God – Page 5 – Grow Anyway

Rescue

March 24, 2021March 23, 2021by justicepooleLeave a Comment

Passover. This week is a week that has been celebrated for centuries- it goes down to the root of our belief. It’s a moment that we see God continually point to, to remind His people of His enduring faithfulness. When we dive into the book of Exodus, we see a people group who has been enslaved and oppressed by the Egyptians for 400 years. But those slaves aren’t just anyone. They are the descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. These are the people that God said would be blessed. And yet, they are slaves.

But their story doesn’t end there. These Israelite’s cry out to God in the midst of their oppression, and God sends a messenger named Moses to help them in their plight. Moses goes directly to Pharaoh himself and asks for relief for God’s people. Pharaoh proceeds to make their lives somehow more miserable. So God then starts sending plagues down upon Egypt every time Pharaoh refuses to let the Israelite people free. Finally, God says enough is enough, and he tells Moses to prepare the people to leave. But in order to do so, they had to kill a lamb and spread its blood across their door frame in order to be safe from the last plague God would send. And so God sends an “angel of death” to Egypt and every person without lamb’s blood across their door looses their firstborn child…including Pharaoh himself. This causes Pharaoh to finally let the Israelite people be free.

God is a rescuer. He continually shows up to rescue the people that love Him. We see this in not only the Exodus story, but in the story of Jesus as well. When Jesus entered into the town of Jerusalem, he was going there to celebrate the Passover and remember the greatness of our God! But he also was there to rescue us. His life’s mission was going to be accomplished within the week.

As we celebrate Palm Sunday this week, I want you to remember all the times God has rescued you. Everyone’s stories are different in how they found the salvation of Jesus and freedom from sins. But they all have a theme of redemption and rescue, because our God cares for us. Our God is different from most other religions that when we couldn’t get up to Him, He came down to us. And He perfectly lived His life on earth so that we could be free. God holds out his hand to each and every one of us, asking us to believe in what He’s done. Just like the Israelite’s had the chance to free themselves from slavery by believing in their God, we can be free from the shackles of sin and death by believing in what Jesus did on the cross for us.

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Perseverance in Storms

March 17, 2021March 16, 2021by Guest Blogger3 Comments

I was asking Amy what the topic was to write on and before I got that question out of my mouth or shall I say onto my keyboard, here came these words…Perseverance in storms.

May I just tell you I hate to talk or write about these things. I don’t want to sound like some puffed up guru on suffering because I have had my fair share of it (as many of you have) or like I know all the things and glided through these storms with such Christlike character and grace everyone who watched stood in awe. Now, I know there are some ladies who have done this, and I applaud them and maybe even envy them a little if we’re going to be honest; but I personally wasn’t one of them. I fussed and cussed and wept, I prayed and begged, bargained and reasoned and fasted then finally, and I do I mean finally, surrendered and accepted His will over my own. To be honest some days (were down to minutes now not all day) I am still licking wounds of stuff I just down right can’t understand. BUT that being said, this does not nullify the Love nor the Faithfulness of my Mighty God.

My mighty God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yep, my God heard me say those things I wished I could take back when I didn’t think I could breathe through the pain or ever truly smile again. You see my Bible says He knows me; He knows how I am formed. He remembers I am just DUST…that’s right…I’m dirt and I can act as low as it with enough pain or frustration in my heart. The only time I am above this is when He mercifully breathes His life into me, and Hallelujah He does!!! In the south when someone is acting a fool you will hear the words ‘Bless your heart, your slip is showing”. God has seen my slip more times than I care to remember and yet loves me still.

Okay so about this perseverance in the storm. What does the above several paragraphs have to do with all of this…EVERYTHING! God did not ask me to be fake and phony with a false hallelujah on my lips as my sister, husband, niece and finally Poppie lay breathing their last.

Deb, my sister, died when I was only a few years into my recovery (by the way she hated me calling her Deb, she was my big sis…tough now sis, love you!). That about flung me so far into space I thought I might never land back on planet earth. It isn’t just that she had died, but she died in her addiction…the one I had just been miraculously delivered from. The one I had just took a best friend’s sister to go get help and she was delivered from! What??? Why?

Eric, my husband, passed Aug 29, 2018 exactly five years and one day from when his beautiful young wife had died of cancer before we married. Now his girls have no mom and no dad. (Yes, I am there BUT I am not themmmmm). That was space travel number two.

Seriah, my niece, had just helped another young lady get to work because she didn’t have a vehicle. While doing a kind deed (this wasn’t just a practice of her it was who she was) she was t-boned and broken in more places than I care to remember. We clung, I mean ferociously clung, to Psalm 27:13, “I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”. We wrote it in her hospital room, we prayed it, we sang over her, we wept and held on for dear life, 27 years old y’all, 27 years old and now gone. I can still see her huge blue eyes, and ache to look into them some days. This is deep space.

Poppie, my dear Poppa, every two hours more meds and more meds and cleanings and rolling to prevent bed sores and shallow breaths. I was watching my mom be ripped in two and wondering if she would survive it (My mom has such precious faith, her and Jesus are doing good…she is finding her way through the valley of the shadow of death and Jesus is championing her through it). He promised me He would care for her. He has never failed on one promise NEVER. This is a whole other galaxy.

Why am I sharing all of this? Because Beloved, I want you to be real and vulnerable and honest as to where you are in your sufferings or storms. Did you notice the word perseverance had the word SEVERE right in the middle of it? If we saw someone go through a severe physical incident we wouldn’t be like “hey you smile and press on”…NO! We would be completely honest about the condition of their body so they could have proper care to be restored. LADIES, it is the same with conditions of the heart, psyche, and spirit. Broken is Broken. But Healed is Healed. You cannot be healed without the truth, period! It doesn’t work that way. Jesus is The Way, The TRUTH and The life. He is not afraid of the truth He IS the truth He lives there He dwells there. Don’t hide in the shadows, come out and speak to Him, let Him heal you. Loving you and praying for you. He is faithful and ever will be. Tiff

PS. I landed back here in the Everlasting Arms.

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God IS Love!

February 24, 2021by Guest Blogger1 Comment

When I thought about writing this at first, I was like, I have no idea what to write…then it began, tell them that I love them, truly love them. Uggghhh, love…such a sloppy word in the church these days. Let’s go ahead and unpack this thing. Sister, I wish we were snuggled up with a warm cup of coffee and our favorite scented candle burning sitting face to face. It is so easy to misconceive what is being said from afar. Our Father in heaven, please let this be exactly what you would have it to be, a talk between sisters and friends.

Love…for some of us that word crawls all over us—let’s be real for some of us it is downright painful. For others, well it’s like a mystical place of wide-open fields with no boundaries doing whatever makes us “feel” loved and “free”. I have been in both camps…imagine that. But what would it be like if we were smack dab in the middle of all of that? Some of you are probably saying where is she going with this? Glad you asked, sis. Go ahead and read 1 Corinthians 13. Now, don’t read it to see how far from being that loving Christian woman your supposed to be, but from the point of God loving you. God is patient with me. God is kind to me. Sister, you at this moment in time, are deeply and wholly loved right as you are…no, exactly as you are. God’s love isn’t flaky; it is not the pulling of petals. He loves me, He loves me not, He loves me, He loves me not. Oh, PLEASE let the last petal be that He loves me. Holding our breath, hoping He can and will forgive us just one more time as were trying to get “this” thing in our lives right for the hundredth time. It’s such a miserable way to live.

His love for you will remain completely intact even if you walk away forever. I know, how dare I say that! Yet, it is true, you see God IS love. That is WHO He is not what He feels, it isn’t a slippery slope…it is a gigantic ROCK to build our lives on. As I wrote that line above, the “even if you walk away,” my heart cringed and I breathed a prayer, please no. Not even one of these who will read please let them never walk away-the consequences of this choice is far too great a price to pay.

Let’s talk about this everlasting love. A friend will tell the truth even when it hurts. So Sis, Why are we so angry at God’s love? Not all of us but some of us. I mean really…He says no to that prayer we’ve been praying forever and we’re angry. That person isn’t healed and we’re angry. There’s an accident or tragedy and were angry. Then, we accuse and blame like our sisters of old; you know Mary and Martha – one wouldn’t even come to meet Jesus and the other one said pretty much if you would have been there death wouldn’t have happened. Dare I say truthfully, I have uttered these words and worse through streaming hot tears and dripping nose.

Ladies, HE Loves you and He loves me! He knows our humanity. He knows sorrow and suffering; He is deeply acquainted with it. Our ache does not diminish His love. Remember it is the Rock, not the slippery slope. I imagine us hitting up against it, trying with all we have to budge it and it’s not moving. It is there. The only way you can “try” to get away from it would be to move away from it. Have you given God the cold shoulder? In all the whys of this life, has our love waxed cold? Are we just a little more reserved in our praise? A little less quick to pray? Remember, He knows your frame. You were not hidden from Him during your making and you are not hidden from Him now. Sister may I suggest not walking back to the Rock but running to Him. Yahweh Tsuri, Your Rock Eternal. He loves you and He is waiting.

Until we meet again, I’ve gotta tell you, if you will wholly return to Him, times of refreshing will come. I love you sis, Tiffany.

1 Corinthians 13, Psalm 139, John 11, Acts 3:19

liz goss

Satan is a One Trick Pony

February 17, 2021February 16, 2021by Liz Goss2 Comments

**St. Michael expelling Lucifer and the Rebel Angels**
Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (ca. 1622)
*Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid*

In Isaiah 14:12-15 we read why Satan was thrown out of Heaven. Oh yes, he was an angel once but… “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.” Satan wanted to be like God.

But enough ancient history, let’s look at how humanity fell from the perfect relationship with God we once shared in the garden. We all know it was Satan who tricked her but what exactly did he say? Do you know? I mean most people brought up with the Bible know the story but I bet you can’t quite put your finger on what he tempted her with. It wasn’t just a delicious apple. Genesis 3:5 tells us that Satan told Eve, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” It was a calculated, diabolical move that Satan knew would get us separated from God like he had been once before. Satan convinced Eve she could be like God.

And Satan is a master at gaslighting humans. He manipulates the world in such a way that leads us to question our thoughts, memories, and the events occurring around us. His greatest weapon is… forgetfulness. Because if he can get us to lose track of EXACTLY what happened in the past we just might fall for it again. Oh and he loves to try his one trick on us all, whispering:

Do you really need to tithe when you could use that money to buy new clothes? You don’t need to follow what God says, you can decide what’s right just as well as God can. ☠️

Gluttony is not a sin in 2021. It’s been a hard year. It’s called self care. Okay so it’s in Proverbs 23 but those are “proverbs” not laws. You do you. ☠️

Sexual immorality? That whole phrase is super vague. I mean… in Matthew 5 it says that if you LOOK lustfully at a woman you have committed adultery in your heart. Don’t you think that’s an impossibly high standard? ☠️

Every time Satan suggests that “it doesn’t really matter this time” he is asking us to believe we are just as good at judging right and wrong as God is. Friends… this the the ultimately audacity of blasphemy straight from Satan. We are not like God. We were created to be in close relationship with Him but that does not mean we are on His level.

Satan is a one trick pony. He has one trick. Just one. And that is to convince you and me and all of humanity that we are just as good as God. It’s what caused him to fall from heaven and he’s good at spreading his fall by causing us to forget. But we won’t! Remember that you will do what is right because God is God and we are not. He is our loving Heavenly Father who would never withhold any good thing (Luke12:32). We can trust his heart. He is for us (Romans 8:32). So next time you wonder if choosing the right really matters… it does. For the love of Christ compelled us (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

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Receiving Service

February 10, 2021February 8, 2021by Susan Collins1 Comment

Sister, let me be your servant.

Let me be as Christ to you.

Pray that I might have the grace to

Let you be my servant too.

As I was praying and contemplating what to write, this kept running through my head. It is a simple chorus to a traditional song, yet the words are compelling.

God made us for a relationship with Him and with each other. Many of us get the serving part down pretty well. We want to feel useful, involved, and connected. We volunteer and do lots of things to build up other believers. Those are all good things and generally come from a place of reverence and response to the grace that God has poured out on us.

For me, the tricky part is being as responsive to the second part of that chorus as I am to the first. We all have times of need. There is nothing weak or unacceptable about accepting the grace of God through the hands of His daughters.

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to be involved in a local community of The Walk to Emmaus. These are spiritual renewal weekends that are organized by Upper Room Ministries in Nashville, TN. The 72-hour experience is very structured and requires many people working together to make a truly unique and life-changing experience. The basic idea is to set up an environment where the participants receive tangible gifts of service and sacrifice all weekend to simulate a New Testament community and the reality of God’s grace. This is done through acts of kindness, talks presenting different aspects of the Christian walk, meeting physical and spiritual needs, and insulating the participants from outside issues while they are there.

I was involved in numerous renewal weekends over 5 years. One thing that I witnessed consistently was people’s discomfort with being served. Through this experience, God taught me and reminds me that allowing others to serve me is as much a part of His plan as my service to them.

Luke Chapter 10 gives us two parables about accepting service, but many times we do not look at them in that light. What would the story of the Good Samaritan be if the injured traveler refused his help? How would God be glorified in the traveler refusing help and insisting he could manage on his own? The story of Martha and Mary is precisely what the song refers to. Martha is being the hands and feet of Jesus through service, while Mary shows grace and reverence to Jesus.

Service is not gender-specific. There are times when we share it and times when we receive it.

Would you deny a sister in Christ her act of obedience by refusing service?

The Servant Song

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Who am I?

February 3, 2021January 28, 2021by cstine06021 Comment

Do you ever wrestle with your identity, asking yourself questions and trying to sort out your worth and place in the world? Of course, you do, you are human! And if you are not currently wrestling with your identity, you probably have at some point, asking questions to which you don’t really know the answer…

“Why am I here?” “What is the meaning of life?” “Did I turn off the oven before I left the house?” “I wonder if baseball season will be good this year?” (ok, maybe you have never wondered that last one, but I have.)

The great thing about our identity is that is completely and totally wrapped up in what God has to say about us, and how He views us. When we grasp God’s love and perspective on us, our relationship with Him and the dynamic of our connection changes in such an incredible way.

There are certain people in our lives who we love, no matter what. I mean, no matter how many times the people at the taco shop get my order wrong, I keep going back, because I love them…or their tacos. Maybe you have a favorite pet, and it doesn’t matter their faults, you love them for who they are. We love our spouses and make vows to do so through everything good and bad that life has to offer. And then there are kids.

Kids love their parents. They trust them from a very young age to help them survive, to care for them, teach them, and show them how to have human relationships.

The most significant piece of my identity, the one that shapes me, my belief about myself and my place in the world must be the truth that God has adopted me as His child. And He loves me with a never -failing love.

I am not enough. I am human. My relationship with God changes that. Makes me whole and accepted. Viewing Him as my perfect Father, who meets me where I am and accepts me no matter what should completely change my perspective on who I am.

Check out these verses about God’s parenthood:

Romans 8:15 “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves…rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption…And by him we cry Abba, Father.”

Galatians 4:6 “…God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’.”

You are a child of God. There is no one He loves more no one He would choose more no one He wants to know more. He created you for relationship, for knowing Him, for being with Him in eternity. He passionately and fiercely demonstrated this love by giving His only Son, Jesus, for you!! Trust His love for you and desire to know you. And when you are looking for answers about the meaning of life, enjoy the fact that you are loved by Him!

Challenge: Read Psalm 139 during your time with God this week and spend a few minutes soaking in what an involved Father God is, and how much He loves you!!

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Time For God

January 27, 2021January 27, 2021by justicepoole3 Comments

How often do you make God a priority in your life? Do you give Him the time and attention you give to other priorities in your life?

A relationship with God is the same as any other relationship in your life; if you want it to grow- you have to put in some effort. If your spouse or partner all of a sudden stopped talking to you for a couple of days- you’d probably be super worried about your relationship. And yet we cut the communication line to God all the time. Then all of a sudden life gets rough and we call on Him like a genie in a bottle.

Our God is THE God of relationships! We clearly see this in one of the most famous verses in the Bible: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God created us for relationship with Him. In the beginning, Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden and talked with Him every day. They screwed up (as we all would have) and now we have to deal with the consequences. We can’t see when God is with us and we don’t get to directly hear His words. That doesn’t mean He isn’t with us or talking to us- but we have been separated from God because of our sin and now we have to put in some extra effort in our relationship with Him.

This is all a lesson I’ve been learning myself. I knew I needed to spend more time with God and I didn’t know how- so I did some research and here’s what’s worked for me:

Journaling- just writing down your thoughts, thanksgivings, prayers, etc. Write it out to lessen distractions.
Waking up early- the biggest distraction I face is a busy household that has T.V’s, phones, and conversations all on. Now I wake up early in order to spend some quiet time with God and God alone.
Bible Plan- Having a set plan before you makes reading your Bible SO much easier. Instead of just flipping to a random page you have a goal in mind.
Accountability- I’m in a great Discipleship group and we meet once a week and discuss what we’ve read. I know I’ve got to read a certain amount of chapters every Tuesday and the group is a HUGE motivation.
Devotional- As someone who recently read the Bible in a year- I didn’t feel like I was getting a spiritual workout when reading through again- so I bought a devotional book called ‘New Morning Mercies’ by Paul David Tripp. It’s been amazing to see a different outlook into the scriptures and be able to apply verses to my own life that I might not have given the time of day before.

Don’t be afraid to try something new if you feel like your time with God isn’t fruitful! But put in the effort that God deserves!

liz goss

Tiptoeing into 2021

January 20, 2021January 19, 2021by Liz Goss3 Comments

I’ve seen so many quotes about 2020 vs 2021 and the sense I get is this… please don’t cause more trouble!! It’s like we have all reached a limit where we just don’t want anything harder. And I get that. So many difficult and life changing things have happened. For some 2020 was a big inconvenience. For others businesses and loved ones were lost. And lots and lots of people got sick. So here we find ourselves sticking just a baby toe into the waters of 2021.

Usually this time of year is fraught with strong resolutions. We are feeling empowered to change something or start something new. And I’m here on your screen to encourage you to keep going after being the best you can be. Keep trying, keep pressing, keep asking God for what you need. Don’t let the disappointments and frustrations of last year cause this year to pass you by. And here is why…

Matthew 7:7 says “ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

I know. It’s so easy to look at these verses and snort. I can literally hear some of you saying, “That’s bunk. God didn’t answer any of my prayers last year. The whole year was a flop.” And I sympathize with you because if you take this verse to mean God will follow up your requests with a big YES you have every right to feel really wronged. But unfortunately that’s not how Matthew intended us to understand this verse.

See pronouns can be tricky and as a person with a degree in English Literature, I want to tell you something important. Pronouns are words like I, you, he, this, it, who and what and they replace the noun in a sentence. However, in so doing pronouns can create ambiguity. Like in the verse above. I’ll show you:

ask, and it will be given to you = what does it refer to?
seek, and you will find = find what?
knock, and it will be opened to you = again with the it, what will be opened?

Usually, when a pronoun is ambiguous the listener personalizes the sentence in the best way they think it should go. In this case it is perfectly natural to assume that Matthew means:

ask, and what you asked for will be given to you
seek, and what you seek for you will find
knock, and the door you knocked on will open

But that’s just not the case. God is not pretending to be our secret Santa in these verses. Instead, God is giving us the secret to a better relationship with… Himself. Because these verses actually mean:

ask for a savior and he will be given to you
seek a relationship with Christ and you will find it
knock on the gates of Heaven and they will be opened to you

This beautiful verse points out that prayer is not so much to influence God, but to change the one praying. Isaiah 65:24 says “before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear” and that is not because he is waiting to be our genie with 3 wishes. It is because he loves us and wants to give us the riches of heaven.

You don’t need to tiptoe into 2021. I can’t promise anything about what this year will actually manifest but I do know that Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” This means that even in 2021 you can ask, seek and knock and have the wonders and riches of God come alive in your heart and mind. So in closing I will leave you with (what I believe) is the best mantra to keep on repeat in our heads throughout this year.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9

P.S. In case you’re curious about the sculpture at the top of this article, it is called Toe In The Water and was created by Bob Quinn. To see more of his interesting work check out his website: http://bobquinn.ie/

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Finding God in the Wilderness

January 13, 2021January 13, 2021by Susan Collins3 Comments

The call of God comes in many forms. For some it is a specific frame of mind or time of day that opens the line of communication. One way I hear God is in a place. A place where the magnificence of God is evident in the formation of rocks, the fragility of vegetation, and the smallest creatures of the desert. The Grand Canyon.

May of 2010 I proceeded into the depths. I marveled at the scenes around me and how God is such a creative being. I was starting to feel fairly confident when I heard it. The unmistakable sound of a rattlesnake. I backed up five or six steps and the snake slithered off the path. Then I kicked some rocks, made some noise and ran past that angry snake.

When I reached the bottom of the incline I was in a place where I could rest and refill my water. I sat there for almost an hour, talking to God. He called me here, why would He scare me? He didn’t. A reminder that the world does not revolve around me, but God is always available and willing to guide. I put my pack on and started down the trail again.

As I continued on, I met other hikers who shared their experience and encouragement. I was traveling through the bottom layer of the Grand Canyon which is made of volcanic rock. This stretch of trail is known as “the box” because it heats up like an oven. I remember repeating Psalm 23 to myself, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”

I reached for my straw to get another sip of water and got a trickle of water and several air bubbles. I was out of water. I asked God to carry me. In less that half of a mile, I walked into the compound that is Phantom Ranch.

On the second evening that I spent at Phantom Ranch, one of the women in my dorm asked if I would like a walking partner. We agreed to hike out together after breakfast.

The hike out was hot and difficult, just as the hike down had been. The difference was that I was not alone. God called me to this journey to show me the dangers of trying to navigate life without Him, and the ease and joy of a shared burden when I rely on Him. He put exactly the people I needed along my path. As for the snake. How many times do I wander into Satan’s domain completely unaware that I have moved so far away from God?

My soul was greatly renewed on that trip. At the end of that journey, I found a renewed sense of confidence and reliance on Him. That painful place didn’t go away, but my perception of it changed dramatically.

amy oberg

Chatting with God

January 6, 2021January 6, 2021by amyoberg15 Comments

Would you be willing to write a prayer to help a friend?

Don’t you ever wonder what other people pray like? I know I do!

What if there was a place you could turn to have some extra prayers in your pocket? That is exactly what I would like to do.

Prayer is a simple.
Prayer is a conversation.
Prayer is processing.
Prayer is part of relationship.

Recently I heard that we need to be processing with God. Because I am a verbal processor it has always helped to process with people, bounce ideas off of them, get feedback and then come to a conclusion with confidence. My warning in this statement is that I have not always chosen the best people to process with and it usually leads to a bad conclusion or worse…judgement. So, process with someone who loves you unconditionally, won’t judge you, willing to have honest conversation and will lead you down the right path…oh only God can do that! So process with God.

To have a simple, honest, processing prayer time does not take hours on end or even a certain time of the day. I have found that having a few prayers on hand helps moves me toward a thought where I can process with God about a certain topic.

Here is a prayer from a friend about acceptance:

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for loving me. For forgiving me of my sins and my flaws. Thank you for allowing me to bring them to you. Lord, I’m struggling to accept my circumstances. I know you’re in charge of them but I want to fix and control my circumstances. I also know I’m failing at that control. Father, would you lay your hand on me to show me how to accept my stuff, no matter what, so that I can be in your will, so that I can learn to trust you with all of my life. Please help me to grow a bigger faith in you to allow acceptance to be second nature. Then I can testify to your glory and what an amazing God you are. Lord, I love you. I want to accept the things you do in my life, good and bad. Show me the way. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Would you offer a prayer for your sisters to help them process with God?