Prepare Ye the Way
Are you feeling ready to walk away from a relationship? Does everything seem lifeless right now? We want to pray for you.
Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.
“A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for Him” (Luke 3:4, NIV).
Sometimes I feel like I am in a desert — everything seems lifeless. Do you ever feel that way? My enthusiasm dries up and I thirst for something to quench my soul. Day in and out I am on auto pilot, going through the motions, living a life, reacting and dealing with whatever pops up and needs to be dealt with.
Pretty Barren.
This is not the way we are called to live. Each moment is a precious gift from our Creator, anointed by His Son’s blood, empowered by His Spirit. The Holy Sprit is that voice calling me to wake up and doing something. I need to prepare my heart to receive God in all circumstances.
When I visualize His presence I run towards him like a desert traveler gathers up energy to dash to the oasis. I will cut a beeline to Him- a straight path, not wavering or wasting any precious time. I am point A, He is point B. I need to get there next to Him in the least amount of time. I run like a child running into the arms of her father.
Heavenly Father, you sent your Son so we could run into Your arms, cleansed and forgiven. Instill in me the desire to draw near to you daily, to hear your Spirit cry out that You are here. Then let me clear the way for you through prayer, confession and praise. Amen
Question: How are you preparing to receive Jesus in your heart this season?
About the Author Julie Cosgrove
Amen Em! Jesus WILL do it for us all! :)
Thank you, sisters, for sharing. I pray God gives us an extra dose of strength for these busy holiday times, and despite all the hustle & bustle of this season. Dear God, you know our hearts. You know we love you, & we cannot reach You on your own. Father,g ive us strength to seek Your face wholeheartedly. Encourage our hearts today, and Lord help us really feel Your Presence in a special way today. Father, thank you for all the blessings You have so mercifully given to us. Let us be grateful & encouraged today. In Jesus’ Precious Name, Amen!
I understand what my sisters are saying. I am going thru a dry season. I hate my job yet I am grateful to have one. I do not have the joy I used to. I do not even feel excited about Christmas. This is something that I would not wish on anyone. Please pray for me.
Good morning all! LOVE today’s devotional and it IS the VERY cry of my heart! Coming out of a VERY dry and lifeless place right now, but praise be to the Father, He NEVER leaves us to drown! He’s turned up MAJOR heat in my life to shake me and waken me again. He WILL do the same for ALL! May YOU Lord Jesus, REIGN in our hearts and our minds this day! Please oh Father, shed YOUR light on our souls and waken us as from sleep! Give us passion and love to serve you and follow you ALWAYS and oh Dear Jesus~ NEVER LET US GO!!!!!
Thanks for reminding us. If you can lift up a prayer for me, pls do! I have a stressful job in teaching. Pls pray for God’s grace & protection to be over me as I do this job, for however long He says. I am doing my best, but it is also phyiscally exhausting at times. It is easy to do things on ‘auto-pilot’ by default. I hope we can live with purpose. God bless.
Hi Tilly,
Good for you! First step is realizing you’ve got to make a change! Wow! I am proud of you and anyone else out there that knows how difficult it is to live with someone that is not respectful and kind to you is proud of you too!
Please make sure you have talked with someone like “Women in Distress” or someone from your church that has dealt with abusive relationships. You are past the point of counselling to make things work and on your way to learning how to heal yourself and not follow a negative pattern that you have been handling for the past 15 years! 15 years you have struggled to make this work! Wow! You are amazing and now this is going to be a scary road but WHAT A HEALTHY one to start working on. A new you, don’t go backwards – YOU’VE BEEN THERE! It doesn’t work, it is painful!
Move forward, there are great things awaiting you although it won’t be easy. Be ready for some sad, lonely feelings because you will think it’s easier to deal with the abuse than be lonely, BUT IT’S NOT!!! You will get through this and you need to talk with someone while it’s happening.
God believes in love – healthy, kind, respectful, guiding each other to do the best for yourself and others and when one person stops you from seeing that then that is not a good person anymore. You must move away from the negative to help you start to heal and move forward!
Wow! Good for you and for anyone that knows you to see you are ready to learn how to be a better person not a battered one!
Hi Jad, I agree with JudyD and would like to add that your Christian Fellowship is a good place to start where you can meet other people that might be going thru the same problems/saddness that you are dealing with. Please take the first step & asking someone there for guidance and a little time to listen.
Now comes the LIST: what/who are the positive attributes in your life. What are the good things about Church, Work, your family, your husband/partner, your children, your home, things you do for others, & your extras – car, entertainment, game nights with friends etc…
Then Write down the things that are making you feel sad, confused, not organized… again about church, work, family, partner, children, home, extras.
Only you can make the commitment to make changes. Only you can look inside yourself and hold on to positive beiliefs of yourself, religion, life and follow a path of goodness to keep you moving forward. This does not happen over night!
Look at one thing on your list and take 15 minutes to work on it. If it’s your job that you are not fulfilled start to look for another one OR look for ways to be better at what you do! You can always change the way you work, you just need to see how you can do that same job better and definitely differently than you have been doing it. I don’t care if you are a cashier at the grocery store with a little change everything starts to feel better. Put on a funny hat, make sure you say hello to everyone that walks up to you. Put out a bowl with candy kisses in it, that you bought, and wish them a great day!
When our own self worth is diminishing then everything around us seems to be a chore. Change up your life, take a fast walk everyday 3 times around your neighborhood, or on your lunch break, to get your body moving and head cleared – also a great time to pray!
If your home is unorganized try ONLY 15 minutes a day to clean up one area. It took a long time to get like that don’t expect it to get cleaned up in an hour!!!
My best advice is a friend or two to talk things out with; A list to look at daily and say “Thank you” to God for the positives in your life and then start checking off the changes you are making to the negatives in your life. God’s word is there to support you and help you see how you can move forward but you are the only one to actually take the steps needed to make as much as you can a positive aspect in your life.
Your church family, the bible, a true friend or two are the support system you need right now. We are all praying that you can do this.
I am also in a place of emptiness. I
Feel ready to walk away frm my rel ation
ship of 15yrs which has been a lot about
physical, verbal & emotional abuse.Plz
Pray that I wil have the strength and
Courage to move forward.
Thank you
Jad, do not apologize for asking for prayer. That is what Christian sisters are for.
Do you have a church home? Family—-are they Christian? Do you have Christian fellowship? Do you spend time reading God’s Word daily. . . . and praying? If not, start there. Read a chapter in the old testament and a chapter in the new testament and afterwards spend time in prayer.Get a piece of paper and write prayer requests on it (so you will remember). Talk to the Lord about how you feel. At the end of your prayer praise Him. . . . .for things He has done. Read Psalm 100 out loud during your prayer time.
Now before I pray, I need to talk to you, also, about seasonal depression. Lack of sun . . . .less sun. . . . people deal with depression. Make sure you are healthy. . . when was your last check up? Do you take extra Vitamin D? I am a stroke survivor and because of that my serotonin in my brain is not released, so I have to take an anti-depressant which helps release it. At first I took it every day; now I take it every other day. I have tried stretching it out longer and see if I can go several days, but no . . . can’t do that. Depression is real. Check it out and see if you can get help from your doctor.
Father, God, I pray for Jad. I lift her up to you. Guide her Lord so the joy will come back into her life. . . as it says it Nehemiah 8:10 may the ‘joy of the Lord be (her) strength.’ I pray for her health. If it is seasonal depression she is dealing with I pray for healing. Guide her Lord, so she will be able to praise you, to serve you, to read Your Word, and share You with joy to others. I pray for Christian fellowship for Jad and that she will spend time reading Your Word and praying to you. Thank you Lord. We praise Your Name. In the Mighty Name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Hi
Please pray for me. Everything feels lifeless right now and has been for quite awhile. I just feel empty and sad. I can’t even seem to pray..oh maybe short quick ones …here and there. There are so many that need prayer and all I feel is guilt because I’m not where I should be. I feel like I just exist and am full of fear. Fear of life. Not a good place to be. I’m very anxious about everything. Just to PTL is hard. What’s wrong with me? Please prayyyyyyy. I want to feel good about life. Sorry but I’m just saying it like it is. Thank You for your listening ears.
For me this season is packed with nothing but Him mostly because I am responsible for the Sunday School program, so during this time of the year I have to seek Him for direction I have to be before Him at all times so I don’t get in the desert until we are not in this season. But other times I try to keep a praise in my heart. Thank God for Jesus His Word and His Holy Spirit.