Friday, May 7, 2010

Yes, God is alive and well in the USA :)

Today I attended the First Ladies Prayer Brunch in Tampa. I've have gone many times over the last 10 years and I love it. The brunch (this year is the 18th year) commemorates our National Day of Prayer, and this year's theme was "Prayer for Such a Time as This."

The morning is always an uplifting one, with wonderful speakers, prayers and Christian music. Today, there were prayers for our President, Vice President, and other important leaders in our country. We prayed for everyone in our military, and for God's protection over all in harm's way. We prayed for the media that influences so many of us, we prayed for local officials, we prayed for our families and our children. We were soaked in prayer and it was awesome!

For me, this year was was especially meaningful because the Keynote Speaker was Fern Nichols, the founder and President of Moms in Touch, International. If you don't know about that organization, let me tell you a little bit about it. MITI was started when Fern's two sons were about to enter middle school. As a Christian Mom, she was concerned that school would become a battlefield for their hearts and minds. She prayed "Lord, there must be just one other Mom, who would pray with me." God answered her prayer and the powerful prayer group Moms in Touch was born. Today, tens of thousands of women gather in all 50 states and over 120 countries around the world to pray for their children and their schools. Fern is now heading Grandma's in Touch, and continues to speak and talk about God's love and the power of prayer and the impact of those prayers in the lives of our children. She is such a Godly woman!

If you have children, do you pray for them? I have two sons, who are grown, but I still pray for them everyday. I pray for God's protection over them. I pray for wisdom for them, I pray for Godly decisions to rule their lives. The pull of this world is a difficult thing. Our kids are growing up in a very different world than we did. Everything, and I mean everything, is available, almost instantly, to them. It's not all good, actually, very little is good. I pray our kids can see my husband and I live our lives in a Godly manner so we can be a good witness to them and to the world.

Is it easy???Heck no, does Satan want to pull us down and tear us apart, and want to get in the middle of anything that is good and righteous and of God. YES! Does he win? Not on my watch...
I won't let him and long as there is breathe in my body. I will keep praying for everyone I hold dear, especially my husband and my two boys and the rest of my family I love so much.

After today's meeting I convicted again of praying together with other women for my family, especially my kids. My problem is that I don't drive anymore because I have little to no feeling in my right leg, and couldn't pass the hand control cognitive test :) Bummer.

But, God has provided a way, and I didn't even realize it until tonight. I have been communicating with friends through Facebook, and through this blog. Praise God!
Of course, The Creator of the Universe has provided for me - it makes perfect sense, I just had to stay still and Know that He is GOD!! It was staring me right in the face the whole time. I was doing it and it was happening and I wasn't even realizing it! DUH!!

Through this blog, and my facebook contacts I have been reaching out to old friends and new, praying for them for different needs and often for their kids too~ I've been praying for them, and I just needed to ask all them to pray for my needs too!

So.....here we go. Please friends, lift up my family and ask for God's protection over them. If you would like to send me a personal email, my address is NSWatts78@aol.com. I would love to hear from you and become your Moms in Touch Facebook/blog friend.

Have a blessed weekend friends. Our God is so GOOD, all the time!

My verse for today is from the prayer brunch: Nahum 1:7

" The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him."

My prayer for today:

Lord Jesus:

Thank you Lord, for this awesome day with good friends and the opportunity to be surrounded with a hundreds of Godly women, all praying for our Nation and our children. Thank you for Fern Nichols and her wonderful ministry and the lives that she has touched for You. Thank you that we can still gather in this Country and pray openly for our needs as a Nation and the needs is our community and families.

Thank you for Godly counsel and for the Christian love I felt all day today. Help me Lord, to reach out to everyone each day in your Name.

In Jesus blessed Name I pray,
Amen.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Do you believe in the Power of Prayer?

Today, the first Thursday in May, is our National Day of Prayer, so designated by President Harry Truman on April 17, 1952. The tradition has always been part of our national fabric. Prayer has been an important part of our nation ever since we broke free of British Rule and formed the U.S. of A. in 1776! President Eisenhower added One Nation, Under God, to our pledge of Allegiance after World War II. He knew that God had answered the prayers of the World to save us all from the tyranny of Hitler and he wanted to acknowledge that we were indeed, One Nation, Under God.

Do you believe in the power of Prayer to our Almighty God? I sure do, and have seen prayers answered again and again to the Glory of God! I am a living example of an answered prayer, and
I want to begin to share that with you as are celebrating this joyous day. One of the reasons I wanted to write this blog was to share about how prayer has worked in my life and the life of my friends.

Please tell me your stories of how God has answered your prayers. I want to share the love of God through this blog, so please don't be embarrassed, just go for it and share with me :)

This is the beginning of my journey with the Lord :)

.....I was 42 years old when I woke up one morning, and couldn't put a sentence together.
I was stumbling around the kitchen, and just stood there looking at the microwave because for some reason I didn't know how to punch in one minute to warm my coffee. My loving husband looked at me and said, "you need to stay home today, you've been kinda weird all weekend," to which I replied "I can't - we've got a brand new Christian artist coming in from California, and I've got to be there to meet with him and see his art and hopefully get him on board. At the time, I was working full time (actually more than full time) traveling, running a fast paced art publishing company, and living the "good life." My two boys were 13 and 8, healthy and happy, and my life was great! I had been kinda feeling tired of late, but couldn't put my finger on what was wrong - probably just overworked and over tired, that's what I thought.


I relented and gave in to my husband wishes and decided since I couldn't really think anyway, that I probably wouldn't make much sense to our potential artist, so maybe I needed to let other people handle the problem. I laid down, thoroughly exhausted with a promise of calling the doctor to set up an appointment and my hubs left for work. After a while I woke up to a knock on the door. It was the Pastor's wife, Mary. We had become close, and my husband had called her saying he was concerned about me. She came over to check on me and pray with me. I remember clearly we talked for a while, and I thought I was making perfect sense when she looked at me and said "Nicki, you are not making any sense at all." Your talking, but your not making any sense." Oh boy, I knew I was in trouble then.


After a trip to our family doctor, I found myself headed to a local neurologist for tests. It wasn't the one that my doc wanted to get me into, but there was a waiting list for that neurologist, and the doc said, NO, she needs to see someone right away. That scared me. My family doctor knew something was seriously wrong with me, but didn't want to say anything at that point because he wanted the confirmation by another doctor.
The neurologist gave me all the standard neurological tests and sent me for a brain MRI. He was concerned about me, told me to rest but didn't show much emotion until the results of the MRI came back a week later. The results were not good. I'll never forget what he said to me, because it changed my life forever... He said "Mrs. Watts, I want you to identify to me that your name on these films are correct, because what I have to tell you is not good." Sit down. He proceeded to tell me that all those spots lighting up like a Christmas Tree on my brain, were mostly likely tumors, with that one big one, the largest of all, the most deadly-- and I probably didn't have long to live. I can remember thinking to myself..."This cannot be happening to me. Did he say I might die soon.?" I wanted to get out of that office as quick as I could because I couldn't breathe.

My husband and I sat numb through the rest of the visit, the doctor wanted to send me immediately to a cancer doctor, and to the hospital for a battery of tests on my entire body. He suspected that the cancer had most likely spread if it was in my brain already. We agreed to it all, not really even knowing what we were doing because we were in such shock. We left the office, got in the elevator, and just collapsed in each other's arms, sobbing.
On the ride home, I felt God's Hand upon me. We stopped at the pastor's house to see if they were home. He wasn't there, but Mary was. When I told her that we had just come from the doctors office and the bad news he had given me, she looked me square in the eyes, took my hands in hers and said "Nicki, these doctors are mortal men, they don't know the number of your days, only God knows...your life is in God's Hands."

WOW --That one sentence snapped me right back to center in an instant! She was absolutely right, NONE of us knows how long we have on this earth, only God knows the number of our days!

I will tell you the "rest of the story" as Paul Harvey used to say, over the course of the next few days, but just let me say friends, that prayer is powerful and God answers prayers, everyday. After some intense prayer together, my husband and I got back in the car, and turned to him and said "I don't know how long God is going to give me, but I do know that I am going to live every minute of all the days I have left on this earth for Him." And so began my journey.

I'm sure many of you have faced similar difficulties, and I want you to know and believe that prayer WORKS, not always in your time, but always in God's time :)

Please, please, tomorrow, take a moment to pray for our country. We need it more than ever. We are One Nation, Under God, although unfortunately, it's getting harder and harder to see it. these days Pray for our President, and all of our leaders, for God to give them wisdom in these very difficult times we live in. Pray for our soldiers worldwide who live and die to protect the many freedoms that we enjoy each day.

My verse for today is from 2 Chronicles 7:14

...If My people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and will heal their land.

My prayer for today:

Heavenly Father,

Today is such an important day for our nation. There are people who are trying to destroy our right to assemble and pray in Your Name. Open their eyes O Lord, soften their hearts to you. Protect and give strength and wisdom to all of our leaders and everyone who protects our great nation. Hear our Prayer O Lord, do not turn Your Face from us. Forgive us our sins, as we turn to you. Please Heal our Land Heavenly Father, please Heal our Land.

In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Proverbs- the Book of Wisdom!

I love the book of Proverbs!

Woven in all of our lives is the desire to learn and understand. That's what makes us who we are and makes us different from the animals, and apes! We want to analyze, theorize, discuss, and debate everything we do. We're interested in all kinds of things from math, science, different languages, to the supernatural, the arts, sports, different interests for different people. Learning and trying to understand what this life is all about is part of who we are and will be until the day we die. But there is a big difference between "knowledge" and "wisdom." Knowledge is knowing the facts, wisdom is apply the facts to life.

I've been thinking about the difference between the two of those today. I'm sure we all know people that are "book" smart, they seem to have a lot of knowledge, but it sure doesn't seem that they apply it to their day to day lives. Then we know people we consider "street" smart, who have done all their growing up or struggling along actually living life, not sitting in a classroom. Do you know alot of people that have both knowledge and wisdom?

I think knowledge is attainable by many, but wisdom is often hard to come by, and should be treasured whenever and wherever we can find it. Do you know some family members or friends that have wisdom? Do you seek their advice?

It seems that everyone has something to say about everything these days. The TV, internet and radios are full of people with opinions about everything from how to lose weight, how to raise your kids, where to eat, what to wear, where to vacation, what kind of car to buy, who to vote for, etc., etc. Where do you go to get your wisdom? Your spouse, significant other, brother, sister, friend, pastor or the Lord of the Universe?

The Bible is full of wisdom if you just open it up and look. Almighty God wants to impart His knowledge to you through the Bible, which is His Word, the book of life. I think that everything we need to know about life is in the books in the Bible, just pick it up and start reading! One of my favorite verses for how to live your life is...

Proverbs 3:5-6


"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

So, I need to trust in God, don't lean on my own knowledge, but acknowledge Him and He will guide my life! Sounds pretty good to me, how about you?

My prayer for today:

Dear Lord,

Help me to lean on you everyday. I am weak, you are strong, I can do nothing, you can do everything. I am human, you are God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth. Help me to put all my trust in you, every moment of everyday.

In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen

Monday, May 3, 2010

God vs.Satan, who will win in your life?

Most people believe in God, and his Power and but do you believe in Satan and His Power? I sure do, and have been especially aware of his presence today. The bible warns about spiritual warfare, but as life moves along, quite honestly I don't think too terribly much about Satan being in my house, but he was today, I know that for a fact and I DON'T LIKE IT!

I have had a lot of positive things going on in my life of late, and have clearly been able to see God's Hand in every aspect, but it wasn't until this morning that I knew Satan was aware of everything because he clearly smacked me right down and said "Ok Nicki, enough with all this shenanigans you're up to."

I believe that Satan is the ruler of this dark world, until Jesus returns, and his influence can be seen in every portion of our society, more and more each day. Well, He's not gonna win this one, that's for sure. I'm in the recliner now with my icepack working on the laptop-- to get this post out!

Ok, everything just went wrong, the one dog, pit bull Karma just pooped all over the floor, I let her and Buck out and they both sneaked out and were running around the neighborhood, and I'm home alone right now. Thank you Jesus, they came back after 5 minutes of me screaming and yelling for them. Everything I'm trying to do today, I have been slammed down by Satan. I'm having more trouble even moving because of my back and now that I'm back at the computer, I've written this paragraph three times, and every time, it's disappeared I can't get the italics off the post either, Satan is trying really hard for me not to post this one, but it's not gonna work.

I'm in a tremendous amount of pain right now, but I'm writing and I'm getting ready to post this. Believe me friends, the Destroyer is very slippery and does all kinds of things to keep you from your mission to Praise and Glorify God! Not this gal, especially not today.

My verse is about from Ephesians 6:10-18 about the Armour of God:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and His mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so than when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

My prayer for today:

Heavenly Father:

I know that I am doing your work. I know that you are well pleased with my testimony and I am praying for your strength and healing. Stay with me Lord. Help me to continue to do this task set before me.

In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen


Sunday, May 2, 2010

Let your light shine before everyone!

Today is the Sabbath. A wonderful day of relaxation and renewal :) I love going to church on Sunday mornings, and even though it is starting to be warm outside and it's tough on me physically, I'm going anyway, cause there is no where else I would rather be. I don't care if I'm down for the day, it's totally worth it! I feel warm in my heart when I go to the place where I feel God meets me at the door. Church is God's house, and our church is a warm and friendly place, filled with a lot of love from people we've known for many years and have prayed us through many situations in life along with some terrific new friends too.

The pastor's message today was simple but so important for me to hear. If you are a Christian, and you are born-again in Jesus Christ, all things are new. The old things are put away, and everything is new! Remember that, always!

We are to provide glimpses of the "kingdom of heaven" to a fallen world. Yikes, that is alot of responsibility to have, but that is what God wants us to aspire to. He wants us to break away from the patterns of this world, and shine before all people. Pastor said that Jesus is the light, and we are the mirrors reflecting the Glory of Jesus to a broken world. Doesn't that sound awesome? I sure take that seriously, and every morning when I wake up, that is my prayer.

I want to let my light shine before all people. Do you remember that Sunday school song about letting your light shine?

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, Not gonna hide it under a bush, I'm gonna let it shine Not gonna let it be blown out, I'm gonna let it shine, Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine :)
My verse for today is from Romans 12:2

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...

My prayer for today:

Dear Lord Jesus

What a wonderful Sabbath day today. Thank you for Christian friends and answered prayers. Help me Lord, to always let my light shine before all men. Help me to be thankful in all situations, regardless of the outcome which is not all ways easy to do. Give me faith in your Providential Plan.

In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen