Praise God for…

I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.

Psalm 45: 17

• His constant blessings and provision over us – granted travelling mercies whenever we have needed them, food on the table, clothing to wear and money to pay the bills.
• the money raised by Voice of the Martyrs for the Christmas Care: Colombia campaign. Praise God for the generosity of His people.
• our home – people in some countries don’t have the luxury of their own home, and rely on the generosity of friends and family to house and feed them. Our home keeps us warm in winter, sheltered from the scorching hot sun in summer, and we have comfortable beds to sleep in at night.
• our new church – God is faithful and has provided a church where we feel welcomed and appreciated for who we are – God’s people. May our talents be used for His glory.
• my husband, who is having a hard time with the pain in his knee at the moment, so any prayers would be appreciated.
• our children, who have stepped to the fore to take on extra chores while my husband’s knee is painful.
• homeschooling, and the freedoms that we take very much for granted, here in Australia. While on the subject of homeschooling, please keep 7 year old Dominic Johannson in your prayers, as he is still separated from his parents. There is a blog about Dominic Johannson, too – this is the page translated into English through Google translate. Imagine the anguish and trauma that a seven year old boy would be feeling, kidnapped from his parents and held against his will, with visitation rights being limited to one hour every fifth week, with “no visitation rights over Christmas because the social workers were on vacation”.  Please also pray for Annie and Christer Johannson – this must be a parent’s worst nightmare.

Care to see more “Praise” posts, please visit Jennifer at My Chocolate ♥.

Prayers for Our Children

At the moment I am reading this book:~

by Germaine Copeland

This prayer is included in the prayer book, Prayers that avail much for Mothers, and it is the most beautiful prayer that I have ever read, for our children, and it helped to remind me of my duty as a parent. I hope that you find it as enlightening as I did. God promises that His Word will never return to Him void.

Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray and confess Your Word over my children and surround them with my faith – faith in Your Word that You watch over it to perform it! I confess and believe that my children are disciples of Christ, taught of the Lord and obedient to Your will. Great is the peace and undisturbed composure of my children, because You, God, contend with that which contends with my children, and You give them safety and ease them. Father, You will perfect that which concerns me, I commit and cast the care of my children once and for all over on You, Father. They are in Your hands and I am positively persuaded that You are able to guard and keep that which I have committed to You. You are more than enough!

I confess that my children obey their parents in the Lord as His representatives, because this is just and right. My children __________ honour, esteem, and value as precious their parents; for this is the first commandment with a promise: that all may be well with my children and that they may live long on earth. I believe and confess that my children choose life and love you, Lord, obey Your voice, and cling to You; for You are their life and the length of their days. Therefore, my children are the head and not the tail, and shall be above only and not beneath. They are blessed when they come in and when they go out.

I believe and confess that You give Your angels charge over my children to accompany and defend and preserve them in all their ways. You, Lord, are their refuge and their fortress. You are their glory, and the lifter of their heads.

As parents, we will not provoke, irritate or fret our children. We will not be hard on them or harass them, or cause them to become discouraged , sullen or morose, or feel inferior and frustrated. We will not break or wound their spirits, but we will rear them tenderly in the training, discipline, counsel and admonition of the Lord. We will train them in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it.

O Lord, my Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory on or above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and unweaned infants You have established strength because of Your foes, that You might silence the enemy and the avenger. I sing praise to Your name, O Most High. The enemy is turned back from my children in the name of Jesus! They increase in wisdom and in favour with God and man.

Scripture References

Jeremiah 1:12
Isaiah 54:13
Isaiah 49:25
1 Peter 5:7
2 Timothy 1:12
Ephesians 6: 1-3
Deuteronomy 28: 13
Deuteronomy 28: 3, 6

Psalm 91:11
Psalm 91:2
Psalm 3:3
Colossians 3:21
Ephesians 6:4
Proverbs 22:6
Psalm 8: 1,2
Psalm 9: 2,3
Luke 2: 52

God’s Power

What do these three photos have in common, you might ask? Well, yesterday we had a power blackout – everything was so quiet, and there were no clocks, apart from the wall clocks that run on batteries. My husband is happy though, because my mum gave us a camp stove about six months ago, and he could at least have a cup of coffee, and I could have a cup of green tea. I have only recently discovered Green tea and its health benefits.

What do you do for dinner when you have a blackout? Well, we have wonderful friends nearby who have provided us with a meal, as when the power goes off here, it is usually off for about eighteen hours, and we can’t open the fridge or freezer in order to try and keep things frozen.

This started me thinking about how God provides us with the power to do all things through Him, but if we lose contact with Him through prayer and the reading of His Word, the power that we need to “do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” is gone, and we can never work to our full capacity.

In order for me to “do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”, I need to spend time in prayer and worship with God, getting to know Him through the reading of His Word, and allowing the light of His precious Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ to shine through me. When I sin and don’t repent of my sin, this is the same as having a power blackout, and God’s power and His love for others doesn’t indwell me.

Through Christ we have grace to do what is good, and it is through Him and in Him that we have our being. It is through Him that we have the promise of our eternal reward, and just as we have all things through Him, we need to do all things to His glory.

Sweden to Follow Germany’s Lead in Homeschooling

Be Careful What You Pray For…

…as the very thing that you pray for might well be what God gives you.

My husband was on the sawbench, sawing firewood, and after about ten tonnes of wood, decided that he would like a break. He said, “Lord, I could sure do with a holiday – even a break would be good.”

Three hours later, he received his break – a broken finger – not exactly the sort of break that he wanted. However, he is getting a ‘break‘ from sawing firewood.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.