To Pray or Not to Pray

 

Why do we find it difficult to set aside time to pray? Why do we find time for everything else but prayer?

Prayer is simply communicating with God, talking to Him, but more importantly listening for a response. Man talking to God and God talking to man. Oftentimes, we feel in order for God to hear us, we must pray for long period of times, and say a lot of big words. Not true. The primary purpose of prayer is to develop an intimate relationship with God. In a relationship, communication is vital. If there is no communication, the relationship will dissolve or die. So it is when we communicate with God, we learn of His way of doing things, what he wants for us and from us. Prayer strengthens, guides, and directs us to become STRONG EFFECTIVE Christians in other areas of our lives.

Luke 18; 1 says “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not faint. The word ought simply means “having a duty or obligation. What does that mean to me as a Christian? I have an obligation or duty to pray! Prayer is our ONLY avenue that we have to communicate with God!

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to “pray without ceasing”. At times, we find it difficult to set aside time to pray because of family obligations, work, and other things that keep us away from dedicating time to spend with God. Truth of the matter is we should stay in constant prayer mode. We need a consistent disciplined Prayer Life!!

No prayer is insignificant or too small for God. Seeking the face of the Lord (Psalm 27: 8) and being in His presence, basking in His glory brings us fullness of joy and peace. (John 15.11) We can pour out our heart to him. Psalm 62:8 says “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your hear before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.” There are times when we are distressed. We need to pour out our hearts to God. At these times, we find solace and reassurance in his Word that He loves us unconditionally!!

How should we pray?

1. Start with praise and worship. It sets the atmosphere for prayer.

2. Be specific with requests. James 4:3 states, “Ye ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lust.” Don’t pray all over the place.

3. Be persistent and don’t give up.

4. Deal aggressively with the enemy! Come to him in the name of Jesus and with the sword of the spirit. (James 4; 7)You cannot be afraid or timid! Stand in confidence knowing that Jesus is right there with you!! BIND, CAST OUT, and LOOSE something in its place (Matthew 18:18)

Believe by faith that God is going to answer your request. He might not answer it right away but have confidence that He will answer!

Dominion over the enemy!

Many of us feel oppressed by situations, trials, tribulations and daily living. We wonder how we're going to overcome it. We feel heavily burdened mentally, physically by adverse situations, troubles, conditions etc. That is oppression allowing things to control us to have dominion over us. Oppression becomes so consuming that it will debilitate us. Oppression will cause us to stop living to stop believing that God has made us all to be over comers, conquerors through Him that love Him. The mind is fragile and Satan knows that if he can infiltrate your mind, he has dominion over you! He wants you to believe that God doesn't love you or that He has forsaken you. Not so! It is a trick on the enemy to cause you to feel that way.

The old saints would bind and rebuke the devil out of the mind because they knew the significance of keeping your mind stay on Jesus. They knew that if you kept your mind on good things and on the goodness of Jesus, he didn't stand a chance! The devil means you no good! His purpose his to kill, steal, and destroy! He wants to have dominion over you! But I have good news for you! You can take back your power and authority over your life! God word's speak plainly about us having  dominion. In Genesis, when God created the world, he gave Adam rule over the earth! When Adam sinned, that left us vulnerable to Satan vices. After Jesus came, died on the cross and was resurrected, we were redeemed by the curse of the law and given back our dominion. We are in a war for our sanity, our lives! It's time that we let the devil know that he no longer has dominion over us! God loves us so much and He only wants the best for us! Speak to whatever has dominion over your life and say with power and authority that you longer have DOMINION over me!

Don't Count Me Out!!

Have you ever felt misunderstood? Have you ever felt like you didn't belong or you didn't quite fit in? Did people think you were weird or strange? Don't be discouraged about what people say about you or how they label you. You're none of those things. God created you in His likeness and image. You a are marvelous piece of work. In his intrinsic imagination, He designed and handcrafted every part of you. From the shape of your eyes, to the arch in your foot. When God created you, he looked at you and said that's is good! Life can be overwhelming and people can be cruel. Nevertheless, don't count yourself out!
Imagine how life you would be without you on this earth. God placed you here for a specific purpose. There is someone that you need to encounter to offer words of encouragement or a helping hand. Your voice needs to be heard across the land. What you have to say has meaning. You are here to touch someone's life or to fight a cause. Every gift and talent was given to you at birth!! It's up to you to use it to your ability. A defeatist attitude is not an option. Remember God is making, molding, and shaping you.  Don't count yourself out!
God did not make a mistake when He created you! Your life has purpose! Jason Nelson who is a pastor, gospel artist and a true worshipper has a wonderful cd out called "A Shift in the Atmosphere." He has a song on it entitled "Don't Count Me Out!" In essence, he's saying the same thing.  But the vamp in the song is what penetrated my heart. It says, "There's a King in me. Goliath's to defeat! Visions to decree! It's my destiny!
Start telling yourself I am a King! I'm more than a conquer! Yes I may be different, unique, maybe even strange! But God created me and he knew me before the foundation of the world was created!! He knew that my uniqueness would make a difference in this world! Because He created me, a part of him is in me. His spirit dwells inside of me!
They tried counted Jesus out. They tried to devalue Him and his ministry! But in the end, he said Don't Count Me Out! I am here to do the work of my Father! I will accomplish what I have been sent to do! Count me out if you want to! I will show you better than I can tell you!!
So must we be with our purpose, our destiny, our ministry! There is VALUE IN YOU!!!

Insanity!!

I have started my weight loss journey...again.. Yeah, I know I'm one of countless millions who makes a New Year's  resolution every year to get healthier and fit. January is usually a good month to start. A new month, a new year, a new beginning, a new you.. Sounds like a great infomercial right. Like most people who's started their weight loss journey. I'm gung-ho in the beginning..hitting the gym 5 to 6 days a week, changing my eating habits with the customary no fried foods, sodas, blah blah blah.. Yeah this time is going to be different. I'm going to stick with it! I'm going to reach my goal weight! Nothing's going to stop me! Then one day you decide to take the day off. One day turns into two days and before you know it you're sitting on the couch eating a bag of chips and drinking your favorite soda.

That was me for fourteen years. Growing up, I never had a weight problem. Honestly, I was a pretty skinny girl. While many of my peers gained that infamous freshman fifteen, I held my weight. The turning point came my last year in college. I noticed a slight gain. I went from a size 3/5 to a 7/8. Well, the little added weight looked good on me! I was pleased. After graduation, I came home to three meals a day, started working and eating more fast food. When I met me husband, I was a size ten. Still sexy.. We dated and married then had our son. That's when the weight gain really began. For nearly 14 years, my weight held steady at........ At my peak, I was..... (No I'm not filling in the blanks. A lady has to keep some things to herself. :) ) In between, I started and stopped many weight loss journeys at a couple points losing twenty-five and seventeen pounds respectively. When I felt comfortable enough with someone, I would tell them my weight. They would be shocked and tell me that I carried it well. Solid is the perfect word to describe my weight. My self confidence plummeted and I detested shopping. Smiling on the outside but miserable on the inside.

So this year on my forty-seventh birthday, I decided enough was enough! I was tired of feeling like a fat girl trapped in a skinny girl's body. Along with some physical ailments (joint pain, shortness of breath if I walked too long etc., high blood pressure), I couldn't afford to keep going down that path. For the first time in my life, I made a REAL COMMITMENT to lose the weight and become healthier before my fiftieth birthday!! God has been too good to me to sabotage this beautiful work of art which he created!
With the help of my wonderful cousin whose training me for free, Sean T and Insanity/Hip Hop Abs, Zumba, and Pilates, changing my eating habits, and drinking lots of water, I'm finally in a good place where I am confident that I will do it this time!! I can't wait to see the end results!

My Love Affair With Chicken

As I was sitting in the drive-thru at Popeye's the other day, fond memories of sitting in the kitchen while my grandmother cook chicken replayed in my mind. The sweet aroma of frying chicken filled the air. My mouth watered with anticipation of eating the delightful pieces of chicken.
Chicken was a staple in my household growing up. Southern comfort food at its finest. Back in the day, salt and pepper was the only seasoning applied to the chicken. My grandmother would cut up a whole chicken and season it perfectly. Next she would put Crisco Oil sometimes shortening in the black caste iron skillet. Then she would put each piece of chicken in a brown paper bag filled with flour. Gently shaking the bag she made sure that each piece of chicken was evenly covered in flour. Once the oil was heated to its proper temperature she would place pieces of chicken into the skillet.
The sizzling sound of the chicken frying only served to make me more anxious to eat. Moving like an orchestra conductor, my grandmother moved back and forth between preparing other dishes for the main course to making sure that the chicken was cooked thoroughly and a beautiful golden brown. It was something to watch. Unfortunately for me, I didn't pick up on her or my mother's culinary skills.  That's why I'm thankful for establishments such as Popeye's, Jack Pirtles (a local chain of restaurants) and Kentucky.
I love chicken practically in any form. Fried being the favorite, baked, broiled, barbecued, smoked, Cajun, blackened, marinated. I love it smothered in brown gravy, as soup, chicken and dumplings.
Fried chicken is like apple pie to baseball. It's the American way! You can't have a picnic without it. Family reunions wouldn't be the same. Church dinners would be a thing of the past! It's good hot out the fryer or served as a cold leftover. 
I must admit there was a little blip in my love for chicken when I saw my great-grandmother wring the neck of a chicken in the yard on her farm. For a minute, I boycotted eating chicken. I mean I was around 10 or 11 and it devastated me to see the demise of that chicken. However, it didn't take me long to get over it.
When God created the chicken, He did a good thing. Needless to say, chicken is my favorite meat. If I'm not careful, I would eat it everyday. I thank all of the chickens who sacrificed their lives so that we could enjoy a little piece of heaven. You efforts have not gone unnoticed.
Okay so maybe that was a little extreme. But my love affair with chicken started as a little girl and is still going strong today!!

Remember 9/11

Let's take a moment to remember and honor those who lost their lives on this fateful day. The world as we knew it changed forever on that tragic day. The events that unfolded will forever be imprinted on the minds of those who watched in disbelief as not one but two planes crashed into the Twin Towers and the eventual falling of the Towers. I was working for American Express Travel Related Services as a Corporate Travel and Quality Assurance Consultant and sitting in the parking lot before going inside when Michael Adrian Davis of 95.7 interrupted with breaking news that a commuter plane, which we later discovered was a commerical plane, crashed into the World Trade Center. I rushed into the building to find my co workers gather around the television. I was told that two airplanes had crashed into the Twin Towers. I watched in horror as the both buildings collasped. My immediate thoughts were that our country was under attack. This was it! Immediately, I called my husband, my son's babysister at the time, my mom and other family members and friends to check on their safety. As consultants, we had to maintain our composure and help our clients. We had clients literally stranded all over the world and for at least a week we could not get them home.

One of our accounts was The Gap and several of their representatives along with our division VP of travel had to rent cars and drive as far as California to return home. I have never experience such chaos in all of my life. Every airport from here to Anartica was shut down. The sky was eerily calm without any air traffice. We also had an office in the Trade Center and American Express lost several employees.This not only affected people around the world, but it certainly hit home for me. The travel industry took a major hit and a few months later my office downsized and eventually closed. Bottom line people stop flying.

It was amazing to see our country ban together for short period of time. To come to the aid of those in need, to understand no matter our differences, we are all Americans. I cried for those who lost lost ones, who never had the opportunity to say goodbye. I often wondered about those who those who perish have time to pray or repent to their Creator. What were their thoughts in those last fleeting moments? I know these are questions that will never be answered.

Quick story...We had a client who was flying out of Philadelphia on the very flight that crashed. At the last minute, he had a terrible feeling that something bad was going to happen and he asked to get off the plane. Little did he know that shortly afterwards the plane was going to crash. What an awesome God we serve to give us such discernment!

Please take a moment to reflect and honor those who lives were lost and their loved ones for a moment in history that changed the world forever.