Promises... A Five Minute Friday post.

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Hello, Friends! Life is full --busy! Let's just be real... it's busy and it's busy with all kinds of bossy and not so fun things to deal with --and yet... His Peace is Present and we remind ourselves and each other to Just Breathe... and to --well... you'll see!

This is a Five Minute Friday post... which simply means I set a timer and free write for five minutes flat on the one-word prompt: PROMISE

{GO!}

My immediate thought?

"All God's Promises are Yes & Amen!"

I don't know about you... but for me? I needed that reminder this week!

To be honest... I need it more often than I'd care to admit! I mean... I am, after all, the one who wrote an entire series/book on Truths I know but sometimes forget!

I belong to a great group on facebook for writers and every Tuesday there is a prayer thread... I shared some of what was going on over the last week or so on that thread and was reminded that I am not the only Crazy Faith girl over there!

Man, you guys... we NEED each other! 

We need the Word and the Lord
and the Body all at the same time! 

I was humbled and blessed to see and hear from so many who held up the arms of my family over the last couple of weeks.  The Bride of Christ --when she is willing-- functions exactly the way God intended! She is pure and kind and full of love and hope and joy! We felt her surround us both in the flesh and in the Spirit and --my sister said it herself, that it felt like the prayers of people were literally lifting them up above all the chaos!

What a visual, right?

That is what the Promises of God can do...
That is what the Power of Prayer can do...
That is what God does through us...

What an honor, right?

What a blessing to be invited in to be a blessing...
to remind each other of the Word and of all God's Promises!

The Bible is PACKED FULL of them... 
whether you are facing sickness and need healing,
or battling fear and need faith, 
fighting anxiety and need peace,
feeling hungry and need provision,
convinced you are alone, needing community...
no matter what the situation, 
God's got you covered!

All of His Promises are Yes and Amen!

As I'm typing this out, my mind is racing through
all the Healing Scriptures that I have been
declaring out loud this week --over my Brother,
over myself, over my Dad, and my Father-In-Law, too! Promises of provision and peace over my girlie and her girlie, over my sisters and their families, over our own house...

And I also thought of this quote from Charles Spurgeon:

"The sacred promises, though in themselves most sure and precious, are of no avail for the comfort and sustenance of the soul unless you grasp them by faith, plead them in prayer, expect them by hope, and receive them with gratitude."

Can I tell you something? We can KNOW these things... we can believe them... but we need community to come around us and hedge us in and point us back to Jesus! We need reminders and pray-ers and encouragers to help us not lose focus on the Word... on Promises given, and on Hope and Gratefulness already poured out within us!

{STOP!}

We need people who will pray... 
and we also need people who will do something tangible! 

Can I be honest and say I'm really great at the praying part. 
I will pray immediately upon getting a request or hearing news... and then often again after that, whenever the Lord puts a person or a situation on my heart. But I'm not as good as I used to be about being hands-on tangible. 

Part of that is my own health and financial issues over the last couple of years. Part of that is probably a pendulum swinging too far the other way in my own "2"-ness. (Yes... that's enneagram talk. It's fine.)  

However, I can tell you firsthand over the last couple of years for myself, and the last couple of weeks for my family --I'm remembering that we truly DO need both. 

We need the prayers of intercession and support... 
and we need the shoulder to cry on and the groceries
or meals dropped off and the Fill-in-your-own-blank-here!

So let's purpose to pray... yes!

Let's purpose also to
declare the Promises of God
over a circumstance or a city...
and let's lean in and be willing
to get our hands dirty!
Cook the meal, write the check, 
mow the lawn, take the kids,
show up with no right words
but plenty of love (and maybe a coffee!)

This is what it means to be
the Bride of Christ!

This is what it means to truly:

Linking up with  Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today.  Five Minute Fridays give us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click HERE to read what others have to say about "PROMISE"

The FMF lowdown: The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights & then we write our hearts out & hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday & Friday (& sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage & uplift... where we share prayer requests & praise reports... where we talk about food & friends & we find support & kindred hearts. It's where we are reminded that life is good & God is good & we're not alone... & then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts & our fingers do the talking tapping & we hit publish before we can second-guess it all away. We'd love to have you join us!

Photos courtesy of Unsplash via Annie Spratt

I'm also linking up with the lovely writer community linked below:

Crystal Twaddell for #FreshMarketFriday

Mary Geisen for #TellHisStory

Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp

Sue Donaldson for #LetsHaveCoffee