Stand!

 Yesterday, as some of you already know, my lap top blacked out. Considering the fact that I am in college, taking my last two courses in order to achieve my bachelors degree in Biblical studies, losing my computer would be a big blow. Instead of letting that be my focus, I went old school ~ pen and paper. I outlined my thoughts for my one assignment; a 4 page paper answering a few question prompts over this week's required reading. I talked to complete strangers about my faith, my Lord, the message of grace, abundant living and hope. I even spoke about how being fully dressed, I knew what was truly going on and instead of freaking out and fighting my computer, I closed it and prayed that God take care of it. I did mention to Satan that one computer glitch would not stop me. I told him I'd do my work on my phone if I had to! 

This is not the first time that a lap top black out has happened to me. When I was in the middle of writing my second book, Satan came after me like a crocodile. While I knew what I was hearing in my head was not coming from me and was indeed warfare, I was in a fight for my life! The oppression was so great. The fight was so fierce, I compared it to being in a full blown crocodile roll. Even fully armored, I was doing all I could to simply stand. A major piece of armor has to do with spending time with God; reading a little bit of his story, heading the warnings in his word and following his advice. In the end, my battle was broken with a combination of speaking out-loud about the battle I was in, by the grace of God an unexpected moment of hilarity followed by a connection to that mornings reading as I stood firm. Literally the moment my eyes took in the duplicated word, the first from my morning's reading of Scripture and secondly within the first 4 words of an opening paragraph from the chapter I was proofing, Satan vanished from my head. This is why your armor is so important!

The very next day though, he came at me again. My laptop that I loved was going on 4 years old and I knew that I needed to have a back up computer as I was in school back then as well. Not only did I need a laptop for school, I was also blogging almost daily and as I mentioned previously, I was working on the manuscript for Marriage, Motherhood and My Moral Meltdown. It was black Friday and I had grabbed a lap top at a great price. So here I was, two laptops one old and one new and in the same day, back to back, they both blacked out on me! As if that were not crazy enough, I had given the one to a friend of mine whose husband worked on laptops in hopes that he may be able to recover my manuscript. Stupidly, I had not saved a copy anywhere else outside of my documents. Crazy enough, he opened it up, turned it on and the darn thing came to life as if it had never hiccuped. Unlike this time where I closed the computer, prayed, walked away from it waiting a full day, I fought with that thing for a full hour before I went for the new one only to have it also go black screen on me. In the end, nothing was wrong with either one of them. Instead my friend's husband revamped my favorite laptop and it lasted another 4 years! 

I say all this to bring to light that often with technical stuff, it is the enemy messing with you and as crazy as it may seem, a quick prayer to God, the creator of all, including man who is credited with the advancements of technology, truly does make all the difference in the world. When things don't work these days, you better believe this girl prays first and then I say okay LORD, I must not be meant to get this done today. Was there something you needed of me while my other stuff is on hold? He always has something fun planned. 

Yesterday I talked to a mom of 13 children. A few of her kiddos are on the road with her. They get requests to sing at various events and even other churches. I also was able to listen to a woman talk about her life and her older son and we discussed prayer and free will. From there I chatted with another person about the journey of faith I had been on. My day was blessed in multiple ways. 

I could have elected to get all freaked out about my laptop. Insisted it had to be fixed or replaced ASAP as my two papers are due by Sunday at midnight, but I didn't. I know that each day has its trouble and that day was not the day to deal with the computer when I could manage to complete things on paper for the moment. Trusting that God won't allow me to fail as long as I do my part, turn to him and keep doing the things I can do while they can be done and putting the rest off for another day is a joy all of its own. You only find rest like that when your faith is firmly planted in Jesus. 

In the midst of all of this, I sang a song / wrote a poem. It will be added to the current manuscript I am working on; In the Midst of Spiritual Warfare. It's still in its rough draft format, but drop a line and let me know what you think! Until then, Stay Fully Dressed, Realized you are Blessed and be a blessing in the lives of others!

Oh whisper of contention

I know full well your desire

Don't you know I see you

Throwing wood on my fire?

Listen closely Satan,

My eyes are crystal clear

and as for my ears

Just know they're amped to hear!

Be warned, I got fully dressed this morning

I sang praises, put in petitions and prayers

Strapped on my breastplate of righteousness

Put the helmet of salvation upon my head of hair.

You may have conned me more than once

Back in the day when I was a mere youth

But presently you dirty dog devil

I'm protected by wearing the belt of truth!

Your fiery arrows have no effect today

For my shied of faith is raised up high

I'll walk shod in the shoes of the gospel of peace

Until that fateful day on earth when I die!

Until then, you'll see me coming boldly into the darkness

The Sword of the spirit held firmly in my hand

A mighty warrior in the army of Christ

This girl will do all she can to stand!

Wendy Glidden- Lincoln 2.10.2021

Father, Bless me indeed, bless my ministry, bless my marriage, bless my husband, bless our family and our home. Bless all those who are still captive and all those on the mission field, bless those in authority. Soften their hearts, open their minds to your ways. Bless this nation. Bless Pastor Grant and his wife Susan, bless all my sisters and brothers in Christ, bless all my friends and those who consider themselves my enemy. Bless us all indeed LORD! In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Wendy, girl who walks with God, mom of many.

Are Your Prayers Awkward?

Hello! Today is Simple Sincere Seeking Sunday! Have you taken any time to sing praises to Our Heavenly Father today? Perhaps you don't even realize He enjoys such devotion.  I never really thought of it as devotion when I was younger. God was my best friend. I would chat it up with Him like a girl would chat it up with her best friend. Today, often this is how I turn and pray to God. When I'm in a desperate place however, I find myself on my knees. Yes, literally on my knees. Praying one on one with God is one thing. Praying out loud for others to hear, well, that's another!

Somewhere along in life, I developed a fear of  speaking in front of others. As I began hanging out in groups where people asked for others to pray out loud, my fear expanded to prayers. I began silently praying that no one would ask me to pray out loud. I felt my prayers would be juvenile. I began searching for a good prayer book. For a moment I had one. 31 days of prayer. I only got to read 4 of those 31 days before my book vanished into thin air. Unlike my study bible, it has never been found. Mike thinks a drink got spilled on it and it was thrown away. He's not positive about this, but I'm thinking it was the case. I love Goodwill and one Sunday, while searching their book shelves, I found another great prayer book, entitled Intercessory Prayer by Doug Sheets. AWESOME book! I was reading it and I am telling you this book had me laughing and crying all in the same day! This book has too vanished. I was about half way through it when I realized I had not seen it for three days. I at least know it is available via E-Book format. I must get a kindle. The old kind. I need to consolidate. When I carry more than one devotional and my study bible, things have a way of disappearing.

Regardless, I recognized my fear of praying was an indicator that Satan sees me as someone he does not want praying. For he is the source of fear. When you are full of trepidation over something, I encourage you to turn that fear into awe and ask God, what is your plan for me where this pertains? How can I best serve you in this way. For if the Devil is frightened by what you are capable of doing through me, then I want some of that action!

Honestly, I was afraid of praying out loud enough so that I confessed it to my life coach. I knew she would push me. It's why I go to see her. She loves me and she wants to help me reach beyond my wildest dreams. Never in a million years did I expect her to have me pray for her right then and right there. I confessed to her that I had committed to fill in for another woman I admire at our monthly meeting. When I hung up after saying I would be honored to fill her shoes, I panicked realizing I would be in charge of at least one prayer. I confessed this to Cathy. She laughed and said, "Oh Wendy, that fear is not from God, you know where it comes from." I laughed with her for I do know where that comes from. Knowing and overcoming are two VERY different beings!

I was so nervous but Cathy calmed me down. By listening to her gentle direction, I soon found myself praying for her from my heart. Asking God to fill her with more boldness and give her clarity in how to best direct those she serves. I honestly don't remember what all I prayed for for her but I do know when I got done praying it was not viewed as a childish prayer. I know if I can do it once, then with God I can do it again and again.

I knew I was going to be blogging on prayers soon. It has flashed across my mind too many times to not be a repeating topic. I have heard this one song that I heard recently 3 times today and it is so perfect when it comes to the topic of prayers. I am going to find it and place it here. Before I do that though, as part of my "Renew Your Mind Challenge", I read a devotional every day. Yesterday's topic covered prayer a little bit. The gist in the closing made me grin so big I can't even tell you. It said something along the lines that while your prayers may be awkward, it is not the person praying or how they phrase the prayer that matters. The power of prayer is in the One who hears it. Not the one who says it. I love that because it takes so much weight off my shoulders. The only thing I have to do when it comes to prayer is speak from my heart and listen to the voice that reminds me of my righteousness.

I recently read the following passage in the book of James found in the New Testament portion of the Bible: Chapter 5, verse 13 and it says this about prayers and their power:

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Anytime you see a word like "Therefore" it means some details of what is about to be said and why it is about to be said can be found prior to this verse. Chapter 5 is full of wisdom. As I often do, I am going to share it here in it's entirety using my study bible, beginning at verse 1:

verse 1:    Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.

verse 2:    Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.

verse 3:    Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!

verse 4:    Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your field, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

verse 5:    You have lived luxuriously on earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

verse 6:    You have condemned and put to death the righteous man, he does not resist you. 

verse 7:    Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it unit it gets the early and late rains.

verse 8:    You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

verse 9:    Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.

verse 10:  As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

verse 11:  We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. 

verse 12:  But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you many not fall under judgment.

verse 13:  Is anyone among you suffering Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.

verse 14:  Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

verse 15:  and prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven.

verse 16:  Therefore, confess your sins to one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 

verse 17:  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

verse 18:  Then he prayed again and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

verse 19:  My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back,

verse 20:  let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

 Because all of our prayers for healing are not answered the way we long for, many doubt the power of prayer. I would like to encourage you to search your heart when you pray and to always pray for others before your self. When praying for yourself seek the fruits of the spirit. There is no magical formula for getting your prayers answered.

I leave you with this song I was telling you about. Enjoy. I love when he sings, "Father, I'm in a desperate place." Been there. Talk about belting out a song with heart felt emotion! Without further delay, I introduce to you "Pray" by Sanctos Real:

Father, today I come before you asking for more courage. Let me not be kept silent by fear of speaking out loud. Fill me with your wisdom and your strength. Fill my heart with love for others. Strip me of impatience, fill me with a peace so deeply that the angry cannot penetrate causing me to stumble from talking through love. Father, lift those in dark places into the light and fill their hearts with your love. No matter how fleeting their minds may turn toward you for an answer, answer them father. Let them feel your presence in such a way they cannot deny you Love them right where they are. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.


Wendy,
Mom of Many


© Wendy Glidden 2013