Joy to the World
To Our Dear Christian Family,
As we enter the Christmas season, Teresa & I want to encourage you to focus on the joy of the Lord and rejoice in His goodness, in spite of the uncertainty, unrest, and chaos that we are exposed to and experience in our daily life…
Remember our God is good and remains sovereignly in control. Philippians 4:4.
Would you like daily inspiration?
We invite you to like & follow us on Facebook & get daily “Joy to the World” scripture series notifications.
Do you want to begin a new Christmas tradition?
We invite you to join us as we read through the book of Luke.
(Note, neither Teresa nor I came up with this idea and we don’t know who to thank for it, but we are excited about making it our own new tradition and hope it inspires you too!)
The Adoration Room
Hello Family,
In February the second room of the Lord’s prayer brings us into the Adoration Room. Adoration is defined as “deep love or respect. Worship.”
AuDIO Transcript
Hello Prayer Works Family
This is Janie and Teresa.
(Jannie) We're here to share with you some life application from the Adoration Room which we have been focusing on for the month of February
We would like for you to refer to the mini prayer study and journal that we sent out to you.
The scripture for the Adoration Room is
Holy be Thy name, Hallowed be thy name
The application is in all things give thanks. When things get tough it can be hard to enter the Adoration room, but worship does not mean we deny the pain of the hardship of our current circumstance. Teresa is going to give you a life application of being in the Adoration room doing a difficult time in her family's life.
(Teresa) Thank you Jannie and hello Prayer Works family. As Jannie said, it can be difficult to enter the Adoration Room, especially when we find ourselves in hard places. This past month our family experienced not one but two winter storms that hit Texas within days of each other.
We had intermittent electricity, slow or no internet service or cell service, and no fresh drinking water for almost a week. Just as things began to change for the good my daughter caught COVID and we had to adjust to care for her as well as take extra precautions for my 84-year old mother-in-love. It made me think of the Murphy's Law saying that was popular of years ago, “anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
And then I realized, there's a scripture for that!
John 16:33, “In this world, you will have trouble.” And then when I thought about that I realized that verse didn't begin there.
It begins with encouragement, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.”
And it ends with hope, “but take heart I have overcome the world.”
Each day that things did not return to normal made our situation seem less certain, more uncomfortable, and more challenging. I noticed myself beginning to lose focus. I started looking more at what was or wasn't happening and less at what I could and or should do.
Have you noticed that in your own situations in life?
That the longer it takes to get back to “normal” or to a certain level of comfort the harder it seems to stay focused on goals and priorities.
John 16:33 did give me some peace. I was reminded that the Adoration Room is not about where I am, my circumstance, or my situation.
The Adoration Room is about who God is!
Creator, Jehovah Jireh my provider, God omniscient, all-knowing, omnipresent, always here omnipotent, all-powerful. He is faithful and yes He is worthy of praise in the midst of my circumstances.
So I made a choice to enter the Adoration Room, to intentionally shift my focus to who God, to adore him, and to surrender my praise and worship to him.
As we continue through the 12 Rooms of Prayer we will move into rooms that do focus on our needs, but today take a moment to reflect and to enter the Adoration room fully focus on who God is.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, creator of everything. I lift my prayers and my praise to you. You who are set apart and Holy. You are worthy to be praised and trusted. You are Abba and there is none like you. You are worthy and faithful.
Observations From the Family Room
Hello Family,
In January, as we begin our prayer journal and walk through the 12 Rooms of Prayer in the Lord’s Prayer, we entered “the Family Room.”
“Our Father in Heaven” (Matthew 6:9)
The Family Room is where we connect with God, our spiritual Father, and the head of our Christian Family. Galatians 3:26 (NIV) Here we can come to worship and acknowledge God for who He is. (Isaiah 12:4)
“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,
”
We can also pray for our relationships: marriages, the families we are born into, the families we create, friendships, and the relationships we develop with people outside our homes here in the Family Room.
We can intercede on their behalf asking for salvation, reconciliation, healing, peace, joy, hope, and even unspoken or unknown (by us) needs they may have. 1 Timothy 2:1 (NLT)
Are you praying for a relationship and wondering when will God answer your prayer? Is it hard to hold on to hope?
Well, one thing we’ve noticed is that hope, faith, and waiting seem to go together when we find ourselves abiding in the Family Room.
As our prayers go up it’s in this room we have often had to wait the longest. We wait for what we cannot see. We wait on the Lord to do His work in me, in those I’m praying for, and on those that are part of His plan that I may not even know. Our faith is tested most often while waiting. Do I trust enough to wait on His timing? Our hope is in the Lord. (Psalm 33:20-22 NLT)
We often want everything now (microwave world) but change, reconciliation, revival do not come quickly. Cold hearts and dead love are not restored in an instant. When we believe that it does we set ourselves up for disappointment. View your prayers through the lens of Christ and wait faithfully on His timing.
How? Pray, pray often, pray without ceasing. Trust and believe God will provide an answer. Psalm 33:21-22 (NLT) Regardless of how long it takes. In the Family Room, it is important that we relate our lives to what Jesus would do and how He would respond. Think of Jesus dying on the cross for your sins. Think about it. Then remember, He could have come down. But it was His love for humanity that kept Him there. The love of God can keep us grounded and focused in difficult situations! John 13:34 (ESV)
In the Family Room when we talk to God we connect to Him be persuaded by the Holy Spirit to walk in surrendered humble obedience to God’s Holy Word. Romans 8:26 (NIV)
So pray, personal and intercessory prayers. Ephesians 6:18 (NIV) Then abide (wait) in the Family Room, focus on the Cross, and connect with God the Father, and allow the Holy Spirit to be your helper and your strength!
Scriptures
And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Isaiah 12:4 (KJV)
I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 1 Timothy 2:1 (NLT)
We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20 (NLT)
In him our hearts rejoice for we trust in his holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone. Psalm 33:21-22 (NLT)
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. John 13:34 (ESV)
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26 (NIV)
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
Don't Forget The One Perfect Gift...It's Just For You
Hello Family,
With all the chaos going on in the world sometimes it is very hard to focus on the really important things.
If you are reading this post, you have breath in your body, some level of mobility, and depending on where you are you’ll experience the sun setting or rising. Rejoice.
If you don’t feel like it or don’t think you have anything to rejoice over our challenge to you, right now, is make a list of the goodness of God that you have experienced and start by focusing on that.
Whatever you are dealing with right now, whatever chaos is in your life, it will not last.
Keep the faith. If you have accepted Jesus Christ in your heart as your Lord and Savior there is even greater reason to rejoice, one day we won’t have to deal with any chaos. And, if you have not accepted Jesus Christ, it’s not too late to unwrap the One perfect gift that is just for you.
Jesus Christ is our soon coming King and over two thousand years ago, He went away to prepare a place for those who accept His birth, death, and resurrection. This place is Heaven, there’s no more chaos there, there’s no more pain and no more death, hallelujah, amen!
So whether you have little or much, may you experience an abundance of love, joy, and peace that only comes from abiding in Jesus.
“This Christmas season, focus on the birth of Jesus Christ! ”
