Isaiah 12:2

 

"Behold, God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid;

for the Lord God is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation.”

Isaiah 12:2 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for those who are suffering, and those who feel helpless to do anything about it. Please pray that they keep their focus on God, that they don't waver in their faith. Pray that they find encouragement in the word and through prayer. Pray that they lean on their brothers and sisters in Christ who love them.

I'll post daily reminders on:

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Deuteronomy 31:6

 

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for those who are suffering, and those who feel helpless to do anything about it. Please pray that they keep their focus on God, that they don't waver in their faith. Pray that they find encouragement in the word and through prayer. Pray that they lean on their brothers and sisters in Christ who love them.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #helpless #worry #trust #prayer #faith #love #suffering #pain #purpose #strong #courageous

Give it up to God

My experience has been that when I give my problems up to the Lord, my load seems lessened, my problems or worries seem smaller, more manageable. I'm able to think clearer.

     Someone posted this on Twitter yesterday and it kind of brought things into perspective:

"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday." Dale Carnegie 

     I tried to remember all of the things I've worried about this week and did any of them happen? Did my worries do anyone any good? The answer to both questions is "no."

     Then, I looked at what I've prayed for this week, and were any of them answered? Did my prayers do anyone any good? The answer to both questions is "yes."

     God is here for us. We need Him. We can't go this alone. Look to Him when you feel helpless. Lean on Him.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

    From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

    who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;

    he who keeps you will not slumber.

Psalm 121:1-3 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for those who are suffering, and those who feel helpless to do anything about it. Please pray that they keep their focus on God, that they don't waver in their faith. Pray that they find encouragement in the word and through prayer. Pray that they lean on their brothers and sisters in Christ who love them.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #helpless #worry #trust #prayer #faith #love #suffering #pain #purpose

All we can do is pray

 

There is a woman who worries to the point of excess. Not only does she worry about family and friends, but also about things that have nothing to do with her. She builds up these 'what if' scenarios in her mind about things that could go wrong, some of which are so creative and outlandish that it scares me.

     I've tried to convince her that she suffers from anxiety, but she doesn't believe me and, therefore, won't do anything about it. The physical results of this are high blood pressure and a stroke. So then I worry. It's a vicious cycle, isn't it? Worry begets worry. Anxiety begets anxiety. All of it takes a toll on us.

     As I was preparing to write this, it occurred to me that it all comes down to control. I can't do anything about the actions and decisions of others, so I'm going to worry about them. At least in that way, I'm doing something. It fills two needs within us:

- to be in charge

- to help others

     How often have you said or heard others say, "All we can do is pray?" All we can do--as in, we can't really do anything. Oh well. At least praying makes us feel like we're doing something. That is just so wrong! Praying should be our first defense! It's THE prize, not the consolation prize! 

     Jesus prayed all the time. Do you think He would do that if it was just an exercise in futility? Do you think Jesus prayed because He didn't feel like He could do something more important? No! Of course not! He did it because it was an important course of action and because He knew His Father in Heaven heard His prayers.

     Our prayers can make a difference in the lives of others. So, whenever you feel helpless or emboldened (in other words, always), pray to our Father, who loves us.

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, 

believe that you have received it, 

and it will be yours.”

Mark 11:24 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for those who are suffering, and those who feel helpless to do anything about it. Please pray that they keep their focus on God, that they don't waver in their faith. Pray that they find encouragement in the word and through prayer. Pray that they lean on their brothers and sisters in Christ who love them.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #helpless #worry #trust #prayer #faith #love #suffering #pain #purpose

When there's no sorrow

 

As is typical, whatever the topic we're praying about, suddenly I see many posts about the same subject. God is so cool when He does stuff like that!

Two examples from yesterday: 

"If God brings you to it; He will bring you through it." (found on Twitter)

<--- then I found this on FaceBook

It's things like this that show me how God orchestrates everything, even the little stuff. Maybe we don't understand the pain and suffering. We ask, 'how can a loving God allow this?' The truth is that sin and death entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. That is why we suffer. We have to remember that it's just for a short time, though. Soon we'll be resting where there is no more sorrow and no more suffering. God made it so that that could happen because He loves us so very much.

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

1 John 5:4 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for those who are suffering, and those who feel helpless to do anything about it. Please pray that they keep their focus on God, that they don't waver in their faith. Pray that they find encouragement in the word and through prayer. Pray that they lean on their brothers and sisters in Christ who love them.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #helpless #worry #trust #prayer #faith #love #suffering #pain #purpose

Trust in the Lord

A week isn't nearly long enough to illustrate all of those who suffered greatly throughout the Bible. Christ suffered for all of us, bearing the full wrath of God for our sins. Paul suffered constantly for his faith, as people do even now in other countries, yet he wrote to the Corinthians:

For our light affliction, 

which is but for a moment, 

is working for us a far more exceeding 

and eternal weight of glory,

2 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV

No matter what you're going through, it will pass, and you'll come through stronger for having endured. I'm not in any way minimalizing our daily sufferings; after all, suffering is suffering. But, I want to encourage you to pray and to dig deep into His word for encouragement and for answers. Trust in the Lord, with all your heart.

Consider helping those who are suffering for their faith. There are people imprisoned who could use some words of inspiration and/or there are financial needs in those countries for the families of martyrs and for those who are risking their lives to spread the Gospel. There are prayer needs. *Visit the Voice of Martyrs website to see where you can help.

*I do NOT earn affiliate money. This link is just being provided for convenience and to help those in need.

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Please join me this week in praying for someone who is suffering, whether it's physically, mentally, or emotionally. Pray that they are comforted by God's love and find strength and hope through Him.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Instagram @archadia27
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Assurance in suffering

I love that when I'm in the Word, God provides information from it as research for our prayer group. I'm in multiple bible study groups and each one of them has seemingly overlapped the past week or two. This week, our Women's Group is studying from the "Seamless" book/videos and the author, Angie Smith is talking about suffering. God's timing is perfect.
     First of all, I want to share 2 bible verses that she shared:

Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.

John 9:1-3 NKJV

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

Psalm 103:10 NKJV
Remember those whenever life seems to be getting you down, and draw hope from them.
     I'm probably repeating myself, but when my late husband discovered that his cancer was stage 4 he just kept saying that God hated him. God didn't hate him. God used his disease to save other people's lives, to draw me closer to Him, and I believe to draw my late husband closer to Him, also. There were several other "reasons" that I feel it happened and after the fact was able to see how God used this for His plan in His time. The other part of it was that since we have free will, our decisions can have a huge impact on the things that happen to us. We can't just wander around without consequences if we're going to go against what God expects of us. Kenny drank a lot and that predisposed him to colon cancer. He felt like something was wrong for years but never went to see a doctor about it. Those kinds of decisions lead to unfavorable consequences.
     I draw reassurance in knowing that whatever is going on in my life, God will ultimately use it for good.

P.S. as for the photo for today, I searched for "assurance" just to see what would show up and I got a lot of images that looked like they were more for "insurance", but when I came across this car, I thought, "Yes this is bad, but, no one was injured." (I try to be a "glass half full type of person".)

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Please join me this week in praying for someone who is suffering, whether it's physically, mentally, or emotionally. Pray that they are comforted by God's love and find strength and hope through Him.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Instagram @archadia27
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Jesus has your back

I just finished watching "The Case for Faith" on PureFlix. It's a documentary based on Lee Stroebel's research for his book of the same name. It deals with suffering extensively.
Here's a sermon on the subject by John Piper
     I'm a bit under the weather this week with some sort of cold or sinus infection, so hopefully, I'll feel up to writing more tomorrow.

These things I have spoken to you, 

that in Me you may have peace. 

In the world you will have tribulation; 

but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33 NKJV

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Please join me this week in praying for someone who is suffering, whether it's physically, mentally, or emotionally. Pray that they are comforted by God's love and find strength and hope through Him.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Instagram @archadia27
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

God will restore you

And after you have suffered a little while, 

the God of all grace, 

who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, 

will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

1 Peter 5:10 ESV

Joseph suffered

I don't want to approach this week of prayer with the question: "Why does God allow suffering?" Instead, we're here to look at it from a different viewpoint. We're going to look at it from the perspective of "Why God allows suffering." I believe that the question represents our disapproval at how God handles things whereas the statement shows our confidence in God's sovereignty.
     The best example of this is Joseph. Here was a teenager (17), the youngest of eleven who was favored by his father, Jacob. His siblings despised him and after he shared two dreams with them where they bowed down to him, they just couldn't take it anymore. They sold him to some passersby who sold him into slavery (that's the short version), he ended up in Egypt and eventually found favor with the Pharoah and through a series of events that you'll have to read about on your own (read Genesis 37-48 for the full event), ended up saving everyone, including his family, from starvation during a 7-year famine. Did he suffer? Yes. Did God use his suffering for His plan? Yes. If he hadn't been sold into slavery, so many people would have died during the famine.
     I know this is an extreme example, but it's one where we can see it from a distance from beginning to end. If we could do that in our own lives, we might better understand God's purpose for our suffering.

And we know that for those who love God

all things work together for good, 

for those who are called according to his purpose. 

Romans 8:28 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for someone who is suffering, whether it's physically, mentally, or emotionally. Pray that they are comforted by God's love and find strength and hope through Him.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Instagram @archadia27
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Testing of Your Faith

Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, 

when you meet trials of various kinds, 

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 

And let steadfastness have its full effect, 

that you may be perfect and complete, 

lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for someone who is suffering, whether it's physically, mentally, or emotionally. Pray that they are comforted by God's love and find strength and hope through Him.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Instagram @archadia27
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Pray for the suffering

Our sufferings have a purpose. Think of a time when you or a loved one suffered. Were there any positive outcomes from it? Maybe even years later?
     An example would be my late husband suffered from colon cancer and died three years later. Initially, I asked God "Why? Why did he die?" but after spending some time praying on it, discovered the question I should have been asking was "Why did he live?" I was able to reflect on the aspects of his life that were a blessing to me and my family and on those who knew him. He touched many lives. Because he got colon cancer, so many people decided to get colonoscopies who wouldn't have before that. Many of them had pre-cancerous polyps removed and lived longer lives, with each of their lives touching many more lives.
     While he was sick, he gave encouragement to others by his attitude and perseverance. In the last few months of his life, he was drawn closer to God and spent a lot of time in prayer; something he hadn't done for decades.
     My point is, instead of focusing on the suffering itself, look at how God is using that suffering in your life and in other people's lives. We don't live our lives in a vacuum. Our actions and reactions affect numerous people each and every day.

My favorite Bible verse regarding suffering is:

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, 

knowing that suffering produces endurance, 

and endurance produces character, 

and character produces hope, 

and hope does not put us to shame, 

because God's love has been poured into our hearts 

through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for someone who is suffering, whether it's physically, mentally, or emotionally. Pray that they are comforted by God's love and find strength and hope through Him.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Instagram @archadia27
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Hope doesn't disappoint

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:3-5 NKJV

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Please join me this week in praying for perseverance to talk about Christ.
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Bear each other's burdens

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2 ESV

Earthly suffering

Whatever we suffer from in this life is so minute when you understand that we will live forever in God's Kingdom.
Imagine holding a rope in one hand and the length of the rope hidden in your grip represents your life on earth. Then, imagine someone taking the other end of the rope and wrapping it around the world over and over again. All of the rope except what you hold is your heavenly existence. How wonderful is that?! This life is just boot camp for our future service in the presence of God. We're here to worship Him and love Him, to love one another as ourselves, and to spread the Good News to all nations. After that, we'll leave all of the sufferings of this life behind and join Him where there is no suffering and no tears forevermore. Hallelujah!

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time 

are not worth comparing with 

the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Romans 8:18 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for people with disabilities.
I'll post daily reminders on:
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Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Pray for someone who is in physical pain

I personally am a bit of a baby when I'm in pain for any length of time. I have arthritis, and get allergy-related headaches; but other than that, I have no pain. So, when I meet someone who is in constant chronic pain and deals with it on a daily basis, AND still maintains her faith and sunny disposition, I have to look at that person and believe that God is using her to glorify Him.
We are made in His image and anything we do to show how He is working in our lives, whether it's our disposition, loving kindness, or the way we handle difficult situations; all of it reflects on God. People look at us and want what we have. They want the peace, comfort, love they see in us. If we can inspire others through our suffering, that glorifies God.
Those who suffer from physical pain who don't know Jesus may have a more difficult time dealing with their pain. I imagine that they do.
When I was going through chemo and radiation therapy, I smiled through it all and tried to help others who were having a more difficult time of it. I had lapses where I felt like I was going to die and mourned what I was going through, but they were temporary breakdowns and hopefully, others saw in me how God was working through me.
I sincerely hope this doesn't come across sounding like those in pain need to suffer in silence because you don't. In fact, you should get angry when you feel angry, work through the doubt when you feel low, ask God, "why me?" when you're questioning His path for you. But, when you're ready to bounce back from those low points, feel His love and support and know He has a reason for everything and everything is part of His plan.

Therefore let those who suffer 

according to God's will 

entrust their souls to a faithful Creator 

while doing good. 

(1 Peter 4:19 ESV)

Please follow along with our prayer group where we come together with one voice during the 7:00 hour to pray for the people around us. Please join with us this week as we pray for those who are afflicted with physical pain.

I'll post a daily reminder to pray on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
instagram @archadia27
facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power