Five Minute Friday- Lift - A Lifting up Marriage

Here is to another Five Minute Friday. The word is "lift"

Marriage is hard. Two imperfect people get married and share their lives together. When I got married, I realized that I was not the only one who had to deal with my emotions which made my emotions harder to deal with. I also learned that sometimes I need to keep my emotions to myself because it is not beneficial and uplifting to my husband no matter how much I want to say it.

But the one thing I have realized the most is that through God's grace and constant reliance on my part when my husband is down or vice versa we can always be there to lift each other up. Even though it is sometimes hard because he makes it difficult, God gives me the grace to help lift up my husband. There are even times that my husband lifts me up and doesn't even realize it. Marriage gives that opportunity and ability to lift each other up. 

Even though marriage is hard I am glad that God has given me the husband He has given to me and helps me to be the stronger one through His grace when I need to be.  

Praising and Feeding on His Faithfulness

Prayer is a powerful thing! But I think sometimes as humans we pray to get our own way, telling God all what we would like to see happen. Over time when the same prayers are not answered or it feels like you are still in the dark, praying this way seems pointless or feels aimless. We feel lost. We feel alone or overwhelm. But what if we go about it a different way. 

  I will praise the Lord at all times.
    I will constantly speak his praises.  

I will boast only in the Lord;
    let all who are helpless take heart. 

 Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;
    let us exalt his name together.

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
    He freed me from all my fears...

In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;
    he saved me from all my troubles.  Psalm 34:1-4,6 NLT

You notice the order David put these verses. He does not start with verses 4 and 6 by crying out to God. He starts out by praising the Lord. He doesn't stop there either but continues on saying that he constantly speaks praises towards God. 

The key is when we approach God with situations that never seem to go away or constantly making you feel alone or anxious, we need to praise Him for what He has done already. The whole idea of even praying and wanting to releasing this to Him in the first place should be a sign to you that He is working in your heart.  Hold onto that and praise Him. He is faithful and working even if you don't see it. It is all about your focus being on Him and not the circumstances.

This also reminds me of two other verses that I hold onto when it comes to praying and focusing on praising God and what He has done.

 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and FEED on His faithfulness. 

Psalm 37:3 NKJV 

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done

Phil 4:6 NLT

 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus

1 Thess 5:18 NLT

Five Minute Friday - Hidden - The Hidden Parts of the Heart

Here is to another Five Minute Friday. The word is "hidden".

Everyone knows that person that doesn't seem to open up to you at all but seems to have a heavy heart. They are lost. They need Jesus. They have hurt, pain, and anger in their lives but what is in their hearts is hidden. 

As someone who went to school to study psychology, it is frustrating for me to deal with people like that because I care and I want to understand where they are coming from. It is mostly hard when it is a loved one and I don't know what their heart is hiding from me.

But what God has been pressing on my heart is that He knows what is in their hearts. Nothing is hidden from Him. He sees all and knows all. Resting in that helps me to pray for those who I want to know what is hidden in their hearts in order to bless them.

Here are some things that we can pray for those who have hidden things in their hearts

1) Ask God to reveal to you things that He wants to show you from their hearts

2) Ask God to see them the way He sees them.

3) If you struggle with feeling frustration or anger towards them, pray that God can reveal to you what is hidden in your heart to be able to reach that person the way He wants you to.

When Praying is all You can Do

Think about those days that when you wake up you have really no idea what the day is going to be like. This is this anticipation of what could happen but you just don't know. You start out it out with your quiet time and draw near to God but that anticipating feeling wont go away.

During those days as Christians we need to as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says

"Pray without ceasing." 

 

 

Every time that anticipating feeling comes, PRAY.

 

Every time you want to worry about what is going to happen, PRAY.

 

Even when you feel like your quiet time was just ok, PRAY.

 

It is about being intentionally humble and approaching God with whatever is on your heart.

 

When you do approach God, ask Him for faith and peace to continue on. Maybe even pray Hebrews 10:6,

 

 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

 

 

When we pray constantly and have faith that He is who He says He is, He will bless you. Through the praying, you set yourself up for constantly focusing on Him. When you do this, the blessings are so obvious because you have prayed without ceasing and He has given you the faith to do so. All you will want to do is just praise Him.

 

"Praying without ceasing" when you feel that is all you got is the key. He wants to bless you when you give Him your time and day.  

 

 

Five Minute Friday - Help- Asking for Help

So I have been out the pass two weeks because life is just plain busy. God is still working and I have to go back to that every time or I am going to fall flat on my face.

So here is to another Five Minute Friday. The word is "help".

So this past week has been an up and down week for me emotionally. I am kinda in between stages of finishing a Bible Study and figuring out what I need to do next with my blog. Kinda frustrating and lonely.

Also the Republican National Convention is on this week which is depressing and a joke.

My husband's new job is finally opened and on its way to being successful since it is expected to be one of their busier stores. But it means he is so busy and tired.

So most nights I have been feeling very anxious anticipating what is next for life. I constantly had the battle going on,

"I just need to relax my brain and watch some Friends."

 "Psst...Kristina what is that going to solve in your busy and anxious mind...um...nothing."

"But I just want to relax."

"Kristina you need My Help. Kristina you are doing all of this in your own strength and leaning on your own understanding. You cant. It is counterproductive. You need My help!"

I reached out for His help and the blessings continue to flow. But it needs to be a constant going to His help. I am though so thankful for a persistent and faithful God who wants me to let go and allow Him to help me.

More than One Time Prayers

Everyday as Christians we experience spiritual warfare especially when we start the day with our quiet times. We sit down and open our Bible and start to read. Sometimes we might, like me, start out with prayer. But then we get distracted. Thoughts of every kind come into your head; what you have to do for the day or a situation that is brothering you. Everyone has those times.

During those times, I get out my journal and write a prayer about it. The point of writing it out is to go back to them when you have the same feeling and re pray the prayer. It can be even during those times when you just feel distant or distracted. Write it out and use it the next time you feel the same way. 

Some ways you can write them out are by looking up at verse and praying it to your situation.

Here is an example of one using James chapter 1

Dear Lord I give you this time of distance, this trial. Lord help me to have the mindset of joy that you are working something out to complete something in me. Help me to receive your wisdom and direction with faith in who you are and what you can do. Help me not to doubt but trust in you. Lord I need to guard my heart and mind. Lord help me to not give in to the temptation during this time to believe the worst of our situation. Lord heal my hurtness and open my eyes, shut my mouth and to respond in love. I know you have a plan in all of this. Help me to let go of wickedness and filthiness but to soak in your word and follow it.    

 

 

Another way is using it to pray for your love ones like your husband and kids or even those who need to hear the Lord.

 

 

When you are going through a situation where you need wisdom and don't know what do, write a prayer out. Every time you worry about it, stop and find your journal and pray the prayer you wrote.

 

 

A way that I wish I used more is writing out a prayer as a praise to God. Praise God every time for those good conversations you have with your kids by using just one prayer. Or even during those times when you don't feel very thankful but you want to.

 

 

The point of these prayers is for you to go back to them. Star them in your journal or even on index cards. Maybe you like to use different colors for every category of prayers you have. They have to stand out from the rest of your journal writing.

 

 

If you have any ideas on how you write out prayers, leave me a comment below and tell me.

 

 

Linking up with Holley coffee for your heart

Releasing Emotions through Scripture - My Scripture Lists

Everyone deals with different types of emotions every day. Depending on your personality and life experiences, certain emotions are more prevalent than others leaving us feeling overwhelmed or angry. Everyone is different.

But the word of God is constant and can help us with the emotions we deal with.

For me, I have developed folder in my notes on my IPad called "How to live in Hope". Everything that I read from Desiring God or certain blogs I like that center on scripture that encourage me to live in hope, I copy and paste into this folder. Even when I am just reading the Bible during my quiet time and there is a verse that catches my eye for a particular emotion that I struggle with, I place it into this folder. So when those times I feel certain emotion come up, I go straight to this folder look for that particular emotion and read those scriptures and pray them to God. By praying I mean by personalizing to this situation at hand or use it as a plead to God. Ninety-nine percent of the time God gives them unbelievable peace. His word is so faithful like that.

In this post I am going to share my lists of emotions and scriptures I use.

Verses when I feel overwhelmed with emotion
Psalm 94:19
Psalm 61:2
Psalm 38:9-10
Jonah 2:2

Verses when I feel anxious or fearful
Phil 4:6-7
1 Peter 5:7-8
Psalm 34:4
Psalm 55:22
Psalm 62:8
Proverbs 16:3
Psalms 94:17-19
Isaiah 26:3

Verses when I feel afraid
Psalm 56:3-4
Proverbs 3:21-26
Psalm 142:5
Proverbs 3:21-26

Verses when I get frustrated with my husband or daughter
Psalm 121
Isaiah 41:10
Isaiah 40:28-31
2 Corinthians 12:9
1 cor 15:57-58

Verses on not complaining
Romans 5:3-5
1 thess 5:16-18

Verses on when I feel busy and distracted
Luke 10:38-42
Psalm 40:11-13

Verses on when I feel like a failure

Psalm 37:23-24- I fall, He holds me up by His hand
Psalm 94:18-19- my foot slips, He holds my foot up; I feel anxious, His comfort delights me
Micah 7:7-8 I fall, He is my salvation; I sit in darkness, He is my light chill
Psalm 147:11 I hope in His mercy
Psalm 149:4 I am humble, He beautifies me with salvation
Luke 12:32 I worry about what I have or who I am, He wants to give me His kingdom
Psalm 86:5 in my day of trouble I cry out to Him, He is abundant in mercy, good, and ready to forgive whiLe He listens to me
Jude 24-25
Mal 3:6
Jeremiah 32:17-19,27

Verses on waiting on God
Psalm 25:5 He shows me the path I need to go by His truth.
Psalm 25:21
Psalm 27:14
Psalm 39:7
Psalm 130:5
Isaiah 30:18
Isaiah 40:31
Lam 3:25-26
Zeph 3:8- why the earth is messed up wait He will come back
Romans 8:25- wait with perseverance
Job 12:13

Verses on God's sovereignty
2 chron 20:15
Psalm 147
Psalm 138:5
Col 2:15
Mal 3:6
Psalm 27:5
Psalm 57:2
Hebrews 4:13
Psalm 89:11
Jeremiah 10:12

Verses on when I want to control
Psalm 62:1-2
Matthew 6:33
1 Peter 5:5-6
Proverbs 2:1-6
1 Tim 4:16-17

Verses to remind me that God cares about me

Psalm 25:10 nlt He leads with His unfailing love and faithfulness to those who keep His commands
2 chron 16:9 God searched out to help those who are fully committed to Him
Lam 3:22-33
2 Sam 22:19-20 He supports me and rescues me because He delights in me
Is 30:18
Psalm 145:14
Psalm 78:37-39
1 Peter 3:12
Psalm 27:5
Zeph 3:17
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Psalm 147:11
Jeremiah 31:3
Psalm 9:10
Psalm 31:7,19 NLT
Psalm 56:8-13

Verses when I feel spiritually attacked
Ephesians 6:10-13
1 Peter 5:8-9
1 John 4:4
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Romans 3:3-5
1 Corinthians 16:13

Also I have a Pinterest board that called "The Emotions Board" that has more verses for more emotions.  

If you have any verses or blog posts or links that you have used during those hard times, leave them in the blank. I could add them to my Pinterest board. : )

Linking up with Jennifer #tellhisstory and Holley Coffee for your heart