Tag: Prayer

God’s Desire Is That You Cultivate Relationships – Part 2

On By SonjaIn Uncategorized2 Comments

Are you familiar with this biblical metaphor: “God is the potter, we are the clay.”? It is primarily found in Isaiah 64:8 and Jeremiah 18? Also, what about the word “cultivate”? In a biblical context, “cultivate” means to care for, nurture, and improve something, often with the intention of promoting growth and development in a personal relationship.

How did your breathing exercises go last week in Part One? If you struggled with this exercise with little success, allow me to share a little advice. Always remember that when you inhale air through your nose, your stomach should become filled with the incoming air. And it goes without saying, when you exhale through your noise, the stomach should deflate. You will get better at this exercise the more you try it.

If you have any questions, ask the Holy Spirit why God sucker-punched you.

My second question is more intimate and personal. Did you approach an acquaintance of yours that you wanted to develop a closer relation with. And…they put you off and you made a quick judgement call that perhaps you picked the wrong person. If that happened, may I suggest that you rethink the occasion. Try to remember if you have had any encounters with that person on any subject. Maybe in the break room or at the water cooler. Was anything discussed of interest to you both. Try to focus on events that interest your new subject. During your private bible study time employ the Holy Spirit to critique your approach and direct your efforts towards more positive encounters.

I’m quit sure Paul sent up a similar prayer in the Book of Acts 26:8-27 as he interviewed before King Agrippa in a persuasive manner. That conversation will give you some do’s and don’ts on conducting an initial encounter with a newbie. Allow the Holy Spirit to be your guide. And remember to give Him all the glory and successes you will have as you grow in cultivating relationships.

Every Born Again Christian must be able to proclaim why he or she has a hope in the Glory of the Promises of the life and death of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.

This picture depicts a life-giving epitaph from the Lord God Jehovah: I am the Potter, you (mankind) are the clay.

(Paraphrasing from Jeremiah 18-1:10)

P.S. So, to rectify what went wrong the first time is to figure it out through self-examination. Revisit the title of this blog. The key word is ‘cultivate’. This action alone requires time, patience, prayer and intuition. Sometime you can rely on your gut feeling or sixth sense”.

Having intuition means possessing an innate or immediate understanding or awareness of something. Often without conscious reasoning or logical deduction. All you did was to rely on a “gut feeling” or “sixth sense”.  But may I suggest that you run it by the Holy Spirit during your prayer time.

Just look at all the accomplishments you will satisfy while cultivating this task. Namely, developing a closer walk with Jesus, lightening your load of anxieties…fear, dread and uneasiness.

Let’s pray…

Oh my God, blessed are you and your Son, Christ Jesus. He never let an opportunity to pass Him by to tell people about You. Make me, too, a diligent and enthusiastic witness so that people will come to salvation through what I say in my efforts to cultivate new friendships. For I truly want to proclaim Your message and live in such a way that people will be able to see from my actions that I am serious about my faith. Please help me to get this right. And I will forever give You all the praise, honor and glory. Amen and Amen.

Click www.tgifmasterminds.com every Friday for a new post from
the Master's servant Manager...Me!

God Entertains New Year Resolutions With Humor

On By SonjaIn Uncategorized2 Comments

If I had my druthers, I would venture to surmise that just maybe God’s fun time for entertainment and laughter is the beginning of every new year. Why? Because that’s when most of his people make (declare) a New Year’s Resolution.

God’s Baby Boy laughing with the News

Oh, Precious Father…Not another year of hopes dashing and billows roaring. Perhaps, when I get down to earth, I can help the people be more deliberate. And also determined to hold on to Your unchanging hand.

Son, most of the people’s New Year Resolutions are really old. They are resurrected ones they made last year. And possible the year before.

Don’t the people understand, Father, that ‘new’ means just what it says…a new way of thinking and doing things.

If you really want your 2025 resolution to stick, try some of these suggestions:

  • First and foremost, confess not completing through your earlier declared annual resolutions.
  • Second, praise God from whom all blessings flow. Try audibly listing some encounters you experienced during the past year.
  • Partition God’s Throne for endurance and aide from the Holy Spirit.
  • And finally, just before expressing your New Years Resolution, give thanks.
  • Start with small goals; offer prayers of thanksgiving intermittently.

Dear readers, before closing your eyes tonight, look around you. Try to find at least ten things you can thank God for. Don’t exclude any telephone calls or unexpected guest that happened to drop by. I’ll share with you a secret I use on unwanted telemarketer phone calls. Those type of calls used to spoil my day but no more. I prayed about it. The Holy Spirit told me to pray for the person on the other end of the line. After the caller identifies my name, I let them know I say a prayer before conversing with unsolicited callers. I begin praying that God will bless them to be successful in their endeavors, etc., etc., etc. The caller usually hangs up on me. And I go back to doing what I was doing in a calm manner.

After reading this blog, I hope you understand more clearly. You will see why God views New Years Resolutions with humor. It’s because perhaps you are ashamed to witness on God’s behalf. You make an audible New Years Resolution. Then, you don’t keep it. Most of the time, you are tempted to blame God. But as a Christian, you know you cannot do that. So may I suggest that for 2025, first you get right with God. Second, do not worry about what people will say. Do not think about what they will think when they see you failing to achieve your resolution. Those moments call for ‘prayer closet time’.

Make an appointment with the Holy Spirit…

“Dear Lord Jesus, please, please forgive me once again for finding it so hard to share my faith with others. Help me to be able to witness freely about You and Your strength. Don’t give up on me. Try me one more time. Amen and Amen


Click here YouTube · 

Click http://www.tgifmasterminds.com every Friday for a new post from the Master’s servant manager…ME!

God Responds Even When You Operate On A Wing And A Prayer

On By SonjaIn Uncategorized6 Comments
B-17 Flying Fortress

1937 B-17 FLYING FORTRESS

Did you know that the idiom, “On a wing and a prayer,” stems from a World War II incident?  Wikipedia records that early in the mayhem of the war, an American pilot of a B-17 crippled aircraft called The Southern Comfort was returning to the base from a bombing raid over Germany.  The pilot suggested that his crew pray for a safe landing.

Later, in 1942 Hollywood made a film entitled The Flying Tigers, about this harrowing plane incident staring John Wayne as the pilot.  In reference to the crippled aircraft condition, actor Wayne’s character proclaimed the script’s rendition and exclaimed, “She’s coming in on one wing and a prayer.”  The rest is history!

BUT, just suppose nobody knew how to pray!

Well, in this week’s blog, I would like to share with you how the Holy Spirit communed with me on how to study for a comprehensive understanding on what the Bible says on what a prayer should consists of.

1. What Is Prayer? 

218x311 Praying Hands Clip Art

For me, prayer is earnestly calling on the Name of the Lord God.  It does not matter what posture I am in; such as knelling, or standing, or lying prostrate, just as long as I am focused on Him and His heavenly atmosphere.

Another aspect that is of less consequence to me is my grammar.  Especially chitter-chatter or three and four syllable words.  I normally just let my verbal rantings all hang out–but with reverence and respect, of course.  And what I have experienced is this:  the more I include prayer in my everyday life, the more solidified my relationship becomes with my Maker.

I rarely have to wonder whether or not I ‘got a prayer through’.  Or whether temptation creeped in during my prayer time to throw me off course.  Or to entertain thoughts of doubt and despair.  Usually, I just remain focused, keep it simple and remain true to myself in my confessions.

So says King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived on earth: “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.  God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”  (Ecclesiastes 5:2)

2. What is Prayer simplified with the aide of the Holy Spirit

rock dove flying beside hand

Just in case praying comes hard for you, the Apostle Paul gives us this advise:  “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”  (Romans 8:27)

I would like to share a secret with you.  A lot of times the Holy Spirit is already at work on my behalf before I take time to pray.  In other words, he puts thoughts and subject matter on my mind that require God’s intervention.  For example, often, when I am thinking of a family member or friend, I’ll make a mental note to communicate with them at a later time, but before the day is over.  Within a short period of time, that person or friend supernaturally contacts me or someone in their sphere of influence will contact me with an update or personal message about them.  (That’s God at work in spite of any of my doings.)

Not too long ago, when my daughter-in-law and son were trying to sell an expensive piece of property to no avail, I was led by the Holy Spirit not only to pray, but to contact them and suggest that they place the property in the hands of a foreign realtor with overseas connections, because their buyer was coming from afar.  Sure enough, within a few days my family showed the property to a foreign family and they subsequently purchased the house and several rooms of their furniture.  So, not only God is Good…but prayer changes things!

3. What is Operating on a Wing and a Prayer…

…fixing those situations that appear hopeless.

Image result for praying hands and a dove free image

So, it is during times like those mentioned above that lets me know that God truly opens that door and operates on a wing and a prayer.  It’s during those most difficult situations when only He can provide closure that I realize that prayer changes things.  So when praying, I modify my dialogue to increase my expectation; to believe more than just to ask and you shall receive, I also include thanksgiving and praise language and most definitely include words of omission and co-mission.  (Sins that are intentional or unintentional are nontheless sins!)

What I have just shared with my readers on the subject matter that focused on prayer is how I remain in a constant conversational dialogue with God based on his scripture references.  I trust what I have shared will be of extreme use to you in your quest to grow closer to the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, the Son of the Living God.

So with prayer and supplication, always remember it is no secrete what God can do.  Sit back and enjoy Jim Reeves’ rendition of a song by the same title.  Skip the commercial and just click the Red Thumbnail below.  May God richly bless you and yours.  In the precious Name of Jesus, Amen.

Click http://www.tgifmasterminds.com every Friday for a new post from the Master’s servant manager…ME!   

God Answers Formal And Informal Prayers

On By SonjaIn How To Witness To Others, Mankind's Relationship With God3 Comments

This morning was a day for me to thank God for answered prayer.

“Oh, to be free, to be completely unattached…what wondering I would do.  I would travel to far off places and visit cities anew.  I would live in a dream world and pretend to be a queen who ruled over all the lands, all the people and all the seas. But, Bah! tis nothing but fantasy with no depth, nether reason, nor cause…because truly I am satisfied just the way things are.”

So for this week, I’ve started my blog with a stanza from a poem I wrote many, many years ago.  In those days I was young and my hair was still black and my limbs operated on my cue.  Those days are far spent.  And my worldview has also matured from fantasy to realism and Truth.

“Nevertheless, something in side me keeps crying out aloud…seek love, adventure and excitement and you will thereby obtain power.”

Listen, readers, I learned a long time ago to transfer my dependence from myself into the ever loving arms of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I’ve become the queen in His court, and the apple of His eye.  What gives me such assurance?  The main fact that He answers my prayers either through conversations with Him or by osmosis.  He also causes other human beings to unknowingly relay His messages to me.  And when I put my thinking cap on, I can remember Him using birds, weather, radio and TV commentators and shooting stars to convey His messages to me.

“For then a swelling in your breast will come from joys you’ve never known, as you gaze out upon the world and turn its love into songs.  But, Bah! tis nothing but fantasy with no depth, nether reason, nor cause…because truly I am satisfied just the way things are.”

Yes, in my youth, I kept saying that I was satisfied…but was I.  My family and friends labeled me as a dreamer.  Always thinking of lofty aspirations.  Keep your feet on the ground they all warned.  Remember where you come from.  Get your head out of the clouds.  You’re going to end up just like us.  Living right here in this hick town, getting married and having babies.  OH, but have I surprised them!  I KNOW SOMEBODY!!!

“Yes, because life is not always a pleasure, it causes many persons to dream.  To manufacture make-believe of which things they hold high in esteem.  But Bah! tis nothing but fantasy with no depth, nether reason, nor cause…because truly I am satisfied just the way things are.”

I no longer have to recite that poem I wrote all those many years ago because this one thing I have learned.  My God heard my plea and felt my desire for something greater than what I was living at the time.  He alone understood that Whom I was seeking was Him!  My God finally knitted my will and my heart together and caused me to recognize His proposal.  “Come unto to me  He beckoned me…..”

So now, instead of daydreaming, I have learned to pray and to call on my Savior not only for my hopes and dreams but also for my fears and desires for others.  He has caused me to take my mind off of myself and to embrace life in a much broader worldview.  It’s not all about me.  Its about serving and giving and helping and caring for others.

My God is Real.  He lives within my soul.  Surely, while He was on the cross I was on His mind.  Our conversations get sweeter and sweeter every day.  I see my prayers for my family answered.  I see my prayers for the orphan children I ministered to while on international mission trips become a reality.  (Once I personally met a Russian teenager who had been adopted and brought to Dallas.  I was shopping at Walmart and by happenstance we met and began to talk. She shared how the Lord had placed her with a couple who wanted to adopt a teenager.  I had just been to St. Petersburg on a mission trip and had prayed for the teenagers who had ‘aged’ out of orphanage care.  The Lord allowed me to see His intervention in this situation.  Hallelujah!)

Earlier this morning I received a phone call from my sister exclaiming how our brother had called her and conversed with her as though their riff had never happened.  On another occasion, recently, a severe storm passed over an area in Oklahoma that I was praying for on behalf of a friend’s family who lived there and was in harms way.

I could go on and on witnessing to you how and in what diverse ways God answers prayers.  But I trust you already know them and have tried Him for yourself.  Its true, God responds to our prayers basically in three ways: Yes! No! and Wait!  All I want to say is this;  HE IS NEVER LATE…BUT ALWAYS ON TIME!  AMEN.

Blog God Answers Prayer

So, in summary,  wait on the Lord to answer you. Wait at His door with your prayers; wait at His feet with humility; wait at His table with service and thanksgiving; wait at His window with expectancy that He will open it and pour out many blessings.  Through it all, WAIT.  

 

Scripture Lesson: “Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”Psalm 27:14.

Click http://www.tgifmasterminds.com every Friday for a new post from the Master’s servant manager…ME!   

God Hears A Sinner’s Prayer of Repentance

On By SonjaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

In the Old Testament, Isaiah begins his autobiography by recording the death of his king:  “In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne; high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple.”   Isaiah 6:1

If you are a student of the “Begots”, without reading any further into the Scriptures, you know the reason for King Uzziah’s demise.  Usually, when a name or its derivative is first mentioned in Scripture, its definition is also given.  King Uzziah’s name denotes that he breached a sacred law of God.  In another place, the Bible gives this definition of the name:  “Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzza, and He struck him because he put his hand to the ark; and he died there before God.”  1 Chron. 13:10

It is not known ‘what died’ in the sinner’s life to cause him (or her) to pray a prayer of repentance; but it is known with assurance that God heard it, mainly because the sinner sincerely prayed to God with God’s own words recorded in a comparative analyses of  the Psalms.

adult-beggar-begging-1058068.jpg

Psalm 51

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.   V. 1

 Psalm 139

O Lord, you have searched me and know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.     V. 1, 2
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.    V. 2 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.   V. 4
For I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me.   V. 3 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.  V. 5, 6
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,… V. 4a Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  V. 7
 …so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.          V. 4b If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.  V. 11, 12
Surely, I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.  V. 5 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  V. 13
Surely, you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.  V. 6 I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  V. 14, 15a
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.  Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.  Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.   V. 7, 8, 9 When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.     V. 15b, 16
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  V. 10 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you?  I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.         V. 21, 22
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  V. 11 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God.  How vast is the sum of them!     V. 17
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.  V. 12 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. V. 18
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.  V. 13 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!  Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!      V. 19
Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.    V. 14 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.  V. 8, 9, 10
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.  You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.     V. 15, 16, 17 For they (the wicked) speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.  V. 20
In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.  V. 18 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  V. 23
Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.  AMEN!  V. 19 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  AMEN!  V. 24

Blog God Hears a Sinner with hand and cross.jpg

Scripture Epilogue…

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.   Galatians 2:20 NIV

 “He was handed over to die because of our sins and he was raised to life to make us right with God.   Romans 4:25 New Living Bible

Click http://www.tgifmasterminds.com every Friday for a new post from the Master’s servant manager…ME!