My Strength and My Shield

"The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him."
NAHUM 1: 7

Prayer is so much simpler than we make it!

We get bogged down in details.

I heard one preacher say, "Don't preach theology to God in your prayers!"

Do we think God doesn't know all the details?

All we need to do is tell God our needs, our desires, our feelings, hopes, and longings as well as our temptations, our indifference to good, and our taste for evil.

Jesus knew you and I would struggle with prayer.

In His parting words to His disciples, Jesus kept it simple.

He said, "Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16: 24 NKJV).

Tell Him your troubles, your joys, your weaknesses, your needs.

Willingly show Him the wounds of your heart.

Ask!

Ask Him to help you pray more effectively and with more concentration.

Ask Him to help you pray specifically and persistently.

Ask, "Lord! Help me to pray!"

From " Fixing My Eyes on Jesus " by Anne Graham

I AM YOUR STRENGTH AND YOUR SHIELD.

I continually work—sometimes in wondrous ways—to help and protect you.

As you put your trust in Me, your heart can leap for Joy!

Trusting Me and loving Me go hand in hand.

When I search the hearts of My children, what I focus on most of all is the measure of love and trust within them.

If you say you love Me but you do not really trust Me—to take care of you and your loved ones, providing what is best in your lives—then your words ring hollow.

To trust Me wholeheartedly, you must rest in My sovereignty: My absolute control over the universe.

When circumstances seem to be spinning out of control, it's essential to believe I know what I am doing.

I orchestrate every event of your life—including suffering and loss— to benefit you in this world and the next.

While you are in the throes of adversity, your greatest challenge is to keep trusting that I am both sovereign and good.

Do not expect to understand My ways.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than yours.

The best response is simply to thank Me, believing I can bring much good out of the unwanted circumstances.

This act of faith will encourage you and glorify Me.

I rejoice when My struggling children give thanks to Me in song.

From " Jesus Lives " by Sarah Young

Stay Strong!

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."
PSALM 28:7

"I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
PSALM 18:1–2

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."
ISAIAH 55:9 NKJV