Hymn: Sweet Hour of Prayer

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!


Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
The joys I feel, the bliss I share,
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!


Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!


Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
May I thy consolation share,
Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height,
I view my home and take my flight:
This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise
To seize the everlasting prize;
And shout, while passing through the air,
“Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!”



William Bradbury 1816-1868

Great Is Thy Faithfulness!

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

I have never thought of myself as a weak person until about 3 years ago, when I was expecting my 5th child. I never thought pregnancy could totally weaken my mind, will, and emotions like this one did; most recognize it as a hormonal imbalance. God has a plan for everything; He made me see myself weak in order to reveal to me that He alone is my strength. In my weakness I could not handle the things of everyday life as I normally would. It became worse after my precious baby was born. I did not go to the Lord for my strength. My weakness progressed into depression, confusion, and despair as was the natural progression of things in my unwillingness to turn to Him. I felt hypocritical trying to "find" my Lord during that time because as much as I wanted in my heart to do right and to be right, I found myself the opposite. I am ashamed to say that I entertained thoughts of suicide and of cutting myself, which I knew was attack straight from hell. I could not understand why no one saw me in this and why no one tried to help. I felt that I had no one to turn to or speak with that would understand my bondage without judging me. I prayed intermittent, but earnest prayers that God would have mercy on me and deliver me from this state of which I could not get myself out. I felt trapped. Trapped within the walls of anger and emotion. A round room with no doors. I had to look up; there was no other way.

The Lord Jesus said, "I Am the Way..." He heard my prayers. He took me out of my environment and put me in a different place where I could observe the world without being in it. He gave me strength for each day. He showed me my blessings. He is my blessings. "Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside." Is it not odd how we do not truly understand seasons in our life until we look back. I thought I was alone there in my pit of despair. But I wasn't. My Lord was there even in my horrible version. He was taking care of me and my family. He gave my husband understanding and patience. My family and church family loved me and prayed for me. Only my Savior could pull me out of being stuck in the muck! Thank You, Lord! Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

The Lord Jesus Christ is my Bright Hope for tomorrow. Hope that my failures will not disable my children. That I could teach them of this awesome, faithful God. That they would be better equipped to serve Him from my experiences, failures, victories. Hope that I can go forth :) and minister to others. Hope that my life will count for His glory. The Lord Jesus is real, He is personal, and He is mine. I will look to Him for my Strength, today.

Thank You, Lord, For Your Chastening

This is a reflection of a devotion that I read today.

I sometimes feel like the 4-year-old who lied to me today at school. He said something in play that I would have simply corrected and gone on, but he decided he was going to deny it to my face for several minutes. Finally I got the explanation that I knew to be true, and he got a note to mom and dad. If I would just admit to the small things that I sweep under the rug and accept the simple corrections, then the Lord wouldn't have to discipline me further when He "reads the note."

Lord, let me be transparent for Your glory and for my benefit. Thank you so much for all the discipline You give me, even when I ignorantly choose beyond the simple corrections. In Christ's precious Name. Amen.

The word chasten is translated from the Greek word paideu which means to "to train children; to be instructed or taught or learn."

• Psalm 94:12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
• Hebrews 12:5-7 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
• Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Create in Me a Clean Heart

• Psalm 51:7-12 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

My prayer is that God would cleanse and renew my dirty and cold heart. My prayer is that God would grant me personal revival that I may see Him high and lifted up. My prayer is that I would desire and righteous "wanter" to want the true will of God and not my distorted perception of it. I want to be willing to pay the price of revival. The enemy is strong against me, but my God has already won the battle!

Lord, help me put on the whole armor of God that I may be able to withstand the wiles of the devil. Lord, help me to crucify my flesh daily that I would not fall so easily to sin. Lord purge my heart that it would bring to my lips love, joy, and praises to your Holy name. I want to serve you with my whole heart, O Lord. Help me to seek you each day. Help me not to grieve your Holy Spirit. Forgive me for my failings. Forgive me for the sins that easily beset me. Grant me repentance, forgiveness, and victory in Jesus Name, I plead! Create in me a clean heart. Amen

Thank You, Lord for Your Patience!

When I was young I did not have difficulty with devotions; I have had hard times as an adult with devotions. For example:
I love the Old Testament. When I was a Christian teen I would sometimes look at the Old Testament figures and think, I would not fall or give up like they did...I would seek God and be strong. I thought, God's people should have figured it out after a few years of wandering the wilderness, not forty! LOL! Now, almost 20 years later, I understand that they were normal people that had everyday struggles with sin. Now I know that the "wilderness" can whip you! I can better relate with the wonderful lessons God gives us in those men and women, and how they overcame when they called upon God after making unwise decisions. God's ways and thoughts are so truly way above mine! And I am sooo glad. Thank you Lord for your patience with me.

Good Missionary?

The most important gift we can give our children is the knowledge and love of our Lord Jesus. There is no one else we as parents should soley depend on, to teach our young ones of our marvelous Saviour; because no one else will love them as much as their momma and daddy. They need to see Christ in our lives as well as from our lips. Deut. 6:7 exemplifies to us that we should teach our precious children God's Word diligently: "when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up." As a young person I wanted to be a foreign missionary, yet God has brought the mission field to my home. I have to ask myself, am I being a good missionary to my 5 precious gifts?

Duh, Where Did She Go?

Can you believe that I forgot that I had a Blog???? Yes, indeed, I did. I found it by reading another's blog and I saw that they were a Blogspot blogger. That was familiar to me, so I tried signing in. It took a couple of tries but I found my "lost to me" blog! So here we go, again. This time I will not forget, I hope!