4 Challenges to Prayer and 1 Awesome Prayer

July 2, 2015 Effie Barba

“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” CS Lewis

I am finding that each morning this is getting easier to get up and leave all devices turned off so that I might talk with my Heavenly Father. That I might lay before Him the challenges that are before me for today, the longings of my heart, and ever more precious the moments to just sit in His presence letting all thoughts fade into only seeing and delighting in Him. What a place of peace that brings.

Used by permission of Ronald Barba who holds the copyright. For more information go to http://www.barba-art.com

[bctt tweet=”Sometimes, prayer is just sitting quietly in God’s presence, letting Him fill you with His Joy”]

These are 4 challenges to prayer I have noticed and some helpful hints to overcome them.

Continue reading 4 Challenges to Prayer and 1 Awesome Prayer →

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IS THE WAY JESUS PRAYS ACTUALLY VALUABLE FOR ME?

July 1, 2015 Effie Barba

IS THE WAY JESUS PRAYS ACTUALLY VALUABLE FOR ME?

What can I learn from studying the prayer life of Jesus? After all, Christ being the True Son of God and part of the Tri-unity of God; why did He need to pray? He was perfect righteousness; what about the way He prays is of value to the prayer life of someone like me with all my frailties?

Jesus Christ, as Son of God has existed from eternity past as part of the God-head made up of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For anyone struggling with that concept, let me place that in its simplest of terms. Mankind was created in the image of God—body, soul and spirit. So, God is three distinct being (body, soul, and spirit) within one. That truth I will not belabor here. I did in a 2014 series titled, “The Good Pleasure of God’s Will”. Particularly, I addressed this in detail in (Part 2) of that series

WHY DID CHRIST NEED TO PRAY?

When Christ came to earth in human form, He stepped outside of His immediate presence with His Father and the Holy Spirit. Though He was eternally a part of God-the perfect echoing of God’s essence; He was in human flesh tempted as we are. (Hebrews 4:15).

© Yongsung Kim/Licensed from GoodSalt.com

[bctt tweet=”In His human form, it was not that Christ was incapable of sin, He chose to remain sinless”]so that He would be able to redeem you and me. Had He ever chosen to disobey the Father’s commands, He could not pay the price for our sin. The burden of obedience lay very heavily upon His heart. Yet, the human body that He lived in had desires, temptations, hungers, and trials like you and I face. It was in this human state that the perfect righteous of Christ was proven. It was during Christ’s earthly journey that His obedience to the Father’s will was tested and fully manifested as perfect obedience. Because of His perfect obedience, He was able to pay the penalty for mankind’s sin. “¹⁴For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10). If Christ, God’s only begotten son needed to pray; how much more we the adopted children?

We need to look both at the times that Christ prayed and the types of prayers so that we might gain insight into our own prayer lives.

Continue reading IS THE WAY JESUS PRAYS ACTUALLY VALUABLE FOR ME? →

Christian Blog

5 PSALMS TO ASSIST YOUR HEART TO PRAY

June 30, 2015 Effie Barba

5 Psalms to Assist Your Heart to Pray

So, this is day two of our 30 day challenge in prayer. How are you doing? I must say that setting aside 30 minutes with no interruptions is not easy at first. For me the interruptions are my own brain wandering away to other things. So, what helped me today was the minute my brain seemed to wander: I pulled out my Bible and opened to the Psalms and began to out loud pray the words from the Psalms to God.

Picture used by permission of Ronald Barba and is protected under copyright laws.

[bctt tweet=”Our two most powerful weapons are God’s Word and Prayer. Combined they are a formidable force.”] A force that will empower us to success and guarantee victory!!! What will that look like in my life? I am not certain. What I am certain of: whatever God’s view of success and victory is for my life, I want that.

Here are the words of 5 Psalms that helped me to focus today. I hope they inspire you as well.

Psalm 8: O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens…³When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;⁴What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?…⁹O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Continue reading 5 PSALMS TO ASSIST YOUR HEART TO PRAY →

Christian Blog

WHAT ONE THING CAN EMPOWER SUCCESS WITH VICTORY GUARANTEED?

June 29, 2015 Effie Barba

WHAT ONE THING CAN EMPOWER SUCCESS WITH VICTORY GUARANTEED?

[bctt tweet=”If you knew one thing would empower you to success and guarantee victory, would you do it?”]

It was 1986 and a time in my life that I felt very defeated as I had moved back into my parents’ home with my children. I worked night shift in ICU and got very little sleep. Perhaps a foolish idea to try to obtain my certification in critical care, since there was no time to study. After all it wasn’t required. Separated from my husband, feeling like a failure; I just wanted to feel successful in something. The test was going to be in St. Louis which was a 3 hour drive from my parent’s home. My plans to go the night before were thwarted when Alberto spiked a high fever. New plan: leave early in the morning. Daddy had gotten home late because he driven the school bus for a sports event. As I got into my car, it began to snow. The farther I drove, the heavier the snow was falling. Then it happened, about an hour into my drive; the lights began to go dim and the car was dying. I was barely able to get it to the side of the road before it died completely. There were no cell phones, it was freezing cold, and no one was on the highway that early in the morning. I walked until I found a gas station. When I called home, Daddy said, “I will be there as soon as I can.”

Continue reading WHAT ONE THING CAN EMPOWER SUCCESS WITH VICTORY GUARANTEED? →

Christian Poetry

Poetry Sunday-Prayer’s Song

June 28, 2015 Effie Barba

Prayer’s Song

By Effie Darlene Barba

I come to pray dawn’s early hour

That I might seek Your strength, Your power

Prepare my soul to battle sin

The fears, the doubts that rise within

I do renounce my foolish pride

That in Your Glorious love abide

Chorus:

Oh, Lord; I long to see Your face

The wondrous beauty of Your Grace

It is Your love that draws me near

Your Joy that lifts my heart with cheer

Fountains of joy to quench each fire

Until You are my one desire

Then as I go about my day

How oft I pause-must stop to pray

A whisper here or whisper there

Your Holy presence rich and fair

Is always there to hear my sigh

To guide my way, my needs supply

Chorus:

Oh, Lord; I long to see Your face

The wondrous beauty of Your Grace

It is Your love that draws me near

Your Joy that lifts my heart with cheer

Fountains of joy to quench each fire

Until You are my one desire

Then as the day draws near it’s end

I turn to God, my dearest friend

To tell Him of life’s ups and downs

Of all the laughter and the frowns

I fall asleep there in His arms

Safe, secure from all life’s harms

Chorus:

Oh, Lord; I long to see Your face

The wondrous beauty of Your Grace

It is Your love that draws me near

Your Joy that lifts my heart with cheer

Fountains of joy to quench each fire

Until You are my one desire

[bctt tweet=”Fountains of Joy to quench each fire Until You are My one Desire”]

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The artist that drew the picture “A Broken and Contrite Heart” featured on my header is Ronald Barba. Please go to his website ( http://www.barba-art.com) for information regarding obtaining copies or to commission him to create a masterpiece for you. Feel free to email him at Ron@Barba-Art.com to discuss any art projects.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.