Kneeling in Prayer instead of Needling and Nagging

"One single grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer"
G. E. Lessing

Kneeling in Prayer instead of Needling and Nagging
April Motl
In His Eyes Ministries

The two of us had very different financial upbringings. My husband, Eric grew up with many of the frills of life even though his single mother often couldn’t really afford the luxuries they enjoyed. Yet, he knew how to go without just fine too. The thing he hadn’t really practiced was saving money. He could go with or without it, but if he had it, that cash would burn a hole in his pocket and escape.

I, on the other hand, had lived with very a frugal family. My parents had their sights set on buying a house and saved every penny in that endeavor. So, I saved too. And I figured we would skip eating out, movies and pretty much every luxury in our attempt to finance college expenses and saving for a house.

Boy, was I wrong!

Eric wanted to enjoy our marriage and celebrate life. Somehow, that equated spending money. Nearly every time we would walk into a store together I would hold my breath, cringing over the things he would want to buy. As I look back on it, he didn’t want any thing all that extravagant; it was just that I had expected something different than he did when it came to handling our money.

The real heartburn came when I would try to convince him that he shouldn’t buy something. I hate to see wives nagging their husbands, and I didn’t want to join the ranks of hen peckers. But I was the one who balanced the checkbook and tracked our available funds. So sometimes I was just operating out of my save, save, SAVE mentality and other times there really was no money for the item he wanted.

If I forced my opinion in the matter, Eric would relent, but I felt guilty. I felt unsubmissive and out of order. Besides, my husband was incredibly generous with me, and I wasn’t as generous with him. We needed someone bigger than us to fix this problem.

I began praying over the issue, my attitude included. The Lord began to show me that neither one of us was right. As flawed people we often don’t have God’s perspective on the issues of life that snag us. It isn’t a matter of he’s right and she’s wrong. The Lord showed me how I felt that life was more manageable, more in control, my control, if there was money in the bank. If control was my motive for saving, it was wrong. If good stewardship was my motive for saving, that was right. But a right action with wrong motive is still wrong!

A good friend and I began praying Scripture over our husbands together. Finances were an issue for both of our marriages. We began to pray that God’s truth would wash clean all of our notions about handling money so that we would be united in His truth rather than divided by our own opinions. My friend, Lisa, also held me accountable to letting God do the work instead of me doing the nagging. When Eric would want something I didn’t think we could afford, I would simply pray that God would lead Eric to be a good steward of His money. I might share my opinion but would let him and God make the final decision. I prayed that God’s Word would ring louder in my husband’s ears than my words.

Today, things are different. Eric balances the checkbook so he always knows how much cash is available, and I don’t have to convince him of what we do or don’t have. He seeks the Lord’s counsel on even relatively small purchases in his endeavor to honor the Lord with all that He has given us. Eric has taken godly leadership of our finances and that friction that existed before has dissipated.

I have changed too. I don’t need that control and my faith has grown. I have learned to trust that God is working inside Eric, I don’t have to play the role of his conscience. Even when I feel like I can’t trust Eric to make the right decision and I am tempted push my “right” opinion on him, I can be quiet and patient, trusting God to work in both of us, even in our mistakes- mine included!

We don’t have a perfect perspective on money matters. We are still learning a lot. But we are learning together and are drawn closer as we search out God’s opinions rather than pushing our own.

Just the other day Eric told me the Lord had been teaching and changing him in regard to money matters. It wasn’t something he had sought out, but something the Lord had just done in his heart. He said he knew it was because Lisa and I had been praying for him. Whose words do you want ringing in your spouse’s ears, yours or God’s?

Contact the ministry office for a list of Scripture prayers to get you started praying over your marriage: mailto:info@InHisEyesMinistries.com

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April Motl and her husband, Eric, minister at their church in Southern California where he is a pastor on staff. April is the founder of In His Eyes Ministries; a teaching ministry devoted to helping women see their life from God’s perspective. For more information about the ministry visit www.InHisEyesMinistries.com. For a list of ideas to help your marriage through these four “full plate” issues, contact info@InHisEyesMinistries.com. Also, for the ladies out there, check out the new Bible study My Reflection In His Eyes: Seeing Yourself as God Sees You to dig deeper into understanding the Lord’s love for you.
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Take care until…......and God Bless ya
http://jamesedgecombe2.blogspot.com/

Are you ready to face eternity? If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of your life and desire to make that commitment now please repeat the following prayer:

Lord Jesus be merciful to me a sinner. I realize that I have sinned against you and come short of your glory. I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and I believe in my heart that God has raised him from the dead. I pray for your forgiveness and ask that you save me now and accept me into your kingdom. Give me eternal life today.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Issue # 50 - Grabbing Hold of Hidden Opportunities

There is someone that knocks at your door every so often, the sad thing about it is that you do not recognize who he is and what he has come to do. He comes in an attempt to make your life better but you don’t understand how. I hope the story below gives you a helping hand today:

Grabbing Hold of Hidden Opportunities
Dan Miller
48Days.com

The first Avon lady was a man. David H. McConnell was a big city bookseller. In 1892, when the perfume he used to reward loyal customers proved more popular than his paperbacks, he dumped the books and began promoting only the perfumes. McConnell’s next smart move was assembling a workforce composed entirely of housewives.

In contrast to the then prevalent door-to-door salesmen, Avon ladies made friends with their customers and were not the creepy blue-suede-shoe guys that most people expected to see knocking at their doors. By recognizing his true market and how to best relate to his customers, McConnell made a fortune, and so did many of his Avon ladies.

How many businesses do you know of today that continue to do what they’ve always done, even in the face of a changing market? If you sell appliances and a WalMart opens next door, you may find a shrinking opportunity to sell appliances but an exploding market to repair and service them.

If every yard you mow has a tree stump that needs to be removed, you may discover that rather than just being one more yard service, you have a unique opportunity in stump removal.

A couple of years ago, I worked with a gentleman who had been selling fabric to major apparel manufacturers. He observed that any flaw in the fabric rolls caused it to be sold for scrap. He quit his “normal” job, began buying and cutting the scrap fabric into squares to be used as rags. Body shops, auto dealers, and parts stores demanded his product faster than he could produce it. He got a contract with Dollar General to provide the rags packed in plastic bags. He now employs seven neighborhood women to help him stay ahead of this unique opportunity that was right under his nose.

“There is one thing which gives radiance to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner.”
G. K. Chesterton

Our changing work environment is shrinking many of the old business and work opportunities. Even Avon is finding resistance to the knocking on doors model as more and more people purchase on the Internet. But with every change there is the equal seed of new opportunity. The maker of Levi’s was an unsuccessful gold miner who recognized that the other miners needed more durable pants for their digging activities.

From the Bible:

“Open my eyes so that I may see wonderful things in Your law. I am a stranger on earth; do not hide Your commands from me.” Psalm 119: 18-19 (HCSB)

Direction for Today:

Where is the hidden opportunity in the changes being forced on you?

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Dan Miller is President of The Business Source, founder of "48 Days" and author of 48 Days To The Work You Love and 48 Days To Creative Income. He is the growing authority for creating effective life plans that are achieved by integrating natural gifts, unique personality traits and one's own values and passions. His unique clarification of how God gifts us will introduce you to a new sense of freedom and fulfillment of your life's calling.
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Take care until…......and God Bless ya
http://jamesedgecombe2.blogspot.com/

Are you ready to face eternity? If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of your life and desire to make that commitment now please repeat the following prayer:

Lord Jesus be merciful to me a sinner. I realize that I have sinned against you and come short of your glory. I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and I believe in my heart that God has raised him from the dead. I pray for your forgiveness and ask that you save me now and accept me into your kingdom. Give me eternal life today.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Issue # 47 - God’s thermometer & the worlds’ thermostat

“The only people who can change the world are people who want to. And not everybody does”
Hugh Macleod

There are many different environments and situations you end up in on a daily basis. From these environments you will either bring change or be changed. In order to please people you often adopt to their mold or liking. How do you test this? When you search your heart are you comfortable or did you do it to try fit in?

Today’s subject matter deals with two pieces of instruments with different functions, the thermometer and the thermostat.

The thermometer is used to tell the temperature of the environment or atmosphere it is put in. When you put this instrument in a room of 70° this will show up on the thermometer telling the temperature of the room.

On the other hand the thermostat when put in place causes the room to change to its setting. If you set the thermostat to 80° then the room will adjust to that temperature.

You and I can function in the form of both of these instruments. How do you know which one is appropriate for the place you are in? Glad you brought that up. First and foremost you were made to resemble God “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” Genesis 1:26a (KJV). Therefore it is more appropriate for you to be God’s thermometer.

When you get in the presence of God you will absorb his climate. There’s no need to rush out of the room because God’s climate will give you the right setting for your life.

It is in his presence when things that do not belong in your life are removed. Only things that are from God are able to survive in his environment. This is why the enemy (the devil) will put up a fight and try to stop you from getting there. A moment with God can make a major difference in you life.

This prepares you for what’s next. When you would have received the right setting for your life then you are ready to change or set the atmosphere for the environments that you go into. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”. Matthew 5:16 (KJV)

You have now been empowered to bring light into the darkness of someone’s life. Imagine bringing a smile to a parent by giving them hope to know that their child is going to make it through their moment of sickness. How about helping someone know that they are special and God has a purpose for them being here.

Regardless of the size of the impact you make in someone’s life always remember that a little help to someone in need can always go a long way.

Take care until…......and God Bless ya
http://jamesedgecombe2.blogspot.com/

Are you ready to face eternity? If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of your life and desire to make that commitment now please repeat the following prayer:

Lord Jesus be merciful to me a sinner. I realize that I have sinned against you and come short of your glory. I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and I believe in my heart that God has raised him from the dead. I pray for your forgiveness and ask that you save me now and accept me into your kingdom. Give me eternal life today.
In Jesus Name, Amen. Read more!