I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.”

Oh, praise the One who paid my debt, And raised this life up from the dead.

Lyric Credit: Copyright © 2006 worshiptogether.com Songs / sixsteps Music (ASCAP) / Admin. by EMI CMG Publishing

Recently the Lord has been allowing my heart to connect, with several sweet gals who are just plain going through it. You know what “it” is, don’t you? We’ve all seen it, and felt it a time or two. It’s that season in life that you never thought you would face. Or you thank God you are not facing any longer. It’s the scary season when everything is beating you down and you just don’t know what to do and you wonder if life will ever bring you out of this season. Somehow this is my season to not encounter “it” personally, but vicariously, through several others.

The Lord has graced me with a counseling word through his Holy Spirit for this influx of marital attacks. The first and foremost being,

1. Conquer the negative thoughts.

…get rid of the NOT TRUE beliefs.

In his fruitless attempt to damage marriage, here are a few “not true” thoughts that the enemy will use first to launch an attack in our mind:

–“My husband does not love me because of this….” = NOT TRUE

–“I would be better off if I had married….” = NOT TRUE

–“Divorce would be better than staying married.” = NOT TRUE

What can we do to conquer those negative thoughts? Be strong.  Be bold. Don’t let the enemy work in your mind and tell you lies.  Take authority over your situation, by first recognizing the lies.  “I would be better off without him.” NOT TRUE!!!  It’s hard to imagine this right now in the midst of turmoil, but there will be a moment down the road when you will be so in love again, you will have your arms around each other and wonder why you ever considered ending this beautiful relationship. The truth is the moment you became one, the honeymoon moments in marriage, the fun vacations together, those are the truth moments in your relationship. We have to live in those moments, even when things are tough, and somedays it will take work and effort to create those moments again in your mind. But listening to lies, will only produce living in lies. Learn to think the truth, so you can live in the truth.

Once you determine that you are listening to lies, the next thing is simply:

2. Replace lies (or untruths) with truth.

How can we activate TRUE thoughts? Start with the truest Word in the world, the Bible. Apply a real scripture for your situation. It’s not difficult. You only need to start with one, like Philippians 4:8,
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

You have to remind yourself, I mean, physically tell your mind that all of these things are not heart issues, they are head issues. You have to push past the fog of confusion to get to the root of the problem. If the situation were truly a heart issue, you would know it. However,
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding.”

Finally,

3. Let God fight your battles, not your flesh.

So many times, women (especially this one) think the best solution is the one we have to say. Again, Not True. When we learn to pray first, instead of talking (or debating) first, the outcome is monumentally better. I heard a great lady once say, “Take your mouth off of it.” Meaning, don’t try to fix it verbally. Verbally responding quickly turns into anger, strife, envy, gossip…ultimately regret.

Also, personally, I can tell you that if you commit to “not giving up” – no matter what, never, ever, ever spending the night apart, or leaving mad or going to sleep mad – that your marriage will be stronger.  It’s like “putting your face to the wind” and saying, “Ok, come on storm – show me what you got!  I’m not letting go, I’m not giving in. Bring it on.” You have to stop believing that “quitting” is the easy way.  It’s NOT. Let me just speak clearly and the truth here. Facing your problems, IS the road less traveled, but it offers the sweeter victory.

I believe the promise with you today ladies that you will live in peace and rest, and that God will grace your marriage with His never ending, passionately powerful, agape love.

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more on “the Spirit of Perspective” ~ “the prayer Perspective” and “the Spirit of Pursuit“

Beth Moore has been challenging me in “Stepping Up,” a journey through the Psalms of Ascent (more to come on this powerful discovery.) But one new change I decided to incorporate into my daily five was what she calls “finding my place on my face.” I’ve been a prayer girl all of my life, believing in the power of prayer, the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the powerful prayer life that comes with having the overflow of that spirit.

My favorite quiet place is usually sitting on the couch, reading the word, meditating on the word, and if there is a serious need or situating in life, then I will become the floor pacer prayer warrior. That’s where I find I can enter into the place of intercession, as if on the threshing floor, pressing through, pushing back and entering in. I will find myself on my knees or occasionally on my face during that type of prayer. But these moments are not routine. They don’t happen everyday. My daily love talks are where I most like to pray about everyday life. On a walk, or driving down the road, these love talks are as if I’m just in a simple conversation with my closest friend. I just talk to Jesus in my heart, or out loud. These are the times I usually have my personal pity parties and let God how I think he should work things out. It’s also the place I can feel him most guiding me and gently explaining that His plan IS the best.

The “Stepping Up” mandate to “find my place, on my face” daily was not, I confess, something I looked forward to committing to. It seemed so liturgical and planned and routine, coming from a pentecostal, free worship style upbringing. It’s by far not a traditional way of prayer in my church. Growing up, we would sometimes “kneel” at the altar, maybe stand and pray, and we most definitely would have our hands raised!

During summer visits I remember my grandparents making all of the grandkids kneel on the floor with our faces on the couch to pray every night before bed. My mom and dad would always tuck us in bed, and we would say our prayers. But laying on the floor, face down to the carpet, was a new thing for me.

Let me tell you…it has completely changed my prayer life, and my day. I actually feel like my day is getting started when I find that time on the floor. I feel like I’m truly putting God first, and my heart is more free in this “commitment” than it ever was with the random, spontaneous “freedom” of praying whenever. To me it seems like such a small, simple gesture. Just a few moments or minutes? It’s not even long enough for a deeply serious conversation. But it’s a gesture! I feel like it’s my “Daniel” time – when I go lay on my cute brown blanket below my favorite window looking out into the world where I live. Just a little commitment, a small gesture, the bible tells us clearly can do so much! And, in just the past 10 days, it has indeed revolutionized my heart, and my walk with Christ.

I can’t explain how God can do so much, giving strength for the day in a mere three minutes, but He does. If you are looking to “Step it Up” like I was, try stepping down, and even laying down like I have. I promise you won’t regret~

This is my prayer….

At the recommendation from my smart, bigger, little brother, I started watching a sermon series his pastor in Birmingham preached recently, called FIVE.

It’s been on the “I’ll get around to it someday” list. And someday just happened to stumble my way recently. This series has, for me, been one of those epiphany, life-altering type moments. If you are looking to step up your life, this leadership principle will get you there. It’s called the Rule of Five, as taught from leadership guru, John Maxell, to help you obtain success, by mastering simple steps today. Pastor Hodges, bases the series on a Proverbs that says, “an intelligent man aims at wise actions…but the fool starts off in many different directions.”

He also advised FIVE seekers to take the ’30 Days to Live’ TEST. If you had 30 days to live…what would you do?

“Teach us to number our days
and recognize how few they are;
help us to spend them as we should.”

John Maxwell’s five:
-Read
-File
-Think
-Ask Questions
-Write

Pastor Chris Hodges five:
-Spending time with God
-Spend time with Spouse
-Spend time with Family
-Lead (Think, Communicate, Lead, Minister – Who did I touch today?)
-Take Care of Me.

My Five?
Still a work in progress. But having five seems to take the pressure off the list of 500 that I try to fit into my life. Clearly defining who we are in life, can happen with five simple, easy, daily routines. I like how Pastor Chris said it, “actions do not necessarily mean accomplishment.” I will have to apply that one from now on.