Wendy Blight

April 23, 2013

A Legacy of Faith

When our Proverbs 31 Ministries Executive Team shared the idea of a Legacy Campaign. I was thrilled! What a beautiful gift to honor women in our lives who have impacted our faith. It led me to think about my legacy of faith. God reminded me of the many women who prayed for me, encouraged me, and challenged me in my walk with Jesus. It began with my Grandma Wally, who prayed for me to know and love the Lord from the time I was a small child. And throughout the years, God strategically placed women in my path who shaped not only the faith I live but also the faith I will leave as a wife, mother, friend, and Bible teacher. Names flooded my mind.

But there is one woman who has influenced my walk with Jesus more than any other. Her name is Jan Harrison. This is Jan..

Isn’t she beautiful!

She came into my life at a time when I felt so very far from the Lord. You see, just days after my college graduation from Baylor University, I was raped by an armed, masked man hiding in my apartment. The days and years following my attack were some of the most traumatic and difficult times of my life. I lived those years locked in a prison of fear.

Then in 1998, my husband’s job brought us to Charlotte, North Carolina. We arrived with a 4 year-old, an 8 month old, and a yellow lab named CJ. Oh, how I hoped this would be a place of new beginnings, a fresh start. But it was not. In fact, being away from all that was familiar and comfortable, took me to a darker place…one filled with more fear, more despair, more self-pity.

But God! He opened the door for me to attend a Bible study. A real Bible study. Not a book club, not a discussion group. But a place where our only tools were a Bible and a notebook. The first day, I witnessed something I had never seen before. A woman standing before me who LOVED, absolutely LOVED the Word of God. She possessed incredible Bible knowledge. I had never met anyone who loved and believed in the power of God’s Word as much as she did. Her passion was infectious. I found myself writing fast and furiously to record every word she spoke.

Her love for God’s Word increased my desire to be in the Word. Many days I would go beyond my homework and dig deeper to learn more. I wanted what she had. I saw a confidence I longed for; a peace I needed; joy that I had never experienced, and sweet relationship with the Lord that I never knew could be had.

We prayed together. We met together outside Bible study. She gave me tools to help me go deeper in prayer and the Word.

What made her different from other women in my life?

Jan INVESTED her heart in mine.

She helped me to see God’s Word is living and active meant to speak to us today. Jan taught me to pray God’s Word. And when I began to put into action all that she had taught me, it transformed my life. As I began to immerse myself in prayer and the Word, the Lord freed me from my prison of fear! He healed me from all that held me captive! Through Jan, God transformed my heart and mind in a way that opened my eyes to see the giftedness He had given me. The giftedness to teach His Word.

Jan has left a legacy of faith. But her legacy doesn’t end with me. It goes on and on and on as she invests year after year in so many women.

And then a few years ago, this woman who began as my Bible teacher and has since become one of my dearest friends, suffered a heartbreaking loss, one no mother should have to bear. On October 5, 2010, their family changed forever when she and Frank lost their only son, James Harrison Franklin IV. Once again, Jan lived her faith out loud for all to see. Through her example, I learned the meaning of of what it means to grieve with hope. Although the loss of James rocked their family to its core, Jan found hope in knowing that this separation was only temporary. She reminded me in our first conversation, “take heart, Wendy, James is absent from the body but present with the Lord!” (2 Corinthians 5:8) We shared several conversations during that time, and I stood amazed at the strength of her faith…how she continually found HOPE in the midst of her grief. How she found ways to honor God in and through her indescribable suffering. She found hope in Philippians 1:6,

Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Her son, James, died while in Africa, ministering to the least and lost. He laid the foundation for a ministry,With Open Eyes, a global missions organization dedicated to serving those in need and equipping pastors to reach the “unreachable” with the message of the gospel.

James had a fearless determination to spread the message of Jesus. Where did James get that passion to share the hope of Jesus with the least and the lost? He watched his mom live it out before his eyes every day. Jan left James a legacy. And now James has left a legacy in With Open Eyes. If you would like to learn more about With Open Eyes, click here.

Is there someone who has left a legacy in your life? Someone who has lived out the Bible and strengthened your walk with Christ. Honor her this month with a donation to Proverbs 31 Ministries. We will send a card to her letting her know you are honoring her faith and through your donation, you will be helping us reach millions of women a day with the truth of God’s love. Click here to find out more.

If you have a special woman who has impacted her faith, I would love to hear about her. Will you honor her by leaving a comment below?

I will choose one name from the comments left to win a copy of Jill Beran’s book, Letters from Leanne – The Beauty of a Spiritual Mother-Daughter Relationship. Jill and Leanne’s story shows how lives are impacted and faith grows when generations connect. As you read about their friendship you will be encouraged to find a mentor, or be one! If you want to know more about Jill, please visit her blog by clicking here. Also, you can purchase her book on Amazon. I will announce the winner on May 1st.

*** WINNER OF HIDDEN JOY GIVEAWAY IS…***

Shawna who posted on April 12th at 2:34 pm

Congratulations Shawna! Please e-mail me at deuteronomysix@aol.com with your home address.

Blessings,

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40 Comments | Filed Under: Encouragement, Relationships, Spiritual Growth

April 12, 2013

Praying for Your Children

If you are joining me from my Encouragement for Today devotion, welcome! I am so excited you stopped by. Today I share one of the great passions of my heart…prayer…more specifically praying for our children.

“Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to him in prayer, pleading for your children.” Lamentations 2:19 (NLT)

Praying for our children is a form of intercessory prayer. It’s one of the greatest gifts we can give our children and invites God to work in and through us to affect their lives.

The Bible promises,

“The prayer of a righteous [woman] is powerful and effective.” James 5:16b (NIV)

If you lack confidence in praying, which many women do, I’m so glad you stopped by today! This post is for you. I want you to know that all God needs is a willing heart. He does the rest. Anyone who loves the Lord can pray!!

The key to the kind of prayer we’re talking about today is praying the Scriptures. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that as we pray the Scriptures, we are praying God’s living and active Word into our circumstances and into the lives of our children.

Praying God’s Word is what makes our prayers powerful and effective. Why? Because we’re laying God’s promises before Him and and appropriating them for our children.

So as you seek to pray for your children, open your Bible and search the Scriptures. As you gaze into His Word, you will hear His voice and find His perspective on what to pray and how to pray it. Sit and soak and listen. When you pinpoint the Scriptures that speak to you, pray them back to God. I know it sounds complicated, but it’s really very simple.

Let’s try it together.

Below are some verses and prayers I have prayed for my children in the past. Perhaps some will capture your heart.

Maybe you want to pray for their salvation because they don’t know the Lord.

Lord, please open and tender Katie’s heart and provide an opportunity for her to receive the gift of salvation by Your grace through faith in Jesus Christ. John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 7:10

Maybe you want your child to know and love God’s Word.

Hide Your Word in Grayson’s heart so his desire is to please and obey You in all he says and does. Psalm 119:11

Help Betsy to trust in You with all her heart and lean not on her own understanding and to acknowledge You in all her ways. Proverbs 3:5-6

Give Tyler wisdom beyond his years, Father, keep him pure by leading him to live according to Your word. James 1:5, Psalm 119:9

Maybe you want your child to experience the deep love of God.

Father, penetrate Christina’s heart with Your love, help her to love who You have created her to be, and ensure that she knows how long and wide and high and deep is Your love. Psalm 139; Ephesians 3:18

Maybe you want your child to have a thankful heart.

Give Peter a thankful and contented heart. 1 Thessalonians 5:8, Philippians 4:11, Philippians

Maybe your child needs freedom from anxiety and worry.

Father, help Maddie to not worry about anything, but instead to pray about everything with a thankful heart. Help her to understand that it is then that she will experience Your peace that passes all understanding in a way that will guard her heart and mind. Philippians 4:6-7

Maybe your child needs to learn humility.

Clothe Spencer in humility and teach him to put others first. Help him to see that it is when he humbles himself that he will be exalted. Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:12-13; Luke 18:14

Maybe your child is fearful.

Father, teach Ellen to understand that You do not give a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Father, I pray the Armor of God over Luke: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Ephesians 6:13-17

Maybe your child struggles with despair.

Father, return to Ellie, the joy of her salvation. Teach her to say, “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it,” no matter what her day may hold. Psalm 118:24; Psalm 51:12

And a prayer I have prayed with my children from the first day I learned to pray God’s Word comes from Luke 2:52 and Daniel 1:

Father, grow my two precious children, Lauren and Bo, in wisdom and stature and favor with You and with man.

Every time a good report card comes home, or they receive a compliment from another parent, or they’re chosen for an honor at church or school, or I look upon the 6’3″ frame that is now my 15 year-old son, I remind them of this prayer. I remind them how we’ve prayed it every morning together and how God is being faithful to answer it so specifically.

I’ve included lots of examples here because I want you to see how many ways you can pray for your children. I simply took a verse of Scripture and incorporated it in a sentence with a name to create a prayer from my heart.

Sweet friend, praying this way for your children will build your faith and your prayer life. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good New about Christ.” (NLT) The good news about Christ is the Word of God.

Pray BOLDLY and CONFIDENTLY because you’re praying the mind and will of God as revealed in His Word.

You can use this same method to pray for your husband, friends, family and anyone else for whom you feel led to pray.

If you want to dig deeper into this topic, my book Hidden Joy in a Dark Corner devotes several chapters to quiet time, prayer, and abiding. These three disciplines work together to enrich and strengthen your prayer life. If you order Hidden Joy in the month of April from Proverbs 31, we’ll send you a signed copy of Hidden Joy.

And if you leave a comment today sharing your favorite verse or prayer you pray for your children, I will choose one name from the comments to receive a signed copy of Hidden Joy. I’ll announce the winner on April 23rd.

Finally, remember we have a new on-line study that will begin May 8th and run for three weeks. It’s shorter than most of my studies, but it will be packed full of wonderful lessons gleaned from the lives of two of the most beloved women in the Bible….Mary and Martha. There is no cost for the study. All you’ll need is a computer, a Bible, and a notebook or journal.

If you want to learn more about the study, click here. To register simply visit the right side of my blog and click on “Sign up for Wendy’s On-Line studies.” Doing this registers you for this study and ensures you will receive invitations for all future studies. If you’ve registered for an on-line study in the past, you don’t need to re-register.

If you would like to receive the weekly posts for the on-line study in your inbox, at the top of this sidebar, you’ll see ”Subscribe to Updates.” Place your e-mail address in the box and click “Go.” All registration information you share stays confidential.

Blessings,

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55 Comments | Filed Under: Encouragement, Prayer, Spiritual Growth

March 29, 2013

Join Me Today for a Mini Easter Bible Study

John 17

With Easter just a few days away, I went to the last few chapters of John to hear what God had to speak to my heart. He drew me to a prayer I had read many times. It is the prayer Jesus prayed not long after sharing the Last Supper with His disciples.

Let me give you a bit of background before we dive into the prayer.

After Jesus and the disciples finished their meal, Jesus humbled Himself and washed His disciples’ feet. Not long thereafter, He invited His disciples to join Him on a walk. Jesus knew these would be His final hours with His disciples. He had so much to say….words He needed to speak to strengthen and encourage them as He delivered the news He would be leaving them. He spoke many words of comfort in Chapters 14-16. He told them that where He was going, they would one day join Him also…that He would prepare a place for them. He told them about the coming of the Holy Spirit. He taught them about abiding in Him and how crucial this would be to the ministry to which He was calling them.

At the end of this long conversation, Jesus began to pray in their presence. John, Jesus’ closest friend, recorded this prayer in John Chapter 17. This is truly one of the most beautiful chapters in all of Scripture. It gives us a glimpse into His intimate relationship with His Father. Jesus prays first for Himself, then for His disciples, and then for all those He calls His own.

Take a few minutes to read through John 17. Read it through once. Imagine as you read this that Jesus is praying for you…because He is. And be encouraged as you read this prayer that God will answer every prayer lifted by His one and only Son.

If you have some time, join me for the mini Bible Study below and dig deeper into this passage.

1. Reread John 17. Record below the names and titles Jesus uses for His Father. What does this say to you about Jesus’ relationship to His Father? How do you refer to God when you pray? What does this reflect about your relationship with God?

2. Remember Jesus prays this prayer after the last supper and just before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. These are some of Jesus’ very last words. His prayer reveals exactly what was on His heart before He went to the cross. He first prays for Himself. I hope this part of His prayer encourages you. His prayer teaches us that not out of line or selfish to pray for ourselves. Before we can pray for others, our hearts and minds must be right with God. What does He pray?

3. Read John 17:6-19. Beginning in verse six, Jesus moves from praying for Himself to praying for His disciples. Jesus talks to His Father about the intimate friends God had given Jesus while He was on this earth. God gave them to Him as a gift. They were His. Do you notice in verse 9 Jesus says He is not praying for the world? For whom is He praying? What did He pray for them in verses 11-13?

4. Read John 17:20-26. Verse 20 tells us that because of the Word written and passed down by the disciples we are now believers! Romans 10:17 says “faith comes from hearing the message and hearing the message is heard through the Word of Christ.” We are those who believe in Jesus through their message. In this passage, Christ was praying for you and for me. Go line by line through verses 20 through 26 and write down what He prayed for you in these verses. Before you read this, were you aware of all that Jesus prayed for you? What does this mean to you?

5. Personalize this passage in a prayer. Insert your name for the references to the disciples and future believers in verses 6-26. For example, pray verse 11, “Holy Father, protect me by the power of your name—the name you gave Jesus—so that I may be one as you and Jesus are one.” Verse 15 and 16, “Father, protect me from the evil one. I am not of the world. Sanctify me by the Truth; your word is Truth.” Be creative in your prayer. There is no right or wrong way. It is simply praying God’s Word for you, and there is no better way to start than with Jesus’ prayer.

I hope it encourages you to know that just hours before His death, Jesus specifically prayed for you. What an awesome thought!!! I pray God will richly bless you as He makes this prayer a reality in your life. I pray that you would know how much He loves and values you. May the truth of His words in this prayer transform you and change how you view your relationship with God and Jesus and how you pray for yourself and for others!

The first time I saw the video below was at my church on Easter Sunday. It brought tears to my eyes as I listened to WHO my Jesus is !! If you have a few minutes, take time to listen and praise our sweet Jesus for Who He is!!

That's My King! from Albert Martin on Vimeo.

And I want to express my sincere gratitude for you taking the time to stop by today. I know how busy you are and how many blogs are out there to visit. Your visits mean so much to me, and I treasure each and every one of you!! Please know that every Thursday I set aside time to pray for you. If you ever have a specific request, please leave a comment and share it. Although I may not always respond to each one, I do pray for each one.

Easter Blessing to you,

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