Amy E. Mason - 365 Pocket Prayers for Women: Guidance and Wisdom for Each New Day

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365 Pocket Prayers for Women: Guidance and Wisdom for Each New Day

Copyright 2011 by Ronald A. Beers. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of chairs copyright Steve Cole/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.

Designed by Al Navata

Edited by Amy Mason

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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ISBN 978-1-4143-6290-8

Build: 2017-07-19 08:39:04

Introduction

Prayer is simply talking with God. As women of faith, we can come to him anytime, approach him anywhere, and pray about anything. God loves our honest, heartfelt prayers, and he cares deeply for the details of our lives. As we come before him with praise or petition, we demonstrate that we trust him and long to draw near to him.

Perhaps your faith is relatively new and youre not yet comfortable praying. This book is for you. The prayers weve developed can be claimed as your own conversations with God. As you pray through each topic and day, we hope you will become more comfortable talking with God and will even begin to form your own prayers to him.

Perhaps youve been a believer for years but need a little inspiration in your prayer life. This book is for you, too. We all have times when we repeat the same prayers over and over. By including a years worth of unique prayers that cover a broad range of topics, this book will help rejuvenate your dialogue with God.

Thank God that we dont have to be spiritually mature or on fire to have a meaningful prayer life! Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, God is delighted when you draw near to him. We hope this little book will help you do so.

You will find 365 prayers, arranged by days and topics. You can pray through each day of the year consecutively if you wish. Alternatively, look in the index for a topic that will help you pray through an urgent need or give words to something you may be experiencing. Every few days you will also find prayers called Prayerful Moments. These are shorter prayers for days when time is limited or for when you need a quick word with God.

As you enter into a new prayer, take it slow. Spend some time thinking about what youre saying to God, and try to personalize each prayer for your own life. Making each written prayer your own honest praise or petition will make it more meaningful.

In your conversations with God, take some time to listen. Reading Gods Word as a part of your prayer time gives the Lord an opportunity to speak to you, too. You wont want to miss what he has to say! Weve included a Scripture verse at the end of each prayer to help you ponder what God might be communicating to you.

Thank you for joining us on this quest for a deeper prayer life. It is our hope that by the end of this book, you will be inspired in your conversations with God andmost importantfeel closer to him than ever before. It is often in these special times of prayer that God does his powerful work in our hearts. So dont give up; stick with it. As his Word says to us, Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most (Hebrews 4:16).

The privilege of prayer is that it ushers us straight into the presence of our loving God. And Scripture promises us that he wont disappoint! With that in mind, its time to begin.

Week 1

A prayer about BLESSINGS

When I want to experience Gods blessings

Merciful God,

Your love is like an ocean, and wave after wave of your blessings flow over me. Your Word says that you have promised rich blessings to those who love you, including your presence, your grace, your comfort, your provision, and your eternal peace. What abundant riches! I am overwhelmed by your love and generosity toward me; my cup overflows. O Lord, may I always respond to your blessings with gratitude and obedience. And guard me from desiring blessing just for my own benefit so that I can live a comfortable life. I know that would be misunderstanding your purpose, which is to bless me so that I can bless others. May your love and grace flow through me.

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the L ORD forever. PSALM 23:5-6

A prayer about GOALS

When I want to set goals for my life

Heavenly Father,

I dont want to meander through life doing whatever seems right at the moment. I want my life to count for something! I know that if I dont set goals, I wont achieve much of consequence. Please give me the discipline to set wise goals, both short term and long term, but help me never to forget that the most important goals of all are eternal. Material success and fame are only temporal, but my relationship with you and the results of service to you will last forever. May I plan for eternity, thinking carefully about what will endure. Teach me to filter my earthly goals through the lens of eternity; then I will know the goals that matter. How can I please you? How can I draw close to you? When you are my focus, my earthly priorities will fall into place.

We are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing.... So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:6-7, 9

A prayer about CHALLENGES

When I need to accept the difficulties that come into my life

Dear God,

I know that I live in a fallen world. Jesus himself told his disciples that in this world they would have troubleand Im having trouble right now. Lord, I dont like what is happening in my life. Im struggling, but I know that its possible for me to accept my circumstances without liking them. Please help me to remember that I have a glorious future in heaven. As I keep eternity in mind, may I grow through the difficulties I experience now and may I remember that those difficulties will end with this earthly life. Train me to accept what comes from your hand and to trust that you have something to teach me through whatever comes my way.

What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.... We believers... groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We... wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. ROMANS 8:18, 23

A prayer about HEALING

When I wonder whether God can heal my hurts

O Great Physician,

You made my body, and you can certainly repair and restore it. You made my mind and soul, and you can repair and restore those, too. You are the great healer, not bound by the limitations of this world. I believe you can intervene to overcome any threat to my life, including illness or diseasephysical, mental, spiritual, or emotional. O Lord, I have faith that you are able to intervene, but sometimes I doubt that you will. Yet I know from your Word that you love me enough to have died for me, and you promise that in eternity I will be fully healed. Thank you. Those two assurances give me what I need to endure and to wait for your healing power to make me wholewhether in this life or in eternity. May I be patient and trust you to do what is best in my life.