This week as been tough, I'm not gonna lie.
It seems like the moment I returned from my rejuvenating time with my friends, I have been attacked from all sides....physically and emotionally.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your fellow believers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. I Peter 5:8-9
This verse has a lot of meaning for me today.
First, I am studying Daniel with Beth Moore and we are at the point where he is thrown in the lions den. You can not miss the connection with that story and the fact that Peter describes satan as a roaring lion. And let me tell you I have felt his hot breath around me this week.
But I learned from Daniel in my study that I need a holy habit.....what I default to when times get tough. Daniel had made a habit of praying to God. Each time that Daniel faced a trial, his FIRST reaction was to go to God. When he was faced with the decree to not pray to anyone but the king for 30 days or be thrown in the lions den, verse 10 tells us he "went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thatks to his God, just as he had done before."
Even King Darius recognized this in Daniel. When he was thrown into the lions den, Darius says to him "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!"
I want to be like Daniel.
I want a Holy Habit of going to God.....first.
I want my default in hard times to be to run to my Father...
...not try to react or handle things myself.
The end of the I Peter verse says " you know that your fellow believers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."
One of satans biggest ploys is to get us to feel like we are all alone. But we ALL face the roaring lion in some way or another. Satan can't have us if we are sealed by the blood of Christ, but he surely can try to make us miserable and ineffective! And we become ineffective when we fall back on old habits...unless our habits are holy ones!
I Peter also shows me that we need to be lifting each other up...we are all in this together.
So, my goal is to develop a holy habit like Daniel....a habit of turning to God first.....not just for me, but for those around me too.
I want to remind you all of my "praying for you" tab at the top of my blog. I have commited to praying for those who leave requests there. Just click over and leave your request in a comment and if you don't have a blog, give me a way to contact you. Also, when you receive your answer, please don't forget to come back and tell us in another comment....
....we all want to praise God with you!!!
Philippians 4:6-7 says:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God.
Beth Moore reminded me that everything can be affected by prayer!!
God would not have told us to pray in every situation if it couldn't.
I want to be a Daniel...
...how about you?
It seems like the moment I returned from my rejuvenating time with my friends, I have been attacked from all sides....physically and emotionally.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your fellow believers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. I Peter 5:8-9
This verse has a lot of meaning for me today.
First, I am studying Daniel with Beth Moore and we are at the point where he is thrown in the lions den. You can not miss the connection with that story and the fact that Peter describes satan as a roaring lion. And let me tell you I have felt his hot breath around me this week.
But I learned from Daniel in my study that I need a holy habit.....what I default to when times get tough. Daniel had made a habit of praying to God. Each time that Daniel faced a trial, his FIRST reaction was to go to God. When he was faced with the decree to not pray to anyone but the king for 30 days or be thrown in the lions den, verse 10 tells us he "went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thatks to his God, just as he had done before."
Even King Darius recognized this in Daniel. When he was thrown into the lions den, Darius says to him "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!"
I want to be like Daniel.
I want a Holy Habit of going to God.....first.
I want my default in hard times to be to run to my Father...
...not try to react or handle things myself.
The end of the I Peter verse says " you know that your fellow believers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."
One of satans biggest ploys is to get us to feel like we are all alone. But we ALL face the roaring lion in some way or another. Satan can't have us if we are sealed by the blood of Christ, but he surely can try to make us miserable and ineffective! And we become ineffective when we fall back on old habits...unless our habits are holy ones!
I Peter also shows me that we need to be lifting each other up...we are all in this together.
So, my goal is to develop a holy habit like Daniel....a habit of turning to God first.....not just for me, but for those around me too.
I want to remind you all of my "praying for you" tab at the top of my blog. I have commited to praying for those who leave requests there. Just click over and leave your request in a comment and if you don't have a blog, give me a way to contact you. Also, when you receive your answer, please don't forget to come back and tell us in another comment....
....we all want to praise God with you!!!
Philippians 4:6-7 says:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God.
Beth Moore reminded me that everything can be affected by prayer!!
God would not have told us to pray in every situation if it couldn't.
I want to be a Daniel...
...how about you?
16 comments:
O Sara, this is so excellent. I'm sorry you've had a hard week.
This brings to mind the old song from my junior high days: "Dare to be a Daniel."
Phenomenal post, Sara - I needed that.
(((((Sara)))))
Holy habit!!!
Thank you!
I'm praying for you today, my friend. May you feel His care and power in your situation. Love you.
I'm praying for you today, my friend. May you feel His care and power in your situation. Love you.
Holy Habit, yes and amen!!
Wonderful post!
Sweet Blessings!
Jackie
Feel his arms wrapped around you and giving you strength as I pray for you!!!!
I love the Philippians passage - I have it up in my office.
Blessings to you!!!
Hi Sara, this is such a wonderful post. I too want my first reaction to everything be a response to God. Thank you for sharing this. I will pray for you and I do ask you to pray for my family as we face some trying times. thank you
Blessings,
vickie
Yes, I want to be a Daniel too. Thanks for the reminder.
Awesome post...I want to be like Daniel, too. You and I were on the same wavelength this week with our posts, I think. :)
Girl it has been one of those weeks over here too. Very busy and stressful. Thanks for posting this reminder. It is a great one!
I guess the holy habit I have felt called to pursue this year is gratitude - in all difficulties, in the midst of my whining and self pity, I pray God would remind me of my blessings and I would focus on those instead. The other day I was fed up at work, exhausted, and on the way home God told me I should stop and take a walk and pour it out to him. So I did - for about 30 minutes I did nothing but rant and rave. Then the Holy Spirit finally found an opportunity to remind me to be thankful for having a job, health insurance, retirement...It was amazing how it brought me out of my pit. Not depressed - but so blessed!
I ready another great tidbit in another blog today: "Most of our problems are a result of our blessings." Isn't that true?
Sara, this is so well put and so perfect for me on this very day. I want to be more like Daniel too! Thank you so much, for sharing this with us and thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment on my blog....the first pic is my favorite also! :)
That's great...a holy habit. And congrats on your blog award...I know I have appreciated the mentoring I've gotten from you. Thank you.
Me too! Praying for you!
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