faith – Page 2 – Claire's Prayer

Gideon and The Promise

October 25, 2024 Claire's Prayer

Gideon was a small man, a man who had emphatically stated, “𝑴𝒆, 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓? 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑰𝒔𝒓𝒂𝒆𝒍? 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆. 𝑴𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓.” (Judges 6:15) My family is nothing and I am the weakest of the bunch! Honestly, that has to be one of my favorite things about the LORD, that He takes the smallest, most insignificant, and through His power makes them mighty!

Often there is a turning point, a point when revelation breaks through, vision is established, and God’s strength is solidified. “𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑮𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑. 𝑯𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒔𝒓𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, “𝑨𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑫 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔.” (Judges 7:15) As Gideon listened to the words of the men, revelation broke through and he realized this was not just a battle of 300 versus 135,000 but The Almighty God versus 135,000 and he fell prostate upon his face and worshiped!

Worship, a proper response to the promise of God, an appropriate reaction to His assurance. “𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴!” (Author Unknown) The promise of God changed Gideon’s life.

Going back to his tiny army Gideon shouted, “𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐩, 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬!” The verb ‘𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻’ is past tense, highlighting the assurance of the victory! God’s promise, His Word. Of course, the army arose and the enemy was scattered!

One promise, that was all it took, one absolute assurance from the Father. God’s Word to stand upon. The Word came before the battle, before the raging storm, before the deep waters. Do you have a promise you can stand upon, one that you have hidden in your heart? A promise that will keep you in times of trouble? God’s Word is literally brimming over with promises, with the assurance you need to hang onto when life hurts. Find yours, commit it to memory, treasure it, and when you need it, the promise will break through and God will strengthen and sustain you, enabling you to have the victory.

Peace That Surpasses Understanding

October 23, 2024 Claire's Prayer

Fall. One of the most stunning times of the year. The trees are awash in gold, red, orange, and yellow. A time that brings back to my remembrance the scripture from Isaiah 55:12; “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔.” Almost as though the trees are rejoicing, their glory bringing glory to Almighty God!

With all the beauty that ushers us into a new season I am reminded too that this time can be so hard for many. A season where there is little joy and no peace. As the days get shorter peace can be elusive. And yet, doesn’t God’s Word tell us that we can have peace? “𝑩𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒙𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔.” (Phil 4:6-7) We all know this scripture, in fact Amazon released data stating this is the most highlighted passage of scripture in the Kindle Bible!

I don’t need to point out the obvious, that we need to pray about everything, raising our voices in thanksgiving to the God of the Universe, to the One who deserves all our thanks, I know you know that. But there is something in this scripture that speaks loudly to me. “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈.” As we pray and seek the LORD with thanksgiving, 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱, releasing our questions to Him and giving up our need to understand it all, acknowledging that we don’t need to understand, just trust. Then peace will rise above and surpass our need to understand and guard our hearts and minds! Herein lies the secret to peace during this busy season, 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗼𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱.

My prayer for you as we dive into this holiday season is that you would be able to trust, find God’s peace, and with that peace would come joy, overwhelming thanksgiving, that you would be like the trees of the field clapping their hands in praise to our Beautiful Savior, Jesus Christ!

Who is God to You?

October 4, 2024 Claire's Prayer

Questions. We all have so many of them. Would you believe that in 2022, 12 million people asked Google the question Who Am I? Coming in at 1st place was What to Watch with a staggering 109 million searches! As we journey through life with our Abba Father at our side, the question we need to ask Him is 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮? This dear friend, is the real question, the important one. 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮? Ultimately it does not matter who we are, it matters who God is! Who do you believe God is? What do you believe God can do?

Matthew 16:13-20 tells us a very interesting story, one that was pivotal for Peter. Jesus asked, “𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎?” and Peter answered Him, “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑮𝒐𝒅.” Peter knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the one they had all been longing for. I find Jesus’ reply astonishing, “𝑩𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑺𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝑩𝒂𝒓–𝑱𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒉, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑴𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑷𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝑴𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒕. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒚𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏.”

Peter knew who Jesus was. It was revealed to him by the Father. But for one moment look at the blessing that came with that revelation. He was given the keys to the kingdom of heaven, the ability to bind and loose, and the very church itself was built upon Peter! An imperfect man who denied Jesus three times, even after this revelation. Incredible authority was given to him.

This question too, is pivotal for us and it is in the secret place, that place of intimacy that the answer will be revealed. It is when we come away with the LORD that we discover who He is! 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂? Today is a beautiful day to establish that question in your heart.

𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗽𝗵𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗺𝗲𝗴𝗮, 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱. 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝗢𝗻𝗲. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗔𝗺.

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