Prayerful Bloggers: Bible Study

Have you ever had a time in your life where you had a trial and you just knew you had to push thru, but the how of pushing left you bewildered and searching for answers? If your answer to this question is yes, please know that you are not alone.

Like you, many of us have experienced trials, circumstances, situations, and issues that warrant action, but seem to inspire confusion. Yet there are things that we must remember when pushing thru.
PB Things to know when pushing through

#1 When reminded of what the Bible says, remember that God is not the author of confusion.

BAM! There it is, right there... God has not orchestrated the mess, so now you and I both know where to take a stand in the midst of pushing through. -Pardon me as take a brief moment to cut my nails, so that I don't wake my dear husband, as I type away at 5am. You see, I had determined within myself that I was going to share with you this inspiration that God had blessed me with this morning, no matter what. You might be wondering why I felt it necessary to say "no matter what." We'll, wonder no more, you are about to find out. A few weeks ago, when taking over Prayerful Bloggers, I had been in prayer, seeking God about His will for this ministry. Yes, ministry, not just a group. I wanted to know how He desired for me to lead and what He wanted us to do. Well, don't you know that He began to fill my heart with great plans and activities for us to get connected and fellowship together; Great ways for us to honor Him. However, in the midst of executing these plans, rather preparing to execute them, I was sideswiped by our enemy, the adversary. My husband's mother and father were both hospitalized. Two of my four children got sick. My finances got attacked and so did my friendship with my best friend. As if this were not enough, my biological family began to experience such troubles, that if I had not had the Lord to lean on, I would have been traumatized. Yet, in the midst of all of this, I have held on to the promises of God and he has kept me.

#2 Hold on to God's promises and He will keep you.

I truly believe that all of these things have happened because of my "yes" to God. And that is expected, but what is not expected is that my God would fail. No it is not. So for the past few weeks, I have just continued to pray and push. There are so many things that God has in store for us, but we must remember to walk in faith, no matter what the circumstances look like. Our God is so much bigger than our problems. He is more powerful than any trial and there really is nothing that He cannot do.

#3 Walk in Faith

In the midst of all of my planning & praying for Prayerful Bloggers and the ambush sent by the enemy to stop this, I can say one thing. It is the thing that keeps rising up in my spirit and encouraging me. I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread. Psalm 37:25 This is a testimony and reminder of the Lord's faithfulness to us, His people. Some prayers are unspoken and there are times when we push through without telling anyone that we are pushing, but I want you to know that when we are pushing, we are not alone. The Lord is right there with us. His Holy Spirit is leading and guiding us. He is pulling us thru...encoraging our spirits and motivating us to keep on going.

#4 We are not alone

I had this great plan for us to study the book of Romans this month. I was working on our reading calendar, affirmation calendar, blog contribution calendar, praying, and seeking Him for direction, when all of this happened. I have been determined that we are going to do these things together because the Lord has brought us together for such a time as this. However, I am taking all of this, one stride at time. Below are our group updates, but the last thing to remember is that our God is faithful. Do you hear me?

#5 He is FAITHFUL.

Reading the book of Romans: Yes, we are in the second week of May, but there are 16 chapters in Romans and 19 days left in this month. Lets read this book and study it together. What do I mean by study? Well, as we read it and questions/observations come up, lets discuss them in our Facebook group. I don't want this to be some lecture type of study. It would be great if you could share with us what the Lord is showing you regarding this book of the Bible. If you want to write a post on your blog, periscope, create images, write a poem, post a topic/question, or do other things to communicate your thoughts with us, do it and freely share all of this with us in the group. Let's have a conversation about the book of Romans. I am really looking forward to this! I hope you are too.
If you are a blog contributor, and have submitted a post, please know that it is being approved and scheduled. We are so honored to have you all with us, to encourage and inspire us. You are a blessing from God. Thank you for your patience. :)
Prayer: Let's not stop praying. Pray for friends, family, strangers, our country, and other countries, ministries, governments, and individual situations. Continue to pray and make your prayer lists. Remember that the Lord has heard our plea and has accepted our prayers. (Psalm 6:9)
End of the month Prayer Call: At the end of the month on May 27th at 1pm EST, Lord willing, we will be having a prayer call. We will be praying for all of the prayers submitted this month and taking requests over the phone. We will be praying for those requests live.
End of the month book discussion: At the end of the month on May 26th, Lord willing, we will be having an online discussion on the book of Romans. It will be at 1pm EST. I will send out an invite through our Facebook group.
Are you looking for an accountability partner? If so, sign ups will be starting very soon. I will post the sign up form to the Facebook group, so that we can all get connected.
Would you like to receive a daily affirmation text directly on your cell phone? I know that social media can be distracting at times. :) If so, please text EZAFFIRM to 313131
Last but not least, I wanted to announce the boo of the month for June. It will be What happens when women say yes to God by Lisa TerKerust

I hope that you continue to have a great week. Reach out to us if you need anything. I look forward to connect with you more. If you have any prayer request, remember to submit them here Let's recap quickly on the 5 things to remember when pushing through

The Lord is not the author of confusion
Hold on to God's promises, He will keep you
Walk in faith
We are not alone
He is FAITHFUL

I hope that you found inspiration and encouragement in this post. I'd love to hear from you? Share with us your thoughts below in the comments and don't forget to connect with us through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We are a community her to support, encourage, and pray for you.
(Please be reminded that our new website and blog is now located at http://prayerfulbloggers.org)

Thanks for reading,

Your prayerful sister Makeda

1 comment Bible Study, Blog Housekeeping, Life Seasons, Makeda, Prayers

In today's world, we are all so busy. Rushing from this event to that, grocery stores, kid's schedules, household chores, work, friends, family events... it gets overwhelming!

And sure, we may carve out a few precious minutes with God in the morning, or you may have your time at night. But, is that enough? I'm guilty of shooting up a quick prayer when things get hairy, "God, please let me find this place. I've been circling for minutes," and so on.

However, is that truly enough for our Father in heaven? Sometimes I don't think it is. Deep down, I know I need to do more.

So, I've come up with 5 tips to keep God in your Daily Life.

1. Bring God into your little spaces- bathrooms with scripture on the walls | Cars with a cross on the rear view | Work cubicles with scripture in picture frames | Kitchens with plaques of inspiration on them. Each time you see any reminder of God, offer up a quick prayer, or even a heartfelt "Thank you," to God.

2. Buy a pocket bible. These little bibles fit wonderfully in your purse, briefcase, office desk drawer, wherever! When you have a moment or two of down time, say in a waiting room or in line somewhere, break it out and just flip to a page if nothing else. Read and savor every word and try to keep it in your mind throughout the day.

3. Plan and set aside more time with God than what you think you have. That way, if you can't have 3, 30 minute bible studies maybe you will make sure to fit in 2 because you feel bad about canceling the first one.

4. Put crosses (or other signs of your faith) everywhere. And I mean, EVERYWHERE! I've started to Sharpie crosses on my chapsticks, just little reminders every time I use the chapstick to shoot up a quick word or feeling to God. I use chapstick like nobodies business, so I send many shout outs to the heavens in a day.

5. Find an accountability partner. This can be your current BFF, this could be your Mom, Sister, Brother, a stranger at church, just someone that you commit to checking in regularly about your walk with God. You and your accountability partner can decide to do a bible study together, or just read the books of the bible together. Checking in with someone daily, weekly- whatever you choose can really make a difference in your life. I think we all could use someone holding our feet to the fire so we don't let life get in the way of our walk. Our little Prayerful Bloggers community has started an accountability partner program. If this sounds like something you'd like to do, 1. Sign up to join Prayerful Bloggers here, 2. Sign up for the Accountability Partner Program here.

I hope these tips help you! And please, if you have any that I haven't listed above, please feel free to comment with them below! Share the knowledge!

1 comment Bible Study, encouragement, faith, Jessy H.