Who doesn’t want their prayers answered? Who doesn’t wish for the confidence that God hears and gives answers to their requests? Most Christians strive to grow in this area. In fact, after Jesus’ disciples had been with Him for a certain amount of time they asked Him to teach them how to pray. The disciples noticed that powerful answers came when Jesus prayed.
praying to God
We can have this same experience as Christians. Because Jesus gave us authority to use His name, and since faith in Him places us in the position of friends of God and power to be sons of God, we too can have our prayers answered.
So why is it so hard for many to develop their prayer life?
Problems in Praying with Power
We aren’t sure God hears us
We aren’t sure that we are praying according to His will
We are foolishly trusting in ourselves, our own sense of goodness.
We don’t understand enough about God’s promises
We give up after failed efforts
We get discouraged because we haven’t seen the answers after what seems a long time.
Prayer is so much more than asking God for things. When growing spiritually, it helps to gain insights from others who have walked that road before. So many difficulties could be avoided if we just could hear that certain things are just normal.
Although I will go forward with fine points in future videos, one purpose for laying a foundation in this video are for these reasons:
When people think of power they want to skip to the end point. People believe they can find hacks, jumping ahead of the line, from novice to expert in spiritual matters. If we look at the example of Jesus, He accomplished each step of His ministry in the right time and order: as He heard from the Father.
Don’t let the world’s demand for social proof, or your own desire for a pre-eminent place hurry you out of the timeframe of God.
This especially is true in prayer.
Jesus Gives Prayer Tips
Actually this is being facetious about a serious topic. The Lord Jesus did more than give tips, He gave truth. So if you want to learn spiritual truths, you have to take the words of Christ jesus seriously.
What guidance did Christ give, on praying?
Don’t make a show of your prayer before men… trying to impress them. Go to your Father in Heaven in secret. Let your prayers be between Him and you when you seek standing with God.
Don’t have a flood of words, repeating things over and over. Let your words be an honest communication with the God who Hears.
Understand that He wants to give good gives to those who ask, because He is a father with a loving heart.
Keep praying and don’t give up.
Besides these points, the “Our Father” prayer is a study in the main order and points of praying powerfully.
Now that we have looked at a few of these thoughts, why not watch the entire video? Any feedback on it, is welcome.
Video for Building Confidence in Praying Powerfully
I created my first prayer talk video.
I take basics and put them together with lessons from my experience through the years of praying. Laying a foundation that with practice and time will build an effective prayer life.
Why basics? Because it is the foundation that matters and because prayer is something you do. If you want to start building a powerful prayer life, start here.
Kickstart Those New Year’s Resolutions with National Motivation and Inspiration Day
You made those resolutions for New Year’s Day, and now it is the second day of the New Year and time for …. Motivation!
Motivation Day was initiated after America’s history changed forever with the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Congress passed H. Res. 308 on 12/18/2001, and National Motivation and Inspiration Day became an official observance.
The founder of this day tells the story, “I created National Motivation & Inspiration Day after the tragic events of 9-11, because in all of the loss, despair and sadness, I saw Americans working side-by-side to accomplish amazing things,” says Kevin. L. McCrudden, who is also President of Motivate America.
Mr. McCrudden continued, “I have traveled all across America over the past decade and have spoken to a lot of people and many of them do not establish personal goals. I just feel that’s not right; that in a great country like America, where truly almost anything is possible, everyone should have their personal goals or ambitions, and the beginning of the year is a great time to begin that process.”
Great Motivators
– and what they have to say…
Zig Ziglar
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing–that’s why we recommend it daily.”
“When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.”
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great”
“Make today worth remembering.”
“Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission”
“You are what you are and you are where you are because of what has gone into your mind. You change what you are and you change where you are by changing what goes into your mind.”
“Attitude, not Aptitude, determines Altitude.”
National Motivation and Inspiration Day
Seth Godin
“If a lens makes a penny or a nickel or a dime a day, it doesn’t seem like much until there’s a million of them.”
“You’d be amazed at how far you can go, if you commit to doing it, not merely talking about it.”
“The linchpin is an individual who can walk into chaos and create order, someone who can invent, connect, create, and make things happen. Every worthwhile institution has indispensable people who make differences like these. ”
“The indispensable employee brings humanity and connection and art to her organization. She is the key player, the one who’s difficult to live without, the person you can build something around. ”
Andrew Carnegie
“Take away my people, but leave my factories, and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories, but leave my people, and soon we will have a new and better factory.”
“The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell.”
“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it”
“Aim for the highest.”
“The beginning of the year is a great time for renewal of energy and taking on the things we’ve always wanted to tackle — clutter, fitness, work we’re passionate about, debt, and so on. But it’s also a great time to clear out your life, starting out the year on a blank page that’s ready to be filled.”
“The life you have left is a gift. Cherish it. Enjoy it now, to the fullest. Do what matters, now.”
“Always think positive. Squash all negative thoughts. Monitor your thoughts. Be aware of your self-talk. We all talk to ourselves, a lot, but we are not always aware of these thoughts. Start listening. If you hear negative thoughts, stop them, push them out, and replace them with positive thoughts. Positive thinking can be amazingly powerful.”
Motivational Essentials
Succinct inspiration from the writer of “Zen Habits”, Leo Barbauta. His blog is one of my favorites for inspiration. The way it gives wisdom for paring away the frass and frustrations is really helpful.
A Good Nights Sleep
– is all the motivation some people need… Sleep has been found to be important in many ways not dreamed of in years past. Benjamin Franklin wasn’t kidding when he coined “early to bed, early to rise, makes man healthy, wealthy and wise.”
Tips for Finding Motivation
Implement these on National Motivation and Inspiration Day.
Get a Motto, or chose a Slogan for your year. Let it focus you.
Keep a “Good Memory” box. It doesn’t have to be a box- it can be a journal, or a scrapbook, but it should be something where you regularly record and have a keepsake of good memories. Refer to it when you feel deflated and uninspired.
Change direction. Do something different, if you feel in a slump.
Don’t let excuses and distractions derail your goals, instead make a plan to say “no” early on to the easy slips and detours to your plan for the year. Instead make space for planned rest and a novel activity, after which you return to the tasks at hand.
Clear, edit, and otherwise delete the too many demands on your life and time. Yes, do it again.
Exercise… and eat a healthy meal. It might just cure the slump this time.
Listen to something positive: music that is uplifting, a motivational sermon or teaching. Watch a motivational movie. Jumpstart!
Suggested Watching for Motivation and Inspiration Day
This is my husbands favorite movie… and he often says that when he is ready to throw in the towel, he remembers this scene: “just one more…”
Watch “Facing Giants” when you need inspiration and a heartwarming story.
January 2nd is National Motivation and Inspiration Day
A day dedicated to helping people set achievable goals each and every year
Motivational Biographies
Read Inspirational Stories from History
Real life stories can be stranger than fiction, but all the more inspirational to think that a person can impact their world when viewed in the perspective of history. Whether their story is one of success, or overcoming handicap, any of the ways that the human spirit reaches for the stars serves to motivate in our daily lives.
Some are famous people, others are people made famous only in the telling of their stories, but each biography can contribute to our realization that boundaries are often simply figments of imagination, and that we can reach beyond them to be the kind of person, with the kind of character, that we envision.
Biographies also serve to balance our view of what it takes to live a worthwhile life, or overcome difficulties. Understanding that not everyone has “the luck of the draw” but puts in “sweat, blood, and tears” effort to build their dream and vision into reality.
That can truly be inspiring.
Record and Track Your Goals for Success
“Statistically, we know that the top 3% of highly successful people write down and track their goals on an annual basis. If we know this to be true, then why doesn’t everyone establish annual goals and then set out to achieve them?” asks McCrudden, the founder of National Motivation and Inspiration Day.
More
Links to check out on National Motivation and Inspiration Day
Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame – features and honors the worlds leading motivational speakers and keynote speakers
In the Northwestern part of Ohio were the lands of the Wyandot Indian tribe.
Ohio isn’t sliced up with nice neat boundaries when it concerns the Indian tribe territories, who were quite fluid in their borders at times.
This effect was due to migrations of tribes forced from the East. There was a mingling of those who had alliances, but basically the Wyandot located in the upper-left quadrant of what is now the state of Ohio. Wyandot County takes its name from this tribe.
The name “Hurons” was given to the Wyandots of the Huron Confederacy by the French. And essentially both names, Wyandot and Huron, refer to the same tribe.
Their tribe is not the only one with such a tragic tale of events. It is one of broken treaties and promises from our government and of removal to the West, but one of the highlights in reading about these heartbreaking accounts was to happen upon the biography of Joseph Chiwatenhwa.
This man was a great saint of the Christian faith, but one of whom little is known.
Courage
I have courage because fearing God, I fear nothing else.
The life of Joseph Chiwatenhwa
“Blackrobes” bring the Gospel to the New World
Joseph Chiwatenhwa was born in 1602 into the Bear clan, in lands of the Wendat, or Wyandot tribe. By this time the Wyandot had been driven to the Georgian Bay area of Ontario, Canada by the Iroquois, who would continue to attack, raid, and harry the Wyandot peoples- and receive hostility in kind.
The Jesuit missionaries, called “Blackrobes” by the Native peoples, had come to preach Christianity and traveled among the tribal camps of longhouses. During an epidemic that had hit, they brought medicine and spoke of the Gospel of Christ.
It was during a ceremony of the Wyandot, the Feast of the Dead, that Jean de Brébeuf, leading the Jesuit mission, spoke in the hearing of Joseph Chiwatenhwa, who was gripped by faith, and embarked on learning all he could about Jesus and how he could best please and serve him.
This faith would come into direct conflict with the beliefs of his tribe, and consequently a great deal of opposition. The Wyandots were being decimated by diseases from Europeans, and this became blamed on the new faith, as well.
Through all these difficulties, sickness and death, suspicion and hostility of his own people, danger from traditional enemies, the spiritual stature and grace of Joseph grew and rooted deeply within his life. He impressed his Jesuit mentors, and won converts to Christ among his people.
“Their neighbors mocked them for refusing to take part in traditional rituals. They accused them of committing treason. In spite of these difficulties, their days were filled with the sense of the wonder of God’s grace. “1]
Joseph Chiwatenhwa had had a dream with a clear premonition that he would die at the hands of his enemies. Once while fishing, he told a friend of this dream, and it was in just such a way that Joseph would die not long in the future. He was only about 38 years old at the time of his death.
“Chiwatenhwa had had a dream sometime in the early summer of 1639 when on a fishing trip with his good friend and fellow Christian Rene Tsondihwane. He dreamt:
“that three or four Iroquois attacked him; that, having defended himself, he was thrown to the ground; that they took off his scalp, and gave him a blow with a hatchet on the head from which they removed it.”
There is some confusion whether an Iroquois raiding party or some of his own people disguised as Iroquois had killed him, but his words to his brother, earlier in time, shows his great faith,
“I know you think the worst that could happen is that they crack my skull like they do to people accused of witchcraft. But I would be happy to give my life for the one who has loved us so much.
Don’t worry about it bringing disgrace to our family if I am killed. If God gives our whole nation the faith, then my memory will be honored,” he explained. “People will say that I was the first who preferred to die rather than lose the freedom to live openly as a Christian.”
One of the outstanding features of this man’s life was the deep and personal knowledge and faith that he had with God. Conversing freely in prayer, witnessing constantly of God’s grace, and behaving with humility and service to members of his tribe and family. The stories of his walk with Christ reverberate with sincerity and a living faith that affects those who hear of it today.
His Prayer
Joseph Chiwatenhwa’s Recorded Prayer
O God, at last I start to understand you. You made the earth, which we live in.
You made the sky, which we see above us. You made us, we who are called people.
Now you let me start to know who you really are. I know how to make a canoe, and how to enjoy it.
I know how to build a cabin and how to live in it. But you! you made us, and you live in us.
The things we make last for a few seasons. We only use the canoes we create for a short time.
We only live in the houses we build for a few years.
But your love for us will endure so long that we cannot count the time. You will comfort us forever.
As long as we live, how can anyone not acknowledge you? You are the one who protects us.
The time we feel your presence the most is when we face death.
You are the one with the power to keep our souls alive,
because only you know how to love us in the deepest part of ourselves.
Not even a mother or father can love a human being the way you do.
Your love for us is so strong that it makes evil spirits lose their power.
Now I begin to see that the reason you made us is because you want to share your love.
Nothing attracts you as much as your people. Thank you for letting me understand you.
You love us so deeply that all I can do in return is offer myself to you. I claim you as my elder and chief.
There is no one else. Ask me for anything you want. Just let me always hold you in my heart.
I always want to feel you watching and protecting me. I offer you my family.
If any evil strikes them when I am away, I know you will take care of them.
Your love is more than I can ever give them. Thank you, from my heart.
I see the loving way you lead us along the path of life. You want what is best for us.
If we have poverty, let us feel your love in it. If we get rich, do not let comfort make us forget that we need you.
Never let us turn into selfish people. Never let us think we are better than others who have less.
You love us equally, rich and poor. We are people, your people, and you love us as we are.
It fills me with joy to know you. I can feel the presence of your love.
Thank you for letting me give you myself just as I am.
The more I thank you, the more I find I can give myself to you.
Help me let go of the things I used to place my faith in. All I ask is to be yours.
It would have been enough to give us the gifts of the earth. Thank you for them.
But you’ve given us much more. In you, we live forever. I can hardly imagine what heaven is like, but it is enough for me to know your love and to believe in you with all my heart.
You have promised to let us be free spirits in you, and because I know you love us,your promise gives me hope. Help us to welcome suffering if it means we will know our need of you more deeply.
In our suffering, help us give ourselves to you.
We don’t have to be afraid to die, because death is the new birth that lets us live fully in you.
Life is a journey, and with you as our companion and our destination, it will end with great joy.
Lord, I am not afraid of death anymore. I will rejoice when I know the time has come for me to die.
I do not even want to mourn the passing of my relatives.
All I need to remember is you are bringing them to be with you in paradise.
You want to take them away so they can have perfect happiness.
Amen
-Joseph Chiwatenhwa, as recorded in Friends of God account.
One feature of a living faith is the way it transcends the boundaries of time. when I read this prayer of a saintly Indian of centuries ago, it speaks to my own heart, and I find it is a prayer that I can speak in tandem with Joseph Chiwatenhwa. To know and experience that God understands us, that He is a very present help in trouble, these are things that we hold in common with believers in Christ all over the earth.
This Indian man knew persecution and discrimination from both within the tribe of his people and from without. He stayed steadfast even though the difficulties of his life were so many and so severe. He faced everything with a good humor and humility. These are things that I greatly admire, and would want to emulate in my own life.
Ohio Indian Tribes, the Miami, Ojibwa, and Wyandot
Ohio Historical Center says of the Wyandot that they were what was little left of the Huron groups of Indian tribes driven by the Iroquois to the Upper Great Lakes area. Hunting ranges, which were much wider territories than settlement, traditional lands, reached into the northwest quadrant of the State of Ohio. By the 1740s, they had settled there and spread eastward into the Cuyahoga River valley.
The Wyandots controlled much of Ohio. It was by permission from the Wyandot that the the Shawnee and Delaware tribes came to settle north of the Ohio River.
Among their famous chiefs were Leatherlips, Tarhe “The Crane”, and Big Turtle.
The Farewell of the Wyandot People to Ohio
In the sad annals of American history, the story of the Wyandot tribe, Joseph Chiwatenhwa’s tribe, is particularly tragic. Once the leading tribe of Ohio lands, disease and finally removal to Western lands took a tragic toll upon this people. So much so, that their language is largely lost, and it is unclear just what some of their clans names were, a number of the known clans are now extinct, all their members having died out.
Many know of the terrible “Trail of Tears” of the Cherokee tribe, but less is known of this similar story of the Wyandot, who were forcibly removed from their beloved Ohio lands. During their history, as Chiwatenhwa is but one individual, they were known as one of the most noble and dignified of First Nation peoples.
Squire Grey Eyes delivered the following address to the Wyandots assembled at the mission church before leaving for Ohio, from which they were removed to the West.
All six hundred and sixty four members of the Wyandot Nation were gathered for the farewell address.
Squire Grey Eyes was an ordained minister and the Wyandot spiritual leader. He resisted removal from Ohio until the very end.
“My people, the time for our departure is at hand. A few words remain only to be said.
Our entire nation has gathered here for farewell. We have this morning met together for the last time in our Love Feast. More than two-hundred have testified to the great power of God.
Brother Wheeler has preached the funeral for our dead, our John Stewart, our beloved Mononcue, our recently murdered Summundewat, our eloquent Between-the-Logs. They sleep the sleep of death, but the hope of immortality is strong within our breasts.
Our chiefs have committed to the care our White Brothers, our temple; to the great spirit, the grave of our ancestors.
The Indian does not forget the pale-faced brother who came to him with the message from the Great Spirit, and who loved him well and served him well.
The White Man’s God has become the Indian’s God, and with us go ever to our new home, our beloved shepherd, Brother Wheeler, and sister Lucy Armstrong, the Wyandot bride.
Surely like the white-faced truth of all that she says: “Whither thou goest, I will go and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; where thou diest I will die, and there will I be buried.”
It remains only for me to say farewell. Yes, it is indeed farewell.
No more shall we engage in the solemn feast, or the feast of rejoicing.
No more shall Sandusky’s Plains and forests echo to the voice of song and praise.
No more shall we assemble in our Temple to sing the sacred songs and hear the story of the Cross.
Here our dead are buried. We have placed fresh flowers upon their graves for the last time. No longer shall we visit them. Soon they shall be forgotten, for the onward march of the strong White Man will not turn aside for the Indian graves.
Farewell, Farewell Sandusky River.
Farewell, Farewell our hunting grounds and homes.
Farewell to the stately trees and forests.
Farewell to the Temple of the Great Spirit.
Farewell to our White Brothers, and friends, and neighbors.
It is but a little time for us till we leave our earthly home; for here we are no continuing city, but we seek one that is to come, whose builder and maker is God.
Let us remember the dying words of Brother Stewart:”Be Faithful.” “
I wasn’t originally planning on making this design. It was just a day of finally getting around to using some elements that I had bought as a bundle, complete with full licensing to use on my own products.
I painted and arranged, and then the fact that being a “Mom Who Prays” inspired me to make this t-shirt. I’m going to order one for myself because I really find it inspiring and encouraging.
One thing I am… a prayer warrior. I didn’t plan on that, either. But God has plans for us that work out over time, and the best thing about becoming an intercessor is that you start to get to know your God. You become friends with your Savior and Lord.
The back design was one of the rhema moments: a banner… “His banner over me is love”! So of course I had to add the word love to the banner and it hovers over “prayer warrior”- me!
I love when that happens.
The scripture is a well known one to all who believe in the power of prayer:
Anyway, I am super happy about how the design came out, it was fun to do, and I believe it will be an encouraging, enjoyed shirt for other praying women as well.
What is most satisfying about this design, aside from the message, is the subtle watercolor look and washed colors. Sage green (another meaningful play on words), aqua blue (water is full of symbolism in this context), and coral pink create the kind of feeling that I often experience in prayer times.
It is calm.
Peaceful.
Hopeful.
Restful.
The hand painted look is not just something I am drawn to (can’t get away from puns and word play!), it is something that joins with the intent of being a person engaged in the act of creating from my heart.
Letting the Lord inspire our desires and prayers, and returning them to Him to more fully experience His love over us.
It is just a simple tshirt, but somehow it turned into kind of a devotional inspiration for me.
Funny how that happens sometimes. But wonderful and refreshing!
I appear to be a confident person. On the whole, I am, but I have worked all my life to build the aura of confidence. More importantly I have struggled to overcome fear of rejection. I sought to be liked, to be accepted and confident in myself as a response to the pain of rejection, and my own fear of it.
Fears often handicap us. Most of the time fear is not a healthy part of our life because it has grown outside the intended area of protecting us from danger. It grows into areas of perceived danger and settles there, long after the distinction between real and perceived has been made.
I think that is why we can retain worries about what people think of us, and some personalities are far more prone to that than others. Without stepping outside my bounds on this (I am no psychoanalyst), this whole area of life is one that motivated me to write down helpful strategies and information that I think will keep rejection from crushing you.Don’t Let Rejection Crush You
Rejection
It really comes from a very logical place. As people we need to be discerning in many decisions every day. We have to choose.
We also have a lifelong learning process of what we like or don’t, want – or don’t, ad infinitum until we die. We are choosing and rejecting all the time.
But when others do this, and particularly when that rejecting involves our not being chosen, that is when it starts to feel like personal, emotional hurt.
A problem that arose for me, and I am sure is common, is that I took that rejection personally. I interpreted it as saying that something was wrong with me, and none of us likes to face that idea.
Throughout life there are messages that things are wrong with us, and some of those are true and some are not. But the hurt involved in looking at these ideas is going to stand in the way of making progress in life and relationships.
At  a certain point I decided to have more control over this inside my own mind. To not let it take on a life of its own (which often led to damaging consequences).
Don’t fear rejection, instead if you have to fear something let it be a lack of personal growth.
Rejection can be our friend, and I just love the way one man explored that idea.
There are so few places where one experience true quiet. For deep meditation, that which helps settle and heal the mind, quiet brings a clean slate on which to layer thoughts.
Not the usual thoughts which clutter our minds:
to-do lists
clamoring ads
chaotic news items
inner criticism and disappointments
… all those things that vie for attention whenever we feel overwhelmed or if trying to disconnect from the everyday stimuli. Those sounds and demands intruding into our efforts to sleep, to make decisions, to stay present.
Quiet brings an empty space, at first. A place to register calm and a sense of our core. Pushing away inner sounds that we wish to edit, while welcoming a focus on thoughts we wish to build upon.
Deep woods for deep meditation
Nature as Background and Focus
Large natural spaces like a deep woods or an empty beach are condusive to meditation practice. Their background feeling, light, smells, all calm and lead the mind to give up the jostling and dominating influences that meditation is meant to moderate.
The focus points within nature also guides our hearts to consider matters of interest, wisdom, and ideas outside the loops of daily life. This aids in a transcendent overview which lifts undue worry and the burdens of false guilt. Flashes of understanding may come, or simply the healing that comes from amused view of the animal or insect world.
Nature can have both that focus and background.
Importance of Finding Natural Spaces
Such places have a breadth and power that helps correct the small views that modern urban lives miss. We need the majesty of trees, the pounding of ocean waves, the whispering of wind, the power of mountain peaks. We need it to, at times, surround us. To experience the bigness of it all.
To view something that is quite outside of our work, and the sense of our control; this experience adjusts the warp that we develop in either our sense of failures or success. We begin to understand and embrace that rest and quiet is not just a temporary cessation or blocking of our efforts, but a necessary and integral part of all existence.
Meditation Becomes Part of Us
Once such times are given a place in a healthy living experience, like exercise or nutritious eating, it becomes a part of what gives us pleasure. We can think of it as important as breathing deeply, or getting a good night’s sleep. It becomes part of us in more ways than those habits may be, because we connect with something more than ourselves and outside ourselves.
If our meditations reach out to God, we engage in a communion that brings us into connection that vitalises us throughout our entire being.
Psalms 77:12 NIV – “I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”
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Implement these on National Motivation and Inspiration Day.
