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A Prayer for Deliverance

21 October 2022

Cheri Strange

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Categories: Prayer

A Prayer of Deliverance

True and lasting deliverance is only found in God.

Oh, we look for plenty of other methods and to sundry hope-filled promises from other sources. Alarm systems. Our jobs. A clean diet. A rich aunt. Side hustles. Our spouses. The bank account. Education. Even our family.

Whatever you and I need deliverance from, God, alone, is able to reach, rescue, and redeem.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah Psalm 32:7

Without sharing the details, I needed this during the past week. Not only did I plead it for myself but I did so for a soul close to me.

In terms of deliverance, I can’t fix what’s broken.

No other human can. There is no other source to whom or to which we could turn. But the Lord was true to His word. Reflecting on the events of the past few days, I never want to experience them again. But if I do, or something as dire, in God I have a sure refuge, a formidable rock, and an impenetrable army surrounding me.

I know the Lord is my hiding place. His protection, I have felt and seen. I have experienced His deliverance from what could have been, and for all accounts, should have been, devastating and disastrous.

Chances are, you will have a week or a month, or a season like me. A time will arise when no human intervention can do any good. A divine work is needed to get you through it, to move mountains out of the way, to make your path straight, or to offer an unreasonable amount of protection to deliver you or those you love unscathed.

I am so grateful God’s Word meets us even here. To the one who needs a safe place to hide and divine deliverance, I pray for you today.

A Prayer for Deliverance

Lord,

I thank you for your word and I ask you to be true to it today. Protect my friend and those she loves. To whomever or whatever is coming against her, I ask you to form an army that cannot fail around her. Give her your songs of deliverance. Make a way when there is only impossibility. Reveal yourself as her secure hiding place and unshakable refuge. Demonstrate as only You can, the wisdom in relying on you over any other option available. Only you have the power to deliver, and from You, only, do we place our confidence.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

For the one who feels invisible, largely passed over, and insignificant – I have 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.

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A Prayer Before You Go

16 September 2022

Cheri Strange

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Categories: Prayer

A Prayer Before You Go

It’s Launch Week around here. And what a week it’s been! Wowzers. The book, Can You See Me, Now? Good news for the lonely, left out, and less than is officially out in the world. The launching process involves a lot of people across months. For these souls, I am eternally grateful, including my launch team leader, my launch team members, and my prayer team. Honestly, the whole thing can be overwhelming and scary. You don’t know how it’s going to turn out. Like a lot of situations familiar to you, there are times when our course of action is downright frightful. Before we go, prayer must take priority. As God would have it, there is a prayer of preparation before you go.

“When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” Deut. 20:1

Moses is in the midst of giving instructions to the people. This is a particular people who have been called to take over the Promised Land one battle at a time. Against warriors. Giants. And vast kingdoms with resources that make the wandering Israelite people look easy to wipe out. Naturally, the response from God’s people is fear. And here God acknowledges this. At the same time, or you could say, in the same breath, the people are told not to let fear prevail, and why.

Because the LORD your God is with you.

No. There is no denying in the text that what you and I go up against is often greater than our own resources and strength. God sees what we see: more and bigger bad guys. Realistically, victory of any sort looks impossible. But obstacles of this variety are not to push us to frenzied terror, just because they are real. We are told, not to be afraid.

Then what Are We to Do?

Instead, we are to remember our God is the same God who has rescued and delivered us time and time again. God’s intent is that you come through to the other side of the situation victoriously.

The part I love is that God seems to know we can’t get there on our own.

Moses doesn’t just leave it with the directive not to fear. He involves non-fighters in the battle. To reinforce the call to trust in the God who leads, the spiritual leader is to come forward and give a charge—an encouragement for Who God is, for what He can do, and why he will do it.

And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’Deut. 20:2-4

What Does Praying Before You Go Look Like Today?

Today, I think this looks a lot like praying before you go. For instance, during the forty days leading up to this week’s book launch, my closest spiritual leader, my husband, prayed and fasted. He’s not a writer. He isn’t on my prayer team. But he does play a prominent role in what I do as God leads. So he prayed before I went.

Chad will admit that it wasn’t a time filled with personal mountaintop experiences. In fact, he often communicated it didn’t feel super spiritual at all. It was obedience to encourage and empower those within his realm of responsibility to trust God in the unknown and the scary, to remember His history in my life, and remind me that it is God, Himself, who fights for me to give me victory in whatever He has called me to.

I believe that God saw to it that we have this obscure set of instructions to change situations, to successfully navigate what lies beyond us, and allow us to experience the impossible.

Today I want to offer you this same prayer, not as one who is spiritually over you, but rather as one who is helping to cover and encourage you. May you be strengthened with courage and in faith to move out into whatever God has called you to, unafraid.

But I encourage you to write these verses down. Keep them close. Don’t be afraid to ask one of your spiritual leaders in your life to give you a similar charge before you go.

A Prayer Before You Go

Lord Jesus,

Remind my friend today of your presence. Remind her that it is You who is going before her to battle. You are not shielding yourself behind her or casually watching from the sidelines. You are in the fight, leading. You are ready to do what needs to be done for Your glory and our good. Remind her of what you have brought her through. Calm her fears, Lord. Give her the courage to trust you in the impossible and the strength to take that next step. I ask that you be faithful to your word. Do what you promise and fight for her. May the battle make your name great.

In your precious name, Amen.

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.

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Did you know Cheri’s new book, Can You See Me, Now? is out?

Find out more HERE!

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

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.

Did you know Cheri has over TWENTY different reading plans for you to choose from? Just click on the images below to check them out:

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

A Prayer Against Oppression

2 September 2022

Cheri Strange

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Categories: Prayer

A Prayer Against Oppression

If I could go back and offer my twenty-something self, sound, biblical advice, praying against oppression would be at the top of my list. Doing so might have brought about the freedom I experience today much earlier. Decades so. Instead, I try to capitalize on conversations with twenty-somethings or thirty-somethings, or even forty to fifty-somethings struggling with the same issues.

The conversation generally goes something like this:

My friend begins to talk about her day or week. She confesses she does not feel like herself when she is in a particular environment. My friend doesn’t think one of the other women likes her. This person is much funnier and more outgoing making her everyone’s favorite, while my friend finds herself emotionally blending into the wallpaper.

I know how she feels. For years, I had layers of the same stuck to me. It’s one of the reasons I wrote Can You See Me, Now? Good news for the lonely, left out, and less than. The reality is that you and I engage in situations from work to church, and to family in which not everyone likes us. At least, they don’t seem to care what we say or do. There are others within the group who are preferred, leaving you and me in the shadows as outsiders. Often, we take these speculations and allow them free mental reign. We surmise, that if we were different then we would be enough. Heard. Seen. And known.

Advice on Man’s Oppression of my Twenty-Something Self

What I long to advise my twenty-something self is to stop blending into the wallpaper and seek divine help. On my own, I feel as if I am wearing an invisible lead jacket I cannot remove. The path forward lies in prayer, believing God can do what the Word of God declares he can do.

The Word of God shows us what we can pray to experience victory over the value and weight we give the opinions of those in our midst.

Redeem me from man’s oppression,
that I may keep your precepts. Psalm 119:134

A little further investigation helps us see the power we have before us. “Redeem” in this verse is used to denote the largest sense of deliverance. We cannot “redeem” ourselves. A source outside ourselves must come and do the work for us.

This is what the Psalmist asks for – divine intervention from “man’s oppression.” Scholars note that this particular request to be redeemed from man’s oppression is a call for freedom of opinion which is considered “the richest blessing which man can enjoy.” (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible)

That weight you feel? It’s real. As hard as you try, you will not be able to shake it off. But God has made a way for you and me to be the women he has created without concern for what others think or even if they don’t think about us at all.

Let’s start asking God to intervene by helping us stop the negative mindsets, the emotional heaviness, and the trips to the sidelines. Let Him teach us who we are in Christ and how to live in possession of the promises purchased for us.

A Prayer Against Man’s Oppression

Lord, God,

Today my prayer is straightforward like Your Word on the issue. Intervene in the life of my friend today. I pray you will deliver her from her care and concern about how others ignore her, speak to her negatively, or treat her as if she doesn’t quite measure up. Redeem her from the heaviness of it all because she cannot free herself. Let man’s oppression have no hold. Replace the outside assessments and even her self-assessments, with truth. Teach her how you see her, what makes her special in your sight, and what a gift she is. Transform her inner understanding to such a degree she can walk out in the confidence of who you are making her become. Show her who she is in your sight. Let her know you see her, you think she’s exquisite. And your assessment, alone, matters.

In your glorious Name, Amen.

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

Did you know Cheri’s new book, Can You See Me, Now? is coming out soon?

Find out more HERE!

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.

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

Did you know Cheri has over TWENTY different reading plans for you to choose from? Just click on the images below to check them out:

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

How God Sees You

26 August 2022

Cheri Strange

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Categories: Prayer

Have you ever walked into an environment afraid you don’t measure up? Wondering why God called you to this spot, or questioning if He has? How can you compete with her? It seems every person you meet has it more together and oozes with greater talents. Sometimes, when you throw a roomful of women together like that, it can become catty, competitive, and cold-hearted. You and I know from experience the times when it has, leaving us cautious and sometimes a hot internal mess when it might. It’s the kind of experience that causes you to forget, how God sees you.

Angst is what it creates—bouts of doubts mentally surface along with the replaying of sundry failures. It’s an internal unsettling of the soul, for sure. Throw in the responsibility of performing in front of said group, and you have a room filled with need.

Thankfully, someone in that room felt the unspoken need of reminding us of how God sees you and me and took action.

Meet Sandra.

I’m not completely sure what prompted her more than an overwhelming sense that those present needed to be reminded of who they were. About halfway through the conference with the performances looming—Sandra seized the moment by asking the leadership if we could stop while she prayed over every woman present.

It was soul-soothing, angst-defying comfort offered at exactly the right time. Her prayer was not rehearsed or practiced. She simply recognized a need and called upon the One who could meet it. Prayer unscripted and unscheduled.

I have asked Sandra to express what the Lord placed on her heart and share it with you. Welcome my new friend. I pray God speaks to you through her offering.

From a heart that wants to remind you how God sees you.

Sandra Jones

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a conference for writers and speakers.

It was my first time attending. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect, because let’s be honest. When you get a room full of women together sometimes it can be not so pretty.

But this room was different. I discovered at this conference we were all in the same boat. Each woman was just trying to get through day-to-day while fulfilling her calling from God.

As women, we all have crazy busy lives juggling marriage, children, and careers. It can become overwhelming.

That sense of overwhelm can cause us can look at the woman described in Proverbs 3, and internally ask How in the world can I be that type of woman?

That’s the devil in your ear, my dear.

You are bits and pieces of that woman you fear you will never attain.

God sees each struggle you encounter.

He sees each tear you shed.

When you think you can’t go on, He is there.

He is there like a gentle breeze on your cheek, or like a feather floating in the air.

Your Father remains right beside you.

So do not fear I am with you do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Oh, my sister, if you could only see yourself as God looks down and sees you.

You are My beautiful little girl.

You have grown to be a splendid woman of excellence, and

My eyes fill when I see the virtues in your heart.

“Letter From God to Women’’ Author Unknown

As we go through this crazy busy life trying to fulfill all our responsibilities, let me encourage you to remember these words from Isaiah to remind you of how God sees you. Then find your tribe. Find your family outside your family that can remind you of Whose you are, and be there for each other. Lift up, encourage, stand in the gap for each other, and listen without judgment, jealousy, or envy.

God has called each one of us for a different purpose to accomplish His work together. Grab hold of your Father’s hand, load up your tribe, working to accomplish what you can today. Accept the steps you made (or did not get to make) today. Give all these efforts to him at the end of the day, and start over tomorrow afresh, confident in His calling of you as His own.

A prayer reminding you of How God Sees You

Father God,

I come before you thanking you for this woman reading. I request that any weapon formed against her be broken and that she will find time for rest and peace in You alone. Father, lift her up so that she will know who she is in you, and enable her to walk this identity out daily. Thank you for the work you have already begun in her. Continue to grow her. We love you and praise you in Jesus’s name, Amen.

Sandra Jones spent a large amount of her life holding onto a lie the enemy kept telling her. For many years, Sandra chose a road of destruction for herself and her family, until God stepped in teaching her who she was in Him.

Today, Sandra shares what she has learned about her identity in Christ. Her passion is to help women find freedom from the lies of the enemy, regardless of what mistakes or missteps have occurred in life.

Sandra has been involved in prison and street ministry for 16 years, witnessing the deliverance of many and seeing these same individuals bloom into the beautiful children of God they were created to be. To experience God’s hand in the lives of these brings to my heart.

You can connect with Sandra on social media, by visiting her website, or contacting her through email. She would love to share how you, too can find purpose through the Father.

FB- sandrajonesspeaks

Web- sandrajonesspeaks.com

Email-sandrajonesspeaks@gmail.com

Did you know Cheri’s new book, Can You See Me, Now? is coming out soon?

Find out more HERE!

WAIT! THERE’S MORE.

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

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.

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

Did you know Cheri has over TWENTY different reading plans for you to choose from? Just click on the images below to check them out:

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

Asking for Blessing

12 August 2022

Cheri Strange

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Categories: Prayer

Asking for Blessing

Have you ever prayed for a blessing? Is it narcissistic, or might it be exactly what God entices us to do? If you had asked me a few years ago, I would answer that it seems self-seeking and inappropriate. But today, the evidence in Scripture outways my feelings on the issue. The bottom line is that there exists a precedent for asking for a blessing and asking big.

Consider God’s appearance to Solomon:

At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” 1 Kings 3:5

Then Jesus makes the same offer to a blind man:

And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”Mark 10:51

Somehow I am able to argue my way to figure that was then and doesn’t mean now and me. But then I noticed Caleb, the one who, with Joshua, believed God would give the Promised Land over to the Israelites. It is said of Caleb that he had a different spirit and followed God wholeheartedly, so he was able to enter the land while all others save Joshua, perished.

Two Times Blessing

Two times in Scripture we learn that this same Caleb has a daughter who was given in marriage to a valiant warrior. For a wedding present, her father gave her some property — but it didn’t have any water. This beloved daughter goes to her father and does the very thing I wouldn’t think to do. She asks for a blessing.

And she got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”

She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. Joshua 15:18-19

The fact that we have this exchange recorded two times in the Bible communicates, we should take notice. Here is a daughter, dearly loved, who just received a fabulous present. But in order for her to make the best use of it, she needs water. Does she sulk, complain, or cry? No. Although she hesitates by trying to send her new hubby on the bold errand, her father directly addresses her–the daughter he loves.

She asks for a blessing.

Specifically, a spring of water. Her father gives her two.

This my friend, is what struck me. The Bible offers us this simple story of a girl given a wedding present, who goes back and asks for more. Does she deserve it? No. But can she more fully live out God’s purpose for her if this need for water is met? Yes. Is this a father who loves giving good gifts to his children? As the only man designated as someone who loves God wholeheartedly, I believe we can say yes.

God sees you and me in the same light this father viewed his daughter. When she asks for such a bold and right blessing, he gives her twice as much as she requested.

That is the kind of heavenly father you and I have in Jesus.

A question for us is then, are we asking like a beloved daughter? In light of the examples given us in Scripture, you and I have the privilege of asking our father for a blessing. It is a good and right thing to pray. Today, I would like to do just that.

A Prayer for Blessing

Lord,

Today we bring to you our desires. Not simply our needs, Lord. On the basis of the precedent we have in Your Word, I am asking, on behalf of my sister, that you give her a blessing. In Your own way, I ask that you communicate how beloved she is to you. Show her her worth in Your sight. Grant my request on her behalf. We know more from You is undeserved. You have given enough. But what if she has a field and it needs a water source to do and be everything You have ordained? What if You wanting her to trust You enough, believing You are good enough to give a blessing for the asking? On the basis of Who You are and what You have done in the past, give her a blessing.

In the glorious and powerfully able Name of Jesus,

Amen

Did you know Cheri’s new book is coming out soon? Would you like to be on her Launch Team? Be one of the few who will get access to the author and swag, awesome graphics to post, and a glance at the book before it releases! SIGN UP HERE.

WAIT! THERE’S MORE.

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

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.

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

Did you know Cheri has over TWENTY different reading plans for you to choose from? Just click on the images below to check them out:

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