And I just asked...

"Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!
    Tie them around your neck as a reminder.
    Write them deep within your heart.
⁴ Then you will find favor with both God and people,
    and you will earn a good reputation.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
    do not depend on your own understanding.
⁶ Seek his will in all you do,
    and he will show you which path to take.

⁷ Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
    Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
⁸ Then you will have healing for your body
    and strength for your bones."

- Proverbs 3:3-8 (NLT)

I just asked for some friends to pray for Gods favor over my husband and healing strength over my body...  Then God led me to chapter 3 in Proverbs- one I have read many times, but definitely needed to hear again.  This whole section encapsulates just what I had asked my friends to pray over me though- and more!  

Oh how I need loyalty and kindness to ever be written deeply on my heart.  Visible for all to see and lived out daily by Gods power and love in me.  Jeremy and I both need this!  And, praise The Lord, he has shown both loyalty and kindness to us all of our lives, and all of His life ;)  So we definitely have an example to look after.

Also, I thank God for his favor!  What a blessing that He gives grace to the humble and favor to those who are kind.  His righteousness is all we need to cover us and make us whole- thank you Jesus!

As my husband takes his final test tonight to become an electrician, I am refreshed to know God favors those who are loyal and kind.  Two qualities that my husband has been given in abundance!  So I pray over him that Gods good reputation in his life will go before him and that he will glorify The Lord with all the knowledge he has poured over himself and worked hard to learn.  Even so, my trust is in our Father God and not my own wisdom; this I pray over Jeremy too. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 is a classic, just as all of God's Words have an amazing ability to speak to the heart, this section seems to be especially direct: " Trust in The Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."  I love how wonderfully simple this command is, and yet how all encompassing!  God does not want just a piece of my heart- He wants it all, He wants all of me.  His promises are profound in these verses too!  As I lean on His understanding and acknowledge Him (seek Him out) in all that I do, He promises to make my path straight- to show me which direction to go.  Truly The Lord is my guide and without Him I am lost!

My body is healed from the inside out when I remember that He is the only One I should fear- He is the only One who has ultimate power- and He is my Love, my Father, and my Friend!

As I turn from evil (please show me areas, dear Lord, that I may have overlooked), Father may I turn to You in trust and awe. Please, fill my bones with Your strength- oh how I need my Savior's strength!

I feel very close right now to a dear friend who has struggled a lot with her breathing just recently- I too have been having a very hard time.  It is such an overwhelming feeling to not be able to breath, to wheeze and to strain with every breath taken.  This feeling is no stranger to me either, I have had to face it most of my life.  My friend and I also share the same faith in our lord, and as much as I know God can take this struggle from me and from her, He has not completely removed it from our lives.  This understanding of his power and our suffering before Him, can be very disheartening sometimes- but then I look to Jesus!  Even in the midst of his trials and surrounded by suffering, He prayed: 'not my will, Lord, but Yours be done.'  Honestly, I believe that my asthma is an ongoing reminder that I need Jesus in my life just as I need air to breathe.  Breathing isn't always easy for me and neither is following and trusting Jesus- but just as God gives me grace to live one more day, so I pray and rest in Jesus with His example of faith.  May my dear friend who struggles alongside me, physically and spiritually, be reminded of these truths and blessed with greater trust in our faithful Father too!

²⁵ "You need not be afraid of sudden disaster

    or the destruction that comes upon the wicked,
²⁶ for the Lord is your security.
    He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap."

- Proverbs 3:25-26