iPray: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving and Praise

Praise the LORD.Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power;praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD. Psalm 150

Praising you
with every breath that I breathe
with every song that I sing
with every fibre of my being
with everything that is me
This is my prayer Lord

Thanking you
for who you are
for all that you do
for being OmniPotent
for your mercy and grace
I'm grateful Lord

Honouring you
because you are God
because you are above all
because there is none like you
because you deserve it
This is my prayer Lord

Adoring you
in the beauty of your holiness
in the splendour of your majesty
in the light of your glory
in the magnificence of your strength
It's an awesome privilege

Dear Daddy,

It's us again, saying a very big THANK YOU. Thank you Lord for 28 days where we were able to come before your throne of grace and pray. Thank you Lord for the gifts of prayer and intercession that we do not serve a god made of wood and stone but a LIVING God who reigns, rules and is interested in the affairs of His people. Thank you because you are a God who is both willing and able to do of His good pleasure. Thank you for being a source of every good and perfect gift.

Thank you for my brothers and sisters who were a part of this journey, who made it possible to happen, Father thank you because I know you have answered their prayers. Father, as they have prayed and interceded for others I thank you because you are meeting them at the point of their need.

Thank you for everything, Lord I ask for one more thing. I ask that in coming days, we remember that our God answers prayer, no matter what events come our way that we never forget the prayers we have made and we live in a sense of expectation. Thank you for the words you have spoken to us for they are spirit and they are life. We have breathe so we sing praises to you.

Please join me in giving thanks to the Lord today and ask God for the grace to live a thankful life.

I want to say a very BIG thank you to all the bloggers who joined me, guys this would not have happened without you. Thanks for responding to the call, thanks for everything. Your prayers sure have reached heaven and I know the answers are coming. We pray and He answers.

So thank you,

Cherub
ChiChi
Favoured Girl
Jaycee
Life of a stranger
Mimi
Patrina
Reverence
Rita
Simeone
WriteFreak
Tiera
Tisha

Also, thank you to everyone who joined us in prayer. God bless you. iPray doesn't end here, it's a lifestyle we all need to adopt. Pray, pray and pray even more.

So iPray, do you?

iPray: Day 1

Thanksgiving and praise

You deserve the glory
And the honour
Lord we lift our hands in worship
As we lift your Holy Name

For you are GREAT
You do miracles
so GREAT
There is NO ONE else
Like you

Praise the Lord, praise the name of the Lord; praise Him you servants of the Lord, you who minister in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good; sing praise to His name, for that is pleasant. For the Lord has chosen Jacob (Believer) to be his own, Israel (Believer) to be his treasured possession. Psalm 135: 1-4, Brackets mine

Kabiyesi, Igwe, I enter your gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I come into your courts with praise. The gift of life, totally taken for granted and yet these fingers cannot type without breath in this body. Father, there will never be a time not to praise you, for you have stuck with me through the season, you have been so many things to me, my God, my friend, my Husband, my confidante, my encourager, my counsellor, my provider. Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Tsikendu, you have been my Shepherd, you have been my rock and you have excelled in all.

Lord, I thank you that this day finds me singing your praises, what an awesome privilege it is to know you O lord. The invitation to your banquet was sent to all but Lord thank you for sending someone to remind me to heed the call. Thank you for adopting me into the family of the saints. Ese, Baba, Baba ese, Ese, Olorun mi, Ese Baba. You, who are God alone, looked down at a sinner like me and said, I want her. O Lord, I lie prostrate before your throne of grace as I ponder on your goodness in my life.

From the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, you have made me fearfully and wonderfully. Thank you for a brain that reasons, eyes that see, ears that hear, a mouth that speaks (sometimes too much I know, I'm working on it!!), limbs that move because the brain says so, thank you I can sit in this chair by myself, I can feed myself, I can go out and come in, my circulatory and digestive systems, they dey kampe as well! Thank you Lord.

In a season of prayer it is sometimes easy to see you as a Provider, as a God who answers prayers which you very well are but Lord even without request we are grateful to you O lord. We can pray with confidence because we have a God who answers prayer. We thank you because even in this season, we don't know how to pray but you have blessed us with your Holy Spirit who even intercedes on our behalf.

Today we take the place of that one leper that came back to say Merci, Thank you Lord. For all you have been, for all you are, for all you do, for everything, I'm so grateful unto you. Father you have given me wisdom, you have provided me with knowledge and understanding, there is nothing I have needed your hands have not provided, you have been faithful.

Abba, today a new song is on my lips, not a dirge, not a lament, but a resounding psalm of praise, I praise you in my spirit, I praise you with my lips, I praise you with my hands, I praise you as I meditate on your wonders. All creation gives you praise and I join them today. You are the Lord who ANSWERS, I praise you and I thank you.

I delight in you
I rejoice forever more
Lord I love to magnify your name
Lifting up holy hands
We bring the sacrifice of praise
For blessings past
and for miracles on the way

For all you've done Lord
And all you're doing
For things to come
Yes for blessings on the way

So people, join me and sing and let's start this season of prayer giving thanks to the Almighty God, He definitely deserves our praise. I'm so excited about the next few days and Lord I'm thankful for the testimonies that shall spring forth in Jesus name. Amen and Amen.

Scripture references: Psalm 135, Psalms 145-150

Remain blessed and highly favoured. 2010 continues to remain our year of 'The Lord has done this'. Keep rising.

The Wilderness Chronicles: Day 9

Thanksgiving from the wilderness

My God you are very great. I praise and magnify you, my heart and soul praise you. My spirit and flesh praise you because you are not only a Mighty God but you are a good God. I thank you because you are a God of your Word, you spoke the word and it worked, works and continues to work wonders in my life. I praise you because you have made me fearfully and wonderfully, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet I can say it's all good.

I didn't come into this place a happy camper, even yesterday I burst into tears when you gave me a new command but Lord I still thank you that as silly as I can be sometimes you still love me, I can't fall away from your love, I can't earn it by what I do but you love me. Thank you for that reassurance that there is a love that is available for me ALL the time in spite of me.

Anyone can praise you when you part the Red Sea, when you slay the giant, when you give the victory but Lord I thank you that I can still praise you in the wilderness, where sometimes I don't even know my right from my left, when I don't know if I'm going forward or backward where you ask me to stand still, I can say you are God and you are good not because I'm strong but because even in my weakness you are my strength. In the wilderness you have been my strength, in the wilderness you have been my song, I have learnt what it means to be held in the arms of Jesus an embrace that no human's even comes close to.

I thank you for the lessons in the wilderness, where every grain of sand contains a message, where the arid conditions reminds me of my thirst for you, the heat of the day reminds me you are my cooling cloud, the lonely cold nights remind me that you are a pillar of fire, Lord I thank you that every single thing the enemy meant for evil in my life you turned it around for my good. Thank you Lord for the wilderness because it shows I am loved, called and chosen.

Thank you Lord, thank you. I used to sing that ten thousand tongues were not enough to praise you but I have one tongue and I use it to scream a big halleluyah to your name. Thank you Lord. Thank you Father. I give you praise not only for what you've done or are doing but because a beautiful future and hope still lies ahead. Thank you. I love you.

'B' Thankful

So Aloted issued us a challenge, to look for 10 things that we're grateful and thankful for that start with the first letter of our names..I guess for me that's a B for Believer.

Lord, I'm grateful for,

Brains: Thank you Heavenly Father, I know I usually grossly underestimate the importance of the different parts of my body as I have grown so used to having them. Thank you for the complexity that is my brain, that my amyglada, cortex, limbic system and all the bits that make up my brain are functioning as they should. I can think, speak, walk, run and do all that I do because of my brain. Thank you Jesus. Thank you for my brain which I use daily and yet never think about, thank you because through this brain even more complex questions will be answered in Jesus name.

Blogville family: I don't know if Blogville is an actual word that can be found in the dictionary but I'm grateful for my blogville family. You guys are the best, I've got to know some people outside of Blogville and they've all been amazing, even though some relationships were for a season, I'm still grateful because my life has been enriched. I've met beautiful people, people who have been so open and trusting that they have challenged me to become open and trusting to. When I'm down, I know there's a 30+ who always has a prayer, word of encouragement or something that makes me laugh out loud. I can't even begin to put all your names in this space but I thank God for you, you never know the impact your blogs make on the world. From politics to weddings, education to weight loss, every topic is covered on blogville. You are blessed and I thank God for the opportunity of knowing you all through your words. These days when I mention the word friend, my family always asks 'real' friend or 'blog' friend! Lol!

Babies: I'm sure almost every minute, the world is blessed with a miracle called a baby. I'm grateful to God that we don't come to this world as adults knowing everything, being able to do everything. Thank God for babies, their softness, their total dependence on us which is a model to teach us that we ought to be totally dependent on God. His word says like newborn babes we should always desire the sincere milk of His word. I know babies are a lot of hard work but a parent would never exchange their child for anything, I'm thankful for all babies, those born in good health and those who we are still believing God for healing. I thank God for babies that are yet to show up to mums that have been waiting for them for so long, I know that in the season of time, there shall be a testimony in Jesus name.

Books: How could I forget this? I am because I read and I read because I am. Readers are leaders and don't let anyone tell you different! I'm always flogging (promoting..sorry I'm picking up a lot of slangs these days!) the idea of reading and not just reading anything but reading books that add value, that add wisdom. Successful people read. I thank God for books, that I can have an insight into other people's knowledge without even having a conversation with them. I can pick up a book and step into another world of mystery, cracking my brain to find out Whodunit? I can read about anything, how to read, how to write, proper etiquette for a lady, I can learn about the lives of people who died before I was born. Books are wonderful, they are my biggest investment! Thank you Father for good books and for the greatest of all that has stood the test of time the Bible.

Bible: Well, this deserves a whole post on it's own. Thank you Father for the Bible, the irrefutable word of God. Thank you for the logos which reveals to us the rhema which comes with great dunamis. Thank you for the different versions that the Bible comes in, some may argue about it but I'm grateful to have comparisons on different versions, thank you for inspiring people to prepare study notes to add to some of them, giving us novices more insight into what a passage means and the historical background associated with it. Thank you that the Bible speaks to every need in my life be it physical, emotional, financial, relational, there is always a word in the Bible that can calm my fears. Thank you that the Bible is more than just a book, it is the living, breathing Word of God, changing lives on a daily basis. Thank you Father for leaving us this mine of wisdom that we can draw strength from on a daily basis.

Bacteria: Well, well, well, an unusual point to be grateful for. Thank you Father for bacteria, for the bad publicity they always get as being these bad things that make people sick which I know some of them are (the baddies) but thank you that less than 5% of all bacteria are pathogenic (able to cause disease). Thank you for the goodies, those in our gut ensuring the baddies don't stay there, those involved in food/antibiotic production, those in the environment, ensuring that nitrogen keeps getting recycled. Thank you that although they don't get appreciated they still keep working because they have to and truly we couldn't live without them even though we don't know!

'B' family: Thank you Lord for this family that I'd prayed about for such a long time, at first with apprehension but now with gratefulness. Thank you for the testimonies you have done so far, indeed I know that your hand has been involved every step of the way and I'm grateful for what you will still do in the future. Thank you for the love and peace that exists and thank you for acceptance.

Believer: Thank you for Believer, I'm grateful for my life, I'm thankful for God's mercy and grace, his hand of favour upon it. God has been good, even when life goes up and down, He remains faithful. Thank you for everything that makes me me, thank you for those things that I complain about, thank you in everything both good and bad you remain a good God who has great thoughts and plans towards me to give me a future and a hope. Thank you Father in Jesus name.

Wow, well gratitude, always makes for a great attitude. I feel so much better having done this. The hymn writer encourages us to count our blessings and it will surprise us what the Lord has done. There are so many things I take for granted, so thank you Aloted for inspiring this. I am truly blessed and passing it on.

The power of choice

Thanks for all your comments and prayers. She and the family are strong, I know the Lord is in control. I've just been reflecting on the power of choice. Like today, I woke up with the choice to be sad and depressed over some issues in my life or to be happy and thankful for the faithfulness of God in challenging times!

Truth be told, I chose the former for the first few hours of the day but after much thought, meditation and listening to Kirk Franklin's "Keep your head" a zillion times I've decided to choose to be happy! Not just happy but rejoicing, rejoicing not in circumstances but rejoicing in the Lord!

I am still here, a year older today (as well as Nyemoni, Andrea Bocelli, W.B, N.A, 30+'s brother!!)hopefully wiser and stronger. I'm an aunt to the most adorable boy in the world (Bobo, na u biko...), I have food to eat, somewhere to lay my head, people that love me and have been there for me but have been taken for granted as I pursued...In life, if we look closely, the things that are actually working for us are more than the things that aren't but because we choose to focus on the issues they become more magnified.

I think I should be more a doer of what I write than a writer! Just to encourage someone that to walk with Christ is never easy, sometimes I feel like in this walk with Jesus, He always takes me on a long path but I am encouraged that it is the right path for me, I just don't know it because I'm looking at it through my eyes.

No matter what you are going through, God sees you, He knows you and He loves you. You need to believe that He loves you. He loves you a lot, He loves you even more than a mother can and you don't mess with a mother's love. So be still and know that He is God. I never tell people not to cry when they are hurt but as the tears fall from your eyes, know that it's never over until God says it's over, it's never OVER until you WIN. And win, we will because we are overcomers.

@ayo, it is well!

Today I choose to MAGNIFY the Lord. O lord, you are very great, forgive me for looking down instead of looking up. There is no one like you, there is no one who can take your place. Almighty God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, I worship you. Ancient of Days, all-seeing and all-knowing one, I praise you. The wonders you have done, the works of your hands are marvellous in my sight today and forever more.
Sorry for being an ungrateful servant, thank you for being ever faithful. Thank you for strength and thank you because I know that I am a winner you. Amen and amen.

Remain blessed and highly favoured. 2008 continues (whether ekwensu likes it or not!) to be our year of UNCOMMON TESTIMONIES because we have been EMPOWERED to PROSPER!

Double WoW!

Hi everyone,

I trust that you are blessed and highly favoured. You are blessed not because everything is working just the way you want it to or you are where you want to be, you are blessed because.....(insert drumroll!!) you are blessed because GOD SAID SO. So believe it and that settles it. Joeseph was blessed, in his father's house, in the pit, as a slave, in prison and as a prime minister. His blessing did not start in Pharoah's palace, it had been within him all along so be encouraged. Thank you Jesus for this word. I really needed it.

Please can you take the time to visit Double WoW, that's a new mini-project, there are some questions there that I would like us to take the time to ponder on.

Remain blessed and highly favoured. 2008 continues to remain our year of UNCOMMON TESTIMONIES as we have been EMPOWERED TO PROSPER.

A little note on gratitude...
Things may not be the way you want
But no matter how bad things seem
there is always something to be grateful for
if you are reading this say thank you God
for the littlest things
today i thanked Him
for the fact that
when I wear a dress for the first time
I'm usually the first person to have worn it
because if truth be told
it hasn't always been that way
Thank you Jesus

Have a blessed week!

100 posts later....

Ok, I'm kinda back. I feel like I've lived my whole life in the past month. Anyway, I will soon be back by the grace of God.

So we're celebrating 100 posts, I read this blog and I wonder who's writing. I know it isn't me so I just thank God for His mercy. I read this blog and examine my life, remembering that James says that teachers have a stricter judgement(!!) and praying that I'm living or at least trying to live according to His word. I read this blog and imagine...imagine my life BB (aka Before Blogging). I read this blog and am grateful, for the comments, for the friendships, for the discovery of some things on the inside I had never realised were there.

Most of all, I read this blog and am thankful that I serve a God who speaks to me in a language that I understand, who's patient enough to break things down and understanding enough to hear me even when I myself don't understand what I'm saying.

Life is a journey, enjoy it, ENJOY IT, TODAY. Don't wait for certain landmarks to be completed or achieved. Celebrate today, even if all u can celebrate is that you opened your eyes this morning. My prayer is that the Lord will always give you cause to REJOICE in Jesus name.

Remain blessed and highly favoured. 2008 continues to remain our year of UNCOMMON TESTIMONIES.

Reflections

I PRAISE you because I am FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made; your WORKS are WONDERFUL, I know that full well Psalm 139:14 (NIV: Capitals mine)

won.der.ful: Excellent, great, marvelous, of a sort that causes or arouses wonder, amazing, astonishing (http://dictionary.reference.com/)

Synonyms 1. awesome, wondrous, miraculous, prodigious, astonishing, amazing, astounding, phenomenal, unique, curious, strange.


I'm looking through the windows
looking at the little girl
shy and quiet
desperately wanting to be accepted
by the 'in crowd'
but always left on the outside
looking in

I'm watching the little girl
quickly transforming into a young woman
very much aware
of her changing body
and desperately praying for it to stop
as she becomes the butt of jokes from the girls
and is treated as an object by the boys


I am looking at the young woman
hiding behind oversize clothes
never able to make eye contact
as her eyes are always downcast
not able to look in the mirror
as all she sees are her flaws


I am looking at the young woman
staring at herself in the same mirror
as if seeing herself for the very first time
realising that although her body is not perfect
it is her's
her's to love and accept
her's to cherish and pamper
her's to change if she wants to
she sees herself
and she knows she is beautiful

I am looking at her
and I am smiling
because it was not an easy journey
for the shy little girl who is growing into a young confident woman is
ME

This was inspired by Daddy's Girl's carnival, a celebration of our bodies. We celebrate not because we have 'perfect' bodies (whatever perfection may mean!) but because we have been WONDERFULLY made. I love the synonyms of this word...I am created AMAZING. Halleluyah! Lord I thank you for my body. It houses my spirit and my soul, gets me to where I need to be. Yes, it's limited to time and space, yes it gets tired, yes there are some things that need to be tightened (LOL!!) but I still thank you for all of it. From the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, it's all wonderful!

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

Still thankful!!

I think this is one of the most important reasons I love Him. He's been with me through it all! Have a blessed weekend.

through the tears
through the pain
through the loss
through the sickness
through the drama!!!
through the smiles
through the victory
through it ALL
u have been there for me
I love you

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30 Days of Thankfulness; Day 15

Hi all

So I got tagged by my beautiful darling sis Life of a Stranger. So here's why I am truly thankful.

I am thankful to You
for LOVING me
with an everlasting love
that does not depend
on my performance
or even loving You back
a love that reaches out
to draw me close to you
a love that takes me
to a deeper place in you

I am thankful to You
for saying NO
to some things
and even some people
for saying no to the good
so that I can attain the best
for saying NO to my will
and teaching me to trust you
because you know that my latter end
shall surely be great

I am thankful to You
for setting me FREE
from other people's expectations
and approval
from low self esteem and worth
for setting me FREE
to laugh out loud
to be happy, to love and live
free indeed
to be me

I am thankful to You
for HEALING me
physically and emotionally
from the pain and rejection of the past
Thank you
for picking up the broken pieces
of my heart
replacing ashes with beauty
mourning with dancing
sorrow with joy

I am thankful to You
for FAMILY
It's been a bit crazy
these few years
but you have bound us together
with love
and pulled us together
when situations tried
to pull us apart
We are coming through the fire
rejoicing

Thank you Daddy for being with me in the past, here in my Present and I know you are there beckoning me into my future. I am so grateful..words are too poor to express how I feel inside. I am in awe of your goodness in my life over these years. All that the enemy meant for evil, You turned around for good. I praise and glorify your name. Thank you for loving me. Thank you Lord. I have to stop typing now but I know you hear the praise going on in my heart.

Thank you Diamond for inspiring us to go deeper and count our blessings and consider the goodness of the Lord to us in the land of the living. I am indeed thankful for my blog family. Allied, Ebony, Nyemoni, LOASCM, Feather, UgoD, DG,Rinsola,Aijay, Mommy 30+, Favoured Girl, Jaycee, Kafo, disgodkidd. God bless you for all you share and being such a blessing to me. The Lord is faithful and His Word shall continue to be true in your lives in Jesus name.

Remain blessed and highly favoured.

Me

Allied

and Ebony..u have been tagged!