iPray Fridays: More grace

Hmm, I'm excited. Today I have a guest blogger leading prayer. She's a new blogger but I've known her since the day she was born 'x' years ago. Lol! She's none other than VirtuousKelly, please show her some blogville love on her blog! I'm excited because I know Ms. Kelly is passionate about prayer...I'm excited when I see young people passionate about God and committed to developing their prayer lives. Thanks darling for doing this. I pray that as your name signifies, you will always have a reason to praise and thank God for the wonderful things He has done and will continue to do to and through you in Jesus name. Amen.

If you would like to send in a prayer (or request) on any topic to be shared on iPray Fridays, please send me an email, amarasviewonstuff@yahoo.com. This is a time to rebuild our altar of prayer. Praying without ceasing. Our mission is that we are so excited about prayer that Thank God it's Friday becomes Thank God it's iPray Friday...Amen.

Prayer Scripture: 2nd Corinthians 12: 9-10

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I thank you Jesus for such an opportunity to dwell in your presence. I thank you Lord for such an opportunity to share your word through various mediums of communication. I thank you Lord for giving Zoe Believer insight on coming to you every Friday publicly to table our requests to you according to your word in Philippians 4:6. I thank you Lord because you are awesome and will show yourself strong and mighty in our lives always.

Father we thank you for the gift of life because many times we take it for granted and forget that you are the giver of it all. From the sun that shines in the morning, for the air that we breathe, for the rain that falls on the earth, for the stars that beautify the skies and for the moon that gives us peaceful light. Father we thank you for all these things.

We thank you Lord because irrespective of what happens around us, be it tribulations or hardships or the troubles of this world, you have always shown us that your grace is sufficient for us. Even at times when we are weak in spirit you have sent us the Holy Spirit to be a comforter to comfort us in all situations. For this we are forever grateful. Where will we be had it not been for your grace and your mercy? Many of us would have been cast down, broken and battered but You, Ancient of Days, found us worthy by dying on the cross on our behalf in order to give us this grace that is all sufficient. That is why we call you Almighty El Shaddai: The All Sufficient God.

You have left us scriptures of encouragement to help us through every storm we face: In times when we feel we are beset by stagnation you have given us Proverbs 4:18:

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

When we feel there is dryness, You have given us Isaiah 43:19:

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert

and streams in the wasteland.

In times when we are beset my burdens and need a word You have given us Jeremiah 33:3:

 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'

Father we thank you. Because we can go on and on taking scriptures from your word which shows us that your grace is ever sufficient. That in our weaknesses your power is made evident. Your awesomeness is shown through all generation. So to this we thank you because in every situation we find ourselves in we will rejoice and be glad because we have a God who is working on our behalf and making everything work together for our good. Give us the grace and ability to keep pressing on, to keep looking forward and up to the author and finisher of our faith even if we are thrown into the wilderness. Bring us out of it all as better and stronger people in the faith.

Our Miracle worker, our mountain remover, our ever present help in times of trouble, our deliverer, our way maker, our invincible God, our God who fetches water with a basket to disgrace the bucket, our magnificent warrior, lily of the valley and rose of Sharon: We thank you because you are doing things for us which ears have not heard and eyes have not seen. We thank you because your grace is sufficient and that in our weaknesses your power is resting in us and makes us strong and victorious.

To this we give you all the glory, honour and praise. Thank you because you are more than able. To this we have prayed in Jesus name.

iPray: Day 6

A Prayer for the family

However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 5:33 - 6:4

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine, within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.Thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD. Psalm 128:3-4

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families Psalm 68:5-6b

Father God to You be the glory for the great things you have done. Our God, our King, our exceedingly great reward, we call you the Almighty because indeed there are mighty men and women, mighty situations but there is no one and there is nothing that is Almighty. There are kings but You are the Kings of Kings, the Lord of Lords, I AM that I AM. Father, I thank you for being a prayer answering God. Thank you because in this season we will see You as You indeed are. We so often take for granted who you are and the things you do but today we are saying Thank you.

Dear Lord today I come before your presence bringing families before your throne of grace. Father, although we come in all shapes and sizes, one thing we have in common is that we all belong to families. Whether we know them or not, whether we relate to and with them or not, whether biological or adopted, whether physical or spiritual we all belong to families. The family is our point of origin into the earth. From the beginning of time, you created it so. In families, we find our sense of identity, our sense of belonging, we are trained in the way we should go. It's our first classroom. Thank you so much for letting it be this way, you created us for relationship, to relate with You, to relate with ourselves and to relate with each other, hence the family.

These days it is difficult to define what a family is. What we used to know as your plan for the family is now referred to as 'traditional'. We have forgotten that a nation, a people, is only as strong as the family. Your word has given us a model for what families ought to be like. Father as a family of believers, we come before you to ask your forgiveness from deviating from the truth. Your word says that unless the Lord builds a house, we labour in vain. We come back to you, helpless and needy and submit ourselves back to your plan, back to your original intention for us.

Your word says how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in UNITY. Father today I ask that our love for you bind us together in our families in Jesus name. I pray for husbands and fathers, that they love their families, that they protect them, that they provide for them, not just financially but spiritually and emotionally. That they do not abdicate their responsibility as the head of the home, that they be present, that they be kings. I pray for wives and mothers for the grace and strength to submit to their husband's headship, that they respect their husbands and provide a united front to train and discipline their children, instructing them in the way of the Lord. I pray for the children to give their parents the honour that is due them that their days on earth may be long.

I commit homes before your throne of grace o Lord, just as the enemy has refused to relent in his attack, we also refuse to relent in offering our prayers to the Most High. Just like the man with crippled feet looked unto Peter and John at the Gate Beautiful, the world is looking at us for an answer, that in the midst of turmoil, believers can still beat the odds. We can have successful marriages, our children can grow in an atmosphere that encourages them, one of love and peace, one that does not stifle their creativity or mess with their destiny. Lord you have shown us the way, it's narrow. It calls for the higher way, the way of LOVE, to love that man, to love that woman, to love those children or just maybe that mother-in-law! Lord we ask for grace because we know we can't do it on our own.

I pray for single parent families, whether by loss or relationship breakdown, I commit them before you. An extra dose of strength, an extra dose of knowledge and wisdom. There are statistics concerning single parent households but I thank God because we the children of the Kingdom create our own statistics. I pray for church families to continue to extend their hands and be the mother, the father, the brother, the sister that are needed, not just by greeting Brother and Sister in church but by letting our actions show that is who we are in deed.

I pray for those estranged from their families, brothers who are lost, sisters who can't forgive, children who have gone their own way, the one who cries each time when the children ask why God had to take mummy/daddy to heaven just now?, the one who was abused, the one who was mistreated. Lord you have promised to be a Father to the Fatherless, a defender of the widows. You are El-Shaddai, the multi breasted one. We receive your love that heals us from the inside in Jesus name. Like Joseph, let us allow your purpose and your calling to enable us keep going forward in Jesus name.

Father thank you for family, for grandparents and parents, for uncles and aunts, for cousins and nephews, for nieces and in-laws. I pray that as your word says one generation shall tell of your good works to the other generation and it shall be so in Jesus name. I pray that we learn from the older generation, that we glean the wisdom of their gray and yet at the same time politely refuse to live by the traditions of men that do not give you glory.

All families face storms but give us the wisdom to build our house on the ROCK that even when we take a beating we shall remain standing and having done all still stand.

Father I ask because I serve a God who inclines His ear to the requests of His people especially when they stand by the word of God. I pray that this prayer cause a transformation in the hearts of men and women all over the world in Jesus name. Teach us to pray.

In Jesus name I ask, Amen.

Remain blessed and highly favoured. 2010 continues to be our year of 'The Lord has done this' and He is doing it. Our best time is now!

Giving thanks to God

16* years ago, on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, God blessed a wonderful couple with their second daughter. Since that day, circumstances in my life have changed, there have been ups and downs, there have been great days and sad days but one thing I can say is that GOD has remained faithful. He has been with me and kept His word.

Today is about giving thanks to God, it's not about unfulfilled dreams and expectations. It's not about how close to hitting the big One (that's how my big sister refers to getting to 30)I am, it's not about issues or problems. It's about lifting up my hands and saying Thank you Jesus because not every one born on the same day as me are still here now.

Thank you Father for life, health and wealth.
Thank you Jesus for the fire that is purifying me and making me shine like gold
Thank you for my family, the way they have taught me about love and forgiveness, the way we pull together during tough times, thank you Lord
Father, I give you thanks for the friends you have given me, the confidants, the 'scaffolding', everyone that has passed through and those that have stayed on, they have all contributed in their own way. I love you people
Thank you for the friends i have made through blogging, thank you for egbons and aburos who by their talents have made me laugh, cry, go wow or just stay silent and think. You guys are so talented, keep stirring up your highest gifts.
Thank you Lord for answered prayers through the years, for "This just has to be God" testimonies
Thank you for the man who loves me, both when I'm good and not, not because he's perfect but because he's perfect for me. Thank you for our commitment to grow in our love for you and for each other
Thank you Father for the future, thank you for the vision, both written and unwritten for though it tarries, I know you'll give me the patience to wait for it for it will surely come to pass
Thank you for people who read this blog, follow, I pray that they are blessed, happy, provoked, I don't mind if they are angry or don't agree but let these words always be a seed in the hearts of people who read

Thank you, thank you, thank you, may this be my new song in this new year I'm going into. A year of gratitude, truly being grateful for all my God does and just growing in love with Him.

Thank you Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His LOVE endures FOREVER Psalm 118:1

* P.S I'm not really 16 but I'm sure you knew that already...lol!!

A season of prayer: Day 37

A Prayer for my sisters

Immortal God
Invincible God
Immortal God
How great you are

Everybody testifies you are good
You are good Jehovah
You are good
Everybody testifies you are good
You are good Jehovah
You are good

Alpha, Omega
You are worthy of our praises today
You are worthy of our praises today

Come and see o
Come and see
Come and see o
Come and see
Come and see what the Lord has done
Miracles are happening in my life

Father, na u biko. The One who created the heavens and the earth and everything in between. The I AM THAT I AM GOD. The One who upholds all things by the word of His power. The One whose love endures forever. I thank, bless and magnify your name for you are so good. The One who daily loadeth me with benefits, you renew my youth like the eagles, you have made me glad. You have blessed me and kept me. I give you praise.

Daddy, today I thank you my sisters. Thank you for the craziness associated in growing up with 4 sisters. It's been a 'heaven' of a ride so far. Thank you for my homegirls, same parents, same household but yet so different. We've had our share of fights, tears, laughs, celebrations e.t.c. but through it all the bond has remained there. I thank you because it shall continue to grow stronger. Father O lord as we grow older and begin to 'extend' as we already have started, keep us close more importantly close to you for there is peace when we are all led by the Holy Spirit for then it is easier for us to do the right thing and grow in peace. As roles begin to change and we begin to acquire brothers, nieces and nephews give us the grace and strength to love each other in Jesus name.

Help us to continue to be there for one another, praying for one another, encouraging one another, supporting one another, admonishing one another, building our strengths, working on our weaknesses. Truly being cheerleaders for one another on our journey of life. This I pray in Jesus name. I pray for my sisters and myself that we continue to grow in the way of the Lord. Thank you for our parents who took us to church and tried their best to model what walking in the faith means, they were and are not perfect but I believe they did their best and I am thankful. May we never depart from the path of righteousness in Jesus name.

Thank you for CM, Daddy I thank you for your goodness in her life, thank you for blessing her with the dual responsibility of being wife and mummy. Thank you for making her the first born and not me because I know the benefits I acquired from having someone to lead the way for example always having answers in the textbook when it came time to use them! Continue to strengthen her and her family. Keep and guide her in Jesus name. Thank you for Nna yi, as she enters the next phase of her life, give her wisdom, give her favour. Bless the works of her hands, make her business successful, uncover more talents in Jesus name. Thank you for the fashionista, our strong similarities make us clash from time to time but I thank you for her life. As she prepares for the last phase of her degree, I ask for good success, heal her from the pain of the past and give her wisdom for the future. Open doors she never thought possible in Jesus name. And for my baby, the one whose level of maturity is simply astounding, I thank you. I see her blossoming into a woman of God and I thank you. Keep her strong in a society where there is so much pressure to conform. Always enable her realise that she has been destined for greater things so she can so NO to the smaller ones. Give her the strength to see bullies for what they really are, people struggling with their own sense of worth. Help her to grow in you in Jesus name.

Father, thank you so much for my sisters who are my friends as well. Help us to be a light in a world surrounded by darkness in Jesus name. Thank you for my other sisters who I have met along the way, they deserve a special prayer as well I think! Help us to grow in love and promote peace and unity and not strife in Jesus name.

Always sisters
Always friends
Let's stay real close
To the end
Forgiving each other, letting love cover
Always sisters
Always friends
Cece Winans

How good and pleasant it is when brothers (sisters) live together in unity!It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard,down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing,even life forevermore. Psalm 133

A season of prayer: Day 26

A Prayer for T.O.M

Father I praise you, I honour and give you thanks. This is indeed a day you have created for me to rejoice and be glad in. Father I bless and magnify your name. How many tongues can tell of your works which you have done in the midst of us. Indeed the Lord our God you are in our midst and you are MIGHTY. Eternal Rock of Ages, wonder worker, I bless and give you praise.

Daddy, I thank you for today. Today T.O.M our wonderful son, nephew, grandson, cousin e.t.c, e.t.c. is one. Today last year, we were speaking in tongues, singing, reading Bible, holding hands, giving oxygen e.t.c, e.t.c as we earnestly awaited his arrival. Today, last year I saw Big Sis in a different light (let's just leave it at that as I'm not sure I have totally recovered from the experience lol!)but Lord I thank you for your faithfulness. You came through for us that day as you always have and for that I give you praise. He came with nothing broken and nothing missing, just a handsome bobo with his cute dimples. Daddy, I thank you.

Today, he turns one, please help me forgive his mummy for taking him to NY and not allowing his crazy aunty to come and do her weird steps in her house. Daddy I thank you for as you have kept him you will continue to keep him. I prophesy that like an arrow in the hand of an archer, you will shoot him into his destiny. I plead the blood of Jesus over him at home, in the nursery, in the car, on the train, no evil shall ever come near his dwelling place in the mighty name of Jesus. I pray for his parents for grace to continue to train him in the way that he should go for when he is old he will never depart from it. I pray that your favour will rest upon him. I pray that he will grow to testify of your goodness and favour to the world. His name means, Praise God and he will live to praise you.

Father I pray that he will bring joy and happiness to his parents, I know that his future is so bright because you remain in total control. I thank you for his life, I thank you for his fineness o because it is too much. I thank you also for the fact that he can say that on his first birthday, a black man became the President of the United States of America for the first time in history. Thank you Jesus.

Happy birthday T.O.M, from your aunty (a.k.a noisemaker and kissykissy). I love you very, very much and I know we will have many more to celebrate. You are blessed and favoured by the Lord.

Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will never depart from it Proverbs 22:6

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate Psalm 127:3-5

A season of prayer; Day 12

A Prayer for family

Thank you Holy Spirit. Your presence is always welcome in my life. Thank you for your fruit, thank you for your gifts. Thank you for your power. Thank you for all you do in my life, thank you for new life in you, the grace to do what I ought to do as opposed to what the flesh wants me to do. Heavenly Father today I am thankful for your sons. Thank you for the men who have stood up to be counted as men of standard. Fathers, who are in both word and deed, providing for and protecting their families, men of integrity who treat their wives and would be wives with utmost respect, hard working men doing their best, men of God knowing that at the end of the day when they put you first, everything else will fall into place. Lord, I know that a few bad eggs sometimes makes me have a jaded perspective but I'm sorry Lord because they were created by you and all you make is good. Thank you for opening my eyes to the truth in your word and seeing as you see. Thank you for fathers, sons, brothers, nephews, uncles and friends. Thank you for the men in my life, sometimes they make me want to scream (lol!) but I love them all so much and you have used them in shaping me into the woman I am today...so thank you.

Today Lord, I am praying for families. A family is the unit of society, dysfunctional families lead to dysfunctional communities and a dysfunctional nation. Father, concerning leadership in the house you said that if a man cannot manage his own home, he should not presume that he can manage the church..Lord, we have allowed the enemy to wreak havoc in the home. Rising divorce rates, teenage pregnancy, violent crimes amongst the youth all these things can be traced back to a generation that turned its back on you and decided to do things their own way. Where vows no longer mean anything...Lord, we can debate about the problems but I know that there is a rock that is higher than I that I can run to. You said except you build a house, we labour in vain to build it. Today, I invite you into the family, starting with me. Lord, come and reign as King.

Holy Spirit, teach us how to do what we should do. Remove pride and self centredness from us, help us as women to be wise and build our homes with love, peace and joy. Teach us how to make our homes; places of refuge from the stormy battles that are faced on the outside. Teach us to set the atmosphere in our homes; with prayer and positive confessions, that once the door is opened, people can almost smell the aroma of your presence. Help us to remember the things that really matter and keep you first place in our families. Teach us to comfort, encourage and give us patience, give me patience and an extra dose of patience.

Lord, I am not a man and cannot presume to even fathom what being one means but I pray that you that knows all things and sees all things will meet the men at the point of their need. Teach men how to love their wives as you love the church, as their own bodies (that cannot be easy)! Teach fathers how not to exasperate their children but to instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord, teach them Lord how important their role is in the home. I rebuke the spirit of absentee fathers in Jesus name.

As a child O lord, teach me to obey my parents in the Lord, to honour my parents and submit to them. They do not know everything but neither do I. Thank you for the relationship I have with my parents, help us to make it even better. Forgive me in any way I have not honoured them as I should have. Daddy, I speak peace where there has been strife, forgiveness where there has been bitterness, strength where there has been weakness. Heavenly Father, I pray for everyone that reads this that we will call upon your name concerning our families and that as your children our homes will be models for the world to follow in Jesus name I pray. That's the name that guarantees and answer.

Blessed are all those who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways......your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons (and daughters) will be like olive shoots around your table, This is the man blessed who fears the Lord (Psalm 128:1,3-4)

Unless the Lord builds a house (home), its builders labour in vain(Psalm 127:1a)

Yo mama, it's your birthday

A strong woman
that's who you are
you have been through the fire
and the flood
and yet you have remained standing
steadfast
trusting in the Lord
for His promises never fail

A beautiful woman
that's who you are
People see you and ask
"Is that your sister?"
I frown, you smile
and we both say no
you never forget to remind them
that I'm not even your first

A funny woman
that's who you are
we always sing
"man worry, man die
man no worry, man die
so why worry"
as we burst out laughing
even when the news is not so good

An intuitive woman
that's who you are
you understand
my smile
my frown
my silence
you see beyond the words from my lips
to my heart

So today, mamaG I celebrate you. June 22nd 1958..the Lord sent one of his special ones to earth. I thank Him for preserving you, for giving you the strength to stand through all that life has thrown at you. I thank Him because I know you haven't seen anything yet. He said there shall be more glory in your latter days. He will surely take you to the place that He has shown you in Jesus name. You are blessed.

So yummy grammy, keep on rocking!

MamaG...na u biko!

ordinary.....no EXTRAordinary!

It started as a very ordinary day
20th January 2008
Got up, got ready for service
A great one by the way!
Meditating on the message on the way home
When the text came
It said PRAY
I wanted to FEAR
but decided to PRAY

It started as a very ordinary day
20th January 2008
Got to the hospital
Heard all the negative reports
but decided to PRAY
saw the charts
but decided to PRAISE
saw the looks in their eyes
but decided to confess the WORD

It started as a very ordinary day
20th January 2008
After countless puffs of oxygen
three attempts at an epidural
tears and screams
at 9:05pm
the EXTRAordinary happened
T.O.M came into the world
PERFECT
and now Believer is
Aunty Believer

Please just help me praise God. He is just too wonderful. Mum, Dad and Babe are doing well. To all mothers out there, well done! Watching a child come into this world is an experience.

No matter what reports you hear, today CHOOSE to BELIEVE the report of the Lord.

Remain blessed and highly favoured

Me

Happy Anniversary

Dear MC & MamaG

you have shown me
what marriage is all about
two imperfect people
bound together by a COMMITMENT
to stick together
through thick and thin
rain or shine
ups and downs
joy or pain

you have taught me
the true meaning of forgiveness
how a friend loves
at ALL times
even when it hurts
or is not returned
or appreciated
a love that endures
ALL things

so I thank you
wonderful mum and dad
for keeping our family together
through the stormy days
and I pray
that your love grows stronger
with every single minute
of every single day
and that I also
experience a love like yours

I love you both.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!