ebook by Jennifer White at Prayerfully Speaking
Need encouragement? That's just what I want to do in my free ebook, Prayers Spoken, Lives Changed: God’s Extraordinary Love in 18 Ordinary Lives. Be encouraged. God is Who He says He is. This short ebook is filled with real life problems that were given to God in prayer. Each problem was met with the incredible power of God. Each victory reminds us that God is alive. God hears. God moves on behalf of His people when they call out to Him for help. To get your FREE copy (and regular updates), enter your email below.

 
 

Restoration is God’s Specialty

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I’m interrupting the Even So, I Will Praise Him series with something so wonderful, I couldn’t wait to tell you about it.

I’m hooked on Chris Tomlin’s new album, Love Ran Red. Our Bible study group sings a few of them during our worship time. One of my favorites is, The Table. Check out the chorus:

Come all you weary; come and find
His yoke is easy; His burden light
He is able; He will restore
At the table of the Lord

As I sang the words “He will restore,” I prayed “Please God, bring restoration” and I heard God reply: “What could stop me?” Those words from God washed over me like a strong wave. I can’t stop thinking about my experience of His strength in that moment.

Seriously! He is Almighty God. What could stop Him from doing what He decides to do?

Know God is the One Who Restores

A few weeks later, I heard myself pray something that had never entered my mind before. And I knew it was Jesus praying it for me and helping me pray it for myself.

Here’s the written version of what I heard and saw in that prayer:

 “Lord, I am swinging open the door of my heart and walking into Your light.  I recognize that I am under Your blood and I accept this in humility and thankfulness.”

 “As I go, please restore what the locusts of fear and pride have eaten.”

 Can you see it? There is great freedom in that prayer – a freedom I’ve been longing for.

It is such a bright and beautiful feeling. I don’t know exactly what it means, but I know it is good. And it is the answer to so many prayers I’ve prayed for myself and others have prayed for me. Here are just a few of those prayers:

  1. Heal me, and I will be healed.
  2. Fill me with joy, Lord.
  3. Slay my pride, Lord.
  4. I surrender my life to You, Lord.

Within a few days of this prayer, God showed me that I can also pray it for others. As I was praying over the phone with someone, these words flowed from my heart:

“Lord, on ________’s behalf, I swing open the door of my heart and I walk out of the darkness in victory. In Your mercy, please restore what the locusts of pride and fear have eaten in ______’s life.”

I hope these encounters encourage your conversations with God.

God is shepherding us all to a life of freedom and joy. All throughout His Word, we find Him promising restoration and delivering it.

Here are a few of those promises:

For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast: ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’  Jeremiah 30:17

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. Joel 2:25-26

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Psalm 51:12

Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. Isaiah 61:7

And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Job 42:10

How have you experienced God as one who restores?

Praise Him in the Midst of Mental Illness

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We are continuing our Even So, I Will Praise Him series aimed at prayerfully focusing our minds and our mouths on God’s goodness in the midst of life’s most difficult circumstances. Today we are exploring the possibility of peace in the presence of mental illness.

If you are in crisis, please call 911 and get help immediately.
It is okay to need help and okay that you are in this place right now. You can and will get better.

*thanks to great input from readers, I’ve made a few edits to the original post. 

Instability vs. Peace

What comes to mind when you hear the words “mental illness?” The word that I think of is instability. Instability describes the erratic highs and lows both the patient and their loved ones experience. It is very often an unpredictable and sometimes volatile life due to cycles of depression, mania and the surprise of the panic attacks. The illnesses range from nervous disorders to complete breaks from reality. The families in our churches, our schools, and our work places deal with extreme paranoia, bipolar disorder, borderline personality, narcissism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and so many more variations.

Many times the symptoms last for decades. Weariness and despair knock on the door of their hearts while they wait for God to rescue them from the ongoing stress. Is peace even possible for them? [Read more…]

Fight Back with Joy

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I’m adding little bonus to our Even So, I will Praise Him blog series with a book recommendation. We will continue our focus on praise in the next post.

Great Joy Waits in Life’s Greatest Battles

Do you believe that is true? The Bible promises it is true and author, Margaret Feinberg, has confirmed it for us. She recently declared war on the breast cancer that tried to steal her joy and her life. Thankfully she recorded her experience in this new book, Fight Back with Joy.

fight back with joy by margaret feinberg

Margaret shared the first few chapters with me and I’m hooked. I certainly have my ups and downs with joy. [Read more…]

Even So, I Will Praise Him { a blog series }

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Happy New Year to you, friend!

I’m kicking off 2015 with a new series entitled, Even So, I Will Praise Him. It is aimed at prayerfully focusing our minds and our mouths on God’s goodness in the midst of life’s most difficult circumstances.

I Will Praise God in the Difficulties

“I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.”
Psalm 34:1 NLT (emphasis mine)

In the Psalms, we get a picture of the ups and downs of life lived with God. King David had great victories but not without bouts of sadness and real suffering. In Psalm 34:1 he encourages himself to praise God at all times …. constantly. I’ll admit that I’m certainly not even close to that yet. But I’m sensing the Lord is directing me to go there. [Read more…]

Introducing a Bible Study for New Brides

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What if you bought a security system for your house and forgot to set the alarm 90% of the time? Getting married and forgetting to ask God to defend your marriage is very much the same.

Every happily ever after is threatened by subtle and subversive evil schemes. Marriage is always targeted because it represents God’s covenant love for His people. God offers every bride a supernatural armor. But she doesn’t always know it exists or how to use it.

God provides armor for brides

I am a veteran of one failed marriage and one saved by God’s leadership. I’ve stumbled into the spiritual battle unarmed more than once. And today I know Jesus as the savior and sustainer of marriages. In my new book, Prayers for New Brides: Putting on God’s Armor After the Wedding Dress, I share from my own experiences how wives can …

  • Trust God’s authority
  • Apply His perfect counsel to your life and your marriage
  • Maintain constant communication with the marriage Creator and Savior

Marriage Armor Study Begins January 19

New and soon to be brides of every age are invited to join me for the first group study of the book. Before Prayers for New Brides is even available to the public, our group will explore the incredible gift of God’s Word and practice using it as the Sword of the Spirit to strengthen and defend our sacred unions.

New Bride Bible Study January 19

Starting Monday, January 19th we will study 5 chapters a week for 3 weeks. Each chapter will take less than 25 minutes to read, pray and complete that day’s assignment. In the group, we will review the chapters, pray for each other and discuss the “A Wife’s Call to Action” homework experiences. Each week brides will have the chance to win fun prizes that will make praying for your marriage easy and exciting.

We will wrap up our study of the first 15 chapters of this 40-chapter book with a fun Facebook event on February 10th. We will celebrate marriages and the official release of Prayers for New Brides with incredible prizes including gift cards for great date nights and a romantic getaway weekend in Branson, Missouri.

 Invite Your Friends

Invite the new and soon to be brides you love and lead to register today by completing this simple form and enter for your chance to win a $50 Amazon card!

Not a new bride but want to participate in the study? No problem. Every bride can benefit. Go ahead and register today.

Ask the Wonderful Counselor

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I’m guest posting at Church4Chicks this week and I’m excited to share it with you too. 

“For unto us a child is born … and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor…”
Isaiah 9:6

As the hustle and bustle of Christmas is being ushered into my world, so are the words, “Wonderful Counselor.” It’s a sacred echo from God, encouraging me to see Him as my counselor.

What a gift, right? The One who knows everything about me has offered to be my counselor.

I’ve sought counseling off and on for the last twenty five years. Wonderful Christian people have listened to me and offered me their professional advice. I felt safe with them and understood by them. They helped me define some problem areas, but I never found my way beyond them.

That is until God brought a biblical counselor into my life.

He is Your Wonderful Counselor

Click here for the rest of the post including 3 life-transforming questions you can ask the Wonderful Counselor.

Lord, Please Encourage Me

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Do you need some encouragement? Me too.

I’ve been a little surprised by the need for it lately. I have to admit when I feel this way, I am reluctant to tell anyone. I have some trouble admitting weakness. And I don’t want to tell someone I need encouragement because I’m uncomfortable drawing attention to myself. And to be even more honest, I’m guarding myself from hearing someone pat me on the back because they feel obligated to say something nice.

Ok, I’m glad that’s off my chest. And I’m glad to be honest with you about it. Frankly I’m tired of hiding the hard days and pretending to be one or two notches above human.

God is My Encourager

The good news is this – God has been wowing me with His faithfulness to answer my prayers. [Read more…]

Marriage Armor for the #PrayingBride

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While I’m waiting for Prayers for New Brides to be released, I’ve been working on something to help us all protect our marriages through prayer.

Marriage Armor for the #PrayingBride offers you a simple, one-sentence prayer based on God’s Word to pray over your marriage. It is available in a daily email or a weekly digest (click those links to see a complete sample of each).

Here’s a glimpse of the weekly option.

Marriage Armor Weekly Digest sample image

My hope is to help wives of every age and stage of marriage to simply rely on God to supply all we need and more than we can imagine. The focus is on praying God’s Word consistently believing it is the Sword of the Spirit of God.

Prayer is simple and God is faithful. His Word always accomplishes His plan.

I believe He is waiting to pour out His unlimited love, power and resources on us. All we have to do is ask and believe.

Imagine our marriages a year from now and five years from now brimming with more of the fruits of His spirit than we comprehend. I believe He will use us to display faith, hope, and love to those we influence. I envision us as cities on a hill where people see God!

If you would like to have these prayer prompts delivered to your inbox, just click here to subscribe. You can easily unsubscribe at any time. I promise not to sell or distribute your email address to anyone under any circumstances.

I would be thrilled for you  to share this opportunity with your friends.

Healing from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

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Thanks to Veteran’s Day, we’ve set our minds on honoring those who courageously served and those who continue to serve. My family is filled with people who served our country well. My nephew-in-law is an Army man and has recently served in Afghanistan. Praise our God for raising up armies of men and women to serve as our defenders.

honoring soldiers Veterans Day

The celebration of Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi’s return from captivity in Mexico is on my mind. The trauma of being a brave warrior and yet a prisoner must be intense. Now that he is home, his mind will need to adjust to not being a prisoner. While he is physically free, his brain chemicals will likely still be protecting him. [Read more…]

Election Results, God’s Power and Prayer

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How much power do politicians possess and who gives it to them?

We all had our opportunity to vote yesterday. So much time, energy, and money was spent on electing the right people. I’m grateful we have a voice. And I’m even more grateful that God is the ultimate decision maker.

…and the government will be on his shoulders. Isaiah 9:6

God appoints kings

In the book of Daniel we see the government is really under God’s authority. [Read more…]

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