In September of 2019, a faithful prayer warrior in our church pulled me aside one night and asked if she could have 5 minutes of my time after the service that night.
What she didn’t realize when she asked me to meet her was that I was walking through the hardest weeks of my life. My faith legs were shaky and weary. She knew some of what I was facing, but knew nothing of my inner struggle to wrestle through my faith and believe God for what seemed impossible. I was facing huge, impossible mountains that I had no idea how to navigate and I felt very alone.
Would I cave and give up?
Would I trust God to do what I couldn’t. I had a choice and that choice would determine how things would go for me and my family. There was much at stake that depended on how I would respond to what looked absolutely hopeless.
Now people, when I say I was at my lowest. I was about as low as you could go. Things were so heavy I could not see the next step. I wanted to withdraw and just quit. There were no easy answers.
I was afraid.
I was alone.
Or so I thought. I felt alone, but God sent the right people into my life. His people….at the right time. He provided everything I needed when I had nothing.
It was that week of my life that I made a decision to praise and worship God when everything I was facing looked hopeless. Now I don’t say that in super spiritual, superwoman way. No, if anything it comes from a knowledge of how absolutely hopeless and helpless I am without Jesus.
That week I had decided to let go of everything.
I mean everything in my life I held out open hands to Jesus.
Even if that meant having nothing in this world but Jesus. Because at that point in my life, I wasn’t sure what was before me. Material things held out with open hands, willing to surrender possessions, family….anything I had. God it’s all yours! You are my only hope in this world.
I was empty and that was good. Clinging to God, empty of self, is actually a good place to be. But it’s often the really hard stuff that strips us to get us to that point. I had been stripped. And I’m so thankful for the work God did on my heart though it was painful and terrifying. My faith grew stronger.
I always digress, Back to praying a blessing….the reason I started this post. Back to the prayer warrior God sent to me that Sunday night…..
After the service that night I met this wonderful, spiritual hero in a room where it was just us. She began to pray a prayer of blessing over my life….that I would be blessed to do HARD things and walk paths that no-one else has walked. She blessed me to face the hard with confidence and joy. She prayed I would actually be BLESSED and favored in my hard place. I don’t know that anyone had EVER prayed blessing over my life and in that moment I was changed forever. New courage and strength filled my heart in that moment. The power of God released in my life as I took to heart the words of life being spoken over my situation that looked like death.
Now I want to share with you something from my prayer journal and a word of blessing over YOU.
From my journal just a few days ago-
Lord, Let us see your glory. God you are answering prayers that I have prayed for years- words spoken from a broken heart- struggling with discouragement- yet, expecting you would do it. In your time, your way. I have still needed to surrender ALOT for you to be able to work. As I practice surrender I have come to understand better how great is your love for us. Low valleys were allowed so that I could rejoice on the mountains as I beheld your glory- worshipping because YOU ARE FAITHFUL and always at work. Nothing is impossible with God. Absolutely nothing is too hard for you.
I pray this blessing over you:
“I bless you with being fully satisfied that God is keeping His word to you- no matter how long it takes or how contrary your circumstances might look……I bless you with seeing the joy on the other side of all kinds of trials.” He who promised is faithful. (Prayers of Blessing, Sylvia Gunter and Arthur Burk)
What are you praying for that seems like it will never come to be? Who are you praying for that is sometimes feel hopeless? Have you been waiting for a dream of your heart to be fulfilled for a long time? Do you have any unconfessed sin in your life that might be hindering your prayers? Are you making getting to know God your first and greatest priority in prayer? Are you willing to do what He says? What has God taught you about how acts of obedience and faith releases His power in your life through prayer?
You are not alone,
Monica
New Mercies Everyday 