My marathon training plan required me to run 12 miles this weekend. I normally try to run on Saturday or Sunday mornings but because this weekend I’m traveling, I reached out to my local running club to see if anyone was willing to run 12 miles with me on a Friday morning. There were two ladies who were willing to join me.
But last night, one of them messaged me to say that the weather report showed a high chance of thunderstorms during the time we would be running.
I run slow.
12 miles is a long time to be getting rained on.
And who wants to run in the rain?
To be honest, I really wanted to throw my hands up in the air and say, “O.K. girls! Nevermind. Looks like this Friday is not gonna be a good day for a long run. Stay home and enjoy the extra sleep.” But I had already put myself out there. I felt like I needed to maintain my “athletic girl” posture so I said, “Alright, well let’s hope for the best and see what the weather is doing in the morning.”
I spent a few minutes laying out running clothes, preparing my water bottle, and packing my energy snacks and went to bed.
Fast forward to 4:11 a.m. I stared at my phone with a look of disbelief. Did I really get up at dark-thirty in the morning to probably message my running friends and cancel. I logged onto to the Facebook Group and said instead, “It’s not raining here… yet. Ya’ll still want to try?”
Soooooo secretly hoping that they, like me, wanted to avoid the possibility of rain more than relish in the accomplishment long run.
Both of them were willing to run in the rain.
I dragged myself up and out the door… totally thinking that I was going to drive to our meeting spot only to turn around and come back home when it started pouring, lightning, and thundering away.
We ran 12 miles.
It didn’t rain.
Not. One. Drop.
I was totally ready to through in the towel due to the possibility of bad weather.
I was willing to throw away the sense of accomplishment and almost 2000 calories burned because I was afraid of what might happen.
I was willing to get rid of my #milesformercy run.
How quickly we give up with the slightest chance of bad weather.
I almost worried my way into a sense of regret when hours later, I realized that it didn’t rain at all.
How often does this happen to us in everyday life?
How often do we avoid the possibility of success because we are too focused on the fear of failure?
How often do we stay still instead of moving ahead, simply because we’d rather believe the bad stuff than believe the chance of the good.
How often to you refuse to live with hope?
I do it all the time.
I expect the worst instead of expecting the best.
I believe the negative faster than I believe the positive.
I sit still instead of forging ahead.
This morning taught me something.
There are probably mounds of opportunities that I’ve missed because I didn’t forge ahead in hope.
I want to challenge you to live with hope today.
I don’t care what the weather man might say.
Take the chance.
Get up and move.
Go the distance.
…but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will fly up on wings like eagles; they will run and not be tired; they will walk and not be weary. Isaiah 40:31
You can choose to hope.
You can choose to believe the best.
You can choose to act as if the things will work out just fine.
If you have to choose between worry and hope… choose hope. Then act on it.
Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer. Romans 12:12
And when you can’t change your circumstances you can absolutely change your attitude about where you physically have to be.
The worst is not always headed in your direction.
Worry is a habit that you can break.
Let’s pray about it.
It’s a beautiful thing to see women praying for each other.
So here we go…
As always, feel free to pray about A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G…
But if you are helped by having a topic to focus on for prayer…
Hope.
Again… feel free to pray about anything that concerns you.
But if the topic of being “hope” resonates with you, pray in that direction.
So how exactly does this work do you ask? Keep scrolling for the details…
So excited about prayer this weekend!
Help spread the word!
If you are new to our prayer on Fridays or need a little refresher here are the details…
1) Post YOUR prayer.
First, scroll to the end of the post to find the section for comments. Keep scrolling to the end of the comments to find the empty box where you can leave your prayer request. Click “Post Comment”.
2) Pray for someone else.
Then, look above you in the comment thread for the person who posted just before of you. Hit “reply” and pray for them. That way we make sure that everyone gets covered!
Please don’t feel insecure about your ability to pray for another sister or feel that her request is above your spiritual “pay grade.” Just pray with your heart. God hears. He works with the words that we have and then He takes care of the rest.
3) Post your pic!
Make sure we can “see” you! Go to Gravatar.com so that others can see your face in the comments! (It’s easy! Just click on the green button labeled “Get your gravatar today” )
4) Pray more
Once you have left your prayer request and prayed for the person above you, if you have a few minutes feel free to reply and pray for any other comment/prayer you see in the thread.
G R E A T ENCOURAGMENT TO LIVE IN HOPE NO MATTER HOW OUTWARD CONDITIONS LOOK and to NOT LET the ENVIRONMENT DICTATE what’ll you’ll DO!!!
My prayer request is for the inner strength to pursue obedience with church attendance.
Dear Lord, I pray for Katheryne. I pray that you give her all the inner strength she needs to purse obedience with church attendance. I pray that you encourage and help her have a personal encounter with you that will change her mind (positively) forever regarding church attendance. Please listen to the depth of her mind God and help her with this desire in Jesus Name, Amen
Thank you Yesi
Heavenly Father, what a joy it is to be here with Brenda today. Your presence is like no other. And it is special to share it with others. You promise that where two or three are gathered in Your Name, You are there. We can know for sure then, that You are here with us. Thank You for the privilege of being Your children. It is this special privilege that gives us the confidence that we can approach You with boldness for what we need. I pray for Brenda’s environment today. May her presence cause for Your hope in her to permeate the atmosphere. You are faithful to hear and answer. We love You Lord. We want to honor You in all that we do and say and think and feel. We ask for more of Your Holy Spirit. In Your Son’s precious Name I pray. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
My prayer request is for hope. To stop worrying and fearing but to be filled with hope and always feel God’s presence. Also the strength and desire to do things that I need to do which includes dreams.
Oh Yesi, I am praying for you right now that God will fill you with hope! I love this verse and am praying it over you now… “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)” And sweet sister dream, dream big! We serve a BIG God and He CAN do big things in our lives! Seek Him first, follow Him and trust Him.
Dear Lord, who are we that You are mindful of us? You are holy. And You are God. Yet you care so much about us and for us. Thank You God for Yesi, who You love and care about. It is Your great love for her that I pray You will reveal to her. For You loved us so much and You love her so much, that You gave Your very best in Jesus to provide Your presence, uninterrupted by anything. Lord, I pray for Yesi to be filled with hope in You today. Your commands are lovely because they show us and teach us Your best. You have commanded us not to worry about anything, but to bring all to You in prayer. I pray for Yesi to have the strength to go to You in prayer in a place where it is just You and her. And in that place, give her a holy desire to act on what You show her, especially as it relates to her dreams. You formed her in her mother’s womb and know everything about her. You know what she needs and does not need. You know what will be good for her and what will be best. In the sweet hour of prayer with You, take her by the hand and show her all of these things. Give her greater confidence in You and Your infinite wisdom through Your Word. Help her, even in this hour. You are wonderful to us. Thank You for Your goodness.
Loved this post!! But how could I not, you’re talking about one of my favorite words 🙂 I try not to be “that single girl” that is so concerned about getting married that I miss today, but as I read this post that was really where it hit for me, so here’s me being open and honest. This is an area of my life where HOPE is huge for me! In a society where people love to ask “When are you getting married?!” Or “Why are you not married yet?!?” being single and in your thirties has it’s challenges. As I read this post it made me think how grateful I am for hope…hope for my future, hope that God’s plan is better than mine, hope that one day I will get to experience marriage and motherhood. So I guess my prayer request for today is for grace on the days that it’s hard to be single, continued hope while I wait, & that God will bring us together soon.
Father God,
This morning , I lift Kara up in prayer, to you the Holy One. Lord, give Kara peace in her singleness. Let her know Father God, how much you love her and care for her because she is yours. You know the Perfect plan that you have for her life. Let her know unspeakable joy in her singleness. As you weave together the plan for her good and to prosper her, I pray that she will rest in knowing that you have a plan for each of your children. When it is hard Lord, remind her of your faithfulness. You are no respecter of persons Lord, so what you do for one of us , you will do for any of us. Keep Kara hopeful in you Lord. I pray this prayer for Kara in Jesus’ name. Amen.
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us”.
1 John 5:14
Sorry I am late. My prayer today is that God would help me to get up in the mornings and spend time with him and then get dressed and wake up the kids to get then dressed and out the door by 7 am during the week. I say this prayer because I stress every morning when the time is ticking away and things go astray. I’m not a morning person but I want that time with Jesus but honestly 30 minutes of sleep sounds and feels so good. Thanks
I so needed this at this very moment!
Father God, I lift up Rebecca to You and I ask that You would make Your presence known to her. Remind her of Your goodness and that YOU are her hope oh God! You ARE good and You ARE the One and only thing that she needs because You are enough. Lord, forgive our unbelief and increase our belief. When our focus is off of You help us to be quick to get our eyes back on y
you so that we can fulfill the work You have created us for in Your name and for Your glory. Amen.
This is a beautiful prayer thread. I am requesting prayer in the area of a Children’s leadership role I recently accepted. It is something that I know God called me to serve in, and yet , I find myself doubting my ability to fulfill the role He called me to. Please pray for protection of my own and my family’s health, for me to have protected time to prepare for the weekly lesson that I will teach to the children, and for me to find joy (and not anxiety) about a role that God has clearly asked me to and guided me to fulfill.
Lord, I thank you for Shannon. You have given her the blessing of working with children and of knowing it truly is what you called her to do. Give her the assurance that her call is sure and that you have provided the ability and capability for us to do all that you have called us to do. Give her peace as she designs the program you have for her to to teach and to increase the presence of you in the lives of these children. I thank you for the foundational position you have called her to to establish a firm grip on who you are to them while they are yet so young. Jeremiah 29:11 says that your plan for Shannon is good and I thank you for the bright
future and immeasurable hope that she has in you. Give her peace. In Jesus name Amen.
Hope…..I was giving up hope until I read this today. I am about to lose my home, my furniture, and my car if a miracle
Doesn’t happen. I have not managed what God has given me very well. Some things that got me here were out of my control but some were not. I don’t want to fail at yet another thing. I want tondo better. I want to honor God. I want then chance to get it right. The only thing I can do is hope that God allows me that chance. Thank you for your prayers.
Lord I come praying for Pat. You know exactly the details of her situation. I pray for that you would meet her needs. I pray that you would enable to her to know what to do and enable her to do it. Lord I ask you for that miracle. Because you can. But if you choose not to deliver her in the way that she would prefer, I ask that you would send deliverance in another way. Give her the courage to do the best at what she can control and then give her the tenacity to do her best consistently. We ask because you are able. Amen.