But prayer is the gateway to the heavens, and the only

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1 By Tracie Miles God s Heart. It seems like a simple thing to do, but sometimes we make it complicated. We think we have to say the right words and pray in the right way. We compare our prayers to the prayer styles of others, and deem we are not capable of praying as good as them. We grow weary of waiting Contents on God to answer our prayers the way we would like, so we assume He is not listening them to at all. We don t hear from God, so we gradually stop talking to Him altogether. But prayer is the gateway to the heavens, and the only way we can talk to the One who resides there. God hears every silent and spoken prayer, and He is only concerned with the conversation itself not the words that are used. Our prayers matter to God, Without prayer, God cannot fully manifest Himself in your life.

2 Why? If God is such a loving God, why do we need to ask Him to save us? How do I even do that? What if I ve asked Him into my heart before, but feel led to recommit my life to Him and make my faith a priority? Will He still accept me? Does God still love me and want to be a part of my life, despite my sin? These are questions that countless numbers of people struggle with every day. If you have ever asked yourself these questions, then know that you are not alone. But the answers are simple - God loves you and wants to hear from you - no matter what. s for If you receive an invitation in the mail, but never RSVP, will the host know you are interesting in coming and be expecting you to arrive? No! Not because they don t want you to be there, but simply because you never accepted their invitation. God wants you to willingly RSVP to His invitation for eternal life. A life which was purchased for you by the blood of Jesus. If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, or you want to recommit your life beginning today, here is a sample prayer to consider praying. But remember, God wants to hear from you in whatever way you choose to speak. of Salvation Lord, I know I am in need of a Savior. I need your love and I long for you to fill the empty places in my heart. Please forgive me for my sins. Cleanse me and make me whole. I believe You sent your Son to die for me on the cross to save me from my sins and give me eternal life in heaven. I praise You for who You are and I invite you into my heart today. I accept Your invitation to live abundantly here on earth because of Your sacrifice, but also to enjoy the gift of eternal life when my time on earth is complete. Lord, I seek You with my whole heart. Change me. Transform me. Allow me to see You working in my life. Hear my prayers. I commit to love You Lord from this day forward. In Your holy Name, Amen.

3 Faith Matters It s one thing to accept Jesus as our Savior with our lips., yet another thing to really make Him Lord of our life. And it s all too easy to know Jesus, yet quite another to know Him personally. To build an intimate relationship with Jesus and allow Him to transform us from the inside out, we must consciously commit to making our faith a priority in our life and that can begin by reading His Word. The Bible might seem overwhelming at first, but soon we realize that His Word is alive and that it speaks to us in amazing ways. Anything that is worth achieving requires effort, commitment and passion. An intimate relationship with Christ is worth every ounce of effort we put forth and is always time well spent,. When we begin to feel His Presence in divine ways, our spiritual passion will grow. Jesus, I want to feel passionate about my walk with You. I want to hear You speak to me through your Word. To see scriptures come to life and seem illuminated in my heart. I want to know when You are speaking to me in any way whether through Your Word, other people, music, books, or dreams. Will you prick my heart and quicken my spirit with each whisper from You? Please make me acutely aware of when You are trying to talk to me, and help me have an overwhelming need to hear from You every single s for day. Give me an insatiable hunger and a thirst for Your Word. Pour a longing for more of You into my heart and help me build a desire to pray without ceasing and serve without doubting. To have ongoing conversation with You and to be aware of Your intervention in my life. Lord, I want to have a strong faith. Help me learn to trust You. Shower me with grace and mercy and help me to shower others with these gifts as well. I long to walk in Your ways. Guide my steps and directly my life. Amen.

4 Because they need it Children are a gift from God, and when God entrusts the life of a child to us in an way, it is a gift we can never take for granted. Motherhood is the highest calling their is, and possibly one of the most stressful and anxiety provoking purposes that God calls us to. As moms, we not only want to protect our children physically and keep them from harm, but we want to protect them from emotional damage as well. Life is hard, and they will have hard times, so the greatest shield of protection we can provide for them is prayer. s for Sweet Jesus, thank you for the gift of these children you have placed in my care. I truly am honored that you would trust me with such a high responsibility, and frankly Lord, I feel inadequate. I feel afraid that I may not be a good enough mom. Afraid that I might fail in some way, or fail them. Will you nudge my heart each day to remember to seek Your guidance as I deal with parenting challenges and decisions? Help me stand firm in my beliefs so I don t waver in the face of pressure from my children or from other parents who may have different religious views, or different parenting views from my own. I long to let my faith be my guide in all that I do, especially when it comes to my kids. Help me to be a godly role model and to teach them to love you. I ask for an army of angels to surround them every day as they venture into the world, from kindergarten to college to young adulthood. Infuse them with a desire to know You and to walk in Your ways. Convict their hearts when they do wrong and help me be aware of the things I need to be aware of. I pray for their future spouses, and that You will bring Godly mean and women to them. When I am disappointed, draw me to You and reassure me that it s okay. Remind me that no child is perfect, and no mom is either. Amen.

5 When Two Are One The wedding was beautiful, but is now just a precious memory in a photo album. We said I do without hesitation, and although we recited all the right vows, we ve now realized it s much harder to live out those vows than it is to say them. Ever feel that way? No matter how much we are in love with our spouse, marriage is not easy. In fact, it s probably the hardest thing a woman will ever do because anything worth having, takes hard work. But when God is the center of a marriage, the likelihood of working through problems, treating other with respect and kindness, and learning to s for forgive is much higher than in marriages without Christ. You are my heavenly Father, and I trust You in all things. I trust You with the problems and challenges I am experiencing right now in my marriage, and I commit to trust You with my future. I seek Your divine intervention in my life, my marriage, and the issues we face. I ask for an extra dose of patience, kindness, self control and humility. I especially ask You Lord, for the supernatural ability to forgive my spouse for things he has done that have hurt me or hurt our relationship. Help me to see him through Your eyes, instead of my own eyes which may be shrouded with criticism. Give me the ability to love my we once shared. Sometimes I wonder if I married the wrong person Lord. I m only human and I want a wonderful, loving marriage. But help me not to hold my expectations so high that my husband can t possibly reach them. Give me the insight and wisdom to not compare him to other men, or to unrealistic relationship standards set forth by our culture in movies and soap operas. This is real life. Help me love my husband the way You love me - unconditionally. And through that love, give him a desire to love me that way in return. Bless our marriage

6 Worrying is normal Money. It always has been and always be a source of anxiety. We are told in God s Word not to worry about what we will eat or wear in the coming days and that He will provide, but how to do we that when the mortgage is due, the refrigerator is empty and when the amount of money in our bank account is already less than we need it to be? There is only one answer to that question. Faith. To walk by faith and not by sight and trust that somehow, someway, God will always provide. Lord, you know my heart. And you know my finances. You see through my facade of trying to act like we have it all together, and You know the worries that I try to keep tucked deep in my heart. Worries about not only daily finances, but about the future. My children s future. Our future needs. College. Retirement. It s hard to trust that money will fall out of the sky when we need it God. Forgive me for doubting when reality and skepticism seem to push themselves to the forefront of let go of my doubts and trust that you see my needs, and that you will provide in Your perfect ways and in Your perfect timing. Open up opportunities for a new job if that is Your will for me, or for a new opportunity for my spouse that will better provide for our growing financial needs. Bless our economy and our country and protect those whose love You from the domino affects of our fallen culture. When I am experiencing financial blessings, help me to stay focused on You and never allow the love of money to override my love for You. Protect my heart from doubt and greed, and shower us with the blessings meant specifically for us Amen. s for my minds Open my heart to Your reality and help me to

7 But, it s hard. Work. Sometimes we love it. Sometimes we despise it. Sometimes we feel thankful for it, while sometimes we feel cursed by it. Sometimes we wish it would end, and sometimes we desperately long for it. Everyone experiences this range of emotions when it comes to employment. We spend most of our waking lives at work, which makes it even more important that we don t forget to pray about it. s not just to get employment, but to allow God to be a part of it. s for Only You Jesus, know what I am really going through. How I am really feeling. Whether I am happy, or whether my heart longs for a different direction or purpose. I want to enjoy my work, not just earn a paycheck. Yet I need to make my finances a priority at the same time. Lord, I seek your guidance in all my decisions when it comes to where I choose to work and spend most of my time. Even though I may not have had a choice due to necessity, I ask that if I m not in the right place, that you make that clear. I also seek your protection in the work environment I am corporate practices and give me the strength to stand firm in my beliefs. If I am to pursue a new opportunity or career path, Lord I ask that You make it abundantly clear. Give me spiritual vision. I seek Your blessing on the work that I do, especially if I am doing what I enjoy. Help me stay focused on You and to do my work as an extension of my faith. I want everything I do to glorify You. I thank you for the blessing of employment, even if it s not my perfect dream job. I praise You for providing for my financial needs at this time and I will have faith that if I am in a waiting period, that I will trust You to provide for all my needs. Amen.

8 God is praiseworthy! When life is good, praising God is easy and comes naturally for most of us. Yet in the midst of struggles and hardships, we often forget to praise God for the good things in our lives, much less thank Him for difficult circumstances as we are instructed to do. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, and in James 1:2-4, we are told to consider it a joy to have trials and hardships. Both of these verses require us to have faith under pressure, and that is when true faith really grows and true praise really begins. s of Dear heavenly Father, I praise You today for who You are, not just for what I see You doing in my life. Forgive me for expecting You to always make life go my way, and for falsely assuming that I should be immune to the problems of life. Lord, I believe that You are the giver and taker of all things, but that You always have my best interest at heart. I praise You for Your unconditional love, grace, and mercy. I praise You for all the blessings You have bestowed upon my life. I praise You for all the little things that I normally take for granted, and ask Your forgiveness for doing so. Thank You for the blessing of eternal life, and for the blessing of being able to enjoy abundant life while here on earth. Thank You for Your unconditional love and friendship. Thank You for purpose and passion to do what You have equipped me to do. Thank you for my past, although it may be filled with pain, it is also filled with clarity about how You were beside me the whole time. If I am missing that clarity, open my eyes. Thank You for protecting me against situations I may not even know I need to be protected from. Thank You for being available for conversation and for providing peace and comfort when I need it. Thank You for Your Word.

9 Paradise lost has now been found. Lord, I pray for Your sovereign protection, guidance, leadership, spiritual clarity and divine intervention over every area of my life including my faith, my children and family, my marriage or future spouse, my finances and my employment. I praise You for You are worthy of my praise!