Back to Process

Back at it again!  I think it has been many years since I sat down to write out any of the matters of my heart.  I have some secret entries on my computer downstairs, as a few years ago I began writing a book and had been working on that rather than my blog.  However, the journey with the book in itself has been difficult as I feel a book should have a happy ending and at this point there is still some loose ends to tie up so not sure how to end the book. :)  Guess that is the HALLMARK heart in me, always desiring that beautiful picture and amazing perfect ending where EVERYONE is happy. Not promised to us, just something I dream of.  

What brings me back to writing?  God told me to write.  A few years ago He told me to write.  He told My husband and I to both start writing.  To share our stories.  The first problem is that often when you share your stories with the world, you feel this need to kind of already have it all together.  We both started books, but not sure how to wrap them up or end them.  Neither of us feel like our books are anything anyone else wants or needs to hear. We keep asking ourselves "why would anyone want to read this mess?"  hahah.  We keep asking God HOW He wants us to go about this and we realized we need to be obedient and start writing so this may be our outlet.  

I do know I NEED an outlet to start getting the things on my heart out there because, God Knows I am dumping without filter on ANYONE who says HI to me lately.  SO I apologize now for anytime you have tried to slightly say something in passing to me and an hour later I am still ranting or talking unfiltered!  :)  I truly need an outlet!  Maybe if I can share some stuff on here I will then not be compelled to pounce on a lady I don't know, in the parking lot of our two sons getting their wisdom teeth out, standing there with drugged up bleeding sons, while we pray and talk and cry together! (sorry Lady, but not sorry, it was a God orchestrated meeting!) 

So this is my entry back in to the blogging world!  I am excited. I will be posting because I am excited about what God is doing in this time with HIS PEOPLE. Are we in hard times?  YES, but we are also in very pivotal times of GOD moving!!!!! I can't wait to talk about these matters of the heart.  GOD is on the move and I love love love to talk about HIM.  So this is my warning, this will be unfiltered and it will be open and honest.  The times are here and we need to be ready!  Excited to process openly!  

Prayer - What is it Intended For?

What do we know of prayer?  The definition of prayer is simply put . . . communication with God.  Because God already knows our hearts, He knows what we are thinking and what we are feeling.  So prayer can be spoken words, written words, thoughts, or even songs.  Usually, when we have a relationship with another person, we have a way of communicating with them.  This keeps us connected in the relationship.  When we stop all communication, we usually wouldn't consider that we have much of a relationship anymore.  Maybe this is how God feels with us.  

I have been doing some reading and I came across some article that talks of how God really wants and desires to commune with us.  The article went on to say that prayer is one way of communing with Him.  Another thing the article hit on was how Prayer is not for us to selfishly pray and plead and beg God to do things our way or to give us what WE want, but it is more a way to honor and glorify God while spending time with Him.

This particular part really convicted me. Like I mentioned before, I am one that grew up being taught that God cared about EVERYTHING in our lives.  I still believe he does and I still pray for the small and big things, but I do think I have def. erred on the side of using prayer as a way for me to MANIPULATE God into working things my way. I usually start out with some praises and things I am grateful for, because we are supposed to come to the Lord with Thanksgiving in our Hearts, so I usually start that way.  However, I always tend to spend more time on the "asking God to do things for me or my family" part. 

So frustrating, but I have to be honest and admit when I am wrong. I guess over the years, I have sat under certain teachers that have spoke about how we can "prophecy our future in a positive way" and though I like the idea, I don't think that is what Prayer was really intended for.  I could be wrong, but who am I to think that if I keep speaking all the positives into my future, that life will turn out just the way I want it to?  I fear I have managed to error on the side of trying to manipulate God, and that isn't good at all.

I have often looked at prayer as a conversation I am having with God, however, when I am talking to a friend, I talk and then I wait and let them talk. I listen to what they have to say about what we are talking about.  However, because God doesn't verbally speak back to me in an audible voice, sometimes, I find my conversations with him are pretty one sided.  I don't always realize it because my mind is constantly in conversations with God, but I realize how very few times I stop to hear what he has to say.  For example, I often stop to listen and I promise Him that I am handing it all over to Him so he can work out a certain situation, and then sometimes within minutes, I think I have it figured out and I get all excited. I start to let my mind run with all the cool things I THINK God is doing and I go back into the one direction communication where I am doing all the talking.  :(

Now, I know that God speaks to us in different ways too. Sometimes through strong thoughts impressed on our hearts, or through his word, even through another spirit filled person speaking Godly wisdom.  Most of all, I believe God speaks to us through is Holy Spirit, and that can happen at any time of the day and even through the night, with dreams or thoughts. 

My Daily Devotions today was on Luke 18:1-8 and this kind of struck me too. . . .because I seem to think that a delay to my prayers being answered is a denial, but I don't think it is. 

Luke 18:1-8

New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

So, even though, above I mentioned that we should not try and manipulate what we want God to do but just pray for His will, we also are to PRAY WITHOUT CEASING, taking it before the high judge.  So confusing since there must be a fine line of praising, asking and just trusting what He has in store.  I guess I gave myself a lot more to work on here.  Need to revamp a few of my usual prayers. :)




Matthew 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”


Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.


John 14:13-14 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it


Philippians 4:6-7 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

My Heart's Search on Prayer - Part 1

I have been struggling a lot lately with "prayer" and how it works. I was raised to believe that prayer is the most powerful tool we have in our tool bag and that it should not be a last resort, but instead it should be the first thing we grab when facing any trial in life.  I grew up praying for even little things, like a good hair day, or that a friend I liked would sit beside me so I wouldn't be sad in school.  As a little girl, I prayed for ALL the trivial things that were significant in my little girl mind, because I believed God loved me and cared even about the smallest details. I didn't always get the answers I wanted even as a little girl, but for some reason I never questioned the prayer thing, I just literally believed and kept on praying.  I guess that is where the "child like faith" comes in.  :)
 
As I got older, I had some heartaches, the typical dating hurts, and friendship hurts, and losing a pet I loved hurts.  I relied a lot on prayer in my high school years, praying for very specific things like, my future husband and my future children, and that I would GRADUATE.  I prayed a lot about who I dated and about the friends I hung out with. I would always tell God what I wanted and how I thought things should go, but then I would always end with telling Him that ultimately I wanted His will in my life and His perfect plan.  I knew He knew what I needed more than I did.  So even when I felt that what I wanted had to be what was best for me, My mom taught me that the only way to be happy in life is to be in God's perfect will for your life.  That has kind of always been a prayer of mine also.
 
Sure enough, he gave me my soul mate, Micah.  The story was a little rocky and there were times I did question God along the way, but I kept coming back to trusting in His plan for my life.  Now, here I am married to my best friend and loving it!!! 
 
Another thing I prayed for my whole life, was for my children.  I currently have 2 wonderful children that make me smile every day.  They didn't come easy though.  Things were tough and there were lots of times (still are) I question God "why this way?".  I am not doubting who He is and I am not angry at him by any means, but I just don't always get the reasons behind all of His Plans.  Again, when things didn't go as I had planned with my daughter Ava or my son Christian, I continued to remind myself that God ultimately knew what was best and He was the one I trust.  Don't get me wrong, I am not disappointed at all in my life or my hubby or my children, but there are SPECIFIC things I have prayed for in my children and it seems the opposite happens.  Things I literally prayed against, hoping to prevent them from the struggles I have had and yet, it seems more prominent in them than it was in my own life.  I will go into more details later on.

I read books about praying for my unborn children, while they were in the womb.  I read books about praying and believing positive things into my.  I read articles and books on how to pray for your spouse and your family. I read about praying to break generational curses and was taught tons on how to pray for healing in areas of our lives.  I have prayed with the faith of a mustard seed for a dear friend's healing from a horrible disease.  I have prayed for couples that I know that God would restore their marriage.  I have prayed for miracles straight from Bible time.  Sometimes, often times, I did see some of the prayers answered, but usually not to the degree I was EXPECTING, or to the way I thought would be best.  This brought the question to my mind and I have been fighting this question for a few years.  What is Prayer?  How are we to use Prayer? 
 
I think that is where I am now.  I have studied prayer over the past few years, and really tried to figure out how to use this awesome tool God gives us that we can communicate with HIM.  Wow, what a privilege when you think of it, we can talk to our creator.  Pretty awesome.  However, I think my questioned area is . . . what is prayer really for?  Do our prayers really ever have any sway with God?  I don't even know if sway is the right term but I guess I mean, if we pray diligently for someone who is heartbroken, and the Bible says God is near to the brokenhearted, then do our prayers really help or is God planning to be near to them regardless of our prayers?  Is HE there for them more if we are praying?  Does He give them extra peace or more comfort because we carry this heartbroken person to His feet in prayer, or is He going to comfort them the same either way?  Is He going to comfort someone more because I pray and ask him to comfort them.  If our child is sick and we pray for them to get better, but God already knew they were not going to get better, than was it a waste to have prayed?  The Bible says He hears our prayers.  I do believe he does, but how does He choose when to answer them?  Or maybe the question should be, how does He choose when to say yes or no to our prayers?

So, over the next few weeks, I am planning to do my own study of my heart on what prayer is to me and what I believe.  Hopefully through this, God can reveal to my heart what he wants me to see and He can restore my broken spirit to be renewed and whole again.  I do believe the BIBLE and everything in it, so I know Prayer is real and I want to know what God intended it for and how he intended us to use it.

Till We Meet Again - Love you Jess

On November 14, 2011, my life changed forever.  A huge hole, that I never imagined would come to my life, came.  One of my dearest friends went to be with our Saviour.  I got the call Monday morning and I can't really remember much of the week's events after I got the call.  I know many of the questions that followed were painful and raw.

The call was vague and gave no details other than the horrifying truth.  I had lost a friend and didn't get to say goodbye. This particular friend was one that I talked with on a regular basis, a daily basis.  We worked through hard times and laughed through good times.  She used to tell me I was the friend she called when she needed someone to say all the nice things, even if they weren't always true.  I told her I was honest, but just did it in a nice way. We would joke around that we were Xanax for each other, when we had reached our limit for Xanax that day.  :)

I got the call from Micah, and again, I remember little from that point on.  I remember I was holding Jameson as a baby in my arms and when Micah told me the Jess was gone, I remember hearing myself screaming loudly over and over as I ran back and put Jameson in his crib.  The Shock was overwhelming to say the least and the phone calls started coming in asking if we had heard.  A good friend took Christian for us and we headed directly over to the house. 

Jess had battled bipolar for many years and she had put up one heck of a fight but the battle was so intense and in the end it won her over.  She had suffered so much and finally couldn't battle it anymore.  The sorrow and grief that followed in those next few months and years are too much to mention but God was there the whole time guiding everyone for sure.  

Jess had wanted nothing more in life than to be a wife, mother and friend the way God intended her to be.  She was able to have a son and she was a fantastic mom to him and fantastic wife to her hubby.  She had gotten pregnant and then miscarried and that grief was alot of what had overtaken her in the end.  She missed her baby.  

I know where she is and I know she is safe and sound.  My niece shared with me a dream she had after Jess died.  My niece was in Heaven and Jess was sitting in a rocking chair, rocking her baby she had miscarried while here on earth.  She was rocking her baby and smiling.  My niece asked her if she was at peace and Jess shook her head yes while she rocked her baby, smiling sweetly.  That image is what I hold onto in my head when I think of sweet Jess.  When I see her family left behind here on earth still missing her so much, I am reminded that Jess is finally at peace.  After many years of fighting that utter inner turmoil, she is at peace.  Thank you Lord for that.  Thank you for bringing Jess home to you and healing her mind there in Heaven.  

Prayer in the Desert

I have been having a bad week this week, sad about things passed and things to come and things with unknown outcomes.  I feel as though I am very tired, weary and in need of some reason to get up out of bed some days.  The burdens of everyone elses pain seems to be weighing so heavily on me and then of course the pain I carry of my own.
I say all this to say, Thursday night, after a pretty emotional day, I headed to band practice for our church praise band.  I loved the songs that were chosen for us to sing this upcoming Sunday, but the one that hit me  the hardest was the song by Hillsong, - Desert.  The lyrics grabbed me and picked me right up off the ground.  Songs tend to minister to my heart when I am down anyway, but this one was like a breath of fresh air. 

The Desert Song Lyrics

Verse 1:

This is my prayer in the desert

And all that's within me feels dry

This is my prayer in the hunger in me

My God is a God who provides



Verse 2:

And this is my prayer in the fire

In weakness or trial or pain

There is a faith proved

Of more worth than gold

So refine me Lord through the flames



Chorus:

And I will bring praise

I will bring praise

No weapon formed against me shall remain


I will rejoice

I will declare

God is my victory and He is here



Verse 3:

And this is my prayer in the battle

And triumph is still on it's way

I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ

So firm on His promise I'll stand



Bridge:

All of my life

In every season

You are still God

I have a reason to sing

I have a reason to worship



Verse 4:

This is my prayer in the harvest

When favor and providence flow

I know I'm filled to be emptied again

The seed I've received I will sow


I guess the song is just a reminder to me of what I need to feel in my heart. . .no matter WHAT circumstances are in my life, no matter what BATTLE  I am going through, I have the God of all God's on my side and He is the one that will carry me through.  The truth is that God is still God, no matter what season of life we are in.  Change is hard and along with Seasons of life come so much change, but if God is still God and still in charge, then what do I have to fear? Right?  God gives me a reason to sing and a reason to worship. . . even when circumstances don't seem joyful or worthy of even a smile.
 I especially like the last verse, where it talks about how we know we are filled to be emptied again, and how we are responsible to sow the seeds God gives us. I feel as though I keep trying to get filled and then I want to rest and never get empty again, because that is just easier.  So here is my new heart's desire.  I want God to fill me with HIM so I can sow the seeds in others, be emptied again, and come back to be filled by Him and only HIM.

Deuteronomy 28: 1-14

Praying for my children is a hard one because I am not sure what to pray. Sometimes I feel so very overwhelmed because I feel there is so much I need / should be praying and I feel as though I am going to MISS something and mess them up for life.  I had a friend share this with me and I have started to speak this over my children often when they are leaving the house to go somewhere or even while they are sleeping.  I  thought I would share this with all of you too. :)

Deuteronomy 28: 1-14


If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high upon all the nations on earth.

All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.

You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country

The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock – the calves of your herds and lambs of your flocks.

Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction, but flee from you in seven.

The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving to you.

The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God, and walk in his ways.

Then all the peoples on the earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.

The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity – in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock, and the crops of your ground – in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.

The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top and never at the bottom.

Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

Dreams Die - God's Purpose Never Dies

I was recently invited to a conference for women with Lynette Lewis.  She is a young lady that is on fire for God, very fashion savy and just a blast to hang out with.  She touched on how we all have DREAMS in our hearts.  Weather they are short term or long term, they are dreams and who would be be if we didn't dream of something, or anticipate something in our lives to come.  Lets face it, we are honest with ourselves, we all have dreams that we take before God.  We entertain things in our minds that we hope or dream that God will bless us with.  It may be a spouse or a house or children.  It may be a dream to become a certain someone someday like a speaker or a teacher or an author.  Some of us dream of a nice car or a dream job and some of us dream of making it big with singing, dancing, or photography.  Some dream of living in other places of the world or traveling lots.  There are so many types of dreams and we all have them.  Some are larger than others and some are simple.  Some dreams have a tendency to consume us and some are just a slight distant dream that we think "maybe someday".  In any case, I think it is good to dream. It is good to keep our sites on something bigger, to anticipate with excitement about what is to come.  This is what I believe our dreams are placed in our lives for, to give us HOPE.

The hardest part is that sometimes, our dreams just don't come true.  Chalk it up to the fact that our world isn't perfect, or to the fact that some dreams take money and most dreams take energy and time.  It is sad to think that sometimes we leave this life with unfulfilled dreams and desires.  When that happens, or should we have known it was going to happen, we would have a hard time facing that and better yet, accepting it.   Sometimes God says no, and to this day, I don't understand why.  I was reading a devotional that said, "David heard the Lord's "no" and quietly accepted it without resentment. That's awfully hard to do. But we find in David's final recorded words a life-sized portrait of a man after God's own heart."  This statement grabbed me right out of my seat. 

Let me focus on this for a second.  David was considered a man after God's own heart.  He messed up and sinned just like me, but yet the Bible says he was a man after God's own heart.  I think the part that struck me so was how he quietly accepted it WITHOUT resentment.  Um, yeah, I am not so good at this.  I hear God say no, and I am like a kid trying to find another angle.  "well, what if I do this God, then will the answer be yes?"  or "okay, God, I am a really good person and what I am asking for is from the desires of my heart, the ones You gave me, so why can't it be yes?  I don't understand.  What if I go to church and treat everyone really nice, then can I have this thing I desire?"  I find myself doing this in the depths of my heart, pleading with God.  Trying to make sense of it all.  I look around and don't understand why God blessed someone else with something that I wanted so badly.  Does it make sense?  Is it fair?  Why them and not me? 


"After four decades of service to Israel, King David, old and perhaps stooped by the years, looked for the last time into the faces of his trusted followers. Many of them represented distinct memories in the old man's mind. Those who would carry on his legacy surrounded him, waiting to receive his last words of wisdom and instruction. What would the seventy-year-old king say?"


The devotional goes on to mention that he literally revealed his deepest desires and dreams of his heart.  The Bible reference is (1 Chronicles 28:2).  This was his biggest dream to build a temple to the Lord and he was going to die with his dreams unfulfilled in his lifetime. 

Dreams are the hardest thing to let go of.  Dreams die hard as said by the devotional.  We can choose to do as David and focus on what blessings God has given us and what he has allowed us to do in our lifetime.  For me, I am blessed to have the dreams of my childhood fulfilled. I have other dreams that I anticipate but I am choosing to be content in whatever my God has given me. This is a daily battle for me sometimes and yet, there are days it seems to be getting easier to do. 
"But in his parting words, David chose to focus on what God had allowed him to do—to reign as king over Israel, to establish his son Solomon over the kingdom, and to pass the dream on to him (28:4–8). Then, in a beautiful prayer, an extemporaneous expression of worship to the Lord God, David praised the greatness of God, thanking Him for His many blessings, and then interceded for the people of Israel and for their new king, Solomon. Take some extra time to read David's prayer slowly and thoughtfully. It's found in 1 Chronicles 29:10–19"

I want to do this. I want to follow this prayer of David's heart.  He chose to praise God with a GRATEFUL HEART.  Not only did he chose to look forward and keep exalting our living GOD, but he did it with a grateful heart, even knowing some of his hugest dreams and desires of his heart never would be fulfilled in his lifetime.  His dreams were not selfish, or even wrong, but they were just not in God's plans for his life.  SO my question is how did he manage to not wallow in sadness of his unfulfilled dreams?
"Blessed are You, O LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone." (29:10–12)

Then as I read further this morning, Something else jumped out at me as to David's attitude.  He never once saw what God gave him through is life as really his own stuff.  He saw the people under him (his kingdom) as God's.  He saw the money and the throne and the lavish material possessions as GOD's.  He seemed to always keep that mindset, which didn't allow for him to have an unhealthy love for money and material things.  He was not a greedy man.  Can I say that of myself?  Can I really look at all God has given me and see it as his.  What a challenge!!! I know my husband and kids are his but I still fear them getting hurt or losing them.  What if I had the mindset that they really were HIS and when He decided it was time, it was?  How do I get that sort of attitude about all in my life?

Steven Curtis Chapman wrote a song that Micah and I sing alot and we love what it means.  We even have made up our own word to fit the songs and we sing it when we are scared of what is coming in life, to remind us that it is all HIS.  The songs lyrics are:

I walk the streets of London
And notice in the faces passing by
Something that makes me stop and listen
My heart grows heavy with the cry

Where is the hope for London?
You whisper and my heart begins to soar
As I'm reminded
That every street in London in Yours

Oh, yes it is
I walk the dirt roads of Uganda
I see the scars that war has left behind
Hope like the sun is fading
They're waiting for a cure no one can find

And I hear children's voices singing
Of a God who heals and rescues and restores
And I'm reminded
That every child in Africa is Yours

And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
From the stars in the sky
To the depths of the ocean floor

And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
You're the Maker and Keeper, Father and Ruler of everything
It's all Yours

And I walk the sidewalks of Nashville
Like Singapore, Manila and Shanghai
I rush by the beggar's hand and the wealthy man
And everywhere I look I realize

That just like the streets of London
For every man and woman, boy and girl
All of creation
This is our Father's world

And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
From the stars in the sky
To the depths of the ocean floor

And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
You're the Maker and Keeper, Father and Ruler of everything

It's all Yours, God  (Ava's Yours God)
It's all Yours, God  (Micah's Yours God)
It's all Yours, God  (Christian is yours God)
It's all Yours, God  (My life is your God)

The glory is Yours, God
All the honor is Yours, God
The power is Yours, God
The glory is Yours, God
You're the King of Kings
And Lord of Lords
And its all Yours, God, Yours, God

Everything is Yours

From the stars in the sky (From the House that we live)

To the depths of the ocean floor (to the Health of our families)

And its all Yours, God, Yours, God

Everything is Yours

All the greatness and power, the glory and splendor and majesty

Everything is Yours

Yeah, it's all Yours

We are Yours

The glory and honor is Yours, everything is Yours



It's all Yours, God

My life is Yours, my heart is Yours

My hands and my feet are Yours

Every song that I sing

It's all Yours, all is Yours

All belongs to You

Our gifts are Yours, God

All our dreams are Yours, God

All our plans are Yours, God

The whole earth is Yours, God

Everything is Yours


So my point is if we can be 100% confidant that God, our LIVING GOD is truly in control of EVERYTHING we own and and want to own.  EVERYTHING we love and hope to love.  EVERYTHING we dream of and hope for. . then what do we have to fear.  HE is in control of it all.  IT is all HIS!!!  And if we are serving Him and we are loving Him, then what do we have to lose.  We are going to be blessed and victorious and we serve the ONE and TRUE LIVING GOD!!!!  God's plans and dreams for our lives are so much better than anything we can do on our own.  If we can remember to hold all of our possessions and dreams loosely and trust them all to God, we will win in the end.  RIGHT? Maybe this very mentality will remind me and help me to cope with the answer "no" when I get it.

I leave you with this final closing statement taken from the devotional I read this morning. . . .
Though some dreams remain unfulfilled, a man or woman of God can respond to His "no" with praise, thanksgiving, and intercession . . . because when a dream dies, nothing of God's purposes die.



My devotional that I based this blog off of was the following website:  http://www.insight.org/library/articles/bible-characters/when-god-says-no-pray.html