Tag Archives: prayer

Psalm 32:9 Don’t Resist

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Ps 32:9

“Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭32:9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In Ps 32:8 God tells us He will teach and guide us in the path we need to go. In this verse 9, we are encouraged to be willing participants in this process and not be dragged into following Gods instruction. The analogy is that of a stubborn horse, who has no understanding and therefore must be harnessed to be directed. The key words are the lack of understanding! When we understand God’s great love for us and His intention to restore and empower us to live in our purpose, we will gladly receive His instruction.

This is why there are so many references in the scripture to “opening” “eyes”, so that we fully see and know God’s heart, His protection, His plans, and His promises. We are encouraged to study and learn God’s principles so that we gain wisdom, discernment and understanding of how to make good decisions. We should be willing students! I love how Job explained it(Job 42:3-5) “surely I spoke of things I didn’t understand, things too wonderful for me to know– my ears had only heard of you but now my eyes have seen!”

Lord, help us to not resist Your instruction or Your presence. Continue to open our eyes that we can clearly see You in all of Your glory, and understand Your heart for us. May we abide in You, keep our eyes on You, as we are being transformed in this process. Search us and bring light to those areas where we may be resistant, stubborn and unwilling and lead us. Help us to yield to you in every part of our lives in Jesus name.

Psalm 32:8 Divine Direction

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Psalms 32:8

“The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” Psalms‬ ‭32:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What a precious promise we have in the Lord, that when we come to Him in prayer, confess our sin(s), not only will he hide us and protect us ( in previous verses 6-7) but he instructs and guides us the BEST path we need to take. And this is not one and done. As we are before Him, He continues to guide and counsel us in the process and watched over us.

Lord, thank you for guiding and teaching us to adjust our sails so that we are following the best and right path for our lives. Your Word continues to be a light to our path in every dark place. Thank you for always being right there with us in the process, counseling us and watching over us. You are indeed a Good Father! Thank you Lord!

Psalm 32:6-7 Urgency of Deliverance

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Psalm 32:6-7

“Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [for forgiveness] in a time when You [are near and] may be found; Surely when the great waters [of trial and distressing times] overflow they will not reach [the spirit in] him. You are my hiding place; You, Lord, protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance. Selah.” ‭‭Ps‬ ‭32:6-7‬ ‭AMP‬‬

What a great consolation the Word of God is! The psalmist exhorts us in vs 6 to pray with urgency to the Lord for forgiveness- which will SURELY keep keep the judgement and trial of distressing times from reaching our spirits!

This made me shout! When I read this, I felt that joy mentioned in verses 1-2 in this chapter Ps 32 – this is why we are blessed! When we come to God quickly, we will avoid the consequences and trials of sin.

There is urgency in this passage, so we should not hesitate to ask for forgiveness. The verse says, pray while the Lord is near or can be found. Sometimes, I think this means rather than God withdrawing from us, it’s because when we don’t confess and hold sin in our hearts, we become hardened and withdraw from God, putting distance between ourselves and God. Heb 4:16, exhorts us to “come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of trouble.”

Verse 7 continues, for God indeed is our hiding place and He protects us from all trouble. As we come to Him, He not only forgives us, but He truly covers us and shields us — we are always in a safe place. I especially love the last part of verse that says He surrounds us with shouts and songs of deliverance. In His presence, his declarations of victory over our lives restores us from that broken, weakened place caused by sin. How wonderful is that?!

So put on that that worship/ praise music and bask in God’s restorative presence!

Lord, Let us quickly come to your throne so that we don’t have to be overtaken by stressful circumstances caused by our sin. Help us not only to come to you, but continue to abide in Your presence. You are our hiding place, our shelter and May your restorative grace and declarations of victory build us back up and empower us to reach others that desperately need You.

Psalms 32:1-2 Have JOY today!

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Ps 32:1-2

“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!” Psalms‬ ‭32:1-2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There is great joy in having our transgressions/disobedience forgiven – our sin is put out of sight or covered. They are not only covered but removed! Ps 103: 12 says “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” We are blessed indeed!


Ps 32:2 continues that the blessing and joy is not only because we have been forgiven, but the Lord also removes the guilt and shame associated with our sin/ transgression AND we can live our lives in complete honesty and transparency- free of deceit! Our records are wiped clean. That sounds a lot like freedom to me!

I am reminded of when you have been given an expensive parking or camera ticket and you are driving around fearful or dreading another one. But when that ticket has been paid or has been thrown out, you are not only elated that it is gone, you move about with greater freedom because it’s no longer hanging over your head.

Lord, I thank You for the joy You bring in forgiving my transgressions and covering and delivering me from sin! Thank You also for the joy and blessing of wiping our records free from the guilt of sin and allowing us to live without deceit, in complete honesty! We declare victory over every intrusive thought that tries to make us relive the guilt and shame associated with the transgression. We are forgiven, Hallelujah! Help us walk boldly and freely in victory in Jesus name.

Cast EVERY Care

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This morning I woke up with a strange weariness, realizing that I had been carrying the burden of the recent tragic senseless murders of two young black and brown men/ boys at the hands of those meant to protect them in my heart. All week I was distracted – I had to fight to stay focused on work, get through meetings, and even dealing with mundane household issues that come with the new pandemic norm of everyone working or taking classes at home.

As the mother of a 21 yrs old son ( pictured above) who has already tasted of police bias against him several times ( just being a young black carefree male), I continue to draw near to throne of grace to place this burden in God’s very capable hands. In times like these, His word is a great consolation and anchor for my soul.

In I Peter 5:7 God encourages us to cast ALL our cares upon Him, not just some of them. The NLT translation puts it this way,“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” His great concern and love for us are designed to carry every worry and every care that we have. In Philippians 4: 6 He actually commands us to “Don’t worry about anything & pray about EVERYTHING. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all he has done. ”

Trusting God with my children has been a daily commitment for me as they have gotten older and especially now as they are transitioning to adulthood. Placing their protection and growth in God’s very capable hands is something that I am growing in faith, and I need His abundant grace to break free from the traps of worry that try to overtake me when triggering incidents like these recent events happen. My heart aches for these families.

May God have mercy on the families of Daunte Wright and Adam Torres who have to endure senseless and unimaginable pain. I pray that God’s promise to comfort them in times of mourning would embrace them and help them heal, restore and relieve the aching pain of loss. He is the God of ALL comfort. We are to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find FIND GRACE in the time of need.

Ps 31:19 also promises that as we come to the Lord for protection, He lavishes us with His goodness which He has stored up for us in great measure. That goodness is not just for our benefit, but so we can pour it out to others. As we are restored, we can be ( should be) that conduit of Gods grace to a world(our families, friends and community) desperate for healing and wholeness.

Praying for other parents of black and brown sons and daughters who share this concern, that God’s abundant grace will empower them also to move forward beyond worry into trust in Gods goodness. Reach out to someone with a word of encouragement, overlook an offense, give grace when someone doesn’t immediately respond, write a note of thanks. Already you have made the world a better place and eased a burden.

God’s Thoughts & Plans: Hope & Destiny

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I first discovered this scripture Jeremiah 29:11 at an all night prayer meeting of my former church when the church was just getting started a few months after I graduated from college. I remember with great clarity when the Lord revealed this great promise to me personally, but it was a word for this new ministry barely a year old. We were mostly in our 20s, in college or just out of it and starting our careers. Our prayer ministry was about 20-25 strong on a Friday night, committed to seek Jesus and strengthen our Christian faith and fellowship.

The Pastor had asked me earlier that day to prepare my heart to speak prophetically that night, and that he would let me know when to share. Well, I prayed and prayed all that day, and nothing came to me before prayer started later that night. I had to completely trust God for what He wanted to say to us.

As with most gatherings, the night of prayer started off with praise and worship. Out of that worship, the prayer points and following exhortations began. In one of the quiet times of prayer I literally heard or had a strong impression to read Jeremiah 29:10-15

The words leapt off the page, and I knew that this was the word of the Lord for the church! As I prayed this scripture and meditated on it, the Pastor called me up about 15 min later to share what God had placed in my heart to share to our church members. It was such a great word with following instructions in the next verses.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.”
Jeremiah 29:11-14 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/jer.29.11-14.nkjv

It was so powerful because we were all ready calling upon Him in prayer and this scripture let us know that He was listening! But God goes further- we seek and find Him when we search for Him with our whole heart! God wants our undivided attention.

Ps 86:11 says “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.”
http://bible.com/114/psa.86.11.nkjv

God has to “unite our hearts” so that we can worship and seek Him wholly – with our entire beings. We need His help to us stay focused, to reign in our thoughts, needs, desires and “cast down” those things that seek to exalt themselves over His word and plan for our lives.

Every time I read Jeremiah 29:11 now, even 30 years later, I am reminded of my first time seeing it- how comforting and exhilarating it was to know that we are in God’s thoughts and He has specific plans for a hopeful destiny! Even though we might get confused or unfocused, God is not confused.  HE KNOWS what the plan of action is. Wow! What a word for a young Christian in a young ministry. What a word for me today!

As we grow older, we think we may know the plan or we may confuse our plan with God’s plan, and He has to give us course correction. We have demands of careers, family, community and life events that may pull our attention. He unites our heart and refocuses our attention back to Him.

When we seek him with our whole hearts, we find Him and He unfolds His plans for our lives. He gives instructions on next steps. He gives a word of grace to bring healing and hope so that we can walk in truth and in the destiny we are called to fulfill with great excitement and joy.

No connection? Check your hardware. 

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I was going over my work emails earlier this morning and took a short coffee break. When I got myself situated again , I then noticed that My Outlook wasn’t working, and neither could I get Explorer working.  I tried to check my wifi and couldn’t even find my network!  Panic and frustration started to rise but it didn’t get too far. 

I checked my phone and other devices which were all okay. So I decided to trouble shoot.  This simple message popped up “Check the switch on front or side of laptop to ensure it is turned on.”  It was off even though I don’t remember touching my laptop just moments before.  In less than 15 seconds all of my connections had been restored. 

My word of encouragement today: Restore your connections 

Things can happen throughout the day to disrupt your flow. Sometimes we are not aware of things we accidentally do to cause the disruption.  When I didn’t know what to do, I searched “troubleshoot” problem and the answer came.   We “troubleshoot” disconnections by praying and asking God for guidance. Proverbs 3:6 tells us that as we acknowledge Him in all our ways He will direct our paths. 

We check our internal hardware by praying Psalms 139: 23-24 which says:  “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

‭‭God is the restorer of the breach. Look to Him today to restore your connections so you can live productively, purposefully, creatively and joyfully!  As we reconnect with Him, He uses us to connect with others to be that conduit of grace, love and mercy that lead them back to Him. 

Examine your connections today! Make sure that you are plugged into God so that receive all that He has for you, so that you can share with others making this world a better place.