One of my new favourite band

Two doses of pop, two slices of folk, one pinch of acoustic worship mixed with that a sprinkle of creativity blanched with lots of prayer and you get the sound of I Am They. In a milieu of recycled worship music where same-ness seems to be standard recipe, I Am They’s debut album is a tantalizing gourmet. Each and every song on this record seems to have individuality that makes this album stand a foot above the average worship record out there. Comprising of six members with five of them coming from different churches, I Am They is a team of church men and women with a fervent passion for the church and her worship. And it shows on this eponymous debut album released under the Essential Records/Provident Distribution imprint. These 10 newly crafted originals, with shades of sonic resemblances to All Sons and Daughters and Rend Collective, are all God-besotted songs crafted to resource the church at large.

Few groups, if any, will have their moniker end with a pronoun. As intriguing as their name is, so is the inspiration behind it. In a recent review with Hallels, the band noted that their appellation came about in their reading of John 17 when Jesus was praying for his disciples. Throughout what is commonly referred to as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, Jesus offered referred to his disciples as “they.” In aspiring be such disciples, the band have called themselves “I Am They.” Already making its headway into many Christian radio’s playlists is the lead single “From the Day.” A simmering sunny pop delight, “From the Day” celebrates the joy of what it means to be a Christian. Interweaving Biblical threads from Rev. 22:1-5 and Isaiah 55:11, this song gives praise to how God has plucked us out of the darkness via his Son’s death and resurrection.

Drawing from the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 3 and Romans 1, “We Are Yours” traces God’s ownership on our lives in its variegated ways. If you are ever in doubt our worth before the Creator, “We Are Yours” is the panacea. Birthed out of a time when lead singer Adam Palmer was in the mire of despair and the verge of suicide, “Over and Over Again” with its huge crashing chorus has a heartfelt autobiographical spin reminding us of how relentless God is in our pursuit of us. “King of Love,” finds Stephanie Kulla taking lead, calls to mind Rend Collective with its incorporation of the rustic sounds of banjo and acoustic guitar. Again Kulla is a tour de force in the pop-ballad “Amen” where she bares her soul before God.

And when the tempo gets strip to its bare essentials, the soft guitar driven prayer, “Here’s My Heart” is worship in its intimate best. Just as unusual as their name is, this record too will get us thinking, listening and grasping upon its themes and messages.

To watch the debut single from the band I AM THEY click here

5 ways to get motivated and inspired

I’m pretty sure that everyone ,in some point of their life, hit that point where they just feel so unmotivated and uninspired where they just have no more creatives ideas. If you’re like me when it happens, you try to work on some ideas but none of them actually sounds convincing to you, no anther how hard you try it feels as if your brain is made   of butterscotch pudding and nothing good is going to come out of it…..To me it’s one of the most frustrating feeling!
That’s why I thought it would be fun to share with you guys some of the things that I do to help myself get back on my feet when I’m in the creative dryness zone.

1. Create an inspiration board

No no! Don’t roll your eyes, this is not just another “time-wasting touchy-feely hippy-dippy” exercise. Inspiration boards is the coolest way to visualize your goals, be inspired, and motivate yourself. This is a truly effective way to unstick your overly programmed thoughts and perceptions and discover or rediscover pieces to a larger picture that realistically illustrate your true nature, desires, creativity, and even fears.It doesn’t have to be fastidious, you don’t need to have a lot on it, just pin things that make sense to you.And if you prefer, you can have a virtual one! you can go on Pinterest and create your own virtual inspiration board. You can check mine here: http://pinterest.com/hlnemcdonald/quotes-motivation/

2. Go outside

One thing I like to do is go for a walk, just to breathe some fresh air! I like to do this because it allows me to really enjoy the scenery (which I don’t always have the time to do). To me it is so important to take the time to appreciate the little things around you, and sometimes it’s those little things that can inspire you!
You need to get out of that environment where you are right now, stop boiling in the same sauce, that you keep boiling in for so long, and just go to a different environment, and recharge yourself!

3. Set clear goals

You are not born to be mediocre! Don’t be like a hamster running in a wheel, running in circles not knowing what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Determine exactly what is it that drives you to do what you are doing, is it money, is it knowledge,is it wanting to do something better for the world around you. Whatever it is that you are doing, determine what is drives you, and if there’s nothing that is driving you right now, you need to have a driving force behind what you are doing, otherwise it is a waists of your time.
Determine your driving force, determine your goals, you have to be always clear and passionate about what you are doing, don’t be doing it with closed eyes “just because”, determine why and what’s the reason behind it!

4. Read books

We don’t always have time to just sit and read ( and if your like me reading make me fall asleep) BUT in my opinion I feel like reading can really help you forget about your stress because you get so into the story and you connect with the characters in it, which is good for your brain, a specially when your brain is all fried up whit whatever is on your mind. Books are a good way to learn new stuff to and educate yourself, you should always read at least 30 min a day.

5. Make a list

Make a list of things you have to do ant cross them out when they’re done. It’s actually proven that making list will improve your self esteem, because you’re constantly thinking, you’re doing thing, your getting things accomplished, you are crossing off the list. I personally love to make list on my iPhone, there’s just something about crossing something that you did that makes you feel soooo good. And if something on your list frustrate you, or you’re not able to do it for what ever reason, walk away, because if you don’t, what ever it’s that you do its not going to be good because your mindset isn’t there…. So leave it be, go for a walk , sleep on it ,and come back to it later.

hope it was useful ,let me know what are your tips and tricks to stay motivated!

love, Helene

 

A beautiful story

The Three Trees
Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: ” I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I’ll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!” The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on it’s way to the ocean. ” I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I’ll be the strongest ship in the world! The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. I don’t want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me they’ll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world.

Years, passed. The rain came, the sun shone and the little trees grew tall. One day three wood cutters climbed the mountain. The first wood cutter looked at the first tree and said, “This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me.” With a swoop of his shining ax, the first tree fell. “Now I shall make a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!” the first tree said.

The second wood cutter looked at the second tree and said, “This tree is strong. It’s perfect for me.” With a swoop of his shining ax, the second tree fell. “Now I shall sail mighty waters!” thought the second tree. ” I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!”

The third tree felt her heart sink when the last wood cutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the wood cutter never even looked up. “Any kind of tree will do for me.” He muttered. With a swoop of his shining ax, the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the wood cutter brought her to a carpenter’s shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, or treasure. She was coated with saw dust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals. The second tree smiled when the wood cutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship was made that day. Instead the once strong tree was hammered and awed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even a river, instead she was taken to a little lake. The third tree was confused when the wood cutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. “What happened?” The once tall tree wondered. ” All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God…”

Many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. “I wish I could make a cradle for him.” Her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and sturdy wood. ” This manger is beautiful.” She said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and a thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She new she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and the rain. The tired man awoke. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, “Peace.” The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the king of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten wood pile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man’s hand to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God’s love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God. That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

The next time you feel down because you didn’t get what you wanted, sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you.

Inspirational quotes

7 ways to sense God’s presence

Do you ever feel like God just isn’t there?

Although our feelings tell us that at times, we shouldn’t be driven by our emotions when it comes to our trust in God. Because Scripture says the “righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17) and “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6), we shouldn’t have to feel God to know He’s there. But I know how you feel if you find yourself discouraged at times, because it seems like God just isn’t around.

Unanswered prayer, a series of disappointing events, or a betrayal by someone close to you can cause you to think that God has checked out of your life. Other times we get so busy with our day-to-day lives that we feel guilty that we’re not doing enough for Him to want to be around us. But because God has promised He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), we can be assured of His constant presence whether we are struggling with a painful situation or just too busy to notice He is near.

Here are seven ways to focus on Him and sense His presence in the midst of your struggle or your chaotic schedule:

1. Come Clean with Him. Sometimes you can’t sense God’s presence because there’s something blocking the communication between the two of you. He hasn’t left, but your sensitivity to His presence might be affected by unconfessed sin in your life. David, the Psalmist, said, “When I kept silent (about his sin) my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” — and you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalms 32:3-5). If you feel God isn’t around because the two of you haven’t talked in awhile, or because you’ve avoided the thought of Him for so long, confess to God what’s on your heart and mind and ask Him to give you an ear to hear His voice again. 1 John 1:9 tells us: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” When your fellowship with Him is restored, the communication can flow again. So get clean (through the forgiveness of Christ) and let it flow.

2. Read Scripture Aloud. When you audibly speak God’s inspired Word, you will sense its power and His presence. The Bible says God’s Word is “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). That sharp sword will either make you aware of its weight or prick your heart through conviction, inspiration, or determination. A pricked heart is better than a dull heart any day, wouldn’t you agree?

3. Sing Him a Love Song. God inhabits the praises of His people. Ever wondered why you sometimes feel closer to God when you’re in a church service, singing hymns or praise songs? Could be because that’s where worship tends to take place. When you start praising Him, regardless of where you are, you’ll sense His presence, probably because you’re no longer focused on yourself, but on Him. When we open the door of our hearts to love Him, He will meet us there.

4. Say His Name. People around you may be using God’s name right and left (as a swear word in anger, or as a thoughtless expression). But Scripture says there is power in the name of Jesus because “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Say His name aloud — as the Answer to all you seek, as the Source to calm your soul, as the One whose presence you long for and you will sense the power of His presence…and His peace.

5. Say a Breath Prayer. There are times we need Him but we just don’t know what to say or where to start. Start by saying His name and then speak your heart’s cry. For me, often times it’s just “Jesus, I need You” or “Jesus, give me a heart for You.” I believe the simplest of cries are the ones that penetrate His heart — and ours — the quickest

6. Take a Walk. Exercise brings your body, mind and heart to life. Feel spiritually dead? Get outside, move around, confess to Him what’s on your heart and let Him waken you up, spiritually. My best times with God are when I’m walking while I pour out my heart to Him.

7. Breathe Deeply. Sometimes we can’t sense God’s presence because there’s too much of everything else going on. Too much noise. Too much traffic. Too much confusion. Too many thoughts running rampant in our minds. Too much anxiety. Center your mind on Him and start to breathe deeply. Try it. Exhale the distracting thoughts. Inhale a desire to sense His presence. Exhale your pre-occupation with self. Inhale a desire to know Him more completely. Exhale the worries of the moment. Inhale His peace. Now, don’t you feel better already? Can you begin to sense that you’re in His arms? There’s a reason His Word says “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10).

Letting go OR giving up

In my personal storm of late, I’ve struggled so hard with reconciling this difference.

Was letting go and giving up the same? Surely not.

But what was the difference? And which one, if either, was I supposed to do in my storm?

The constant debate in my heart gave me a headache. I’d surrender my situation to God, then snatch it right back, a stuck-on-replay song of doubts and fears crowding out the temporary victory. You know the tune—goes a little something like this.

Why isn’t God working?

Why can’t I see Him move?

Why is nothing happening?

Does God see me?

Has He forgotten me?

Worst melody in the history of the universe! It was wearying and exhausting and faith-draining. I was tired of being bested by my own thoughts. Tired of the lack of answers and tired of the back and forth between my head and my heart. What was truth? Letting go, or giving up?

One morning, I got in the shower and refused to come out until God gave me an answer.

Fifty-two minutes and one drained hot water heater later, I had one.

The difference between letting go and giving up is the faith in who you release “it” to.

(You know it – your storm. Your situation. Your dream. Your heart. Your hope. Your desire. It.)

Think about this.

When you give up, you’re simply releasing your desire or your problem to chance. Fate. Destiny. Thin air and dumb luck, if you will. You’re giving up—sort of the equivalent of tossing your desire haphazardly into the air and then ducking before seeing where it lands, or seeing if it lands at all. There’s no rhyme or reason. There’s no one to catch it. When you give up, you stop caring, or at least try to convince yourself you don’t care as a means of wall-building and heart-guarding. In an essence, giving up is defense mechanism to block the assault of pain.

Giving up equals defeat.

But letting go equals surrender.

The definition of surrender is to yield to the power, control, or possession of another.

In other words, you stop fighting a battle you can’t win and turn it over to the One who can. You yield to God’s power, control and possession and stop attempting those things by yourself.

But surrender doesn’t come without a cost—you have to step back and let go.

Letting go means releasing your dream or your problem, your it, into God’s hands. It means putting your full faith in the fact that He now holds it, and will not let it—or you—go.

The mystery of God’s hands is that there’s plenty of room for Him to hold your it, and hold you, too.

Here’s a visual that is both awe-inspiring wonderful and knee-knocking terrifying:

God is reaching for your desire, for your problem, for your fears, for it, right now.

Yep. He longs to take it from you and make something good of it. But He isn’t going to play tug of war. You have to let go. And you have to let Him hold it by Himself, to mold and shape and create something beautiful from the ashes you’re attempting to cling to but in reality are slipping right through your fingers.

Always remember—no piece of your heart or your dream is too tiny or too shattered that He can’t hold it all and make into something new.

God is more than capable. Yet most of the time, He’s too much of a gentleman to snatch it away from you.

Sometimes, it seems He does do that without our agreement, and we’re left with no seemingly no choice but to let go. Yet even then, we must take that step of true surrender for our hearts to heal, and to witness Romans 8:28 come into play. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

He is making all things in your life good. He will make it good. No matter what it is, it can be reborn. Revised. Renewed. Rebuilt. Renovated. Redeemed. Restored.

Your marriage. Your friendship. Your finances. Your career. Your health. Your children. Your ministry.

So let it go. Hand it over. God can handle those jagged, broken pieces a lot more safely than you can. And He can hold your hand in His nail-scarred one even while He creates a masterpiece.

The difference between letting go and giving up?

When you give up, you find yourself alone and shaken.

When you let go, you find yourself held and secure.

One of my role model

If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
-St. Francis de Assisi

After getting to know this saint, I will simply say that the real St. Francis is nothing like the hippy-fied, new age, pantheist that so many portray him to be. He was a man who was born in wealth and privilege, and who once dreamed of glory on the battlefield, but who ended up falling in love with God instead.

1. St. Francis was tough – The modern conception of St. Francis is sentimental and sappy. Yes, St. Francis loved the animals and wrote poetry, but these elements of his personality in no way made him a sissy. He was far tougher than the majority of us will ever be. Here are some of the things he endured in his lifetime:

He experienced frequent and debilitating sickness, but he would never fail to chant the Liturgy of the Hours no matter how sick he was; He suffered from poor eyesight, and the doctors of his day decided that burning his eyes with red hot irons would solve the problem, so they cauterized his eyes; He was often verbally and physically abused by those who thought he was a madman; He would often fast for 40 days at a time in imitation of Christ; He would throw himself in the snow to fight temptation to impurity; He endured freezing conditions in the winter without adequate clothing. The list goes on.

In other words, St. Francis knew how to suffer, and he embraced it in imitation of Christ Our Lord. And in contradiction to modern sensibilities, he was both a preacher and a practitioner of penance. His feats of endurance put most of us to shame.

St. Francis reminds us that there is no sanctity without suffering. When we are faced with trials and painful experiences, we should embrace them joyfully as St. Francis did, uniting them to the sufferings of Christ.

2. St. Francis was compassionate -It is unfortunate that most men don’t think compassion is manly. It most certainly is. True men know how to be tough, but they also know how to be gentle and sympathetic to the suffering of others.
St. Francis felt compassion for everyone, from lepers to birds. He simply recognized that our Father in heaven loves everything he has made, and it only makes sense that we should too. If we have no compassion, it is a sign that we do not truly possesses the love of Christ.

Like St. Francis, let’s show compassion to those we encounter, treating them as if they were Christ himself. Let’s look beyond ourselves and seek to comfort those who are suffering, whether it be physically or emotionally.

3. St. Francis found freedom in poverty – In North America , the prevailing philosophy among men is, “Whoever dies with the most toys wins.” Men buy boats, RVs, motorcycles, sports cars, electronic gadgets, and power tools in a quest to have the biggest and best of everything. The problem is, having a garage full of expensive toys doesn’t bring happiness. True happiness is found in God alone. St. Francis knew that, and he embraced radical poverty to prove it.

While most of us can’t renounce all possessions as St. Francis did (it would be foolish for us to do so in most cases), we can still live in such a way that we are not obsessed with material things. St. Francis shows that the key to freedom from materialism is gratitude and praise. We should give thanks for the good things God has given us, using them and enjoying them for what they are, all the while keeping our heart free to love and serve God before anything else.

~

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me show love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

3 ways to increase your faith in time of doubt

As of late, it had seemed that the entirety of my stillness before Him was like a spiritual fight. A struggle to be real with Him. A battle to set aside my own expectations and simply revel in His awesome, joyful presence. A bout against my sin-bent propensity to lean on works, instead of relying on the assurance of grace. A fight to take hold of the faith I profess, and to trust God at His word.

Have you ever felt that way? Like faith was a fight?

Why is this? Our fallen world, our sinful nature and the presence of the enemy will be faith-stretching realities–until the fullness of God’s glory appears at the day of Christ. It is so apparent that we are not home yet, and what a comfort that is! What I am learning more clearly day by day is that, the more deeply we desire the Lord—His presence, His Word, His Son’s likeness, His promises–the more brutally we will be opposed.

A reality to consider is the timelessness of the battle we endure. Consider David, who penned Psalm 13 during a fight for his own faith (I feel as though he took the words right out of my mouth):

13 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?…

5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.

What a comfort to know that even David, a shepherd boy chosen by God to lead a nation, fought for his relationship with the Lord! It is a war that Christ-followers have been waging since the fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15). Because the battle we fight is a present reality, we should prepare ourselves to stand firmly in the truth.

Rest assured, my sisters in Christ, you can put up a fight! The magnificent Lord enables you to do so through His power and authority, which has the final word over darkness and sin. Pastor Colin Smith says, “It’s possible to have faith and not use it…Faith does not work automatically. It has to be engaged.”

How can we engage our faith in the fight?

David gives us three specific guidelines in Psalm 13 above for engaging in the battle at hand:

1. Trust in the Lord (v.5). All of God’s promises are true, wise and faithful. His love is steadfast. Therefore, we can trust that He will never leave us or forsake us (Psalm 9:10), that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1), and that He will see our journey of holiness through to completion at the day of Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

Knowing and believing these promises means investing time in God’s living, breathing Word and asking Him for a deeper revelation of Himself through the Scriptures. When the battle comes, we can then take up “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) and recall to mind, by the Spirit’s help, everything we know to be true. It is ultimately the Lord’s power and authority which will cause us to stand firmly during the fight.

2. Worship the Lord (v.5). It is especially powerful during fighting times (and at all times) to remind ourselves of the gospel, the good news of what Christ has done for us. Revel in Ephesians 1:7-10, which proclaims, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

How can we not worship the Lord knowing all of this? Our sins are forgiven. His grace is lavished on us. His will is made known to us. The gospel has the power to dispel the darkness!

3. Remember the Lord’s faithful works (v.6). David recalls that the Lord has “dealt bountifully” with him. How has the Lord been good to you? Make a list of all the ways you have seen God work in your life. Consider where you would be if not for salvation in Christ; that in itself is enough! Consider also how He has been conforming you into the image of His Son.

Also consider the daily blessings God provides, His marvelous creation, the fellowship of believing friends and family, and even the dark seasons and trying hardships from which He rescued you. Read of God’s faithfulness to the Israelites, to Abraham, to Joseph and to Jesus Christ, whom He resurrected from death for our sake—what an amazing God!

God is faithful, and that never changes—even when faith is a fight. “Faith is not some inner capacity that we develop. Faith draws its strength from the capacity of our Savior” (C. Smith). Let us stand firmly and proclaim, “But I have trusted in your steadfast love;my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”

5 ways to incorporate prayer into your day

What comes to mind when you think of the things that are vital to your spiritual growth? For me, it’s reading the Bible, learning from other believers and having open communication with God. The value of prayer has been impressed on me since I was a little girl. I learned what honest prayers sounded like from my parents and siblings. I learned methods of prayer from the Christian school I attended. But we can have head knowledge about something and not really understand it in our hearts. It’s when we humble ourselves before God, express our need for Him and see Him working in our lives that we finally grasp the power of prayer. If prayer isn’t a part of your daily life, you are missing out! Here are five methods I’ve found helpful in incorporating prayer into my day:

Memorize a verse or passage and pray “through” it

I memorized Philippians 4:6-7 a few years ago when my small group studied the topic of worry. At the time, I was overwhelmed with my job situation and found myself reciting this passage every time I caught myself being tempted to worry.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

These verses provide directions on what to do when you’re faced with worry: pray for help and give God thanks as you tell Him what’s on your heart. When you place your worries in God’s hands and trust Him to handle it, His peace—which is beyond anything we can ever understand—will protect you. My prayer after I recite this passage goes something like this: God, I’m having a hard time not worrying about ___. Thank you for caring about my heart and for being in control. Please take this worry away and help me to trust in You. Let me feel Your peace flow through me and protect me from future worry. Amen.

Use an app or email subscription service to remind you to pray

Earlier this year I made a commitment to pray more frequently for my husband and our marriage. I spoke to a friend about it, and she suggested I subscribe to receive daily prayers from Unveiled Wife. This subscription has been such a blessing to me, and I highly recommend it! There are also various prayer apps you can download on your phone, such as Christian Prayer App (also available through the iTunes store). I don’t recommend only praying when your computer or phone alerts you to do so, but I like having a reminder to pray for something specific. On that note…

Assign a specific time of day to pray for certain people or topics

When a friend of mine was in a near-fatal car accident, our church asked for volunteers to sign up to pray over her for a half hour each day. Enough people signed up that we not only covered Lorrie-Anne in prayer for 24 hours a day, but also had multiple people praying for her each hour. I signed up for 11:00-11:30 a.m., a time that I spent driving from my base high school to a different high school in the county. I prayed for her recovery, for her faith, for her family’s finances, and for my own safety on the road. Even now, a decade later, I find myself thinking of Lorrie-Anne when I drive along that familiar stretch of road. Through the years I’ve used my lunch break to pray for missionaries and my shower time to pray for healthy pregnancies for my friends and myself. If it helps, use a visual cue like a ribbon around your steering wheel or a note taped to your bathroom sink.

“I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” Ephesians 1:16 (NIV)

Go to God right after telling someone you’ll pray for him or her

How many times have you promised to pray for someone but then completely forgot about it? I’m ashamed to say this used to happen to me a lot. I don’t know what finally flipped a switch in my head, but I vowed to only say “I will pray for you” if I knew I would follow through. I can’t tell you how much this simple change has affected my prayer life for the better! Now I start to pray the minute after I receive a “please pray” text or phone call. My prayer also includes a request that God would remind me to continue to pray over the specific person or situation, and He is always faithful in prompting me!

Offer a prayer of thanksgiving before meals

If you’ve ever wondered why Christians pray before meals, it’s because we are following Jesus’ example.

“And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.” Matthew 14:19 (NIV)

“And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19 (NIV)

I’m guilty of foregoing praying before a meal so that I can dig right in. Or I might say, “ThankyouJesusforthisfoodAmen!” super fast. I don’t think I’m the only one, but I hope we can all agree that this isn’t how we should pray. Of all of the prayer habits I’ve mentioned, this one should come the easiest to me—after all, I grew up praying before meals. Sadly, my actions show that I’ve allowed this practice to become commonplace, almost like a little chore I need to check off my list. Praying should NOT be a chore! I think we allow prayer to feel this way when we are focused on our busy schedules (and before meals, our rumble-y stomachs). Let’s try to put the focus on God and the good things He has done for us. Even if you’ve had a horrible day, God is in control, and that’s something to be thankful for!