Prayers for Fewer Ups and Downs

[Messerve]

Hello!

I just thought I'd stop by and ask for prayer for myself. I feel like lately my spiritual walk has been all over the map - a spiritual high one moment, falling into sin the next, struggling with inappropriate thoughts more than normal, kind of lackluster devotional times. Yet, my devotions have been more consistent than ever in my life, God seems to have used me in more powerful ways than ever this year and I've bought and read lots of good Christian theology books lately.

I haven't been praying for the lost as often as I had been earlier this year. Recently I tried to do a fast but in the middle of it I not only fell into an old sin but accidentally ate food, too...

I'm not sure what's wrong with me, really. Lack of a deep Christian community (or any community) is part of it, I'm sure. But that's nothing new and I just feel weaker than normal right now.

So many people have shared verses with me over the years to keep in mind, but for some reason they don't seem to stick or my mind goes blank when I really need them. I thought maybe coming up with a tune for the verses would help. I have yet to try that out.

Anyway, please pray that God will revive my heart and desire for holiness again and renew within me a steadfast spirit.

Thanks!

 

[redleghunter]

Praying for peace and direction from our Awesome God.

I found reading and studying the Bible cover to cover each year is a great discipline in walking in the Holy Spirit.

 

[musicalpilgrim]

Hello!

I just thought I'd stop by and ask for prayer for myself. I feel like lately my spiritual walk has been all over the map - a spiritual high one moment, falling into sin the next, struggling with inappropriate thoughts more than normal, kind of lackluster devotional times. Yet, my devotions have been more consistent than ever in my life, God seems to have used me in more powerful ways than ever this year and I've bought and read lots of good Christian theology books lately.

I haven't been praying for the lost as often as I had been earlier this year. Recently I tried to do a fast but in the middle of it I not only fell into an old sin but accidentally ate food, too...

I'm not sure what's wrong with me, really. Lack of a deep Christian community (or any community) is part of it, I'm sure. But that's nothing new and I just feel weaker than normal right now.

So many people have shared verses with me over the years to keep in mind, but for some reason they don't seem to stick or my mind goes blank when I really need them. I thought maybe coming up with a tune for the verses would help. I have yet to try that out.

Anyway, please pray that God will revive my heart and desire for holiness again and renew within me a steadfast spirit.

Thanks!

I pray for you and thank God for your renewed desire for holiness,
I pray for you to be filled with the Holy Spirit and joy of the Lord , his wonderful presence, strength and peace.

 

[bèlla]

I think periods like these are very telling. Some refer to them as dry seasons. They’re an excellent truth serum of sorts which reveals the heart.

Would we seek the Lord with the same fervency without a church, community, or other hardships that distract our attention?

We aren’t subject to the persecution others experience. We build our faith on things outside the Lord. We say we don’t but take them away and see where you stand.

Paul said...

That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

That’s it. Not all the extras we commend. Just the truth. And when you’re suffering and facing a valley that’s what you cling to.

If you want to increase in God you must decrease. He strips away the fluff and reveals the true beauty hidden within.

Get back to basics. Pray in the morning. Read the word before resting. That’s it. Do that every day for one week and see how you feel. Face time with God. Nothing more or less.

 

[Messerve]

I think periods like these are very telling. Some refer to them as dry seasons. They’re an excellent truth serum of sorts which reveals the heart.

Would we seek the Lord with the same fervency without a church, community, or other hardships that distract our attention?

We aren’t subject to the persecution others experience. We build our faith on things outside the Lord. We say we don’t but take them away and see where you stand.

Paul said...

That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

That’s it. Not all the extras we commend. Just the truth. And when you’re suffering and facing a valley that’s what you cling to.

If you want to increase in God you must decrease. He strips away the fluff and reveals the true beauty hidden within.

Get back to basics. Pray in the morning. Read the word before resting. That’s it. Do that every day for one week and see how you feel. Face time with God. Nothing more or less.

Excellent insight, LaBella! I always appreciate your comments.

You make a very good point. In places where Christians are persecuted for their faith, there is nothing they can build their faith on but Christ Himself. But in the absence of persecution it's easy to depend on a whole lot of other things "essential' to our spiritual walk.

Actually, I'm kind of feeling like I'm a dumb, slow snail right now. I went through the hardest point in my life last summer when really all I could do was cling to the Truth and seek God. I felt like I had lost all my friends, I was in excruciating pain from a medical condition which could have potentially been my whole life, and no one I knew could relate. They would all say "But you look fine!" when I was actually struggling to survive and was barely sleeping and turned my living room into an impromptu hospital room. But those devotional times in the midst of that were some of the best of my life. I also wrote a song about Jesus being our only true friend, which my sister just told me this week she plans on playing for her future children as a lullaby!

So I feel like I'm such a failure to have forgotten all that, now that I wasn't in pain this summer. I feel like I'm slowly slipping back to where I was before that difficult summer, and I'd rather lose my right arm than have that happen. I was borderline unrepentant in a specific area before God used that pain and friendlessness to bring me back to my senses.

I will do as you say and earnestly seek God both in the morning and evening this next week and see if there is improvement.

I'll stop back at this thread next Saturday and give an update.

 

[bèlla]

Excellent insight, LaBella! I always appreciate your comments.

Thank you for the kind words.

But in the absence of persecution it's easy to depend on a whole lot of other things "essential' to our spiritual walk.

That’s what I mean when I say I’m not religious. I have a barebones approach to faith.

So I feel like I'm such a failure to have forgotten all that, now that I wasn't in pain this summer. I feel like I'm slowly slipping back to where I was before that difficult summer, and I'd rather lose my right arm than have that happen. I was borderline unrepentant in a specific area before God used that pain and friendlessness to bring me back to my senses.

You’re comfortable and that frequently happens. I will share a secret that helps.

I recount what God has done for me for these reasons. I discuss the healing, deliverance, provision, and many others as a testament to His loving-kindness. I post on a gratitude thread weekly to give thanks for what He’s done.

I do these things and more so I don’t forget. Lest I get comfortable and fail to remember what He’s brought me from. And those words minister to others who are going through their own trials.

I’m scattering seed in the hope a harvest will come forth in their lives. That’s why I help. Its for His glory and their benefit.

And He ministers to me through my kindness to others.

I'll stop back at this thread next Saturday and give an update.

I look forward to the update and will pray for you too.

 

[Messerve]

Thank you for the kind words.



That’s what I mean when I say I’m not religious. I have a barebones approach to faith.



You’re comfortable and that frequently happens. I will share a secret that helps.

I recount what God has done for me for these reasons. I discuss the healing, deliverance, provision, and many others as a testament to His loving-kindness. I post on a gratitude thread weekly to give thanks for what He’s done.

I do these things and more so I don’t forget. Lest I get comfortable and fail to remember what He’s brought me from. And those words minister to others who are going through their own trials.

I’m scattering seed in the hope a harvest will come forth in their lives. That’s why I help. Its for His glory and their benefit.

And He ministers to me through my kindness to others.



I look forward to the update and will pray for you too.

Oh that makes a lot of sense! I used to keep a jar of answered prayers on my desk at home and would take one out to read once in awhile. There are so many things I've seen God do that I simply forget all about. It was amazing how fast the jar filled up!

I'm going to get something right now to sit on my desk and start filling it with answered prayers again.

 

[Mydreams]

Lord bless to walk in your ways, obey you and never commit sin. Lord guide snd bless with your Holy Spirit, Lord bless this prayer request snd you be glorified in Messerve's life, in Jesus gracious name, Amen!

 

[LoricaLady]

Hello!

I just thought I'd stop by and ask for prayer for myself. I feel like lately my spiritual walk has been all over the map - a spiritual high one moment, falling into sin the next, struggling with inappropriate thoughts more than normal, kind of lackluster devotional times. Yet, my devotions have been more consistent than ever in my life, God seems to have used me in more powerful ways than ever this year and I've bought and read lots of good Christian theology books lately.

I haven't been praying for the lost as often as I had been earlier this year. Recently I tried to do a fast but in the middle of it I not only fell into an old sin but accidentally ate food, too...

I'm not sure what's wrong with me, really. Lack of a deep Christian community (or any community) is part of it, I'm sure. But that's nothing new and I just feel weaker than normal right now.

So many people have shared verses with me over the years to keep in mind, but for some reason they don't seem to stick or my mind goes blank when I really need them. I thought maybe coming up with a tune for the verses would help. I have yet to try that out.

Anyway, please pray that God will revive my heart and desire for holiness again and renew within me a steadfast spirit.

Thanks!

Coming up with a tune for the Bible verses? Hey, I've got just the resources to help you with that!

Sons of Korah has a soothing sound. They seem to mainly sing the Psalms.
sons of korah playlist - YouTube

Integrity Music has tons of Scripture-only songs. They use lots of repetition of maybe 1 to 3 verses in each song. The music is a bit old fashioned sounding, but still, I think, excellent.
integrity music scripture songs - YouTube

Jump Start 3 has many Scripture-ony songs with a peppy, youthful sound.
JumpStart3

I pray you will be given insight and guidance about, and healing from, those "down" times.

 

[Messerve]

Hi, I'm back!

So... how this week went. Well, Sunday morning (the morning after I started this thread) we had a guest speaker at church and his sermon seemed to hit home very much. I realized there was a lot of unforgiveness in my heart towards a few different people I know, so I dealt with that. That has made the week a little better as I've been able to look past slights and offenses and remain at peace instead of getting worked up or depressed like before.

I also watched a Christian movie Sunday evening and the message of the movie hit home. It was about the importance of prayer in our daily lives and how God does use our prayers in powerful ways sometimes. So that bolstered my already goal of devoting myself to prayer more consistently this week.

Which... also went well for the most part. Each morning and evening I spent a good time in heartfelt prayer and total transparency with God. I spent more time in the Word, too, whereas my "devotions" lately had consisted of reading one verse, thinking about it for a moment and then rushing off to work.

Overall, the main thing I noticed this week was that I had much more peace about everything. There is a friend I care deeply about (someone I've been praying for) and communicate with regularly because we hardly get to see each other. I've very often been afraid of losing his friendship because we get so little face time. But this week I just couldn't think of anything at all to say. Normally I would have felt really bad for skipping our regular "texting session", and I still did a little. We're both somewhat isolated and I don't want him to think I don't care... But I just left it up to God rather than trying to force a conversation to happen, and God gave me a sense that everything would be okay. A few days later my friend texted me (which practically never happens) and I actually was encouraged by that because it confirmed to me that our friendship is real and not just in my head.

There were still two days this week, however, that were not very good spiritually-speaking. And that was my fault 100%. Because things had started off so well, I got lazy and skipped my devotion times in addition to unthinkingly putting myself in compromising places which were perfect fodder for the very things I'm fighting. Not surprisingly, I found myself depressed and anxious again and did ultimately commit a sin which grew out of that negative input. So that left me pretty discouraged.

But I pulled myself up again (or rather, asked God to pull me up again) and repented once again and finished off this week still in a better place than I had been last week. Plus, I asked God for some help and He opened my eyes to a solution I hadn't seen before which I think will work well.

Thank you for your prayers!

 

[bèlla]

Well done. Keep up the good work!

 

[musicalpilgrim]

I ask the Lord to continue to draw you to himself, and thank him for surrounding you with prayer from the fellowship of believers on the prayer wall.
God bless you richly as you seek more of him in Jesus name