God's Creation

For you make me glad by your deeds, LORD;
I sing for joy at what your hands have done.  Psalm 92:4

Have you noticed the blaze of color that surrounds you? The leaves on the trees seem to have turned overnight and the weather has encouraged them to hang on for a while.


Yesterday I took a shortcut through a neighborhood to get to our home. As I rounded a curve, I was startled by a huge tree. It stood by itself, completely filling a front yard. It thrust a bright sunshine of yellow leaves into the sky. It was breathtaking.


I was driving to make my way home but my eyes were drawn to all of the trees lining the streets and the mixtures of color. I decided to take an extra loop around the neighborhood to enjoy more and give my mind a break from the day’s routine. It was a great distraction and I felt recharged when I pulled into the driveway.


I thank God for putting this display in front of me. This beautiful distraction reminded me to pause in my hectic day and praise Him for His awesome blessings. I need to pause during each day to refresh my heart. I need to thank Him for the blessings I have received and those that are new with each day. God is good to me…all the time!

Prayer - One Verse, Many thoughts on Prayer

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)

 “Pray in the Spirit,” is how we are to pray. God is with us. We are further told to pray “on all occasions” using all different kinds of prayers. Included in the different prayers are our “requests.” Knowing this we come alive and alert in the Spirit.

We should always pray for all our brothers and sisters in the faith.

Remember that God will help us when we can’t put our thoughts and requests into words. We can ask HHim to help us calm and focus our thoughts. We will be able to put our requests before Him.

We must remember to pray not just for ourselves, but reach outside ourselves to include others we may or may not know.

We should be especially mindful of praying for the needs of others during the current hard times. 

God is always with us, but He does his most powerful work within us when we are with Him. 

When we find we don’t have a quiet place, or find it difficult to spend time in prayer each day let’s remember the p-word, persistence.

Persistence will bring us toward God and He will come closer to us. 

A list of the verses we have looked at on prayer are listed below. I have memorized some of my favorites. I encourage you to memorize your favorites.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.  Mark 1:35

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Luke 18:1

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Prayer - God Wants Us to Ask So He can Bless Us

Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7 (NIV)

We are to ask, seek and knock, and be persistent and constant in prayer.

We should watch and listen for God’s answer to our prayers. 

We should give thanks when answers come. This doesn’t mean that we will get everything we ask for, only that God will answer. His answer may be yes, no, maybe, not now, or not in your way. Also, no answer is an answer. 

God only wants the best for us because He loves us. Keeping close to Him in prayer allows Him to bless us. He blesses us with His will for us, not our desires.

Prayer - Paul Instructed Christians to Devote Themselves to Prayer

Devote yourselves to prayer,
being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2 (NIV)

Paul instructed the Colossian Christians to make prayer important in their lives. Further they were to be watchful and thankful anticipating when the Lord would return. 

This is the third Scripture we have looked at that points to prayer as an important part of our lives as Christians. 

We need to ask ourselves: How are we doing setting aside quiet time each day to be with God?

Not quite there yet? Don’t give up! It’s not easy in a busy world of demands on time. We need to keep vigilant and work on reordering our lives to include more time for prayer. 

Sometimes “Hello, God,” is all that’s needed to bring God into our day!

Prayer: Jesus Told His Disciples to Always Pray

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Luke 18:1 (NIV)

Jesus gave this instruction to His closest followers: pray always and with persistence.

Knowing this each of us should ask ourselves: Am I persistent in prayer… praying every day? Do I pray during the good times as well as when facing hard times, conflict, and challenges?

What can I do to commit more time in my day to talk and listen to God? If I find myself not spending time with God each day, what has replaced him in my life? What has become more important? What obstacles do I need to remove?

Jesus directed his disciples to “always pray.”  As His disciples we are to do the same. 

How different each of our days would be if we persistantly set aside time for prayer!