"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
This is one of my favorite scriptures just like most I'm sure, it really stood out to me this evening. As I was scrolling through several social media sites this new year, the joys and sorrows I see is a mixture of feelings for me. I put my rituals in gear whenever I'm writing a blog: heated the tea kettle, turned on my Kirk Franklin Pandora station, grabbed the laptop and said a small prayer, asking God to help me deliver a message to His people tonight who may be facing tough, challenging or NEW experiences in their lives. Most people WANT new experiences, opportunities or success in their lives but they are not equipped to face the trials, rejections, lack of sleep, the pressures involved with success, sacrifices that are made (voluntarily or involuntarily) and various emotional traumas some of us experience headed up that success ladder.
The first part of that scripture says and warns us immediately, ..... "
Be careful for nothing......"....... here, to me it's saying be careful not to stress over "nothing"(s) and ALL that you KNOW God can handle but with a sincere heart and if it's in His will for your life, ask God to deliver His blessings that you want, declare it and while you wait on God, He will keep your hearts and mind stayed on Jesus while you await the thing(s) that you asked of Him. Yep, I know, easier said than done. Most of us pray at the alter of heaven and as soon as we get up off of our bended knees, we began looking for signs and wonders of the Most High and rebuking the devil even out of the brooms in our house. Y'all know I'm telling the truth. Trust me, when I blog it's because I've been through it or is preaching to myself and hopefully helping you along the way as I share my thoughts.
Most of us pray for things that look nice on the surface but if God shall ever give us our desires, it'll blow up and down in turmoil because we'll be trying to get rid of it so fast. I tell people that want to start a business, if you can't see yourself serving others first in some type of capacity then you CAN NOT be a LEADER. I know a lot of potential writers who will never publish a book simply because of fear to make the first step..... which is, START WRITING or TYPING ....... SOMETHING!!! They want the final product which is the book published. No researching of anything related to what their writing about. Just the final product. I am a living witness of pushing my fears to the side after I pray for something. I don't have the money to do a lot of things up front but God reassures me so many times, "Just do what I ask you to do and I am blessing someone else, right now, to provide the resources you will need to carry out my vision." That's what that peace that passeth all understanding part means..... do your part and God has already done His and know that it shall be done.
I am a motivational speaker and inspiration to people who want to start from somewhere and improve their lives just as I did. Everyday the devil tries to attack some area(s) of my life or he'll leave me alone for a period of time and guess what, when he shows up....he shows up. But I'm so thankful that my faith exceeds any tricks he shows up with.
I learned to stop looking at what I don't see in the natural and claim what I want to see. After I claim it, I reach out to others to help me and together, we help save the lives of others. Times are hard and people are doing strange, illegal, sexual and other things for a few dollars to feed their families and live in a warm place. How much stress could you take off of a single mother by volunteering to take her children to school and let her rest a little while longer before heading to work, help provide her with groceries, donate used clothes that you know you can't wear anymore (thank that extra scoop of ice cream or chocolate cake that you just had to have)? The answer, a lot!!!!
Finally, when you pray, be thankful in advance for whatever blessings God sends into your life. We pray for one thing and God will deliver a multitude of things that we would have never thought of to ask for ....hence, the reason why He is God who is omniscient which means He is an all knowing God.... you can believe that!!!
