luke 12:15

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Thanks for joining us on our 30-Day Husband Prayer Challenge!

Husband Prayers: Day 2

We are on day 2 of the 30-Day challenge to pray for our husbands.

Day 2: Praying for His Work

Dear Lord, please bless the work of my husband’s hands and reward him for his efforts (Prov 12:14).  Please make his efforts successful! (Psalm 90:17)  I pray that you give him wisdom and guidance and direct his steps. Show him the good works you have prepared in advance for him to do, and then help him do them! (Eph 2:20) Whatever you have given him to do, I pray that he does it with all his might (Ecc 9:10).  Teach him when to work and when to rest. I ask that he would delight in your law, thinking on it day and night, so that he wouldn’t grow weary, but would prosper in all that he does. (Ps 1:2-3) 

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

I Thessalonians 4:11-12

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Proverbs 14:23

My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.

Ecclesiastes 2:20

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Are you taking the challenge? Let us know that you're all in!

Husband Prayers Day 1

Have you ever wanted to begin praying for your husband but didn't know where to start? There are many books on the topic, and in order to avoid copyright infringement back in 2008, I wrote my own set of prayers based around Bible verses to distribute to a group of women.

For the next month, I'm going to post these prayers. Please consider joining me in prayer for our husbands or the men in our lives. Share this 30-day challenge with your friends. Together, we can lift up our men to God.

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Day One: Praying For His Wife

Dear Lord, You say that if I have sin in my heart, you will not hear me (Ps 66:18). Please search me, God. You know my heart. You know when I have been unloving, angry, unforgiving, and critical of my husband. Please forgive me specifically for _________. I’m sorry for these sins. Please lead me in your way forever. (Ps 139:23-24) Oh God, make my heart clean and renew my spirit so I am right with you and with my husband. (Ps 51:10) 

Replace my bitterness, anger, and hurts with your love, peace, and joy (Gal 5:22-23). I need your help daily to be kind to him, tenderhearted, forgiving him just as you, through Christ, forgave me (Eph 4:32).

Please help me not to get tired and weary from doing good, and remind me that at just the right time I will reap a harvest of blessing, if I don’t give up (Gal 6:9).

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
       test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,
       and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:19-23

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Are you joining me on this 30 days of prayer? Leave a comment here or on facebook and let me know!

My favorites of 2011

These are a few of my favorite things of 2011...

Blog Entry
http://www.jonacuff.com/stuffchristianslike/2011/07/the-chase/#more-5357
"I am a works-based assassin trying to kill the me I don’t want to be in the city of my life."
 
I've been on a journey of grace this year as I re-learned what it means to be covered completely and only in the righteousness of Christ. That is why my favorite quote of the year is...

Quote
In Christ, “We have no penalty to pay for sin, including past, present, and future sins... we are not subject to any charge of guilt or condemnation.” (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 724-725)

I blogged about it here:  Looking for Joy 

Sermon
And that's why one of my favorite sermons of the year was "The Grace Greater Than Your Past" by Pastor Mark Vroegop, November 13th.

"Run, John, run, the law commands,

But gives us neither feet nor hands,

Far greater news the gospel brings,

It bids us fly and gives us wings."

Book
I have loved 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp.
Honestly, I haven't finished it yet, but I'm nearing the end. It's a great reminder to live our lives full of thankfulness to God. I love the fresh and unique writing style.

Song
Blessings by Laura Story

Store
Aldi! Really, I don't know how we'd feed our family with out this amazing store. Thank you, Aldi!

Online Store
Shutterfly. Just when I thought they couldn't get any better, they made their photo books even more customizable so that I no longer design my pages in Photoshop! Also this year, I took 6 of my 3" old fashioned photo books and converted them into 2 slim 12x12 albums that fit nicely on the shelf. I love Shutterfly! :)

Technology
This is a tie between two things: Lightroom, which is a software that has cut my photo editing time down considerably. Google Calendar, so that Lee & I are always synced.


Memory
Easter Sunday. It was my last day with my grandma. It was a rainy day, so we had the egg hunt inside at my parents' house. She sat on a chair and watched, and so we covered her with eggs and hid them all around her. She thought it was a riot! I have a video of me asking her what her favorite thing is, and she said, "All my family, and all the craziness." She was one special lady.


Person
That is why my favorite person of the year goes to Doris Stelzer, GG, my grandma. Jesus brought her home this year, and it is still hard to believe she's not here. Man, I miss her.

Home School Resource
Teaching Textbooks for Math. Abby just wasn't catching on with workbooks and Shiller, so I took a step back and ordered these. So far, so good!

Accomplishment
I finished my essays for becoming NANC certified, and now I'm on to the supervised counseling phase. They were a blast to write! If you're interested, I can send you a copy.

TV Show
Once Upon a Time looks promising. I like it so far.


I'll do another post about my favorite verses of the year. So for now, goodnight! :)

What's Noel?

Sitting in church last week, my niece turned to me and asked, "What's Noel?" We'd just sung it about fifty times in the recent song, and yet I couldn't tell her. I immediately thought of this Animaniac song, though. (Here it is... my Christmas present to you!)




So, back to the church service, I typed it into my phone before the refrain was over and discovered that it means, "Christmas." Oh yeah, I think I learned that sometime, somewhere. She was satisfied with the answer.

It seemed a little funny then to think of singing the word Christmas over and over. "Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, born is the King of Israel." It doesn't sound pretty and it doesn't rhyme either.

What's Noel?

That's a good question for everyone to be asking right now. Just about every parent I talk to is looking forward to January, when the business of the season is over. If we are truly celebrating the event that means, "born is the King of Israel," are we supposed to be doing it this way?

What are we reading that inspires us to love Jesus?
What music are we listening to that makes our hearts well up with praise?
What are we buying that shows we want to give our all to him?
How are we praying for others that shows that His love is in us?
What are we watching that motivates us to share His truth with the world?


It's Christmas Eve. Mary is full of the life of God, and yet experiencing all the discomforts that pregnancy brings. Joseph is in a protective mode, looking for how to care for this child and where they should stay. The shepherds are going about their daily jobs, taking the sheep out to pasture for the evening. The angels are staged and ready to burst forth with a loud cry. The wise men are on their way to Herod in Jerusalem, the city of David, to inquire about a star and a king who was born. And Jesus is about to bring His light into the world for all to see.

Let's pause tonight to the wonder of the birth of Christ. God became a man FOR us. As my pastor, Mark Vroegop, said last week:


"Jesus became a man in order to purchase our redemption. Who? Jesus. What? Redeems people. How? Through the humiliation of becoming human. Therefore, the call from this text today is behold the beauty of the incarnation and to celebrate this season not only on the basis of what he did – but to marvel and meditate on how he did it. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us!"  (Sermon Here)

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Merry Christmas! And my the light of Christ shine in you this weekend and for eternity.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

John 8:12

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Unpacked Boxes

Well, we've officially moved to our sweet little home on a sliver of country. Moving was as big of a chore as I expected it to be, having moved our stuff around seven times in our 13 years of marriage, (as my brother pointed out while carrying a large piece of furniture out our front door), but it's finally over. Or mostly over, as those of you who've moved can understand. There are always the nagging few boxes of stuff you didn't want to deal with at your old house, that you still don't want to deal with at your new house!

We made it with surprisingly few casualties. There are a couple of missing toys and a hard drive cable that hasn't appeared, but having things drop out of  sight along the way or break into bits is par for the course.

This all started happening at the end of October, and since then, my life has been consumed with activity.



Planning, sorting, purging, purging some more, selling, making lists, donating, freecycling, planning some more, waiting...


And now~


Rest.


Ahh, a nice word. Rest.


I don't want to do this again for a long time! Whew! Time to make a cup of tea and sit back and enjoy the Christmas Season.

You wouldn't know it were Christmas around here. No lights. No tree. Occasionally I play some Christmas music on Pandora when I'm feeling festive. But the simplicity of the time is actually quite refreshing.

It's 8 AM. The house is quiet. Except for my my oldest who doesn't sleep in - ever - all is still.

I sit back and smile, knowing that one day we'll have eternity to rest. To rest from striving. The battle. The fight against sin. Sickness. They'll all be gone.

I sip my tea.

Rest.

Resting on His promises.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus! And as I wait, help me to rest in You.

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