Tag: prayer

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Finances Home Spiritual Intimacy

4 Prayers to Pray to Break Financial Curses and Release Financial Blessings

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Although the Bible is very clear in 1 Timothy 6:10, “ The love of money is the root of all evil, it is also clear from Psalm 112:1-3, that “Wealth and riches are for those that fear the Lord”.
It is God’s desire to see His children move in great authority through building and distributing wealth. But, what do you do when you can’t even get out of living paycheck to paycheck?
What do you do when every time you get a financial breakthrough there is another setback waiting on the other side? What do you do when you just feel like your finances are cursed and getting stable is a distant miracle?
You must stand upon God’s Word and pray these things through. It is not God’s will for you to live in despair, nor for the poverty mentality to have its way with you. Here are 5 prayers to pray to break financial curses and increase financial blessings over your life.

  1. Father, I stand upon Philippians 4:19 which states, My God will meet my needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus”. I thank you that I do not have to put trust in my ability to meet my needs, but I put my trust in your ability to effectively work through me.
  1. Father, I stand upon Psalm 34:10 that declares that the lions may grow weak and hungry but those who seek the Lord shall lack no good thing. Lord as I seek your face I am believing that I and my family will lack no good thing.
  1. Father, I stand upon Proverbs 13:22 that states that a good man leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous. Father I am believing in you for creative ideas and opportunities to build wealth in order to leave a legacy for my children’s children. Let this be done according to your will.

4. Father, I stand upon Malachi 3:10-12 which states, Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops and the vines in your field will not drop there before it is ripe”
Lord we thank you as we are faithful in paying our tithes that you will not only protect our finances from the evil one, but you will also cause our finances to overflow. We rebuke the devour, and trust that every dollar you have for us is ours.
These prayers are prayers that are infused with the Word of God. Continue to trust God as you journey through the season of testing in your finances. Trust His word and know that He is not a man that He should lie. He will come through for you as obey Him.
 

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Communication Home Marriage

Setting My Wife Up For Success

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Home Marriage Parenting Spiritual Intimacy

5 Ways to Spend Time With Jesus as a Family

The fight for your family isn’t taking a furlough.
Welcome to the twenty-first century: the age of confusion and chaos in a free-for-all, dilapidated society. If ever Christians needed the peace of God in their hearts and homes, it’s now.
Joshua, the protege of Moses, took a stand for the Lord’s place in society. He boldly declared in Joshua 24:15:
“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Like Joshua, we’re living a land where options abound. In this land, we too will have to take a stand and predetermine in our hearts that our house will be a house that serves the Lord.
Growing up, my parents would lead us in simple devotionals, at least once a week as a family. This set me on a course for a divine encounter with the Living God.
Family devotional time doesn’t have to be devoid of life and boring. In fact, I’m convinced it should never be boring.
Here are five ideas for a dynamic family devotional time:
1. Play worship music and worship the Lord together. If your kids are small, pick them up and dance to the Lord together! They’ll associate worship with true joy! Our kids are accustomed to hearing us sing our hearts out to the Lord, enraptured in intimate worship. Once, after seeing a devastating news headline, my immediate response was to go the Lord in worship on my guitar. My family walked in and we had a divine, impromptu worship service in our living room!
2. Have a family-focused prayer night. Let every member take turns sitting in a chair in the middle. Let each family member say a prayer over that person. After praying, every member of the family can say how that person is a blessing or encouragement. Do this until everyone is prayed over and blessed. Also, pray together for family needs and watch and journal as God answers!
3. Take family mission trips. You don’t have to go around the world, but ask God, as a family, who the Lord wants your family to minister to and then load up the car and go! Maybe the Lord will give your family a word of knowledge about a single mom in Wal-Mart who can’t afford groceries. Maybe you go to Chic-Fil-A and buy lunch for the family in the car behind you. The point is, the family does it together and it takes family devos out of the house and into the world!
4. Ask everyone to share on a devotional rotation. Make a schedule and let everyone in the family share what the Lord is teaching them. End the time with prayer for each other and a blessing for each member of the family.
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5. Have a global-focused prayer night. Turn off the TV and all the lights and light a few candles. Pray about current events. Let the kids mention their friends or even animals who need prayer. Pray over cities that are mentioned in the news. Pray for the President or the Queen of England, but pray together for things outside of yourselves!
Like Joshua, we should make Christ the Lord of our house and our families. Your commitment to devote a night a week to the Lord as a family will leave an indelible mark on your family forever.
M&Y Family! What other ideas do you have for a family devotional time?
Check out this 42 Day Devotional written by founder’s of Married and Young!
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Engaged Marriage

What Happens When Couples Pray

Praying Couple

Every pious Christian knows that prayer is an integral aspect of Christianity. Most of us are taught early on that prayer, in its simplest form, is just talking to God. As absolutely true as this is, I want to avoid approaching prayer too lightly. Prayer is a threshold. It is a conference table that we can initiate on-demand. And, our Father is instantaneously there in our midst.
 
“The family that prays together stays together” is an adage that most of have grown up with. Trite sayings abound on the issue, but I hope to unveil what happens in that secret place. Many of us entered into marriage with an understanding that it is a sacred covenant with God and each other.
 
What happens when couples pray together is that you, as a couple, are combining your will to align with His will. You invite Him into the day-to-day of your lives and seek His counsel—and fellowship. Together.
 
What unfolds in this holy conference is beautiful:
 
1. God’s will becomes clearer. On many occasions, my wife and I approach the Throne of grace together, but confused. Unsure of what to make of the situation, we go to Him and ask Him to intervene or show us what steps to take. In those moments where we do not know whether to turn left or right, the answer, sometimes even extremely practical, becomes abundantly clear to one or both of us and we come away with the peace that transcends understanding. (Philippians 4:7)
 
2. We begin to see things from God’s perspective. As the two of us submit our wills to His, our aim is that our will conforms to His will. Romans 12:2 talks about this process of conforming our will to His: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” When we come to Him with hungry hearts and humble submission, we see from His perspective! The goal is to be conformed into Christ’s image. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
 
3. We’re unified in marriage. Praying as a couple joins us together. Nothing is more attractive to me than to see my wife on her knees, crying out to the Lord to intervene, to bless, to guide, or be present. When we see one another pray, we take one another’s heart cries as our own and contend for them together.
 
4. We prioritize correctly. When we enter into the secret place as a couple, we catch a glimpse of the fullness of Who He is. Everything comes into proper alignment when a husband and wife engage with the King of the universe. We are able to order our lives in agreement with God’s grandness and our reliance on His power.
 
5. We are bonded together with a purer bond. As we press more deeply into Him, we together witness the remarkable, unfolding saga of God’s faithfulness to our family in every season. Journal His workings as your family’s stories for generations to read! Also, simply hearing your spouse cry out to the Lord is one of the most beautiful insights into your spouse’s heart and needs.
 
6. We access Heaven’s resources. Jesus told us that we could ask anything in His name. (John 14:14) When a couple is devoted to Christ, there are no limits to what God avails to two burning hearts, united in love for Christ and one another. The power of agreement (Matthew 18:19) is an unstoppable weapon!
 
 
Heaven is eager to act on your behalf. Amazing things await you when you pray together!

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Home

3 Areas My Wife Needs Me to do Better In

It’s only April and that means that there are eight months ahead of us that are packed with promise! There’s still time to be creative and aggressive in my pursuit of Christ, and my role as a husband and father. On the downside, I still find myself looking back and cringing on some things that didn’t work for me as a husband. Some of 2014’s battles are still smoldering. There’s still time to cringe and wince in pain over what didn’t work out so well.
 
I’m not advocating living in the past, and yet, a crucial element of our faith depends upon gaining understanding from our missteps and pitfalls as we press ahead in Christ. We count the cost. Jesus said in Luke 14:28, “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”
 
I may not be building a tower, but my marriage is a monument to God and His love towards His Bride, so it merits careful and continuous reflection.
 
 
On that note, here are three things that backfired for me as a husband in 2014:

  1. I became way too busy. I said “yes” when I should have said “no.” I charged ahead on projects that I should have waited on. I got distracted by people, events, and circumstances. Here’s a freebie, husbands: if your wife says “I miss you” multiple times in one week, and you are coming home to her every day, then chances are that you’re still not there, not really “present”.
  2. I allowed other things to define me. I know who I am in Christ! Deep down inside, I walk with my head held high and my eyes on the prize….except when I don’t. When I let my job, circumstances, or bad days tell me who I am, then I begin to base who I believe myself to be off of circumstances. It’s okay to have a bad day, husbands, but if we really claim that “we have this hope as an anchor for the soul,” (Hebrews 6:19) then, even if we get bruises, we have to rise up and believe in who our Daddy is and who He says we are.
  3. I didn’t cover my wife as her spiritual covering as much as I needed to. The concept of husbands covering their wives is in the Bible. Ephesians 5:25-26 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” This covering isn’t smothering. It’s protecting.I cringe as I think about things that my wife told me that really called for me to drop what I was doing and fight for her. (I want to slap myself upside the head when I think back on how impatient I was with my wife when she and the kids all had the flu. I was the lone survivor. This was prime time for me to rise to the occasion and serve my family without complaining, and instead demonstrate patience and compassion through support and servant hood!)

 
 
This list may have given the impression that I am beating myself up, but I’m not, I’m taking inventory. As a husband, I’m required to also be a steward. I’m taking care of a daughter of the King of Kings! And yes, although He’s extremely patient, it’s still my job to do well. He commissioned her to respect me, in spite of myself, and has commissioned me to love and honor her, in spite of my shortcomings.
Question: Husbands, what areas didn’t work out for you in 2014?
Challenge: Ask the Lord to show you what your wife needs from you this year. Champion her cause and be the man of her dreams and God’s choice for your marriage!
 
 
 
All Scriptures taken from New American Standard Bible

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Marriage

Identifying Your Role in Your Marital Problems

For the last few months I have been feeling like there are times when my husband and I are disconnected. Of course, in my mind, it was my husband’s fault because I can do no wrong, right? Well, I’ve recently learned that I can do wrong and I have been wrong for months.
Someone very wise spoke to me recently and said that I cannot base my marriage and my role as a wife on the words or attitude of my husband. My husband has bad days just like I do. My husband is human.
This person also reminded me of the good in him, which I had apparently quickly forgotten considering that I had just spoken about how amazing he is at his birthday party. The very next day following this affirmation of my love for him, I found myself angry and heartbroken over something small and declared that he can’t possibly love me. It was that easy for me to throw away almost five years of love, fun, smiles, and hard-work simply over a series of small arguments. Though I always think small arguments are indicative of a bigger issue, we usually know how to identify the big issues and work through them. The fact that we weren’t working through them told me that something was very wrong, and at the time was sure that it was him.
The night that we had our first issue also happened to be the second night in a row that we didn’t read the bible and pray as a family as we usually do. I decided to break the pattern, so I prayed with my daughter, and then again on my own. When I was praying on my own, I began to lift up our family. While praying for my family, God began to instruct me to pray against anger and hurt. I thought I needed to pray for the issues within the family, but what I realized was that one of the factors causing the issues was the anger and hurt I was harboring. There seemed to be a lot of anger within me that God wanted to deal with. How can I expect my house to remain standing if I don’t take care of its foundation? I am a part of that foundation.
By the next day, my husband and I had the chance to really sit down and talk. Our issues stemmed from varying views on disciplining our child. I had a hard time listening to his criticisms, but I listened anyways. That night he said that he wanted us to get back into reading the bible and praying. The first verse in Proverbs 29 says, “Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.” Between the continued verses about criticism and discipline, I had an incredibly hard time reading the chapter. But, through those verses, God truly opened my eyes to the changes I needed to make in my attitude in order to have a healthy marriage.
I am learning that when I have an issue in my marriage, I need to first look at myself before blaming my spouse, and then approach the issue. The Word says, “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3-4).  Before turning to and on your spouse, consider looking at your faults first. This will enable you to have a healthier perspective on both your role and your spouses’ role in the disagreement. Once you have gained a healthy perspective, you will then be able to clearly discuss the issue and agree upon a solution.
Also, it is important to spend time with God together so that you two can continue to maintain and strengthen your foundation. Storms may come your way, but once you take care of your foundation, the two of you will be able to remain standing and defeat and overcome all obstacles that come your way. “For where two or three gather together as my followers,[a] I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20) When you gather together with your family to pray, you are allowing God into your household and into your marriage. And with God, you cannot fail.
 
 

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Marriage

Eight Easy Steps for Praying for Your Spouse that Changes Things

“The family that prays together stays together” is one of those priceless, yet tragically overused and underestimated clichés that bombard Christian culture. I despise how numb to the concept of prayer we have become. The staggering truth is that prayer is a weapon of mass destruction to the schemes of the enemy and an instrument of mass con-struction for the good of His children.
Have you looked around lately? Have you noticed how volatile our society is? Do you hear the “wars and rumors of wars” reverberating through the sound bytes? Do you think your spouse isn’t affected? You’re affected by it, aren’t you? Listen to what David says about prayer in Psalms:
“In my distress [when seemingly closed in] I called upon the Lord and cried to my God; He heard my voice out of His temple (heavenly dwelling place), and my cry came before Him, into His [very] ears.” Psalm 18:6 (Amplified Bible)
You owe your spouse the gift of your prayers. Maybe you simply forget, or maybe you don’t yet grasp the impact of your prayers for your spouse.
Let me help: Jesus taught His disciples to pray by giving them an outline, of sorts. You can pray for your spouse using His model! I’ll use my wife for the example below, but try it for yourself using your spouse’s name.
Here’s an easy-to-remember eight step outline for praying for your spouse using the Lord’s Prayer, which you probably already know, found in Matthew 6:9-13:
1. Our Father in Heaven, holy is Your Name. (We enter the conversation with our Father by worshiping Him and declaring Who He is. We call on our Daddy, proclaim how high His authority is—in Heaven, and declare His holiness.
2. Let Your Kingdom come to my spouse. Let Your Kingdom and my wife’s kingdom merge to become one, where You are the King. Give her revelation of her position as Your daughter and empower her in her mission to expand Your Kingdom.
3. Let Your will be done in her life as in Heaven. Lord, help her to walk in Your authority, in the love of her Father in Heaven. Help her to bring Heaven to Earth with every breath and every step.
4. Give her today her daily bread. Provide the spiritual nourishment that she needs today that You have specifically provided for her as her loving Father. Speak to her by Your Word and Your Spirit. Also, provide for our family, Lord, that we may have all that we need.
5. Forgive her of any sins, Lord. Please remind her of anyone that she must forgive.
6. Lead her, Father. Lead her away from situations that cause her to stumble (temptation). Overall, Father, just lead her. Your Word says in Psalm 37:23 that You order the steps of the righteous. Guide her every step, Father.
7. (Here’s where you get to take up the sword!) Deliver her from every detestable and desperate scheme of the powers of darkness, over whom You gave her authority! No weapon formed against her will prosper. (Isaiah 54:17) You have placed Your angels around her. (Psalm 34:7)
8. End it in praise: It’s all about You, Father. This is Your Kingdom, for Your honor and glory. Forever. I commit my wife to you today, into Your hands, Father. I love You. Thank You for the gift of my spouse. In Jesus’ name. Amen
Customize it. Study it further. Make application to your spouse as you intercede, whether you use this model or not. The point is to jump into a lifestyle of intercession for your spouse!
How often do you pray for your spouse? What tools do you use?
Click here for a one time offer that will help you and your spouse have a better prayer life. 
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1The Holy Bible: The Amplified Bible. 1987. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation
 

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Home

7 Ways to Survive a Hard Season

“I used to be so bold. I had dreams. Now I’m just a bench warmer.” Such were my thoughts after returning from the mission field. Though we had heard God’s instruction to return home, I carried a sense of failure. I felt like I had laid everything to rest that I had fought so hard for, but I couldn’t explain why. I was feeling tired, invisible, easily offended, discouraged, and extremely cynical.
I wish it weren’t so, but there are just some things we only learn in the wilderness. The wilderness (or some call it the valley) is that special little place where it seems like God is silent, everybody hates you, and everything that can go wrong, will.
All sarcasm aside, we have all experienced it.
When these season fall upon us, every corner of our lives is affected, not excluding marriage. The Bible, in Matthew 4, Mark 1, and Luke 4, tells us how Jesus dealt with the wilderness. Though Jesus’ wilderness experience demonstrated that Jesus is the Son of God, it also created a template for us to grasp in those dry times.
If you’re married, the wilderness will affect either you, your spouse, or both of you. In fact, in my experience, I haven’t been through one of these dry seasons in which my wife wasn’t right there with me, staving off death, right alongside me.
Here are seven facts about the wilderness, your “Spiritual Wilderness Survival Guide”:
1. It’s hard. No sugar-coating, here. If you’re in the wilderness, I know it hurts. The wilderness, either by God’s design, your own, or the enemy’s is very hard. (John 16:33)
2. It’s a season. Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us of the seasons of life for every person. God may have you in your season of the wilderness for a year, maybe two, or maybe just for a few months. Every season varies. We see examples of long seasons of the wilderness (Numbers 32:13) and shorter seasons (Matthew 4, Mark 1, Luke 4). The encouraging takeaway is this: it won’t last forever.
3. God is sovereign. The Gospel accounts of the Lord’s wilderness experience depict a God-ordained wilderness. Maybe you caused your wilderness. Maybe Hell’s assignment against you is ferocious. Or maybe the Lord is developing faith that won’t blow over in the wind on the mountains.
4. Discouragement is your worst enemy in this season. If you find yourself trekking through the lonely valley, discouragement is the enemy’s weapon of choice. He loves to dismantle the notion of divine destiny. He thrives when you heed phantom, irrational fears. Know this: if you’re in the wilderness and you’re discouraged, you are a target. (I Peter 4:12, Hebrews 4:15)
5. Prayer and worship will carry you vast distances. In Acts 16:25-34 Paul and Silas sang in their prison! In my own seasons of the wilderness, worship was not desirous at all. I didn’t want to fabricate love when I didn’t feel it. But this weapon of worship is a game-changer! Worship, even when you don’t feel it, speaks the language of faith, which God pursues! Don’t hold back your song. Pray together, couples! You just may be a song away from the valley to the mountain.
6. Your spouse is not the enemy. In the wilderness moments, when the tension and chaos of life relentlessly infringe on your peace, there’s a tendency for hardness of heart to turn spouses against one another. In our wilderness season, I interpreted my wife’s exhortations as criticism and pretension! Your spouse is not your enemy, that’s a mirage. Your journey in the wilderness is your spouse’s journey in the wilderness. Encourage one another in the Lord!
7. There is war in the wilderness. Jesus didn’t surrender. He knew His authority! With every “right-hook lie” of the enemy, Jesus countered with the Sword of the Spirit — God’s Word! In the wilderness seasons, it may seem like nothing is going right. Your car may break down, your health goes haywire, dissension rises in your family. Rise up, husbands. Don’t despair, wives. Don’t buckle, knuckle up! You’re not a victor, you’re more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37)!
Run to God, cling to your spouse, and fasten your eyes on hope. The wilderness is a season and God has a reason.
What have you learned in the wilderness?

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Engaged Marriage

Why Hopelessness in Your Marriage is NOT Your Portion!

Today I asked God why are marriages under an all-time attack. The scripture that came to my spirit was “Two are better than One.. (See below)

“It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.
Share the work, share the wealth.
And if one falls down, the other helps,
But if there’s no one to help, tough!

Two in a bed warm each other.
Alone, you shiver all night.

 By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped”. Ephesians 4:9-12

 
Married couples- the enemy is after what you can accomplish together!! He’s not concerned about you being in love. He doesn’t care about your well-being or your happiness. The thing that he wants is what your potential together can achieve. The enemy hates ACHEIVEMENT therefore he is the author of stagnation.  He doesn’t want your life together to bless anyone!! There is an acceleration that comes with doing marriage God’s way. Ephesians tell us that you can SHARE the work together, you can help your spouse when he/she falls (it happens) and you can face the WORST TOGETHER!! That’s sounds very promising to me! J Let the perks of your friendship with your spouse work for your good.
 
I urge you to FIGHT for your marriage. Fight to walk together!! Fight to agree with God together! Fight to become better!! Understand that learning how to walk together doesn’t come overnight hence we have to unlearn what we’ve known marriage to be.  It is a work in progress. It intel’s humbling ourselves under the hand of God. This means that you humble yourself in prayer and worship telling God that you don’t have all of the answers and to fill your heart with wisdom and strength. The bible says God “resist the proud but gives GRACE to the humble” (James 4:6). Grace is the ability to accomplish the things that you can’t do alone.  You must remember that you CANNOT accomplish much outside of God’s help/will. If you do, it will be short lived. God gives us eternal stamina, eternal love and eternal strength in our marriages.
 
If you are feeling hopeless in your marriage remember you are not alone, we’ve all experienced this temporary feeling before. Hopelessness is a fragmented view created by the emotions and is based upon what you see and feel. The bible says that LOVE hopes all things.  Hope is the fuel to endurance and it creates the RIGHT perspective about your spouse. My husband absolutely LOVES to know that I think and believe the Best about him even when the situation doesn’t appear promising. Hope works twofold. It’s working the right mentality in you and its helping your spouse understand and experience the love of God through your life.
 
 Don’t give up!!!!  Fight to become better and walk together in Christ and ENJOY the perks of having a companion in your life!
 
I am praying for you.
Best,
Kimberly Allen