George Mueller

Isaiah 64:24 NLT

I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!

Most of this morning I knew in my heart that Father wanted me to put up post on spiritual warfare but for the life of me I just couldn't re-arrange the words floating around in my mind. So, I figured that I just needed to learn more so I just stared surfing the web and I found this gem on George Mueller. I have copied and pasted the text below from this site on spiritual warfare.

George Mueller had God as the Lord of his life and Father answered his prayers all of the time. When we are in the right alignment with God, He will answer us too.

One the greatest example of prayer in recent memory is George Mueller, this story comes to us from the captain of a ship who witnessed the power of prayer first hand. Who himself became a man of prayer after witnessing it from George Mueller. Mueller was a prayer warrior who established orphanages and was a man of prayer.  One day he was on a ship headed to Quebec Canada, for a particular meeting, a thick fog settled in on the water.[1]   

 the Mueller's set off for the United States in August 1877 aboard the Sardian…Off Newfoundland the weather turned cold and the ship's progress was seriously retarded by fog. The captain had been on the bridge for 24 hours when something happened which was to revolutionize his life. George Mueller appeared on the bridge.

"Captain, I have come to tell you I must be in Quebec by Saturday afternoon."

"It is impossible," said the captain. 

"Very well, " said Mueller, "if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way--I have never broken an engagement for 52 years. Let us go down into the chart-room and pray." 
The Captain wondered which lunatic asylum Mueller had come from. 

"Mr. Mueller," he said, "do you know how dense this fog is?" 

"No, my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life." 

Mueller then knelt down and prayed simply. When he had finished the captain was about to pray, but Mueller put his hand on his shoulder, and told him not to. 
"First, you do not believe He will' and second, I believe He has, and there is no need whatever for you to pray about it."The captain looked at Mueller in amazement."Captain," he continued, I have known my Lord for 52 years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up, captain, and open the door, and you will find the fog is gone." 

The captain walked across to the door and opened it. The fog had lifted. It was the captain himself, who later told the story of this incident, and who was subsequently described by a well known evangelist as "one of the most devoted men I ever knew."
It was prayer that swept his soul free of doubt, distemper, and the after-effects of a trial by the incoming tide of peace. For this reason he could make such remarks as this entry on March 9, 1847, "The greater the difficulties, the easier for faith." And a later one, "The greater the trial, the sweeter the victory."
His victories came through prayer, trust in the Lord's unfailing promises and a faith that God's truth would not fail.

"It is not enough to begin to pray," he advises us, "nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly continue in prayer, until we obtain an answer; and further, we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we have also to believe that God does hear us and will answer our prayers. Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained, and in not expecting the blessing." 

George Mueller illustrates our need to depend on Prayer and the Holy Spirit to direct us in the Spiritual war. 

Blessings,
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Strength Found In Him

I'm linking up with Barbie for The Weekend Brew.

Blessings,

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So, Which One Is It?

Discrepancy 

Mark 1 :40-42 NIV '84
40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

41 Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

Mark 1:40-42 NIV
40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

While reading one of my daily reading plans I was stumbled over the word 'indignant'. Dictionary.com defines as: feeling, characterized by, or expressing strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting, or base: Origin: 1580–90;  < Latin indignant-  (stem of indignāns,  present participle of indignārī  to deem unworthy, take offense),

I started thinking Jesus probably took offense over the way He was approached by the man with leprosy. The man approached Jesus begging on his knees and Jesus was maybe insulted and I think He was displeased at the man for thinking he had to beg Him. You see, I found it odd that Jesus was indignant towards this Jewish man because when the gentile woman, Matthew 15:21-28, approached Jesus begging for her daughter to be healed, it doesn't say Jesus was indignant it just said, Jesus did not answer a word.

So, I decided to check out another version as found that the word 'indignant' was replaced with 'compassion'. Dictionary.com defines as  a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.

These are two completely different meanings. One means sympathy or sorrow and the other means anger or insult. I started thinking how can a verse have such a different meaning in two different versions. The only thing I can figure is that Jesus had sympathy for the man but was angry because this man was a Jew and had the right to approach Him and ask yet this man was begging Him.

Ken, from Following Jesus, wrote a really good post on the Canaanite woman called "Why Such Harsh Words Jesus?" (Check it out, it is really good! ) I was thinking about this post as I was mulling over this word discrepancy and am leaning towards Jesus being displeased with this Jewish man for thinking he needed to beg Jesus for a healing.

We don't need to approach our Father in a begging format. He is willing to answer us if we are willing to ask and obey Him.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please share. :)

Jeremiah 17:14 NIV

Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;

    save me and I will be saved,

    for you are the one I praise.

Blessings,
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Rend Your Heart

Joel 2:12-17 NIV

Rend Your Heart

“Even now,” declares the Lord,

“return to me with all your heart,

with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

Rend your heart

and not your garments.

Return to the Lord your God,

for he is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and abounding in love,

and he relents from sending calamity.

Who knows? He may turn and relent

and leave behind a blessing—

grain offerings and drink offerings

for the Lord your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion,

declare a holy fast,

call a sacred assembly.

Gather the people,

consecrate the assembly;

bring together the elders,

gather the children,

those nursing at the breast.

Let the bridegroom leave his room

and the bride her chamber.

Let the priests, who minister before the Lord,

weep between the portico and the altar.

Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.

Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,

a byword among the nations.

Why should they say among the peoples,

‘Where is their God?’ ”

Every year as we near Resurrection Sunday, I feel called into fasting. I am not Catholic and do not follow Lent, but the 40 days of Lent come right before Good Friday and it is a perfect reminder to me that it is the time of year to really focus in on just what Jesus did for us on the cross. 

Actually, this is my favourite time of the year. I love everything there is about Jesus and His death and sacrifice on the cross totally humbles me and awakens in my a very deep love for Him. I love Him because He loves me. If it wasn't for His reaching out to me and showing me His love, I would never know Him. It is Jesus who has stirred my soul and my first desire is to honour Him and love Him the next desire is for me to share His love with you and all those I meet.

I am a believer of fasting and over the past few years, as I dive into fasting, I am being led to believe that fasting material goods is not Biblical. I cannot find any references in Scripture to this type of fast. I have found fasting of food, a fasting of marriage relations, there is the reference of when John the Baptist's father had lost his voice for a period of time, and then there is wearing sack cloth. Animals fast, children fast but from my searching I can find no reference to fasting of material goods. 

I am being led to believe that giving up something material is like removing an idol. Something that has taken the place of God and this is not a fast. This is good, please don't misunderstand me, this just isn't a fast. 

A fast is a time to mourn and seek our Father's heart. A time to feed our soul on His Word and to deny our physical body substance so self is weakened and His Spirit becomes stronger in us. I don't see how self can be weakened by giving up say your computer for a time. Your physical body is still very strong therefore holding onto self and not being filled with the Holy Spirit. 

I do believe giving up material goods is beneficial to removing idols in your life and replacing God back into His proper place of being number one. I think this is healthy and valuable to our walk with Father. 

Yesterday on Twitter I took part of a chat that was focused on Lent and fasting. It was then that Father really spoke to my heart and made me to say that a material fast is not an acceptable fast in Father's eyes. My sharing of this brought in some opposition but it seems that more people agreed with me than those who did not. 

What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them and if you have some Biblical reference to a material fast please share!!

Blessings and Happy Valentine's Day!

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I'm linking this post up with Barbie for the The Weekend Brew. 

A Moment in the Life of Easton

The cruel reality of Epidermolysis Bullosa, EB.

A moment in the life with Easton. Please take a moment and watch this short clip on how Easton is cared for. EB must be the nastiest disease around. 

Please be in prayer for Easton and his family. Pray for a cure for this disease. 

Easton has had a new development as well. Here is what was written on his Facebook page by his cousin:

Easton has atrophy in the front part of his brain... it has stopped growing and isn't developing normally...they think it most likely occurred when he was septic. He also has a bulging fontanelle but they don't believe the two are related. He will be staying another night so they can watch him and are having the neurologist look at him to see if they would like to run additional testing. They can not tell us why the front part of his brain is not growing at the same rate as the rest of his brain. They will be monitoring the growth of his head very closely. Please pray for Easton and for the doctors to find some answers. Thank you so much for your support...it means the world to our family ♥ ~ Cousin Amy

Philippians 4:6-7 NASB 

Be anxious for nothing,

but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving

let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension,

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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MRI Results for Phoebe

MRI Results...

Praise God, Phoebe's MRI came back with no evidence of disease today! Her hemoglobin was low and we had to stay all afternoon to get a blood transfusion and she is feeling puny. But on the whole, she is doing great! 

Thanks to all of you who have reached out to us in so many ways over the last few months. 

One more round to go!!!!

-Nathan

Please continue to pray for Phoebe's pituitary gland to start working again. Thanks!!

Source

John 15:7 NASB

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,

ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

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The Battle

Through Jesus Christ Satan has been defeated and we have the power, in prayer, to win all of our battles. 

Pray and never give up!

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Pituitary Gland Issues

I'm sure you all know what it is like to go without sleep, it is exhausting. Can you imagine how you would feel after a year of a broken sleep pattern is like and never getting a restorative sleep with no end in sight? Or how about being constantly hungry? Having a hunger that is never satisfied no matter how much you eat that wakes you up many times a night and makes you eat and eat. It would be horrible, a terrible existence.

Some of you here know Phoebe and have been praying for her. This is her life. She is 3 years old, battling for her life and has to deal with constant, unsatisfied hunger. Her mom and dad can not sleep because they are constantly being waken up during the night to care for her. Now, if she was an only child this would be doable but Phoebe is the youngest of 4 and Amey deeply desires to continue homeschooling her 3 boys. You can read about Amey's frustration here.

A miracle is needed here. :) Will you join your heart with mine and ask Father to work a miracle for Phoebe? I know our God can restore this part of her brain that is just not working or that He can cause her to sleep peacefully through the night. If Father can grow heart values in Joy then He can also grow a working pituitary gland in Phoebe.


Father, my God the maker of heaven and earth You are holy and worthy of praise and worship. I esteem You and hold Your name on high. I praise You for creating Phoebe and I thank You for bringing her through brain surgery and her first year of chemo therapy. Your so good Lord. Now Lord, I don't need to tell You what is wrong with Your daughter, You know, so I lift Phoebe up to You and ask for Your healing hand upon her and for You to restore her body to function in the way it was designed to. Lord Jesus, Healer remove this constant hunger from Phoebe and give peace and rest to her and her family. Jesus grow, in Phoebe, a new pituitary gland that functions perfectly. Under Your wings they will find shelter and comfort. Cover them Lord. Thank You. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ I pray, amen.

Psalm 4:8 NASB 

In peace I will both lie down and sleep,

For You alone, O LORD,

make me to dwell in safety.

I'm linking with Barbie for the Weekend Brew.

Thanks!!

Success!!

Thank you all for your prayers. Amy's surgery was a success!! Here is what Etta wrote on her Facebook page this morning.

Good morning everyone, I am sure you all know by now that Amy's surgery was a SUCCESS!!! She is alert and awake and she said she feels good. 80% of "Stanley" is gone, the other 20% was too risky to take out, too close to the nerves that control breathing and swallowing. But she is going to be in the hospital for 3 days and will then come home!!! THANK YOU JESUS & THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!

There is only a small bit of the tumor left, please pray that Father will remove this completely and that Amy will be cancer free.

Psalm 86:5 NLT
O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help. 

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Stanley Go Take A Hike!

Amy will be having her second brain surgery tomorrow, Wednesday January 30 2013, where the surgeons will be removing 'Stanley' the name Amy gave this tumor. Please be in prayer for her. Amy is very nervous and feeling a bit ill over the whole thing.

A really cool thing happened to Amy. You see she loves to sing and the one to inspire her is Taylor Swift. So someone told Amy's mom, Etta, to start a Facebook page in order to get Taylor's attention. Well, Taylor hasn't yet made it a point to go see Amy but something else really neat did. Amy got a recording contract with Rotation Records and it will be published on Itunes. Amy wrote a song about her stay at Ronald McDonald Camp and this is the song she recorded. The recording company made a huge deal of this starting with being catered by a limo from 5 am until late at night. She had an MRI first thing in the morning then a party with gifts then on to recording. In the evening there was another party. Amy was totally spoiled. :) What an amazing thing for this recording company to do. You can read Etta's account of the day here 

If you are interested in helping Amy meet Taylor Swift, please like her Facebook page Help Amy Meet Taylor Swift.

Check out this video clip from Fox 29.




Mark 11:25 NASB 
Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.

Praying for you Amy!!
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Hell's Best Kept Secret

2 Corinthians 2:4-5 NLT

 And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

I had a chance to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit yesterday while I ministered to an atheist and a satanist on Twitter. I do not go out of my way to step into enemy territory because I have learned that if I do something in my own strength then the Father is not with me and I get trashed. So how this occurred is pretty interesting and totally God's doing.

Thursday night I had an amazing time of praising God in #GodsPraiseRoom on Twitter. The normally hour long session went well over 2 hrs plus and this hashtag was #1 trending, reaching millions of people. It was amazing. Friday morning, a friend of mine, sent me a link to one of Ray Comfort's videos called Hell's Best Kept Secret. I have seen this one before but felt urged to watch it again, and man am I glad I did.

Just after watching the 37 minute clip I got a tweet from an atheist and believed God wanted the video to go to this person. The man was very polite and agreed to watch the video and chat with me about it at a later time. Then just after that a satanist sent me a tweet and I confronted him which led into an amazing conversation.

Later that afternoon the atheist got back to me and we chatted for 2 hrs!!! Now, I cannot say that he is now a Christian, but I can say that I know the Holy Spirit is working in his heart. Although he tried to take me down and pull me into a fight, I didn't veer from the gospel and Scripture and he just couldn't argue with that. In the end, he took a good jab at me and so I just praise GOD because I know he was stirred in his soul and some tender spots of his belief system were challenged.

The conversation with the satanist was really cool too. Although it didn't go on for long it was totally amazing to see God's Word make Satan flee. After quoting some Scripture, the demeanor in the, I think boy, changed from being demonic to defensive. He was totally polite, yet still jabbing but him too, I could see the Holy Spirit work in him.

When we as Christians, will ignore the jabs and underhanded ways of non-Christians, and we stick to Scripture, then the Holy Spirit will do His work and minister to those who are in need. This is a spiritual war and we are caught in between. The fight is between God and Satan, so when we fight wearing the armour of God it is God who will win the battle every time. God's ways are upside down to the worlds way and seem very foolish to those who do not know Him BUT, it works! Scripture diffuses the bomb and they cannot argue against it and it leaves the Word of God on their mind and the Holy Spirit will work in them.

Here's the clip from Ray Comfort, I urge you to watch it as it is really good and helps us to know just how to break up the hard heart and sow in God's Word.

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 Blessings,
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Please Pray for Sam

Sam is getting ready to go to Disney but before he goes he will be having that new spot on his kidneys checked out. He will be having an ultra sound tomorrow morning. Please pray this spot is gone and that this is NOT cancer.

Here is what Cassie, Sam's mom wrote on her Facebook page Sam's Fans.

...please remember Sam as he has an ultrasound in the morning to check on the new spot on his kidney. We're due to arrive at the hospital at 7:30 and the test is scheduled for 8:00. He's NPO after midnight. Ideally it would be wonderful if when they do this test tomorrow the new place would just be gone, and normal healthy kidneys were revealed.

Thank you!

Also please remember Cassie's friend as she was just diagnosed with breast cancer.

Matthew 18:19-20 NASB

Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask,

it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.

For where two or three have gathered together in My name,

I am there in their midst.

Praying for you Sam!
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Meeting Jesus Face to Face

2 Corinthians 5:1

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

Wayne is now home with Jesus talking to Him face to face. I am so thankful that he is now out of pain and free from the cancer ridden body that he occupied here on earth. The body he was in was only temporary, a dwelling place during his time here. Like all of us, the bodies we are in are only for a short time and our pain and suffering only lasts for a moment.

Please pray for Marge and Chelle as even though they are pleased Wayne is no longer suffering, they now must deal with the sorrow that comes with losing a dearly loved one.

2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Praying for you Marge and Chelle.
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Pray & Never Give Up

Ephesians 6:18 NIV

 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Philippians 4:4-7 NIV

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.

Praying and praying always!

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Did He Really Say That?

Did God really say, "I will never put more on your shoulders than what you can handle"?

This morning, I had this conversation with my husband. I told him, God will never put more on your shoulders than what you can handle and he told me that wasn't Biblical. Huh? That stopped me in my tracks and I was determined to show him that yes indeed this was Scriptural. Guess what? I was wrong. Gulp, I have yet to apologize to my husband as I kind of got lost doing some research and here is what I found.

1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Notice in this verse it says tempted not bare. This verse is talking about idolatry. The temptation that is mentioned is the one to abandon God to other things, like other gods, sex, etc., and how God has provided for us a way out. James 4:7 tells us how. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Psalm 68:19-20 NIV

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,

    who daily bears our burdens.

Our God is a God who saves;

    from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.

Psalm 68 is talking about sin and God's provision from escaping the effects of sin, eternal death, not from a stressful job, disease, financial dept or a poor relationship.

The opposite of the statement, 'God will never put more on your shoulders than what you can handle', is 'God will put more on you, in order to crush you.' This statement is true.

Hebrews 12:4-7 NIV

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

So, it would be better to say that God will not put more on us than what Jesus can bare. And, my friend, He can bare A LOT. Actually, He bares all things.

Romans 5:1-5 NIV 
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Isaiah 53:4-6 NIV

Surely he took up our pain

    and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

    stricken by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

    each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.

You see, Jesus has taken it ALL for us. He is our burden bearer and when the load it just too heavy, we go to Him and ask Him to help us and He will. Jesus beckons us to come to Him. And I believe He does this in order for us sinful, prideful people to search Him out.

Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The call for the Christian is to suffer and to bear the cross that we have been given or to take up the cross and help someone else.

Matthew 16:24-25 NIV
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it."

Today, people think that the Christian life is easy, a breeze, if you become a Christians your life will be full of Bible studies, get togethers and no financial issues. But, that is not the case at all. If you think this then you are believing a lie. The Christian life is hard, tough and if you are following God in a close walk then you will be persecuted and pursued by Satan. Satan wants to shut the Christian up and by the looks of our world, he has done a pretty good job at it.

The wonderful thing is God pursues us too! He sent His Son for us and if you read some of the Old Testament stories you will see that God does indeed pursue. Just go read the story of Jonah and just how far Father went to seek after him.

Luke 19:10 NIV
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

John 6:44 NIV
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day."

Although Satan attacks us, God has promised us a way out. Humble yourself and submit to God, resist the devil and he will leave, James 4:7. This is a spiritual war and a Christian that is fighting and wearing their armour are sure of attacks. Jesus is a Warrior Himself and if we keep ourselves in alignment with His Word, then He will protect us and crush the area we are fighting in of the influence of the devil.

Galatians 6:2 NIV
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Christians are to bear each others burdens. We are to pray for one another and help one another out. If you see your brother struggling financially, help him out. If you see a homeless person hungry, feed them. We are the hands and feet of Jesus and we are to do His work while we are here on earth. There are many people out there who don't know God and His awesome promises and love, we need to spread His word and the best way to do this is by preaching His Word followed by spreading His love in our actions.

So the statement, God will not put more on your shoulders than what you can bare is 100% false. That in itself is a god, the god of self, thinking that we can bare the burden of sin. That we, in our own strength, can walk through this life and come out victor. No way! If God found it pleasing to crush His own Son, then it is pleasing for Him to crush us too. For if we turn to Him and seek Him He will help us during this trial just like He helped Jesus while He hung on the cross.

Proverbs 8:14 NIV

I love those who love me,

    and those who seek me find me.

Reference: Misused Bible Verses

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Blessings,
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Effective, Fervent Prayer

What I am learning:

When I am at an end of self, spent, tired and ready to give up that is when God moves in and just does it. Always, it is all Him and has nothing to do with me.

This was Monday, January 14th's daily devotion from Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. —James 5:16

When my sister found out she had cancer, I asked my friends to pray. When she had surgery, we prayed that the surgeon would be able to remove all of the cancer and that she wouldn’t have to undergo chemotherapy or radiation. And God answered yes! When I reported the news, one friend remarked, “I’m so glad there’s power in prayer.” I responded, “I’m thankful that God answered with a yes this time.”

James says that “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (5:16). But does “effective” and “fervent” mean the harder we pray, or the more people we ask to pray, the more likely God is to answer with a yes? I’ve had enough “no” and “wait” answers to wonder about that.

Prayer is powerful, but it’s such a mystery. We’re taught to have faith, to ask earnestly and boldly, to persevere, to be surrendered to His will. Yet God answers in His wisdom and His answers are best. I’m just thankful that God wants to hear our hearts and that no matter the answer, He is still good.

I like Ole Hallesby’s words: “Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Only those who are helpless can truly pray. . . . Your helplessness is your best prayer.” We can do helplessness quite well. —Anne Cetas

Lord, I’ve been taught many things about prayer—be
specific, be bold, be surrendered, be strong in faith,
be persistent. Today I recognize my helplessness and
Your power as I share my heart with You. Amen.

Prayer is the child’s helpless cry to the Father’s attentive ear.

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