Doubting God

Last night I didn't get to bed late cause it was so hot in my room and I couldn't get comfortable. I got to sleep a little after 11 o'clock thinking, "I'm NEVER going to get up at 5am!" I was just so upset...

Little did I know when I woke up and looked at my clock it was 5:06. 5 o'clock. I got up. And I was refreshed, and ready to start my day. [For the most part.]

Later as I was doing some school and thinking about other stuff, I realized...Saying that I could NOT get up was doubting that God would not give me the strength to get up. I pray every night that He would help me to get up every morning ready to serve Him. And I had... At that moment of realizing that I had doubted God, I prayed to Him and asked forgiveness.

How often do we pray about something, and often we have little or no faith that God will actually do it. Rick taught in Sunday School about it...

James 1:5-6 says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

Matthew 21:22 says, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

What a great reminder that we need to have true faith when we ask God for help and to know that He CAN help us. I feel that God was teaching me a little lesson this morning...And my day went great too. I was happier, and felt refreshed all day. It's amazing what we often don't think about things like that when we need to.

And of course, following our answered pray of receiving help, we need to praise and thank God for the power to get through things.

~Emily

Praying

I want to apologize one last time. I'm sorry that I haven't been getting great things out. BUT, I finally got something to post and time to post. So I'm going to post it...Haha

It's on prayer. Praying is a vital part in a Christian life. God can do great things when we pray. But there are a few things I've been learning about prayer lately and I thought I'd share them with you. I have been cautious when I tell someone that I'll pray for them. I read an article in "Today's Christian Woman" about praying for one another. Of course it's GREAT to pray for other people. But don't say you'll pray for them unless you can commit to truly praying for them. I have started a prayer journal that I write all my prayer requests in. I have my committed prayers and ones I thought of that I need to pray for when I think about them.

We often feel so sorry for another person that it's just a 'second-nature' to say, I'll pray for you. It does help, but only if you REALLY are going to commit to praying for them. I have recently started commiting in my prayer time. I have a few friends who are going through a rough time in their life and have told them I would pray for them. Even if they think it's just going to be a 'when ever she remembers' thing, their wrong. If I have commited to praying for someone I truly do now. I used to always say "I'll pray for you", but did I really pray for them? No. Only occasionally would I remember and actually pray for them. I'm doing MUCH better now. And have read that article it really opened my eyes to what my prayer life should really consist of.

I hope you have been encouraged and will change your ways of praying if need be.

~Emily