National Kids Hope USA PRAYER Week is HERE!!!!!!!

During the month of November – and especially this week – we invite you to join with a network of nearly 1,200 church-school Kids Hope USA programs across the country to pray specifically for Kids Hope USA in your church, your community, and nation-wide. Here are a few ways you can get involved this week:

Click here to sign-up to pray at a particular time this week. Sign up today if you haven’t already!

 

 

 

Join our National Prayer Call, this Friday, NOVEMBER 20th @ 1pm Eastern Standard Time.

Call: 1-888-853-9372

Passcode: 8562324

 

 

Share a Kids Hope prayer story by emailing it to esagmoe@kidshopeusa.org.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for investing your time in the life of a child and supporting a mentor! Prayer partners, you are greatly appreciated and you make a world of difference.

What lasts?

We will not be here forever. Kind of a sobering thought, but a realistic one none-the-less. However, what we do with and where we spend our time will have lasting affects on generations to come. It will be one of the only things that we will leave behind. Our impact.

 

Let’s meditate on the verse 1 Peter 1:24-25 NIV, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.”

 

Lift up your mentor and mentee in prayer and encouragement as they enter into a new school year together. Pray the mentor will have the right words to say to their student; words that will have the greatest impact on their student’s life.

 

If you read our most recent blog article: “20 Reasons My Mentor is Great! Part 1,” you will hear all of the ways mentors can impact a child’s life from a child’s perspective. Many are simple and straightforward, “my mentor is nice, kind to me, cares about me.” Please pray that your mentor is able to share those attributes to their student so that their student will know they are loved, cared for, and special. So their student will know they are important and valued.

 

If you have any comments or questions, I’d love to hear from you!

 

In Him,

Elise

Crazy Miracles, Crazy Prayers

Click here for more of the story behind the phrase and the original post of this photo.

Does Fear Have a Grip on You?

Clearly fear has a place in our lives, but we don’t want it to control us. No way do we want it to dictate how we live and make decisions. It’s easy to ignore our fears, but courage won’t make it to the playing field unless you have a fear to face down. Face it down with prayer.

Are You Balanced or Burned Out?

Why do some of us overdo it with serving? What does the bible say about burnout? We love Jesus, we love others, and God gave us a servant’s heart and empathetic disposition. Mix that with a self-reliant attitude and over time, we neglect our own well-being. Burnout and ill health results.

Says author E. Njeri Gakunju of Woman: Step Out of the Boat, “Taking care of yourself, both spiritually and physically, is a basic element of balance. The food we eat matters and so does taking quiet time away from all those who demand your time and emotional support. We must also be fed spiritually by reading the Word, praying in the Spirit, and fasting. A vehicle needs to refill after a long journey and it also needs to be serviced. Otherwise it will stall and if you do not take it in for servicing, it will eventually start breaking down. In much the same way, one has to take time to rest, exercise, and eat well. Jesus took time out, too.”

Here are 10 points to pray as you evaluate your current and upcoming ministry service (adapted from Ava Pennington’s “Ten Steps to Prevent Ministry Burnout”):

1. Lord, please help me to step out of ministry motivated by guilt. Rather, help me to lean in to ministry motivated by gratitude.
2. Lord, please help me to step out of serving on autopilot. Rather, help me to lean in to being intentional about ministry activities.
3. Lord, please help me to step out of seeing ministry as a task. Rather, help me to lean in to focusing on the people for whom Christ died.
4. Lord, please help me to step out of cutting corners to make ministry convenient. Rather, help me to lean in to remembering that I serve You.
5. Lord, please help me to step out of relying on past Bible study or studying only in preparation to lead. Rather, help me to lean in to a daily time of refreshing as I meet you in Your Word.
6. Lord, help me to step out of criticism for those who lead you in ministry. Rather, help me lean in to praying daily for your leaders, for You to equip and direct them.
7. Lord, please help me to step out of thinking what I share applies only to other people. Rather, help me to lean in to applying your teaching or other aspects of my ministry, to my own life.
8. Lord, please help me to step out of allowing ministry to consume me. Rather, help me to lean in to being a good steward of my health and your family.
9. Lord, please help me to step out of drawing on rmy own reserves. Rather, please help me to lean in to depending on You to strengthen me for your task.
10. Lord, please help me to step out of pride. Rather, help me to lean in to humility.’

May you serve in diligent prayer, forethought, balance, and joy! Do you have any scripture, thoughts, or prayers to share? Please reply back. We’d love to hear from you!

Joyfully In Christ,

Pam

What’s On Your Summer Reading List?

Pick up a book or two this summer on prayer! Click here for a quartet of excellent books on prayer put together by Bruce Benson, a professor at Wheaton College.

Benson writes “If you have questions about prayer, read Yancey. If you want a systematic way of thinking about prayer, Chase is very helpful. If you want an overview of the many sorts of prayer, Foster is excellent. And Merton is superb in providing deep reflections on prayer. While each of these books can easily be read alone, read together they form a rich tapestry.”

I currently am enjoying Foster’s Prayer: The Heart’s True Home and it is excellent so far! I happened to find it in my church library, so you may want to check your own church, public, or local college library prior to purchasing.

Do you have another author or title on prayer that you’d like to share? If so, please reply back. We’d love to hear from you!

Joyfully In Christ,

Pam

 

Quiz: What is Your Prayer Personality?

How would you classify your prayer personality? Are you a potent pray-er, prayer prodigal, part-time pray-er, or prayer pragmatist?

Click here to take a fun quiz to find Your Prayer Personality published by Beliefntet.com! “Share” with your FB friends!

Though simple, I found the questions to be personally challenging, did you? What changes can be made on a daily basis to become more potent in prayer?

Please reply back. We’d love to hear from you!

Joyfully In Christ,

Pam

Do You Need Rest and Refreshment This Summer?

If so, please take a moment to pray and post/share/forward to the parent, teacher, coach, administrator, or student also in need of God’s renewal.

O God of all beginnings and endings,

We praise and thank you for the gift of this school year.
It has been a time filled with grace and blessings,
With challenges and opportunities, joys and sorrows.

The days have passed quickly, O Lord.
The weeks, the months, the seasons, the holidays and holy days,
The exams, vacations, breaks, and assemblies,
All have come forth from your hand.

While we trust that your purposes have always been at work each day,
Sometimes it has seemed difficult to understand and appreciate
Just what you have been up to in our school.

Give us the rest and refreshment we need this summer.
Let our efforts of this past year bear fruit.
Bring all of our plans to a joyful conclusion,
And bless us, according to your will,

With the fulfillment of our summer hopes and dreams.
Watch over us in the weeks of rest ahead,
And guide each day as you have done this past year.
Help us return to school with a new spirit and a new energy.

May we continue to grow
In age, wisdom, knowledge and grace
All the days of our lives.

Amen. (Source Unknown)

Do you have a special prayer or scripture to share for rest and refreshment? Please reply. We’d love to hear from you!

Joyfully In Christ,

Pam

Are You Trying To Be Perfect?

God loves when we use the gifts He has given us for His glory, whether that’s by parenting, mentoring, teaching, working, or serving. There is nothing wrong with striving for good results.

But, let’s not fall trap. Society challenges us to place expectations on ourselves that are not only unhealthy, but ungodly. We only need to view the latest social media post – a first place finish, a well dressed family, a handsome prom date, a good hair day – or even the smiling church group. People often spend their lives trying desperately to achieve perfection or please others only to burnout.

Are we then trying to be so perfect in our lives and in our duties that we are relying on our own strength? Where and in what circumstances do you forget to depend on God – on His strength? What keeps you from going to God and giving God the glory?

The good news is perfection is only found in God and He created only one Perfect One – Jesus Christ. We can’t be perfect. He is the only one that can equip us with His strength and make our ways blameless (Psalm 18:32). So, let us take a moment to pray:

• Dear God, please remind us that you review our hearts and not our performance. Thank You for taking delight in our obedience and not in our results.
• Dear God, please give us a glimpse of You and Your plans for us each day. Thank You for taking the reigns in our lives, so we can delight in our relationship with You and others.
• Dear God, please prompt us to give You all the glory and praise no matter how circumstances turn out. We adore You. Thank You for Your grace, goodness, and justice – all given freely because You delight in us.

Do you have any scripture, thoughts, or prayers to share? Please reply. We’d love to hear from you!

Joyfully In Christ,

Pam

 

A Remedy For Stale Prayers

My prayers sure are stale lately. Are yours? I begin to pray and forget all the who’s, what’s and how’s. It’s fog city upstairs.

Frequently in need of God’s inspiration and divine direction, I’ve found an entire list of prayers in the bible and where they can be found. Thanks Herbert! Can you believe there are 650? My extensive internet research led me right back to my own bible. I love when God does that. 🙂

The prayers in the bible help us with prayer in emergency and prayer in looking and waiting. We find prayer without words and prayer for a searching heart. We discover the prayer God won’t answer and the prayer that produced a miracle. We learn prayer for the oppressed and prayer for vindication. We realize its never the wrong time or too late to talk to God.

So, consider printing this list, posting, and sharing with your family and friends! Let’s go to God’s guide on those stale days!

Joyfully In Christ,

Pam