As we continue to discuss on the podcast about the character of a godly woman, we’ll learn about the trait that means she can be judged in the light. What does that mean?
Continue reading “A Character that Can Be Judged In the Light”Tag: godly woman
A Woman of Excellence
How would you feel if you asked a friend how your outfit looked on you today and she said,
No worries! It’s mediocre.
Would you go change? What if you made your family supper and asked how it tasted and they said,
Thanks. It’s mediocre
We’d be disappointed, right? Why then should we settle for making
Continue reading “A Woman of Excellence”
Show a Little Kindness
The world is filled with attitudes of selfishness, impatience and rudeness, so when a woman displays the godly attribute of kindness, it is a striking contrast. This week’s podcast episode will answer what, why, where and how of kindness in a believer’s life. Oh, and listen to see if you would pass “the kindness quiz.”
Continue reading “Show a Little Kindness”
Being a Woman of Godly Character
Have you ever been in the presence of a woman who was not caught up with herself, but was genuinely concerned for needs of those with whom she was spending her time? She cares. She notices. She is different. Why? She is a woman of godly character.
What can make the difference in the way we act, speak and respond as a Christian woman? It’s that we, too, have the ability to live a life of godly character. In short, we are image-bearers of our holy God. We are to reflect His nature. We will never be omnipresent (though others may think we can be!). We’ll never be omniscient or immutable on this side of heaven. However, there are many character traits of God that we can possess. The question is, are we availing ourselves to the power of God and being Spirit filled each day so that we can be that kind of woman in our world?
Continue reading “Being a Woman of Godly Character”
A Heart for Prayer
This is a continuation of the review of the book, A Woman After God’s Own Heart, but Elizabeth George
Whenever spring arrives, you will find me taking bags full of items that are being sent out to donate. They are things that are no longer of use to me. They are weighing me down. The truth is, however, that those bags typically sit in my garage for a long time before they finally get hauled away. I know they need to go. I know it will feel good to get rid of them. I know it’s the best thing, but I keep putting it off, until finally I’ve had enough and the task finally gets done! It feels so good to unclutter my home! I always wonder why I didn’t do it sooner!
While that is so freeing to me, the act of taking my load of sin, burdens and requests to the Lord is even better! We often carry that load around with us and the burden of it all is weighty and deadening to our spiritual growth.
Most Christians delay praying. We put it off and resist it! We make excuses as to why we don’t pray. Satan doesn’t want us to have that fellowship with the Lord, and we listen to his lies until we finally are at a breaking point and we pour out our heart to God. The result is better than we could ever imagine.
In her book, A Woman After God’s Own Heart, Elizabeth George shares seven blessings of having a fervent prayer life. When I read these, I wondered why we put it off, why we don’t pray more. Look at to these incredible blessings ~
- A deeper relationship with God. How can we have a relationship with the God who saved us if we don’t communicate with Him? Just as you and I long for fellowship with our husband or friends, God longs to enjoy fellowship and communion with Him. That happens when we pray. It’s not out of obligation, but because of a relationship. I Peter 5:7
As a camel kneels before his master to have him remove his burden, so kneel and let the Master take your burden. - Greater purity. As we talk with God, the Spirit of God will reveal sin in our lives. That leads us to confessing that sin and getting it right with Him. Elizabeth shared about being convicted of gossip. She began to make it a real matter of prayer that God would help her defeat this sin. “I faced my sin regularly in prayer. Sin led to confession, which led to purging.”
- Confidence in Making decisions. – As we face decisions that need to be made, giving them to the Lord and making it a true matter of prayer will give us wisdom about what to do. God will never lead us to do something that is contrary to His word. So as we pray about the decision, He will direct us in His truth. We need to pray about everything. Elizabeth lives by this mantra ~
No decision without prayer.
NO DECISION? None. “Should I go here?”
“Should I say yes to this invitation?”
As we are directed by the Lord in prayer, we can have confidence regarding those choices. When God has led us to say Yes to giving the devotion at a baby shower, we won’t dread it or be afraid, because we remember that He led us to make that decision, and He will fulfill all the good pleasure of His will! - Improved Relationships. Making specific prayer for those people closest to us will strengthen our relationships with them. How does this happen?
- You can’t think about yourself and others at the same time.
- You can’t hate the person you are praying for. Jesus instructed us to pray for our enemies. Matt 5:44 and God changes our hearts as we do so.
- You cannot neglect the person you are praying for. As we pray, we find ourselves involved in those people’s lives.
- Contentment. As we give to the Lord our wants, realizing that He will keep His promises to provide our needs, we will learn that “If He didn’t meet it, we didn’t need it. Paul said he was initiated into the secret place of contentment. This secret place is the place of prayer. If you’re praying about something and want it so badly, take it to your time of prayer.
- God-confidence. As you face your own inadequacies, prayer will give you confidence in what He can do through you. You will learn to trust Him.
- The ministry of prayer. No matter if you have physical strength to go and do other ministries, you can always have a ministry of prayer. You don’t need to go anywhere, you don’t need anything except a heart to bring burdens to our God Who promises to hear us when we call out to Him. So pray for others! Pray about your own burdens! You be the one who reaches out to pray with a friend over the phone, or in your home. Be the intercessor for others because of your heart to pray.
Are you a praying woman? Or are you carrying around the load and weight of your burdens rather than taking them to the Lord? You’ll be so free if you’ll spend time sharing your heart with God. You’ll also wonder why you didn’t do this sooner. God wants fellowship with you. Call out to Him. Draw near. He will draw near to you.
Do you have a prayer journal? I have offered a pdf for my favorite prayer journal in past. I’m still happy to send it for free to anyone who emails me here at Refreshherblog@gmail.com.
You can find the previous chapter of the review of A woman After God’s Own Heart here.
RefreshHer 