In every moment of this day, God graciously gives you the choice to walk with him.

I will not force you to do anything.

I have given you a free will to walk with me or walk away from me.

~~Sheri Rose Shepherd

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

Every day, every moment, we have a choice. Will we choose to walk with God and follow his example and commands? Or will we choose to walk in the other direction?

When temptation to sin presents itself, we have a choice. Walk with God, or head into the sin. When a frustrating situation arises, we have a choice. Walk with God and act with love and patience, or walk our own way—losing our temper. When we have an opportunity to do good, we have a choice. Walk with God and eagerly serve, or decide we’re too busy to get involved.

God doesn’t force us to do the right thing, he gives us the choice. We have the free will to walk with him or to walk away.

In every moment of this day, God graciously gives you the choice to walk with him.

Prayer for Meditation

Dear God, today I choose to walk with you.

Scripture for Meditation

Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold. Proverbs 8:10

Music for Meditation

You Are Love 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Your Savior will meet you wherever you are, so come away to a place where you can listen.

“Come, come, He saith, “O soul oppressed and weary;

Come to the shadows of My desert rest;

Come walk with me far from life’s babbling discords;

And peace shall breathe like music in thy breast.”

~~Harriet Beecher Stowe

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

“Come away with me,” Jesus invites. “Let’s spend some time together and talk. Your soul will find peace.” And he set us an example of doing just that, for he himself got away from the hubbub and the hustle and bustle of the crowds, away even from his friends, in order to find a quiet place to talk with his Father.

Do you have a quiet place, a safe place where you can go and met with God, undistracted by the noise of the world? Dear sister, if Jesus needed to get away, how much more do we need to escape to truly hear our Savior’s voice! It may be early morning, late at night, in a room in our home, at the library, or in the park.

Your Savior will meet you wherever you are, so come away to a place where you can listen.  

Prayer for Meditation

Jesus, in this quiet place I want to spend some time with you.

Scripture for Meditation

After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. Matthew 14:23

Music for Meditation

There is Nothing 

 

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Our God is the Creator of all that ever has or will exist.

God’s not save in the sense that we have him in a box, predictable and measured. We don’t get to control how God operates. No magical formula assures the way God works.

~~Sheila Walsh

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

Our God is the Creator of all that ever has or will exist. We can’t put him in a box. We don’t get to determine how he operates. We might wish to; we certainly would like to be able to tell God exactly how to run the world, but that’s not our role We are the created ones.

That’s precisely why we will never fully understand everything that happens in our world and in our lives. We wish some magical formula would make sense of it all, but God, who sees the beginning from the end, often surprises us. His answers go beyond what we even could imagine. His blessings are more than we could request. His love is more than we can take in.

If God were safe and predictable, then he would not be worth worshiping.

Be glad your God is not safe, but that he does love you.  

Prayer for Meditation

I never want to put you in a box. Show yourself big in my life.  

Scripture for Meditation

With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him? As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. A person too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot; they look for a skilled worker to set up an idol that will not topple. Isaiah 40:18-22

Music for Meditation

Faithful God 

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Continue to grow in the coming year, dear one.

I challenge you to grow wiser, even as you let go of the potentiality of youth.

Put meaning into the rings of your life tree.

Mellow.

Sweeten.

Lighten.

Strengthen.

Deepen.

~~Valerie Bell

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

The years in a tree’s life are recorded in the rings. The circles tell its life story, including years of plenty and drought. Count the rings and you’ll know how long the tree stood and grew toward heaven.

We count our years with birthday candles and gray hairs. But like trees, each passing year puts its mark on our lives. We too have lived through times of plenty and of drought. We have enjoyed the sunshine and gentle rains, and we have been battered by storms and maybe even struck by lightning.

Continue to grow in the coming year, dear one. Continue to mellow as you understand that no situation lasts forever; to sweeten, knowing that everyone can use a little kindness from you; to lighten, for you can help to bear another’s burden; to strengthen as you offer your strength to others; to deepen in your love for him.

Prayer for Meditation

I want my life to tell a beautiful story of your faithfulness.

Scripture for Meditation

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the LORD, mediating on it day and night.

They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Psalm 1:1-3

Music for Meditation

My Father’s Heart 

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When you know God during your sojourn on this earth, life has fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement.

Oh, the fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on earth!

~~Elisabeth Elliot

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

In the classic Dickens tale A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is a stingy old man obsessed with making money. One night, in a dream, he’s shown the horrible future that will be his unless he changes his selfish ways. Delighted for the second chance, Scrooge bounds out of bed and makes amends with his family and employees. After giving his clerk a long-overdue raise, he exclaims, “I’m so happy. I just can’t help it!”

Do you long for that kind of happiness? Does it seem as if joy is always just beyond your grasp? Have you searched but can’t find it?

The truth is, it’s right in front of you, around you, within you. When you know God during your sojourn on this earth, life has fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement.

Ask God to renew such joy in you so that you will be so overflowing you just can’t help it!

Prayer for Meditation

Lord, please overflow my heart with the joy of knowing you.

Scripture for Meditation

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. Psalm 16:11

Music for Meditation

Faithful God 

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I want to live my life well, Lord, so others will want to know you.

Each person must live their life as a model for others.

~~Rosa Parks

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

Sometimes we think we have to live our lives as society tells us to live. It’s easy to be drawn in by advertisements promising health, wealth, and adoring friends if we would just act a certain way, dress in these particular fashions, and use the latest buzzwords.

The trouble with living your life as society dictates is that you’ll be just like everyone else! You’d be a role model of . . . well . . . nothing special.

Here’s an idea: Why not make a point of living your life as the Bible directs? Looking to Jesus as your role model will certainly make you stand out from the crowd! And when you stand out as one who “walks the walk” of the Christian, others will want to follow. How you live your life will speak volumes about your faith, even when you don’t have a chance to say a word.

Prayer for Meditation

I want to live my life well, Lord, so others will want to know you.

Scripture for Meditation

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Ephesians 5:1

Music for Meditation

We Are 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Thank you, God, for the wonderful gift of your son, Jesus.

She had never heard anything so beautiful. She couldn’t remember ever hearing the complete story before as it was given in the scripture . . . A little baby born in a stable was God’s Son.

~~Jenette Oke

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

It’s a familiar story. A young Hebrew teenager is told by an angel that she has been chosen by God to hear a very special child. Her fiancé threatens to cancel the wedding. The same angel interrupts his plan. She visits her relative Elizabeth, who is much older and also pregnant. She returns to Nazareth to wait for her child’s birth, only to be required to make the ninety-mile journey to Bethlehem close to her due date. With no room in the inn, she gives birth in a manger and uses an animal feeding trough as a bassinette.

 A strange story? Yes. A story full of surprises? Yes. A story that affects us today? Another yes! This little baby—Jesus—was a gift to all humankind. Our healer. Our Savior. Our Lord.

No story is more beautiful, more astounding, more life-changing. The little baby born in a stable was God’s Son.

Prayer for Meditation

Thank you, God, for the wonderful gift of your son, Jesus.

Scripture for Meditation

And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in manger, because there was no lodging available for them. Luke 2:4-7

Music for Meditation

Oh Holy Night 

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God is more interested in developing our character than He is in manipulating our circumstances to make us happy.

~~Cynthia Heald

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

“Whatever makes you happy.” That’s the message that bombards us from the world. If we didn’t know any better, we’d think that being happy should be our goal and the basis of all our decision making.

God calls us to be different, however. Not that we can’t be happy—far from it. But happiness is not the ultimate goal for our lives. We always seek to follow God in and through our circumstances. We aren’t all consumed with happiness because we know there’s something greater, something deeper.

We can’t control our circumstances in order to assure happiness. And God won’t do it either. Bad things happen, and through those tough times God wants to develop our character.

Beloved, God loves you, and he has promised unspeakable joy if you follow him. And on the way, he is committed to developing your character—which has an eternal value beyond compare.

Prayer for Meditation

Father, help me to want you more than the happiness the world offers.

Scripture for Meditation

The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight for living. Psalm 19:8

Music for Meditation

In Christ Alone 

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Thank you, Lord, for loving me. You’ve captured my heart.

He could have roared on top of a mountain, but he whispered in the voice of a baby. He could have ordered our obedience; instead he calls for our hearts.

~~Sheila Walsh

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

From the farthest galaxies to the tiniest microscopic creature—God is the creator of all. We exist because he allowed us to.

As such, does he not have the right to demand our love and obedience? Indeed, he had every right to roar from the top of the mountain and demand that we obey him or else. Instead, he decided to let us choose. Instead of yelling at us from a mountain, he whispered at us in the voice of a baby—his Son—born to save us. Instead of ordering us to obey, he woos us to love.

We choose to respond because we see eyes brimming with tenderness. We willingly comply because our souls are captivated by his grace. We obey because it shows that we love the one who lavishes love on us.

God wants you to choose him today. That’s how much he loves you.

Prayer for Meditation

Thank you, Lord, for loving me. You’ve captured my heart.

Scripture for Meditation

But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15

Music for Meditation

We Are 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Peace on earth? It begins right in your own heart.

It is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His.

~~Corrie Ten Boom

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

As we near the Christmas season, we sing carols that describe the hope of peace on earth. Corrie ten Boom, living through the heinous evil of the concentration camps in World War II, deeply understood the depravity of the human soul without Christ. Healing for the world will not come through human goodness or even our ability to forgive others. We are fallible, imperfect, and, without Christ, unable to truly display those noble characteristics. And even if we can act with forgiveness and goodness, who’s to say everyone else on the planet is willing and able?

Healing will only occur because of Christ’s forgiveness and goodness. Only he can change hearts. Only he can take the darkness and bring light. Only he can heal the sickness of sin. Only he can offer us his righteousness.

Peace on earth? It begins right in your own heart.  

Prayer for Meditation

Peace on earth begins with me. In my heart today, Lord, give me your peace.

Scripture for Meditation – Psalm 40:2

But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. Malachi 4:2

Music for Meditation

Love Comes Down 

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Think back across your year, beloved, and thank God for his gifts to you.

Think of having a whole penny for your very own. Think of having a cup and a cake and stick of candy and a penny. There had never been such a Christmas.

~~Laura Ingalls Wilder

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

What small pleasures do you remember from your childhood Christmases? What small items came to you in the toe of a stocking that you still remember to this day?

The contents of the Christmas stocking in Wilder’s story seem pitifully little to us today—a cup, a small cake, a stick of candy, and a penny. Yet in a life that had few material possessions, those were wonders, and she marveled at her riches.

What small but important riches has God given you? What “little” gifts came into your life this past year, almost overlooked because they were—well—expected? What grace did God give to you and your family? It might appear like no more than a “whole penny” to some folks, but to you, it is a precious gift from God.

Think back across your year, beloved, and thank God for his gifts to you.

Prayer for Meditation

Thank you, Father, for the small gifts you have given me in this past year.

Scripture for Meditation

So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. Matthew 7:11

Music for Meditation

Savior To Me 

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God holds the threads of our lives securely in His hand.

God is the Divine Quilter. How lovingly he gathers up the scraps and remnants and leftovers of my experiences, my brokenness, and my joy. With the skillful needlework of grace, he stitches it all together to make a wonderful whole.

~~Lucinda Secrest McDowell

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

You don’t have to be a quilter to appreciate the hard work and artistry of a handmade quilt—a lifetime of memories held in each stitch, each piece of fabric lovingly chosen.

Our lives are like a patchwork quilt. On the days when we believe we are a mess or at best, a “crazy quilt,” God thinks differently. Somehow he fits each event of our lives—even the senseless ones or the painful ones we wish to forget—into a display of surpassing beauty. Faith in Jesus is the thread that runs throughout the handiwork. This thread not only holds everything together, it makes our quilt priceless.

Perhaps in heaven we’ll finally realize why that thread of brokenness we believed so ugly was the perfect complement to the thread of joy. For now we can rest content that God, the Divine Quilter, is creating a masterpiece

Prayer for Meditation

Lord God, I trust that you hold the threads of my life securely in your hand.

Scripture for Meditation – Psalm 40:2

He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Colossians 1:17

Music for Meditation

Beautiful to Me 

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Don’t lose heart. God can bring good out of any failure. You simply need to trust him.

If then, you sometimes fall, do not lose heart. Even more, do not cease striving to make progress from it, for even out of your fall God will bring some good.

~~Corrie Ten Boom

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

Falls and failures hurt. With some hurts, we bear the emotional and sometimes physical scars for a long time. We are often left to feel that we no longer have any value to God—after all, we’ve let him down. We could retreat and lick our wounds. We could find a way to blame someone else. We might just decide to never try again.

By simply living our lives we will fail once in a while, Teresa explains. But even if we’re at the ground zero of failure and feeling utterly humiliated, we’re not to give in to discouragement. God knows our hearts, and he certainly knows that failing is not the end of our usability as believers. He can bring good out of the mess we sometimes make of our lives.

Don’t lose heart. God can bring good out of any failure. You simply need to trust him.

Prayer for Meditation

If I fall, Lord, lift me up so that I might continue to serve you.

Scripture for Meditation

Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak. Matthew 26:41

Music for Meditation

Keep Breathing, Keep Believing 

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When there’s nothing left to give the Lord, then you have to look at what you have. Your soul. Yourself.

Love is enough . . . When there’s nothing left to give the Lord, then you have to look at what you have. Your soul. Yourself. And that is the only gift. He wants from His children.

~~Bodie Thorne

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

We’ve all made them, requested or not—our Christmas wish list. As children we weren’t concerned about the prices or availability of the items on our list, so we could let our imaginations run wild.

If God were to make a wish list, what do you think he’d want from us? Our gifts of money or time? Maybe he really would like to see more acts of service, Anything we consider difficult—maybe that’s what God wants from us.

Or maybe we’re in difficult straits right now and we have no time or money or strength to give anything. What can we possibly give?

Bodie Thoene tells us. Ourselves. That’s what God wants.

You are the best and most valuable gift of all.

Prayer for Meditation

I give myself and my love to you. It’s all I have.

Scripture for Meditation

And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5

Music for Meditation

 No Matter What 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com