Strength, something we all need!
The Lord will bring us strength in many ways through his word. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve needed to pray for strength, but that’s the beauty of it. We can pray for anything as many times as we need to and God will show us, guide us and give us our strength in the ways he knows best. He loves us, he wants us to come to him, he wants us to tell him that we need him and his help. I believe we should be praying for strength always, praying for strength through protection, ensuring that we are prepared, that we haven’t let our guard down, that we have our armor in place, scripture placed securely in our hearts. The helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, the word of God (Ephesians 6:17), brings us strength.
Keeping God’s word in our hearts and souls, binding them on our hands and as frontlets between the eyes will bring us strength (Deuteronomy 11:18).
We should be specific to our needs in relation to the strength and protection we need. We can do this by using scripture in our prayers. I am not an expert in this department that’s for sure, particularly being a ‘new’ Christian, but it’s something that I am working on.
‘By wisdom a house is built; it is made secure through understanding.’ (Proverbs 24:3)
When I first came to faith, living a Christ-centered life was what I knew I had to focus on, and I realized through the word of God, doing so meant making changes in my home. Building my house with the Lord firmly in it,
‘The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.’ (Proverbs 14:1)
This spoke to me massively when I first came to faith, basically, because I was being the foolish woman in this verse, allowing my house to fall apart around me. It was this verse that one morning, made me realize exactly what I needed to do, which was to build my house with God in it! So that’s what I began to do. With this I needed protection from anything that got in my way, anything that tried to break the family home down, anything that subtly, and oh yes it can be so subtle, tried to stick a thorn between me and my relationship with God, my husband, my children, anything that tried to convince me that my decisions about my home and the way I set out to bring up my children were absurd, and anything that brought me darkness where there should be light.
If we seek earnestly to follow God’s word in how we should live out our relationships in the truth, we are sure to receive the wisdom we need to gain strength, security, and protection of our lives.
If we look at Ephesians 5:22-25, God tells us – Christ is the head of the church, HIS body, he is the savior.
If we understand that our security in our lives comes from the Lord – everything else will flow from it. Without that security, (we should remember that all of our security comes from him,) our protection against situations and trials that appear in ALL of our lives in very different circumstances will be like a broken shield, a blunt sword, a wall made of straw.
‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.’ (Matthew: 7:24-25)
Once we have that foundation of truth built in the home, we can then begin to look at ourselves, our roles, our responsibilities according to the word. We are told that the husband is the head of the house, and I can freely admit that God has spoken to me quite clearly about this a number of times! ‘Listen to your husband’ – love each other deeply as Christ has loved us, discipline our children with love, just as God disciplines us. Encourage each other always.
It can be difficult when one of you is perhaps feeling ‘heavy’ particularly if it is the man of the house who would normally be leading. Encourage one another and be proactive in your approach to resolving the situation, and most of all, PRAY!
Read more from Francesca Price at www.flourishing-families.com.
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April 3, 2017