she prays on Friday Archives - Cheri Strange, She Yearns, Christian Speaker & Author

Praying for Understanding

27 January 2023

Cheri Strange

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Categories: Prayer

Praying for Understanding

What do you and I do when we come to a spiritual dilemma—when we don’t know what to do or which way to go? If you ask the teenagers in my house, they will suggest we Google it. And that might help enrich our knowledge or provide options. But when we find ourselves needing more understanding of a spiritual nature, Googling our brains out is most likely not going to lead us on the right trajectory. Spiritual matters must be pursued in spiritual manners. And the best place to begin is the Word of God.

The Apostle Paul understood the need for more spiritual understanding which he attested by his own testimony to the Philippian church.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Philippians 3:8-12

Gaining a richer understanding, knowing more of the Savior regardless of the cost, was Paul’s way of life. In fact, this path toward seeking out more understanding was something he taught those who came to believe the Gospel in the early churches. More than a pursuit for those who had a premature urge to Google, a necessity for all of life. What to do, where to go, how to get there, and who God wanted them to become were the unspoken needs of the day.

And they gained more understanding the same way you and I do today.

Through prayer.

An Example from Paul

Paul walks the Believers of Colossi through his own prayer– not only to share a piece of his heart for them but as a model for how they should continue to pray for themselves and each other.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; Colossians 1:9-10

And I am ever so grateful he did because it remains here for us today.

May we use these insightful words on behalf of those in our midst who need direction, answers, and a deeper understanding of Who God is. And may we ask God to lead them recognizing how to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, and bearing fruit in every good work.

A Prayer for More Understanding

Lord Jesus,

Thank you for the Bible. Thank you for caring enough for each one of us to leave us the very words we can utilize when we don’t know what to do or where to go, or when we just want to know you better. Not only do You desire to give us more understanding in all of these areas, you want us to be filled with it. What a generous God you are. So now I ask that you do this very thing for my friend reading. Don’t just help her for the minimum. Let her see what fullness is. And in moments when she isn’t sure which road to take, what answer to give, or how to make sense of the drama in her life – give her understanding. You are so much better than anything we can seek out on our own. Give her words to pray, eyes to see, and a willing heart to walk in the ways You make known. Continue to teach her that You are trustworthy for all of the unknowns. May she desire nothing less than a life that knows and loves You more tomorrow than she did today.

In the Name of Jesus,

Amen

XOXOXO

Before you Go

Don’t forget to check out the latest FREE reading plan available from YouVersion!

Have you received Cheri’s FREE gift to you? For a limited time, get 3 resources to help you experience more of God in your everyday life. It’s filled with practical help for living out what really matters. (Hurry because this gift is going away soon.)

DOWNLOAD NOW

For the one who feels invisible, largely passed over, and insignificant – Cheri has created a resource for you. Grab your copy of Can You See Me, Now? Good news for the lonely, left out, and less than today.

Buy the Book

WAIT! THERE’S MORE.

If you would like to become a part of the private FB group, She Prays, we would love to have you. Click the image to join.

You can meet Cheri on the She Yearns blog for more truth-saturated, Gospel-centered encouragement like this:

A Prayer for Contentment

21 January 2023

Cheri Strange

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Categories: Prayer

A Prayer for Contentment

This past week I read the Biblical account of Jacob returning to Canaan with all the drama that ensured. Jacob is not my favorite patriarch. He’s a pretty lame husband and father. But he does bring some redeeming qualities to the table. Not only does he pray appropriately to God before he crosses back over to meet his brother, but his response to Esau after Esau tried to give back his gifts is spot on. He can teach us a thing or two about contentment in the middle of messy circumstances.

Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it. Genesis 33:8-11

Jacob is deceived about Leah, swindled out of years more of free labor, and cheated by Laban in his compensation time and time again by his father-in-law. I wonder how many years it took him feeling cheated, swindled, and overworked to land in a place where he believed whatever God gave him was enough.

Likely a few.

I ponder the same thing about Paul, who feels so strongly about the importance of personal contentment, he spends several verses urging Timothy to embrace it rather than chase after what will never satisfy.

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:6-12

Paul combines contentment with godliness, marrying the two concepts. Godliness refers to “the genuine fear and love of God, and obedience to his will,” (Benson Commentary), while contentment “refers to a state of mind; a calm and satisfied feeling; or a freedom from murmuring and complaining,” (Barnes Notes).

This marriage seems to communicate the benefit of the intimate relationship found through Jesus. When you and I pursue Him, praying, reading the Bible, and walking in obedience, we are in the right frame of mind for gaining contentment.

Is that enough?

No. That is not enough. Paul spends several verses pointing out the folly and destruction that comes from chasing after what will not matter in a thousand years, and the lure it can have on a person to do just that. Then he impresses on this young minister the need to escape.

Run away, urges Paul, a man of learned experience and considerable wisdom.

Paul points out the human condition to want more, pursue more, and if that doesn’t work, acquire more unethically until the grave. Nothing has changed for over two-thousand years. We remain a people who relentlessly chase after more.

Have you ever finished scrolling on social media with the satisfying sense that you are enough? Ever rest in thoughts that you have enough? Is your reflection conducted without murmuring? What about your closet? Do you have all you need without want? And your car? Your house? Even today, the world in which you and I live beckons us to long for more, to seek it, just like in the days of Paul.

But like Paul, you and I can experience the kind of marriage of godliness with contentment he shares with Timothy. This one, Paul has lived. In the middle of a prison sentence, he professes:

…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Philippians 4:11 NIV

How does a person become content with what God has given, regardless of circumstance?

The roadmap to true contentment lies in these instructions to Timothy.

Recognize your own human frailty in the desire for and pursuit of more (vs. 9-10).
Run away from it (vs. 11).
Run toward righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness (vs. 11).
Fight for your faith (vs 12).

This list deserves more time, but for now, allow me to encourage you to keep this list handy on your phone for life. But the best place to begin our quest for contentment – believing God is able to give us all that we need (regardless of our circumstances), and place our absolute security in Him, (without murmuring or complaining) is to ask for it.

A Prayer for Contentment

Lord,

You know our desires. You are familiar with even our unspoken longings. Only You hear our silent responses to all we see around us that drives us to discontentment. May You give the grace needed to live today and always satisfied with what you give.

Give my friend the insights needed for recognizing where she is weak. Unreservedly, offer her Your strength to run from it, to turn off the phone, to drive past or scroll past the stores, and reject the temptation to deliberate thoughts about what she does not have. Oh God, will you show her Your goodness to her, and open a clear path forward in what to seek? Give her nothing less than that blessed mix of godliness and contentment of which Paul writes.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

XOXOXO

Before you Go

Don’t forget to check out the latest FREE reading plan available from YouVersion!

Have you received Cheri’s FREE gift to you? For a limited time, get 3 resources to help you experience more of God in your everyday life. It’s filled with practical help for living out what really matters. (Hurry because this gift is going away soon.)

DOWNLOAD NOW

For the one who feels invisible, largely passed over, and insignificant – Cheri has created a resource for you. Grab your copy of Can You See Me, Now? Good news for the lonely, left out, and less than today.

Buy the Book

WAIT! THERE’S MORE.

If you would like to become a part of the private FB group, She Prays, we would love to have you. Click the image to join.

You can meet Cheri on the She Yearns blog for more truth-saturated, Gospel-centered encouragement like this:

A Prayer to Experience God’s Love

16 December 2022

Cheri Strange

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Categories: Prayer

A Prayer to Experience God’s Love

My two grown and flown daughters spent part of their weekend together at a theme park. Their mission: to ride lots of rollercoasters. The reflections in their selfies testified to their success. Those grown-up smiles reminded me of former days when I took those same girls to that exact park. In those days, all they could ride was the kiddy roller coaster. There were no death-defying plummets, twists, or gravity-defeating loops. The track looked more like a set of circular monkey bars from a playground. No matter. My four-year-old sat in the car anticipating the thrill to come. Shrieks of joyful delight permeated the air as her hands waved above her head before the car ever ebbed away from the platform. No doubt, this experience was going to be an exhilarating one.

The Psalmist seems to be anticipating the same type of exhilaration and pleasure when he writes:

Let me experience your faithful love in the morning, for I trust in you. Reveal to me the way I should go because I appeal to you. Psalm 143:8

Those kiddy roller coaster days marked me. They caused me to wonder how often I approach life with my hands in the air oozing with informed anticipation of anything about my relationship with God. The Bible doesn’t paint a picture of such grand anticipation, but it does infer a known and relished commodity.

In other words, the love of God cannot simply be read about and believed. It must be experienced.

Why Don’t We Experience God’s love?

The problem with many of us is that we have no idea what we are missing. It’s as if we have never ventured thrill-riding. We lack experience, remaining spectators rather than participants. The Psalmist longs for more because he knows there is more to be apprehended. Not stopping with wanting and wishing, he does the only thing he can. He prays.

What about you? Do you want to experience the more available? Are you ready to move beyond observation and words in a book to the thrill ride of your life?

If so, then buckle up as you bend the knee. His love for you and for me is promised and sure.

We will not be disappointed.

A Prayer to Experience God’s Love

Lord Jesus,

I ask that You draw my friend to Yourself, helping her to experience the depths of Your love for her. Let the words of the Psalmist permeate–“let (her) experience Your faithful love in the morning, for (she) trusts in You” – becoming her cry and her reality. Show her Your power, Your goodness, Your grace, and Your gentleness. Give her a history of You loving her in such a way that causes her to keep coming back — like a thrill ride that always has a place saved in line for her to experience more and more of Your faithful love until she sees you face to face.

In the Name of Jesus,

Amen

Friend, it has been my pleasure to meet you here each week – pray over you and use this cyberspace to deepen relationships. I’m signing off until the new year. Make sure to become a subscriber so that you don’t miss anything. It is my joy and pleasure to be here with you.

XOXOXO

Before you Go – Did You Know?

For the one who feels invisible, largely passed over, and insignificant – Cheri has created a resource for you. Grab your copy of Can You See Me, Now? Good news for the lonely, left out, and less than and join the Strange Readers Café. We will be going through the book together beginning Oct. 3 until December 16 – just in time for Christmas.

Buy the Book

Join the Group

Don’t forget to check out the latest FREE reading plan available from YouVersion!

Have you received my FREE gift to you? Get 3 resources to help you experience more of God in your everyday life. It’s filled with practical helps for living out what really matters. (Hurry because this gift is going away soon.)

DOWNLOAD NOW

WAIT! THERE’S MORE.

If you would like to become a part of the private FB group, She Prays, we would love to have you. Click the image to join.

You can meet Cheri on the She Yearns blog for more truth-saturated, Gospel-centered encouragement like this:

Praying for the Wounded

2 December 2022

Cheri Strange

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Categories: Prayer

Praying for the Wounded

The holidays can usher in emotions beyond the festive joy and excitement familiar to most. Seasons draped in Christmas cheer are not always shared when life has brought pain or loss. Maybe, like me, you have friends and family members who are missing someone for the first time due to tragedy, sickness, or failed relationships. The stale stench of difficulties galore can snuff out any celebratory aroma. For those of us finding the entry of December unwelcome, let us rely on the only One who can heal our hurts and mend our hearts. Today my prayer goes out to the wounded.

Our God declares Himself to be able and willing to heal as if it’s part of His character and nature to do so.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

He binds up their wounds.

Scholars note that message here pertains to “those who are afflicted with griefs and troubles. The reference is to mental sorrows; to a troubled spirit; to a heart made sad in any way. God has provided healing for such; on such he bestows peace.”

Chances are, you know what it’s like to be wounded mentally. Maybe you house a troubled spirit, or face a day with a heart made sad. And that’s okay. It’s okay as long as you and I go to the Healer who, in His time and in His way—assures us He heals. And when you do not possess the strength to do so, allow another to go on your behalf. I am more than willing, my heavy-hearted friend, to petition God on your behalf.

A Prayer for the Wounded

Lord Jesus,

In the midst of this season of joy, remember the one who is hurting. According to Your Word, be near the broken-hearted, healing her of the pain or loss and bind up in your loving arms that which grieves her. Give her Your healing power today and each day as she walks through this season – sensing your presence and peace like she has never before. Remind her of your love and care for her, as an individual You see and know intimately. I ask that you act on her behalf, doing what only You can do for the broken. And in Your timing, make her heavy heart rejoice once again.

In the Name of Jesus,

Amen

Did You Know?

For the one who feels invisible, largely passed over, and insignificant – Cheri has created a resource for you. Grab your copy of Can You See Me, Now? Good news for the lonely, left out, and less than and join the Strange Readers Café. We will be going through the book together beginning Oct. 3 until December 16 – just in time for Christmas.

Buy the Book

Join the Group

Don’t forget to check out the latest FREE reading plan available from YouVersion!

Have you received my FREE gift to you? Get 3 resources to help you experience more of God in your everyday life. It’s filled with practical helps for living out what really matters.

DOWNLOAD NOW

WAIT! THERE’S MORE.

If you would like to become a part of the private FB group, She Prays, we would love to have you. Click the image to join.

You can meet Cheri on the She Yearns blog for more truth-saturated, Gospel-centered encouragement like this:

Thankful for You

23 November 2022

Cheri Strange

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Categories: Prayer

I could not enter this season of gratitude without acknowledging just how thankful I am for you. Each week the aim of She Prays is to encourage you, the reader, the She Yearns Community member, the woman who stops by out of curiosity, or anyone needing to be lifted up to the Lord. It is my joy and privilege to do so. Thank you for allowing me this privilege.

But today I want to do something different. On this occasion I want you to be lifted up out of my own personal gratitude. Words are not sufficient for expressing how much I appreciate the women of She Prays and those who walk out life alongside me on this cyber road. For you I am ever grateful.

Life can bring challenges too great to carry alone. With those challenges surges of loneliness and feelings of inadequacy can emerge. What comfort we have in knowing we are together in common goals and good– even though most of us are physically apart.

As you experience the joys and festivities Thanksgiving often brings, remember the charge Paul gives the church at Colossae.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15

Research demonstrates the benefits of personal gratitude. From experiencing physical benefits to mental shifts, to improvements in your overall satisfaction with life, being thankful can forge a healthier path forward. It seems Paul is not simply giving a dogmatic directive because he can, but inviting us to experience life in a capacity he doesn’t want us to miss.

For you, I am truly grateful.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving Over You

Lord,

How grateful I am for my friend. Her presence here brings joy to my heart and lifts my thoughts. Thank you for bringing her here. Give her a heart that wants to know You better. Grant her safety when she travels. Hear her when she prays and help her believe you are for her good. Provide all that she needs to experience Your presence more tomorrow than she did today. Help her to be a light and encouragement as she interacts with the difficult people in her life. Give her wisdom in which way to go and what to do. Bless the work of her hands. Tender her heart toward what breaks Yours. And lead her in becoming more like Jesus day by day. Help her feel her value and know she is loved and appreciated. Thank you, again, for bringing her my way. What an encouragement her presence officers. I thank You for the gift of this precious one.

In the Name of Jesus,

Amen

Did You Know?

For the one who feels invisible, largely passed over, and insignificant – Cheri has created a resource for you. Grab your copy of Can You See Me, Now? Good news for the lonely, left out, and less than and join the Strange Readers Café. We will be going through the book together beginning Oct. 3 until December 16 – just in time for Christmas.

Buy the Book

Join the Group

Don’t forget to check out the latest FREE reading plan available from YouVersion!

Have you received my FREE gift to you? Get 3 resources to help you experience more of God in your everyday life. It’s filled with practical helps for living out what really matters.

DOWNLOAD NOW

WAIT! THERE’S MORE.

If you would like to become a part of the private FB group, She Prays, we would love to have you. Click the image to join.

You can meet Cheri on the She Yearns blog for more truth-saturated, Gospel-centered encouragement like this: