InstaEncouragements Blog

A Prayer For Feelings You Can’t Express

1/14/2022

Have you ever longed to pour your heart out to God about something personal, but you felt handicapped by an inability to express what you were feeling?

Several times in my life, I have said “Jesus, please help me,” over and over again because I didn’t know what kind of help to ask for.

I believe that our Father can hear all of our prayers—even the unspoken ones—because He sees our hearts. However, I have recently discovered a helpful tool to make these moments with God more meaningful to me.

This Christmas, one of my dear friends bought me a book called Every Moment Holy by Douglas McKelvey. In essence, this is a book of themed prayers written for specific moments, emotions, and situations that life brings our way.

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What To Do When God is Rewriting Your Story

12/17/2021

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What to Do When God is Rewriting Your Story

Sometimes it’s hard to write about what’s going on in your heart and life while it’s happening. A testimony is easier to share when you can give it an ending that makes everyone say, “Amen!” Recently, though, God has been teaching me that life isn’t always about resolutions. Sometimes He teaches us the most when it seems like every detail of our lives is “in-process.”

Early in October, my husband and I learned that we are expecting our first baby. I think I experienced a mild shock. It took four tests and a doctor’s appointment to convince me that I was, in fact, pregnant.

Over the past few years, I’ve gone from terrified at the very idea of having kids to a great desire to have children. On October 1, my 29th birthday, I even wished that this year would be the year.

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3 Ways to be a Good Friend

10/15/2021

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When I moved from Pennsylvania to Georgia, seven years ago, one of the most daunting things I faced was the need to make new friends in a new place. I struggled. For me, the small talk and slow give and take of information, actions, and opinions that eventually build trust, love, and friendship is a hard process.

Don’t get me wrong, I love friendship, and I have several close friends with whom I love to talk and spend quality time. I love friendships that are already established—already tested.

I love friendships where:

trust is given and received freely.
disagreements are interesting instead of uncomfortable.
distance makes us more creative with ways to stay close instead of pulling us apart.

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Trusting God with the Unknown

9/17/2021

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We don’t know a lot more than we do know. For this reason, we spend a large portion of our lives preparing for things that may never happen.

We have car insurance in case we crash.
We have life insurance in case we die before our loved ones.
We have smoke alarms in case there is a fire.
We wear a life jacket in case we fall into the water.

We make these kinds of plans because it is responsible to prepare for the future the best way we know how.

We don’t always just plan for the unknown, though. Often, we worry about it too. “The Big Unknown” becomes more worrisome to us than death and taxes because we don’t know what it is.

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3 Lessons in Worship from the Woman at the Well

8/13/2021

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3 Lessons in Worship from the Woman at the Well

When I hear the word “worship,” I picture a congregation of believers singing praises to God. There really is something special about collective worship during a church service, but worship isn’t confined to Sundays when believers are gathered together. Worship is something continual—an inner response to God’s awesomeness that believers who are focused on their Savior are compelled to give every single day.

It is this daily, moment-by-moment version of worship that I often struggle with. I enjoy the structure of corporate worship.

During a worship service, I know:

When to sing
When to share a testimony of praise
When to pray
When to sit and listen

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Why Do I Care What They Think?

7/16/2021

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Some people pride themselves on their disregard for what others think. As someone who has never felt confident declaring “I don’t care what people think,” I have often wondered if this characteristic is genuine.

Do people with this professed attitude really not care about the opinions of the people around them, or do they just say that to receive praise?

I don’t really have an answer to that question, but in my own personal experience, other people’s opinions of me, when positive, can result in a burst of positive emotions:

Satisfaction
Gratitude
Positivity
Productivity
Confidence

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A List-Maker’s Guide to the 2 Greatest Commandments

6/18/2021

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A List-Maker’s Guide to the 2 Greatest Commandments

Love God
Love Others
Wash the Dishes
Shop for Groceries
Read Matthew 2-4
Pray for Aunt Melinda
Balance the Budget

It would be funny if it wasn’t so painfully true. I am a list-making maniac, and while I don’t want to change that part of myself, every personality has pitfalls. The above example is one of my quagmires. I don’t make lists as blatantly laughable as this one, but some of them come pretty close.

Is it wrong to put your Bible reading and prayer time on your checklist for the day? Honestly, if it serves as a motivational reminder to spend time with God, then go for it!

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