My Prayer Journal

In the book, Let prayer change your life, the author Becky Tirabassi tells of a prayer journal she created with different sections to keep your prayer life organized. So today I created mine and have some pictures to share with you thanks to Hobby Lobby and their wonderful crafts!

The first section is called My Part which consists of 4 sections.
Praise - which consists of devotional reading and suggets rewriting psalms as your own personal prayers.
Admit - Confessing to God.
Requests- Prayer requests. (within this section is another section called My Prayer list).
Thanks - Thanking God.

Gods Part has 6 sections.
Listening - Listen to God in silence and write what He speaks.
Messages - Notes from sermons, outlines and verses.
New Testament, Old Testament and Proverbs - listing verses that comfort and convict you.
To Do - things I need to get done during the day. You write them down and then you don't have to think about them while you are meeting with God.

Forgiveness & Prayer

This summer I've been meeting up with a group of ladies every Monday night for a Bible Study and it has been so great! At the beginning of summer I didn't know these ladies very well but over the summer that has changed. I'm excited every Monday to hear how their week has gone and how I can be praying for them. I have been challenged through this study as well, which is always a good thing! This week our "assignment" is to forgive somebody we need to forgive. Doesn't sound too hard on the surface but actually doing it has proven to be difficult. The person I chose to forgive has hurt be a great deal and I'm not even sure if they realize they have. A part of me wants to be selfish and stay angry and with hold forgiveness ..... but who am I to with hold forgiveness from someone? Why do I think that I am so superior to this person and therefore I can make an exception and not forgive this person. Ouch! This is not a pretty place to be and I don't like being here!

So this week I am on my knees praying hard to my heavenly Father because I need His help with this one. I can not do this alone. Speaking of prayer, I haven't been as diligent and as faithful as I would like to be with my prayer life. I want to be know as a "prayer warrior." So my friends and fellow bloggers, how can I be praying for you this week? I recently started reading this book called "Let Prayer change your life" by Becky Tirabassi and it is amazing, I find it so hard to put down. In fact I think I'm going to read some more right now!

Have a lovely Wednesday!
XoXo
Valerie

2011... Here is to making it a GREAT year!

It is a new year and I am really looking forward to a New Year, it feels like a fresh start, oh doesn't that sound nice! I am going to be completely honest and say that my New Years really sucked! (I wish I could think of a nicer sounding word but I guess that will do.) I had to work from 2-10pm and that morning I really didn't feel that good, I ate a granola bar for lunch. Around 9pm I got a really bad headache which I attributed to the fact that I hadn't eaten much all day. I also had a sandwich for dinner but still not nearly as much as I normally eat. Around 9:45pm I started feeling really nauseous and really sick, I just wanted to get home because I knew what was going to happen .... I finally got home around 10:30pm and yup I got sick and the headache was still there. I laid down on my couch for a while and woke up to noise all around, I live in an apartment and woke up to my neighbors celebrated the New Year ..... I though Happy New Year, I am going back to bed. ( I was also home alone so no one to celebrate with. )

Yesterday I had lunch with  friend which was so wonderful because I have not seen her in months and we were roommates for 2 years in college and she was one of my really close friends. But I still felt sick the entire day, I hardly ate any of my lunch and had a bowl of Cheerios for dinner because it seemed like a safe option. Later during the night I was talking with my best friend via facebook. (got love facebook ...... lol). And just started pouring out to her what was going on, she knew about me being sick because this had been going on/off since October 2009. I have become very skilled in doing many things while being extremely nauseous. I also told her about her other things that I was going through and she really encouraged me and than I started crying out to God, and I mean literally crying out .... tears streaming down my face, but you know what? It felt so good because I don't really cry that much, it is so bad that sometimes I long to cry but no tears will come. (It may have something to do with the way I was raised, crying was not allowed.).

Any who, why am I sharing all of this with you? (whoever you are....). I don't want you to feel bad for me, I want to tell you what happened today because it is only about 1pm but today has already proven to be a great day. I went to church today and during worship there is always a time for prayer, you can go forward and have people pray for you. I don't usually take part in this, I just worship during that time but today was different. I plunged ahead and asked for prayer for my health, the pastor who prayed with me not only prayed for that but for things that I hadn't told him, things I had shared with my best friend and God the night before, like showing me where to go and just becoming consumed by God and more. I almost started crying again because the night before I was sort of mad at God because I felt so blocked from Him, like I couldn't hear him and I so badly wanted to know that He did, that He was listening and there was confirmation for me. I had also told by best friend about how I wanted more Christian friends to hang out with and be encouraged by/ encourage. By the time I left Church I had made plans for Tuesday and Wednesday to hang out with some Christian friends...... He is so faithful, Thank you God for today!

I am so excited for this New Year, to see what God will do through me and in my heart. I want so much more from Him, I desire to become more like Him. I also really want to go on a missions trip so we will see where He leads me..... So here is to making 2011 a GREAT year!

Thanks for reading whoever you are ..... there is just something about typing up what I feel and knowing that somewhere out there someone is reading it.