What if we lived each day with an intense desire to live—really live?

I wonder at my recovery, wonder that the very eagerness of my desire to live, to have time for atonement to my God and to you all, did not kill me at once.

~~Jane Austen

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 desire to live is never more marked than when we look death in the face: a diagnosis of a deadly disease, a devastating car accident, a narrow escape from danger. Suddenly living, even with all of its trials and problems, becomes very beautiful indeed.

What if we lived each day with that intense desire to live—really live? What if we said the loving words to our family that we are often too busy to say (or they are too busy to hear)? What if we finally shared our faith with our co-worker? What if we really listened to our grandparents tell us their life stories?

The desire to live is placed in the human heart by our Creator. We will one day go to him and it will be a glad day indeed, but in the meantime, let’s live with all the gusto we can.

Life is short. Make today matter.

Prayer for Meditation

I want to make today matter. Let me live it to the full for you.  

Scripture for Meditation

Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring. Proverbs 27:1

Music for Meditation

Your Grace Still Amazes Me

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

The Lord loves you, and He has you on His mind.

The Lord loves you, and He has you on His mind. He’s working in your life whether you can see Him or not.

~~Terri Blackstock

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 think often about the ones we love. Imagine that our God actually spends time thinking about us!

What an amazing realization: the Maker of the heavens, and the Earth, who can count the stars and sees the inner workings of cells, has each of us on his mind? He cares about that pressing problem.  He knows our needs today, and the ones we will face tomorrow. He sees our deepest desires. He loves us with an everlasting love.

And, beyond that, he is at work in our lives. Busy making us stronger and deeper. Busy guiding and fulfilling promises. We may not see it or sense it (and at times we may even think just the opposite), but he is there.

Savor that promise. Drink in that knowledge. You are on God’s mind. He is at work in you. He loves you that much.

Prayer for Meditation

Thank you, Father, for thinking about me, for being my God and for loving me.  

Scripture for Meditation

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Music for Meditation

Indescribable

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What happens when we give God an inch? When we open the door and invite him in.

Once we give an inch, God will take a mile. He’ll take a million miles. He’ll soar on the wings of the wind from heaven to here to show you who He is, to embrace you with His love.

~~ Joni Eareckson Tada

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.

When we hear the phrase “Give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile,” it usually isn’t a good thing. Too often we’ve been taken advantage of. No matter how much we offer of our time or energy, it seems that people always expect more. Give an inch and they want a mile.

But what happens when we give God an inch? When we open the door and invite him in, he enters not just to visit, but to move in, to take up residence, to take over.

Beloved, that’s a good thing. That means he is willing to go with you everywhere. He’s there in the joys, the struggles, the darkest nights, and the brightest mornings. He is willing to go that extra mile not only for you, but with you.

Only then can he show you who he is and embrace you with his love.

Prayer for Meditation

Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you pour over me mile after mile.  

Scripture for Meditation

Mounted on a mighty angelic being, he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind. He shrouded himself in darkness, Veiling his approach with dark rain clouds. Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him and rained down hail and burning coals. The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded amid the hail and burning coals. He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; his lightning flashed, and they were greatly confused. Then at your command, O LORD, at the blast of your breath, the bottom of the sea could be seen, and the foundations of the earth were laid bare. He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. Psalm 18:10-16

Music for Meditation

Better Than A Hallelujah 

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As long as there's a God, there's a choice

As long as there’s a God, there’s a choice . . . No matter what life hands us, we will have choice. We can’t always choose our circumstances . . . but we can choose our response to them.

~~Janette Ore

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.

When we were young, what seemed like complicated choices were really quite simple. Chocolate or vanilla ice cream with the chocolate cake? A red bike or a blue bike? Lunch from home or from the school cafeteria? Other choices reflected our right-or-wrong beliefs. Cheating on a test. Gossiping about a friend. Being a bad sport.

As adults, however, our choices become more serious. Who will we marry? What kind of job training do we need? Where should we live? Other, more troubling issues could follow: What do we do about an unhappy marriage? How do we handle a life-threatening illness? How can we pay the bills when we’ve lost our job?

We can’t always choose our circumstances. We don’t always control life’s events. But we can choose how to respond when facing those circumstances, those life events. As Jeanette says, as long as there’s a God, there’s a choice.

Prayer for Meditation

God, may my choices bring honor and glory to your name.  

Scripture for Meditation

How much better to get wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver! Proverbs 16:16

Music for Meditation

More than Enough 

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

God, help me to experience your brightness in stormy weather

God is in the business of giving moments of sunlight, warmth, and joy during the storms as well as speaking a final “Peace” to them.

~~Carole Mayhall

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.

Looking out the living room window, you watch the storm clouds gather in the west. Trees wave wildly in the wind. Big dollop-like raindrops splatter the window.

Then, a brief break in the overcast sky gives you a glimpse of sunlight. An unexpected knock on your door brings a wet, windblown friend with a thermos of hot coffee. The dramatic hues in the turbulent sky catch your eye like the colors of a treasured painting. The storm has a certain beauty all its own.

We often talk about how God will “work it all together for good,” as if he only gets involved in our life storms at the end when he puts all the pieces together. Dear sister, he is there during the storm, always with you no matter how cold and wet and windy it gets. Watch for those unexpected moments of sunlight, warmth, and joy along the way.

Prayer for Meditation

God, help me to experience your brightness in stormy weather.  

Scripture for Meditation

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Music for Meditation

 Your Grace Still Amazes Me

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

God, use me to write your love on the hearts of others today

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I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.

~~Mother Teresa

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.

There’s something about a handwritten note that means so much more than even the kindest e-mail or text message. A thank you, an “I love you,” a note that says, “I’m thinking of you” when written by hand above your signature sends a special message to the receiver: “You are worth it.”

You are like the precious pencil in God’s hand. God is sending a love letter to the world—and you are that personalized note. He sends you when someone needs love, tenderness, companionship, encouragement, courage, or kindness. Your small stroke of a smile or your willingness to erase others’ mistakes sends an unmistakable message of God’s love. A pencil? Seems small and unimportant and certainly not high-tech, but it is oh so powerful.

Like Mother Teresa, you are a little pencil in God’s hand, writing a love letter to the world. What message is he sending through you today?  

Prayer for Meditation

God, use me to write your love on the hearts of others today.  

Scripture for Meditation

This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 1 John 3:11

Music for Meditation

Power of Your 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

What if we could know what the future holds?

If I had been told what I was to learn through those lengthy sufferings, I am afraid I would have shrunk back in terror, and to have lost all the sweet lessons God proposed to teach me.  

~~Elizabeth Prentiss

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 if we could know what the future holds? It seems like a good idea. If we could know what’s going to happen to us, we’d be better prepared, right.

But what if the future holds suffering? What if we discover that the coming years will bring pain, difficulty, or sorrow? To know would cause us, as Elizabeth Prentiss says to shrink back in terror—not wanting to take another step toward the pain.

It is much better for us not to know too much, but instead to live life fully every day. Then, when suffering comes, we trust in God’s promises of his grace to endure. And beyond that, we watch for the sweet lessons he proposes to teach us in the midst of our suffering—lessons we could not learn any other way.

In your suffering, dear sister, God has sweet lessons for you. Let him teach you.

Prayer for Meditation

Teach me the sweet lessons you have for me, Lord. I am your student.  

Scripture for Meditation

I am your servant; deal with me in unfailing love, and teach me your decrees. Psalm 119:124

Music for Meditation

Comforter 

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

Gold wants to mold us

If we are willing to be molded by His hands, the Lord will shower us, our men, and our relationships with abundance. That is the way He works.

~~Shaunti Feldhahn

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.

When a plotter picks up his clay, it’s usually a stiff, cold, shapeless block. It takes patience and strong hands to soften the clay before it can be molded. During this time, the artists gets to delight in the process of creation and dream about his finished product.

Picture our heavenly Father, with his strong hands, desiring to shape you for his glory, for your benefit, and for others’ blessings. How much patience will he need to make you pliable? How resistant are you to changing shape? Are you willing to take on the shape he has in mind for you, or are you set on a shape of your own? As Shaunti Feldhahn reminds us, God wants to mold us. When we are willing to let him shape our lives, he showers us with his abundance.

God is molding and shaping you. Will you let him be your Sacred Sculptor?  

Prayer for Meditation

Sacred Sculptor, mold me. May I be pliable in your hands.  

Scripture for Meditation

But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? Romans 9:20-21

Music for Meditation

Change My Heart Oh God 

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Wait, my child. Sit quietly. Let me work in you

God is more interested in teaching me through a situation than in using me in a situation.

~~Carole Mayhall

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 desperately want to be out working, serving, and doing for God, but at times we feel sidetracked. Wrapped up in raising children, housebound with an illness, separated from projects and people that we care about—we feel that we are not doing anything at all for God’s kingdom. If he’s not working through us, then, well, nothing good can be happening. We want to be anywhere but where God has us.

Instead, God says, “Wait, my child. Sit quietly. Let me work in you.” As our hearts catch up to that understanding, the dissatisfaction and disappointment dissipate. Restlessness and grumbling are replaced with praise and thanksgiving to God. Our minds and spirits open to hear God’s instruction. Our hearts soften to soak up God’s love.

With God working in you, you’re never sidelined, never useless. He will teach you wherever he has you.

Prayer for Meditation

I put my desires before you, God, ready to receive your instruction.  

Scripture for Meditation

Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Psalm 37:7

Music for Meditation

I Feel My Savior’s Love 

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Thank you for making me just right!

That’s what God says when he looks upon you, dear one. “Ta-da! I did it! She’s perfect, she’s finished, and she’s all mine.” You are gorgeous to God simply because you’re covered in the blood of His son.

~~Liz Curtis Higgs

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.

Do you hurry past the full-length mirror in the hallway? You know if you stop, you’ll be disappointed. That reflection doesn’t resemble the you inside. What you see doesn’t seem to reflect what is. You move forward to look at the details, mainly wrinkles, and wonder if the product you saw on TV really would tighten up your eyes. You step back and admit that bikini days are over. The sequined dress in the back corner of your closet will probably never fit again. No one will be chasing you down for a photo for their magazine cover.

But you know what? God says you’re just right. Age has made you a richer person inside, a wiser woman, a more compassionate woman, a stronger woman. Jesus has made you beautiful.

The magazine cover photos are always touched up, but you? You’re gorgeous! So give that reflection a great big smile!  

Prayer for Meditation

Lord, help me see myself the way you do. Thank you for making me just right!  

Scripture for Meditation

But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.1 John 1:7

Music for Meditation

Rescue Me 

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

The first characteristic of true love is humility

The first characteristic of true love is humility: the pouring of oneself down lower and lower in self-effacement and self-denial. The message of running water always is, “Go lower. Find the lowest place. That is the only way to true fulfillment.”

~~Hannah Hurnard

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.

Humility doesn’t come naturally. We want people to notice us admire and respect us, and to not take advantage of us. We want to be treated fairly and shown consideration. After all we do, how kind we are, how generous—it’s only fair, right?

Beloved, we’re called to something greater. We’re called to love those around us and to find our worth not in ourselves but in Jesus. The more we strive for others’ approval, the more frustrated we become. According to Hannah Hurnard, the only way to true fulfillment is to “go lower.”

What does that mean for us? It means self-denial. It means putting the interests of others before our own. It means exalting Jesus because of our love for him, and always seeking to put him first.

You show your love by pouring yourself out. That is true fulfillment.

Prayer for Meditation

Thank you that your love never fails. Help me to love others in humility.  

Scripture for Meditation

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. John 3:30

Music for Meditation

Come to Jesus 

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Knowing where you are going takes the uncertainty out of getting there.

~~Anne Graham Lotz

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.

Distress. Disappointment. Disease. Death. Struggles in life can make our hands tremble, our hearts pound, and our knees buckle.

Until we reflect on our final destination.

When we know we’re going to heaven, certainty fills our hearts as we look forward to the joy, beauty, and welcome that we know will meet us there. As we fix our eyes on our ultimate destination, we have the courage and the hope to handle whatever comes our way.

The road you’re on today may be littered with fear, anxiety, or worry. The future may not look or feel like a sure thing.

Look up! Heaven is a sure thing. God can be counted on. Keep going, regardless of the twists, turns, and unexpected detours on your journey. Keep going, certain of the One who saved you. Keep going, letting the picture and promise of heaven fill your steps with confidence and hope.

Prayer for Meditation

Thank you, God, for reminding me where I’m going so I can confidently face today.

Scripture for Meditation

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. John 14:1-3

Music for Meditation

Through it All 

  

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Jesus will continue polishing until he sees his reflection in you.

A diamond is never released to the marketplace until the person assigned to polish it can see the image of his own face reflected in the jewel.

~~Elizabeth George

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 feel like diamonds in the rough. We know we have great value—at least we’re trying to learn that as we sit at the feet of the Master—but we still feel like we’re just not quite sparkling for him. We desire to be more beautiful for Christ, but we too often find ourselves scratched and clouded by pain, grief, difficult circumstances, or failures.

Beloved, Jesus is polishing. Like a master gem-cutter, he sees what is beneath the rough exterior—the priceless beauty just waiting to be displayed. He carefully works to bring out the fine details just as he desires. Sometimes the very pain, grief, difficulties, and failures that you think are keeping you from sparkling are actually his polishing tools. The rough edges are chiseled away, the facets cut, and the surface polished.

Jesus will continue polishing until he sees his reflection in you.

Prayer for Meditation

O God, help me to surrender to your polishing. I want to reflect your glory.  

Scripture for Meditation

Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man. 1 Corinthians 15:49

Music for Meditation

Press On

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Our rescuer is waiting for our cry

He will never allow Satan to discourage you without a plan to lead to victory! Consider this carefully: We may not always follow Christ to victory, but He is always leading!

~~Beth Moore

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.

Remember the funhouse mazes at the county fair? You and your friends would go in together for the sole purpose of trying to scare one another. Part of the fun was the uncertainty around every corner. You groped the walls to get a sense of direction and proceeded with caution, fearful of what may lie ahead. In the end you knew you’d all escape, laughing at your fear.

Unfortunately life’s not really like that. We don’t like the uncertainty. We don’t like being afraid. We can’t see what’s around the next curve and we feel lost and vulnerable. The enemy could be waiting to snatch us at the least wrong turn.

Fortunately, however, our Rescuer is waiting for our cry. He will lead us to safety and victory. He rushes in to push the enemy aside and lead us out of the darkness.

 Our job? Follow!

Prayer for Meditation

Lord, I don’t want to meander fearfully in the dark. Help me follow you.  

Scripture for Meditation

Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. John 12:26

Music for Meditation

All The Way My Savior Leads Me 

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