New beginnings, new habits...

My prayer:

I am really looking forward to a new start with this new year God. Thank you for all of the hope, the opportunities you are showing me. I am really beginning to believe that 2019 will be a year of changes and new beginnings. 

It is funny, January 1st is an arbitrary date but we often attach so much meaning to marking time by years. I do it every year to some extent but I also know, as I am doing it, that it is a date of my own mind and making and really has nothing to do with anything new happening.

But, this year feels different. It does not feel like the normal passing of an old year to a new year. This year truly feels like it is bringing substantial new beginnings and I am grateful and ready God.

What God Said Tonight:

New beginnings require new patterns and new habits. I am bringing you change but if you continue to do what you have been doing, the new beginnings will end up no different than where you are today. 

Change some habits. Find, or even re-find, the habits that led to growth and joy. Let go of anything that is not bringing you joy, growth, or purpose. 

It is time to look forward and let go of all that is behind. You cannot go into this future dragging your old habits. They will drag you down. 

I love you my child.

Peace like a blanket...

My prayer:

Sweet Father. Thank you for strategies today. Thank you for favor. Thank you for giving me everything I needed to meet the challenges of the day. I am extremely grateful for you in my life!

What God Said Tonight:

I bring you peace my child. 

The peace that the world gives is so ephemeral. It is there one second and gone the next. My peace is lasting. 

My peace can be present in the toughest of battles. My peace can dwell with you in the middle of the fire. My peace will settle on you like a warm blanket on a cold day. 

I love you now and forever. 

Unique relationship...

My prayer:

I pray that you had a wonderful birthday Jesus! It was wonderful to celebrate with you. 

In this next year God, I pray that you show yourself to more people. I pray that people have the opportunity to get to know you, personally. Not get to know religion or the lessons taught by others; however well meaning they may be. But, instead, I pray that everyone get to hear your voice, feel your spirit, and know your mind. 

I love you God, now and forever.

What God Said Tonight:

Living life leaves a mark on you. The struggles and the storms and even the days of great blessings, they all leave a mark on who you are. It is like a piece of wood left out to be weathered by the elements. You can trace the experience of the wood by looking at the marks that are left behind. The same is true of you. You, your life, who you are, these are all the results of what we have gone through together. 

Our relationship is a result of what you have lived and all that we have been through together. My relationship with other children is different than my relationship with you. Not better and not worse but different. 

Every relationship I have is different because every person has different scars and marks, Each person has different needs and different levels of understanding of the world. I do not change but my relationship with each of my children is different. 

You know how I have said that I am all things to all people? Think about that a minute. It may not mean what you have always thought it did. What I am saying is that I am what each child needs of me. Because I am so completely beyond your ability to imagine, I can be everything each person needs and there is still much of me left over, waiting for the child who needs that part of me. I am everything you need and everything you will ever need. 

It is my great desire to grow in relationship with every one of my children. I will do what I can but in this relationship thing, it has to be a two way street. You have to meet me in the middle. Come, meet in the middle and see what I will do in your life. 

My love, now and forever.

Facets of beauty...

My prayer:

It is almost your birthday Jesus. I honestly wouldn't have wanted to live one day of this life if you had not been born and died for me. If I had to live life without you in it, without your grace and forgiveness, without your love, that is a life that is not worth living.

Thank you Father for giving your son for us, for me. 

What God Said Tonight:

This time of year when I bring you snow and ice, I want you to see it differently than you have before. Snow and ice and crystals. They are filled with facets that reflect light and allow you to see beauty where before there was nothing. 

I will give you beauty for ashes. Part of how I give that to you is by giving you new ways to see what you could not see before. I will bring you the insight to see the facets before you and the beauty will be apparent. 

I love you. I am with you now and forever. We will see the beauty of life together.

Playing a losing game...

My prayer:

I need help and perspective God. I am letting the little things bother me and I am numb to the big things that really should bother me. And, even worse, I am having a hard time distinguishing between what are the little things and what are the big things. 

I need a reset. I need to disconnect and restart. Clean out the history and reboot. 

I ask for your help.

What God Said Tonight:

Less worry and more trust. You have fallen back into the trap of trying to reason and understand the circumstances in your life. They are not reasonable. They are not logical. Trying to find the reason and logic in them is a losing game. 

There are forces in the spiritual realm that are battling and the results in your physical world will never make sense outside of the understanding of the battle. 

Stop trying to make it fit into what you know and instead, trust me, talk to me, ask me, and I will help you through it. Don't try to find the logic and do not try to control it. Those two things will leave you frustrated and awake in the middle of the night, every time. 

I love you and I have got you in this and all things. 

Challenges and blessings...

My prayer:

Today was pretty crazy God. Thank you for giving me the peace to survive it. Thank you for giving me the peace to respond instead of react. Thank you Holy Spirit for living in me, making me more than naturally capable of dealing with the impossible.

What God Said Tonight:

Each day, there are new challenges and blessings. Don't be too sure to jump to the conclusion that you know which is which. 

I love you I am with you. I will never leave you. Those things you can be sure of. 

The journey...

My prayer:

I really enjoyed today God. Thank you for every minute. 

I am pretty excited about the potential opportunity you opened up tonight. Could that be the next season? It is kind of scary but pretty wonderful too. At the end of the day, if it is what you want, I am 100% in. If it is not, shut it down. Without you, it could be a nightmare.

I love you like crazy God and will follow you anywhere.

What God Said Tonight:

A journey may have a destination but that does not mean you know every stop along the way. My ultimate destination for you is set in stone and written before the dawn of time. But the journey, the stops along the way, that is where the adventure comes in. That is where you can pick what pulls at your heart and I will bless you in it. 

I am with you in this and all things. I will see you succeed wherever you go. Your path to your destination is your choice and my joy. 

I love you.

Brain break...

My prayer:

Not sure what to say or ask tonight God. I have lots of questions but they have all been asked before. You have told me to hang in and trust you through this season and I am truly doing my best. I am looking for the joy, and sometimes finding it. And, I am exhausted by it all. 

I guess the on thing I do ask tonight, help me truly rest. I could really use that. Thank you for getting me through.

What God Said Tonight:

Give your brain a break. Take a minute and picture putting it and all the thoughts, the worries, the strategies, on a shelf for the night. 

It will all be there tomorrow. Waiting for more to feed it. It will take all that you give it. You cannot fill it up. You have to decide when to stop feeding it. It will never stop on its own. Tonight, stop feeding it Stop giving it your thoughts and your attention. 

You will find greater rest in that one choice than you will in 12 hours of sleep. 

I love you. 

Not perfect...

My prayer:

Today was rotten. I really did not enjoy it. All day, every time I turned around, somebody was doing something to make something harder, less efficient, and generally making bad decisions which made me work harder. I am exhausted and frustrated. 

I pray God that you renew my soul.

What God Said Tonight:

I leave you tonight with one thought. Waiting on perfection will always leave you frustrated. No one can sustain it. No one can live up to it. 

Back down, take a breath, and give grace. 

Joy...

What God Said Tonight:

Enjoy your life. Find those moments of joy and dwell on them, expand them, keep after them. 

I love seeing my children enjoying life. I know there are struggles and I know there is pain. We will keep working through those together. But, in the mean time, find some joy and sit on it. Don't let it get away. Keep it near, wrap your arms around it, and bury your face down in it. 

Joy is my gift for you. Joy will get you through.

Get me out of this season...

My prayer:

I want change but only if it is in your will. I don't like the season I am in but I know from experience if I rush to get out of it, I will have to start over somewhere else until the purpose of the season is accomplished. So, while I an really tired of the season I am in, the one thing I absolutely do NOT want to do is something that will make it longer. 

So, as always God, I pray your will be done. And, if it is in your will to move me out of this season...WOOHOO!!!!!

What God Said Tonight:

Seasons may last longer or shorter but the one thing they never do is last forever. The one promise I can always give you is, this too shall pass. 

Know that, remember that, and remember that I will not leave you. I will not forsake you. I will love you now and forever and I will never leave you behind. 

A season is just that, a season and by definition, it is temporary. 

I love you.

Tunnel vision...

My prayer:

Today was quite a puzzle God. I feel a bit like an observer of my own life right now. Things are so crazy, it doesn't seem possible that I am a participant. So I observe, try to react appropriately, then walk away a bit confused and not knowing if things are better or worse. 

But, I am trusting you. I do know that you will work it all out for my good. I have been through enough roller coaster seasons to know that you are with me and in the end, we will find the place of peace again. In the meantime, I will hang onto you and pray for the best resolution of it all.

Thank you. I love you so much!

What God Said Tonight:

Tunnel vision. The people around you are seeing the world through tunnel vision. They can't see beyond their own immediate need. 

This is sad and not good or beneficial, but it is also temporary. They have blinders on that only allow them to see their own need. You, keep your eyes open, looking for people to bless. You make sure your vision is clear. You will be a example for people to follow as they take off their blinders and remember there is a whole world of people out here waiting to love them. 

I love you, now and forever my love.

Trust God in everything...

My prayer:

I am not sure what to talk about tonight God. Today was odd. Not bad, not good, but odd. It has left me feeling just a bit on edge. It has me wondering what is going to happen next. 

My prayer is the same as always, your will be done God. I will trust in you.

What God Said Tonight:

There was a common theme in today, you just have not yet seen it. There is a logic to your reality but you can't always understand it. 

I can teach you much but the most important thing I can teach you is to trust me. Trust that I know what is gong on even when it does not seem to make sense. Trust that I am omnipotent and I will turn all things for your good. Trust that even in the confusion, I am not confused and I will make a straight path for you to walk. 

I love you now and forever.

Healing...

My prayer:

Awesome God, I pray and ask for physical healing tonight. Thank you for healing me by the stripes you took. 

When I think of the pain you suffered, of an intensity I cannot begin to imagine, I wish that you had not had to endure it. Then, on nights like tonight when I need that healing or when someone I love is in need, I am so very grateful that you did. 

Awesome God, I claim the healing that you bought for my sake, in the name of Yeshua.

What God Said Tonight:

Stone is not as permanent as you think. Neither is life or death. I have never known a building to outlast time. I have never known a life to outlast death, except for my son. 

There is so much pain and suffering in this world. It was not my plan. I had a plan of peace, joy, and fellowship. The plan was corrupted and with it came sickness. 

My plan now is to obliterate sickness with the rest of the evil in this world today. I will see a new earth and a new heaven. I will see my original plan in place and shining in my glory. 

I love you my child and the healing is yours. Now and forever.