We Need To PRAY

I had every intention of writing about my weekend tonight, until about 3PM, when I was scrolling through Instagram, and saw this picture:

And I'll be brutally honest, it was not the first time I saw those words. As a matter of fact, I had seen multiple of these in the past few days:

I had read multiple captions explaining that over 200 girls were kidnapped in Nigeria. And continuing the brutal honesty, my response didn't consist of much more than a short heart ache and a quick prayer. 

Why is it so easy to keep scrolling through that Instagram feed? Why is it so easy to say a prayer that you know you should say without feeling much? Why is it so easy to pretend that things aren't happening when they're far away? 

They are. 

These things are happening. These girls are missing. And finally today, I put the internet to good use, and I educated myself on what's going on. 

I was embarrassed to see that this kidnapping happened 3 weeks ago. 21 days ago. And I am just now reading up on the details.

I was embarrassed to see that the group responsible for this, Boko Haram, killed 59 students back in February, and another 50 in September, and I had no idea. None. 

I literally am getting sick to my stomach typing this, and you know what, I'm glad. I'm glad that it's sinking in what is going on in this world. I'm glad that I'm feeling that nagging pit in my stomach that's calling out the one word that is quite literally all I can do in this situation: pray. 

And I'm not talking just praying for justice. Because, yes, that should be prayed for. Yes, we should want these precious girls returned to their homes. Yes, there should be punishment for all of these hundreds of lives affected by this terrorism. 

But in one more bit of brutal honesty: I don't think that will change much. So justice is served, then what? I think history proves that it's only a matter of time before the next act of terrorism strikes. Hate is contagious like that. 

You know what else is contagious? Jesus. You know what else spreads like wildfire? Revival. 

I want to get on my knees and ask for salvation. I want to beg the Lord to change the hearts behind this terrible darkness. I want to see the kind of redemption that only He can bring, because I'm convinced that's the only way to combat the brokenness in this world. 

I want Him to bring these girls home, like right now. 

But you know what else? I want Him to bring the bad guys home, too. Because I truly believe that it is His will that not one should perish {2 Peter 3:9}. And I truly believe that He's the only one who can beat this type of evil, with His type of love. 

I'm gonna pray for the bad guys. I'm gonna pray for justice, and revival. And I'm gonna choose to believe that He will bless that, in His way, with His wisdom & perfection. 

Call it naive, call it silly, or useless, or dumb. Call it childish. But I'm pretty sure He said to have child-like faith, anyhow. 

We need to pray, guys. It's the best weapon we've got, and in situations like this, it's the only weapon we've got. 

Lucky for us, it's a good one. So we better use it. 

Bring back our girls, God. And bring back the bad guys in the way that only You can. #endit

The Prayer Night

Two days before I left, I held a prayer night at our brand spankin' new house. Friends from all different areas of my life piled in, first divided into sub groups of who-knows-who, and eventually settling into one giant circle in our living room. I started setting the tone for prayer, when a dear friend politely interjected. She had heard a word from God as she walked up to our door, a word that led her to suggest that before we pray, the group took the opportunity to fill me up. To fill me up full of love and affirmation, so that I could take it with me to pour out all over Kisoro, Uganda. 

And so it began, each person took some time to share how I have impacted their lives. Some who I have known for years now, and others for just a few months. There were some of the kindest, most meaningful compliments ever given to me said in that circle. And some of the most beautiful, genuine tears shed. 

I can't quite explain the feeling that came over me. Not a single tear fell from this cry baby over here, and I think it was because a significant part of me was quite literally in shock. All I could do was praise God, because I knew that only He was responsible for everything that was taking place. 

I have never felt more full of love than on that night. And my friends, that is what life was made for. We were created to live in fellowship with God, and in fellowship with other people. It even says so in the Bible, "The Lord God said 'It is not good for the man to be alone.'" {Genesis 2:18}. 

We were made to fill each other up, to love each other, to support each other, to push each other closer to Christ. And on that Monday night, surrounded by some very dear friends, that is exactly what happened. They filled me up, they loved me, they supported me, and they pushed me closer to Christ. Oh, did they push me closer to Christ. I went to sleep that night praising Him so, so much. 

I am so grateful for that friend who spoke up and boldly proclaimed that she had word from God. Because of her and every single person in that room, my heart was exploding from love before I even set foot on a plane. 

And it's a good thing too, because boy, did He have work coming for that thing. 

Prayer Chain // Week 12

Happy Sunday, lovelies!

 

I'm fairly certain that's how I start almost every single one of my Prayer Chain posts. But you know what, that's okay! Because Sundays are happy days, and you all are lovely, right?

 

Right!

 

Glad we got that covered.

 

Today, I am feeling incredible thankful for the sweet conversations that have taken place this weekend. Conversations with my family, friends who I haven't seen in too long, and a conversation with one lovely blogger who I had the pleasure of meeting in person! {this girl}

 

And for frozen yogurt, because an abundance of that was enjoyed this weekend.

 

I hope your weekend has been equally blessed, and that all is going well in your neck of the woods.

 

Today, I ask for continued prayer that God's will would be done in my life. I pray that He pull me very close during this season of change, and that He help me to walk in faith, not fear.

 

How can we be praying for you? Melissa Jo and I would love to know! Link up a post, or shoot us a comment/email/tweet!

 

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. 

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them 

pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

James 5: 13-14

 



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Prayer Chain // Week 11

Happy Sunday, beautiful!

Where ever you're at in your day or in your life, I'm so glad that you are finding yourself here at our Prayer Chain link up! If you're new around here, you can read about the vision behind this link up here. 

I am so blessed to co-host with the wonderful Melissa Jo, and we would love for you to join us! Share what's on your heart, either via a post, a comment, an email/tweet, anything!

We would love to pray for you! And I know the incredible ladies who have participated in this link up would love to pray for you, too!

And now, onto the praises!

For one, I mean, how beautiful is His creation? {So beautiful} Praise Jesus for that!

I also want to praise Him today for His timing. There was a lot that went down this week. A lot of changes in my immediate, near & even potentially distant future, and God is teaching me to 100% fall back on Philippians 4:6-7.

The words are true, guys. When you surrender everything to the Lord, and simply trust in Him and His timing, His peace will guard your hearts. And thank you Jesus, for that!

Prayer requests:

I ask this week that you pray that God's will be done in my life. Not Amy's will. 

As I said, there are a lot of potential (& some definite) changes in my future, so I pray that God's will would lead me through those changes. I pray that He would determine what decisions need to be made, and when. 

If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that He knows wayyy better than I do. So I want to trust that, seek comfort in that, and walk in that. 

How can we be praying for you?

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. 

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them 

pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

James 5: 13-14

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Prayer Chain // Week 10

Hello, lovelies! Happy Sunday!

Today, I have some really amazing praise to share with you all. Some of you may remember way back in January when I posted about Dawn and her battle with cancer.

If you haven't yet, I would highly encourage you to go to that post, scroll past all of my words, and read Dawn's own testimony of this experience. I guarantee you that her faith will leave you feeling more encouraged in how incredible our God is.  

This past week, I got the wonderful news that Dawn is in remission!

With no chemo, folks!! Just prayer!

If that doesn't speak to the power of prayer, and of our God, then I don't know what does!

As for this week's prayer request, most of you may know that I am about to run my first half marathon (insert happy dance). 

Next Saturday, I'll be making my way through those 13.1 miles, and I could not be more excited! 

If you've been following for a while, you may remember my not-so-good friend, stress fracture. Well, I hadn't experienced any foot pain at all this time around, which is great! I had some knee pain, but didn't feel anything while running my last long run last week. 

I was ecstatic! 

Until after a short 4 mile run this week, I started feeling the exact same feeling as the beginning of my stress fracture in the opposite foot. :( No bueno. 

Since it's in the early stages, and I really have no idea if it is a stress fracture forming or not, I am confident that I can nip this in the butt (which I just found out is really nip this in the bud, but I'm gonna leave it butt because it's more awesome this way. Thanks, Tab!). I already got new shoes for extra support, and plan to go really easy until my actual race next Saturday. 

Please pray for healing and strength, as I am pretty determined to finish this thing. Please also pray that I will be disciplined enough to listen to God. If He has a lesson in here somewhere (which He always does, am I right?), I want to find it. Not be too stubborn to listen. 

How can we be praying for you?

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. 

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them 

pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

James 5: 13-14

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Prayer Chain // Week 9

Hello, lovelies!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! I am writing this post in advance, since as you are reading this I will be soaking up the sun at Stagecoach!

I'm sure by now I've already blown up your Instagram feed, so you probably already know that :)

My praise this week is that God is so incredibly patient with us. I felt it this week. I felt how patient He is when I go from feeling the closest I've ever felt to Him, to wanting to ignore Him completely in .2 seconds. 

Maybe I didn't consciously acknowledge that I was trying to ignore Him, but I knew I was doing just that. And lo' and behold, then hit the off day. {Ironic? I think not.}

But the off day turned out to be only an off morning, because the second I asked God to come straighten out my mind and heart, He did. The second I asked Him to change my mood, He did. 

He's a good and faithful God, guys. Good and faithful, I tell ya!

My prayer request for this week would be that I truly learn to rest in the Lord. I want to know what that looks like, especially when it isn't feeling natural. 

I find that it's easy for me to come to God when I want to. But sometimes, there are distractions. Sometimes, my sinful heart creeps up on me when I least expect it to. And I want to learn to run to God for rest in those moments. 

Keeping it short and sweet today! I got me some country tunes to jam to :)

Happy Sunday!

How can I be praying for you today?

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. 

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them 

pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

James 5: 13-14

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Pray For Boston

I had a post prepared for today. Had written it before I heard the news. 

But then I did hear, and it rocked me. Boston has such a big place in my heart. And my heart aches for those involved in this tragedy. 

For the family of the 8 year old boy who lost his life. 

The same age as my baby sister. I can't even imagine. 

So whatever was written for today can wait. Because today, Boston needs our prayers. 

Prayer Chain // Week 7

Hey, guys! Happy Sunday! :)

I hope you have all had a wonderful week. Mine has definitely been a good one. A lot of growing with the Lord, which is always going to leave you feeling filled with joy!

This week, I would ask that you continue praying for my roommate, Ashlee. If you saw last week's post, you have an idea of what has been going on with her since her car accident. This week, Ash got some pretty rough news regarding the extent of her injury, and how this will be affecting the rest of her life. 

You can read all about that here, because really, her words are way better than mine could be. 

Ashlee has shown me what it looks like to really and truly trust God. Every single bump in the road from the past few months has left her completely relying on the fact that God has a plan. A perfect one at that. 

And right now, we are hoping that God's plan entails going against the odds, and showing that Doctors are not always right.

As always, thank you for your prayers. Our prayers change things, of that I'm sure. Please feel free to link up with Melissa Jo and me to share what's on your heart. We would love to pray for

you!

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. 

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them 

pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

James 5: 13-14

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Prayer Chain // Week 6

Boy, am I ready for this week's link up. 

I am so thankful for this prayer network of women. Thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you who have become a part of Melissa Jo's idea of The Prayer Chain.

Thank you for sharing your hearts, and your lives with us. And thank you for praying with us!

When life throws something my way, I know just who to come to for prayer. 

This week, I would like to ask you guys to pray for my roommate, Ashlee. 

You might recall that a few weeks ago, she was hit by a car while biking. She has handled everything with such grace. I am constantly inspired by her strength and optimism, two things that I don't always exude while going through something incredibly difficult. 

This past week, Ashlee found out that her injury was more extensive than initially thought. She will be needing surgery, which will leave her unable to walk for 3 months. 

Because of the circumstances, Ashlee will be completing the surgery and her recovery at home in Oregon. She'll be packing up and making the long drive as you're reading this. 

A lot to process in only a matter of days, right? 

Please pray for Ashlee. Pray for the pain that she is currently experiencing. Pray for safe travels to Oregon. Pray for her surgery, and recovery. 

And pray that during this extremely difficult season, she would feel closer to the Spirit of God than she ever has before. 

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. 

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them 

pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

James 5: 13-14

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If you want to follow along on Ashlee's journey, you can find her blog here. 

Prayer Chain // Week 5

Happy Easter!!

Praise Jesus for His transforming, life-saving love. There is nothing like it in this world. I hope today, you feel His love like you never have before. 

Prayer Request

This week, I ask that we join together to pray for those people who commit their lives to Christ this Easter. 

I am sure there will be those that feel the overwhelming presence of God growing inside of them each and every day. 

But, I am also sure that there will be those that feel the overwhelming attacks from satan that are sure to follow an incredible movement such as this. The doubt, the "I'm not good enough" lies, the pressure. Anything that could possibly deter them from sticking with the decision to live for Christ, let's pray against all of it. 

Let's come together to pray for these lives, that are sure to bring tremendous glory to the kingdom of our Savior. 

I love you all! Happy Easter, my beautiful siblings in Christ :)

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises.

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them

pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

James 5: 13-14

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Prayer Chain // Week 4

Happy Sunday, friends!

 

I hope you have all been having a wonderful week. I'm excited to be back for round 4 of The Prayer Chain!

 

First off, I want to extend a huge thank you to the lovely ladies who have been linking up every week. It has been a joy to pray for you, and I have loved getting to know your hearts better and better each week.

 

I also want to thank my wonderful cohost, and the master mind behind this beautiful idea, Melissa Jo. The Lord has truly blessed me with your friendship, girl!

 

And now the sappy stuff is out of the way, on to my prayer request for this week!

 

Mine is mainly for today, because chances are, as you are reading this I will be running my very first 15K.

 

Believe me, I am so excited! But I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, because I am.

 

This will be the longest that I've ever run, and I'm just praying that God be with me every mile along the way. I'm praying for good health, and a strong body. 

 

And no injuries!

 

I can 100% attest to feeling your prayers last week! I was able to run 7 miles on Thursday, which is the longest I've run since my stress fracture back in September.

 

After foam rolling, my knees felt sooo much better! No pain at all, which was wonderful.

 

Thank you so much for praying for me, I am so thankful for you all!

 

How can I be praying for you this week?

 

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises.

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them

pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

James 5: 13-14

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Prayer Chain! // Week 3

Happy Sunday, lovelies!

I am so happy to be back for round 3 of The Prayer Chain, hosting with my wonderful friend, Melissa Jo. 

I'm gonna keep things short and sweet today, but I do have an incredible praise!

That's right! My aunt is officially cancer free. Thank you all so much for your prayers, and please pray that all check ups moving forward will keep showing the same good results!

As for prayer requests:

1) Please pray for healing for my roommate. You can read about her accident here. Recovery has been rough, and prayers would be much appreciated!

2) I will be running a 15K next Sunday, and please pray for God to keep my body strong through the race! This will be the longest that I have ever run, 9.3 miles. The last time I was running this much, I ended up with a stress fracture. Fortunately, I have not had any issues with my feet lately (yay!!). But I have been feeling it in my knees. 

Luckily, thanks to some wonderful Instagram advice (thank you!), my knees are feeling 100% better. Foam rolling has done wonders on my IT band, and I have had zero knee pain since!

Please pray that God would keep my body strong through the 15K, and as I continue to train for my Half Marathon in May. 

I cannot wait to hear all of your praise reports and prayer requests. 

Thank you so much for sharing your lives with us!

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. 

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them 

pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

James 5: 13-14

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Prayer Chain! // Week 2

Happy Sunday, friends!

I am so excited to be back for round 2 of The Prayer Chain! I just want to first say that Melissa Jo and I have been so blessed by all of you and your prayer requests. It was so sweet to take some intimate time alone with God to pray for each of you, and I am so thankful for this network that He has created. 

This week, I decided to change things up and go vlog-style. I hope you don't mind :)

If that ain't the prettiest freeze frame that I've ever seen, then I don't know what is!

Hope you all have had a wonderful weekend, so far! And continue it by enjoying this lovely Sunday. 

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. 

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them 

pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

James 5: 13-14

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Prayer Chain

A few days ago, I texted one of my best blog friends seeking some prayer. I had really felt like I needed prayer over a particular area of my life, so I reached out to Melissa knowing that she would be fully willing and excited to pray for me. 

I am constantly amazed by the friendships God brings into my life to help me grow stronger in my walk with Him. Melissa is absolutely one of those friends. 

And little did I know, God had more in store for our friendship :)

Please ignore my typos, clearly I was just TOO darn excited to pay attention to my quick fingers.

Within a few more texts and e-mails, we were ready to bring Melissa's idea to life, and the Prayer Chain idea was born. 

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. 

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them 

pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

James 5: 13-14

Our vision:

We both have felt it placed upon our hearts to create a weekly link up where bloggers can come together to form a prayer network. 

Going through a rough time? We would love to pray for you. 

Seeing God work in wonderful ways in your life? We would love to praise the Lord with you. 

Feeling as though you need God's counsel? We want to ask God to lead you. 

Struggling with sin? We want to pray for you. 

How can you get involved?

The Prayer Chain link up will take place every Sunday, starting March 3rd. 

Come, join us and share your heart. Prepare a post with some prayer requests. Or let us know what praises you have for your week. 

We want to know how God is moving in your life. And how we can be praying for you in your walk with Jesus. 

And while you're here linking up? We ask that you find one fellow blogger that you can commit to praying for through out your week. 

Feeling led to pray for more than one person? Please do!

Melissa and I will commit to praying for each and every person that links up. So please come back and keep us updated on your requests and praises!

We are so excited, and most definitely feel the Lord's hand in this. So please do spread the word, and come back on March 3rd with your requests for our first link up!

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A Prayer Request + A Testimony

I've mentioned before that I was saved on a high school church retreat. A summer trip to Catalina, to be exact. 

I was invited by a good friend of mine, Elysia. Elysia and I had been friends since 2nd grade. Growing up, we lived a street away from each other. I spent a significant amount of time at her house, just as she did with mine. We both grew to be very close with each other's families. 

I always knew Elysia's mom, Dawn, to be a strong Christian. I can remember her playing worship music when we would drive in the car. Elysia would say that she could only listen to "normal" music when she was with her Dad, because worship was all that Dawn listened to. 

Any opportunity to bring me along to a church function, Dawn would do it.

I had heard about the Lord many times at this point, and if asked, I would have said yes, I believe in God. 

But Dawn was the first person that I met who was truly on fire for Christ. 

And after everything that this incredible woman has gone through, she is still on fire for Christ.

Dawn and her grandson

Today, Dawn faces a battle with cancer. 

I have asked her if I can share this with all of you. Not only to recruit prayer, but also to provide encouragement. 

So as I'm struggling to find words at this point, I want to instead, share Dawn's with you:

"It's so amazing when you know that God worked through you. 

That's what it's all about -- Jesus working through us,

that's when His presence is the strongest. 

We walk with Jesus and know Him now, 

but when we see Him it is going to be so much more intensely amazing.

At the moments when His anointing is so strong, 

it's only a fraction of what it will be like when we are with Jesus

and we see Him face to face...

I have breast cancer that has spread to my cervix,

it's amazing that this cancer has actually been a blessing in so many ways.

I have never felt the presence, peace and joy of the Lord so strongly.

It's really trusting Him completely. Whatever His plan is, it's okay.

I don't mind going to be with the Lord,

it will be like my own personal rapture --

I just don't want to suffer. 

I think the cancer was instrumental in turning other's lives around

and building commitment and trust in the Lord. 

I wouldn't change anything that has happened. 

God knows what He is doing, His plans are not ours.

I can't imagine life without having Him in it, 

Life is hard.

But when you go through trials, if you lean on Him, 

the trials turn into miracles, answered prayers and blessings."

Please pray for Dawn. 

Pray that God heals her completely of her cancer. That He would provide her with abundant amounts of His peace, comfort and even joy during this difficult time.

And I pray that Dawn's story encourage you that we have a good God. 

One that can be trusted in all circumstances of life, for not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to Him than a whole flock of sparrows. (Matthew 10: 29-31)