just a little rant because I'm human and it's okay to rant. right?

I'm just... I'm frustrated.

     I'm so self-centered. Everything is seen through a lens of "how does this affect me?" And then afterwards, I take off those glasses and see everything clearly and blur things again with tears of frustration and annoyance. I want to take those "all about me" glasses and smash them under the heel of my shoe.

     I tell myself that I'm not a very self-absorbed person. When I was younger, I was told often by pastors and my mom's friends and nice stranger ladies at the grocery store that I was such a well behaved little girl (not bragging here: I'm was a little introvert who didn't talk except for please and thank you and I have a mother and father who know where it's at when raising children).

     But now I'm in the real world, where things don't like to happen the way I think they should. People don't act the way I think they should. If I didn't want to play on the playground at preschool recess, I didn't have to. It was okay if I just wandered around, singing Sound of Music and eavesdropping on my teachers' conversations (Sorry, Mrs. R and Mrs. D). Now it seems like people are forcing me down the slide. I don't want to go! 

     School isn't sitting at the art table drawing all morning anymore. It's blood and sweat and tears and due dates and research and periodic tables that I don't want to memorize and geometric constructions I don't want to draw. It's late nights because I am too tired in the morning - a vicious cycle of sleeplessness. It's constantly throwing off the stress and inwardly screaming for God to make it easier.

     Friends aren't the little girls who invite me over to make soap and play with American Girl Dolls after preschool anymore. They are so, SO much better, and yet it takes more to keep those friendships alive. Business gets in the way of relationships. Online school means friends who live across the country, or at least a few hours away.

     Money isn't something that just comes with having a lemonade stand just for fun anymore. I need it to keep my commitment with Compassion. I need clothes (don't worry - I'm, like, getting clothed and stuff. I'm provided for. But it's hard when you're that girl who wears a sweatshirt and jeans to church because you wore the only two good dresses you have the last two weeks, and you see all of your friends with amazing clothes and everything...). It's no longer as simple as owning a favorite sweater and wearing it every day.

     Prioritizing according to the Bible is hard in a world where the culture wants you to do otherwise. To be honest, I didn't think this particular aspect of culture would hit me this hard at this point in my life. Grades are just the most important thing if I want to go to college. Grades... grades... grades. I always thought I was a pretty good student. Like most kids, failing tests was a nightmare for me, but it was never one I actually experienced until recently.

     It makes me wonder if I'm becoming less of a person. I know... it's just called "real life," and I'm no longer in my little homeschool bubble of "I'm accepted all the time for exactly what I am by everyone and everyone thinks I'm awesome and I don't get graded on my tests because I'm young and my parents don't want me to find my worth in grades and I am content with my clothes and my talents and my life and YEAH."

     I know I'm getting all teenage-angst-y on y'all, but life was just so much SIMPLER as a little kid. There was no poking and prodding if you mentioned a guy twice in the same hour. No yearning for independence, because, quite honestly, grown-ups have to do work and that's no fun! The only good reason for being a grown-up is you can pretty much do whatever you want. Right? RIGHT?!?!

Hah!

     Ugh. What a lie. I'm not even totally grown-up yet and I know that's a lie. I know people talk about "middle-aged crisis" and all that, but what about "teenaged crisis?" It's haaard, folks. And you know that! Because I know that pretty much all of my readers are either in the middle of this or have "been there, done that." Y'all know. 

     I'm just overwhelmed. Like I said. Screaming. God is there, I know. I constantly have to zoom out and see more than my computer screen and my bedroom walls. I constantly have to stop comparing myself to others. Seriously. I have to JUST. STOP. (link)

     It scares me sometimes when I think that my life before I turned... well, say fifteen, was pretty much trial-free. I might as well have been wearing a "life is good" t-shirt 24-7. Maybe I didn't think so then, but gosh darn it, I look back and that's totally what was happening. Sure, I thought I had such a hard life sometimes. But then I hit my first real trial, when God knew I was ready for one. If he had asked me, "Sarah, are you ready for a trial?" I would have said, "um, no! MY LIFE IS PERFECT, GOD. DON'T TAKE AWAY EVERYTHING I'VE DREAMED OF." And, well, he did. To my fifteen-year-old brain (I know, I know, that was only a year and a half ago. But the then-brain and the now-brain are wayyy different). From then on, my life has been different. It will continue to be marred by the results of The Fall, until I die and leave it all behind for eternal felicity in heaven. That scares me, to a degree. Just being honest.

    Today at my incredible, amazing, mine-is-better-than-yours youth group, we talked about how to deal with it when God says "no" to our prayers. I have to say, not my topic of choice; at least not at first glance. When we got into it, I learned a lot about how God has something better for us when he says "no." A lot of my youth group leaders said they were glad God said "no" to them in a lot of situations, because things ended up being infinitely better for them. I'm not entitled to share any of the stories, but dude, you should have heard them.

     The thing is (whew, I'm not writing a paper so I can say "the thing is"), I do believe that. I totally do. My real question is: WHEN? When do I get to hear the other half of the story, the half that comes after the "no"? The part when everything works out to my advantage?

     Well, would ya look at that. Just spilled to the internet. Heh. Why not. It got a little bit off of my chest, and maybe someone will read this and kind of feel a little bit better about life.

Hopefully there's some stuff in there that isn't totally depressing.

Also I wrote this in two different sittings, so the first half might have a different feel than the second half. You might say that mood swings and I are on a first-name basis.

s

just wait

 Don't miss my post that's directly below this one! :)

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 I wrote this awhile ago, but hesitated to post it because it's such a daunting subject. But I feel like I have explained it as clearly as I can, so here goes. A little something about strength to start your week off with. :)

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   Lately I have been struggling with feeling the need to do things for God. I have felt like God needs my works in order to accept me. It's a frightening feeling, because all my life I have been taught and have believed that salvation and God's acceptance is based on faith alone, not anything that we do to try to earn it. But now I'm struggling with that. 

     I know that if God wants me to glorify him through my actions, but I also know that I have to rely on his strength. So do I just sit back and wait for God to move my body to do these actions that glorify him?

     That's a question I asked my dad last night. I was worried and frightened and terribly confused about all of this, and he helped me sort it out with an excellent metaphor (my dad always has great metaphors). 

     He said that it's okay – and right – to wait for God's strength to flow into you. I always thought that I had to pray for God's strength, and then go out and do things right away, hoping that God had sent strength quickly enough. I usually started relying on my own strength, which at that point had me feeling like a failure. It isn't a fun way to live life. My dad's metaphor for waiting for God to come to you went like this:

     You're at the beach, and you want to swim, but you don't want to walk into the water and start swimming yourself. So, while the tide is out, you go and sit near the water and wait for when you start to swim. Suddenly, a tsunami comes and you are swimming whether you wanted to or not. 

     The tsunami is God's strength, filling us and enabling us to do his will whether we feel like we can or not. When we ask for his strength, we aren't asking for the ability to do things by ourselves. This may seem obvious to some people, but I think what I have been doing is asking for God's strength, and then forgetting about that and expecting to be able to do things my myself. All I have to do is just sit there and wait for God, and he'll come. 

     To be sure, when he opens a door of opportunity, it's my responsibility to take a step through that door, but if you pray for his power to carry you, it doesn't start with you taking a step. It starts with a prayer for strength and the faith that God will move your feet. 

-Sarah

so many things to think about

     Hi, friends. Haven't written in awhile. It's not that I've been in a spiritual "low" or anything, it's just been daily life. Living, working, resting, movie-watching (a lot of that lately; I saw Monster's University last night and I loved it, haha), and LOTS of reading (for a summer class and preparation for next school year! Ahh!).
     And I've been learning. About life. My outlook on it, what to do with it, and just life in general. I've realized that I tend to look at life in a glass-half-empty sort of way, and I've been praying and trying to live more positively. I've been inspired to go to bed early and wake up early, which... well, it'll happen soon (I hope). ;)
     The biggest thing, though, is what to do. I'm going into my junior year of highschool, and I'm nearing that time when I have to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. I've prayed and thought about it, and I think I have a pretty good plan. But it's funny; as soon as I feel comfortable in this plan of mine, God leaves eleven different ideas for "plans' in my mind. I want to do them all (some more than others), and then I'm not so sure anymore. Plans change, but it would be so much easier if they didn't. It's at this time in my life that I'm reminded to hold on to God and let him lead me wherever he chooses.
     I'm filled with a sort of wanderlust; not just for traveling (although that is certainly there), but also a longing for change. For new surroundings. High school is a blast (if a messy, confusing one), and I don't want it to go any faster than it is. But at the same time... college, and independence are calling me. Being able to drive (I have my permit! So close.) sounds reeeally good right now. I'm in that place that I think all teenagers come to at one time or another; that need for independence and decision-making. I'll be honest, it's hard to have parents telling me what to do. It's this weird mix of being grateful that I have them (because deep inside I KNOW I'm not ready for independence!), and this longing to get out there and do things on my own. I'm so glad that God has given me the ability to be content with where I am right now, without taking away my hopes and dreams for the future. God is good. :)
   
So, in a nutshell, that's what I've been learning about life. So many things to think about.

Sarah :)

he's for me and he hears me

     Jesus is my best friend. He's always there for me to talk to. Always. No matter what I have to say, he always understands me because he made me. He knows me inside and out. Perfectly. It's so very comforting to know that he's always on my side. He wants me to succeed. He wants to help me.

He's for me.

. . .If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31

Kari Jobe - You Are For Me

 

My Parents

     I am blessed with two loving, godly parents who seek to train me in the way of the Lord. I am so grateful for their wise counsel and their help through difficult times and choices that I need to make as I grow up.
     One such choice is what I'm going to do after highschool. I used to know exactly what I wanted to do; I still want that, but I'm starting to realize the extent of what I have to do as "prerequisites" for that career. My dad encouraged me to pray about it diligently, seeking my heavenly Father's help just as my earthly parents are helping me do this. I am excited to see what God will do in my life in regard to my future! I am so glad my parents are wise and want to help me with things I'm unsure about.

Why are you grateful for your parents?

-Sarah :)

P.S. Just in case you missed it, today's "Wednesday Verse" is just below this post. :)

evangelism

     I don't know about you, but for me, evangelism is quite appealing. I think it would be splendid to be one of God's instruments in bringing people to having a personal relationship with Him.

     That evangelism is one of the major jobs of a Christian is made extremely clear in the Bible. Read the Great Commission -

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:20

     Jesus commands us to "go and baptize" in His name. He wants us to teach others his commandments, so that they also can be saved from God's wrath and receive hope of eternal life in paradise. It is mandatory, as this passage very clearly states, that Christians spread Jesus' gospel to unbelievers, because otherwise the lost will not know that they can be found! That though they are blind, their eyes can be opened!

     At the same time, we should not go to some public place and start shoving the gospel down people's throats. I think the best way to start is to show God's love to people before you preach. We have been redeemed of the saving work of Christ on the cross, and if we set an example by living in the light of that truth, in the light of that JOY, in our thoughts, our speech, and our actions, unbelievers will take notice. What we have is so wonderful, and they will want it too. Now, this isn't to say that we should draw attention to ourselves; far from it! We are merely pointing to God by showing others his work in us. Once an unbeliever notices and maybe says something to us about what they see, we can then explain to them what makes us so happy, and how they can have it, too, if they believe.

     One of the most powerful things we can do, really, is pray for the lost. When we pray, we can bring anything to God, including our concerns for unbelievers.

     I don't claim to be an expert on all of the ways to go about evangelism. These are just my thoughts, drawn from what I have read in the Bible. Do you have any stories about how you have shared the Gospel with an unbeliever? What are your thoughts on evangelism?

-Sarah :)

P.S. This is my second post today! I wanted to make sure you saw the post below this one :)

trust God and choose righteousness

     Last night, I was up till 11:30 studying biology (for an 8:00 a.m. class the next morning). It was really strenuous; I was so tired, and all of a sudden I got so overwhelmed with the many pages and many, many terms that needed to be studied and memorized. I cried out to God for help, and then, believing he would help me, I put my head back down and studied some more.
     But why did I have to, as they say, "cram"? Why had I waited until the night before to suddenly pack all of that knowledge into my brain? I had procrastinated, and now I had to endure the consequences. I always knew I spent too much time on the computer, and easily got distracted with something my sisters were doing, but I hadn't really known how to fix this.
     My sister, who is a seasoned Christian with a vast store of wisdom, offered me some advice in this situation as we were studying together last night. She said that when we know we are doing something wrong (in this case, procrastinating), we should try to fix it in the future by trusting God to help us do that. But she also said that we can't just trust God, we also have to be diligent in our work and choose righteousness. We have to sow the the Holy Spirit, and obey God as we trust him.
     This morning when I woke up, I prayed that God would help me to trust him and to choose righteousness today. By his grace, today I feel like I have been really productive in my school. Looking back on the day, I remember certain times when I consciously chose righteousness. It's amazing to see what God can do with our lives! I am so thankful that he answered my prayer, and look forward to many more productive, work-filled days working for his glory.

     In what ways has God helped you when you struggle in a certain area? Please comment and let me know, I'd love to hear your stories!

-Sarah :)

a prayer answered

Argghhh!!! This isn't a post about Worthy. I am SO busy with school and the like that I have not found the time to finish that long-ish post. :) I promise it's coming soon, but while I'm waiting for a chance to finish it, I thought I would just share something that happened last night at a 10:31 meeting (10:31 is my church's youth ministry).

After the meeting, one of my friends asked me and another friend to pray for her. Then we all started sharing prayer requests, and we prayed for each other and just talked about God. :) It was SO encouraging, and the answer to a prayer I have been praying for a while. I've asked God to help me to talk about him with my friends, because he doesn't come up nearly as often as he should in our conversation, and sometimes it can be awkward when he does. But last night wasn't awkward at all. I'm so thankful that God answers prayer!!!

-Sarah :)

A Prayer Request

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to ask you all if you could pray for Worthy, my church's annual youth retreat coming up (probably to which many of you are going). Could you please pray that the Holy Spirit would be present there, that we would grow in our faith, and that many would be drawn to Christ during the retreat?

Thanks so much!

Sarah :)

the parable of the persistent widow

I read this parable this morning in my quiet time. It's taken from Luke 18, and it teaches us that we must be persistent in prayer and not lose heart. It encouraged me to do this, and I hope it encourages you, too!

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

the power of prayer and scripture

I have been learning about the power of prayer a lot lately. I have needed to pray for so many things that I don't have power to do anything else about. Prayer is my only weapon against the enemy right now.

Isn't prayer a wonderful thing? To be able to talk to the all-powerful God who is in control of everything, is amazing to me. And he loves to listen to us. He loves when we call on him for help. 'Cause, believe it or not, we actually can't run the universe! He is in control no matter how much we think we have it all down.

Which is a comforting truth, I think. The universe doesn't fall apart when we fail! It would be really bad if it did because we fail very, very often. We can't do it. But God can!

When we pray about trials and for help through them, we are giving our own strength up to God. We are admitting that we can't win against the devil without God's strength. I feel so safe when I cast my cares on Jesus! The enemy just can't win over the Lord!

My mom showed me Psalm 144 the other day. It's great to pray it. Sometimes I paraphrased it to match what my circumstances are when I prayed it. Here are verses 1-2, 5-11.

Blessed be the LORD, my rock,

who trains my hands for war,

and my fingers for battle;

he is my steadfast love and my fortress,

my stronghold and my deliverer,

my shield and he in whom I take refuge,

who subdues peoples under me.

Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down!

Touch the mountains so that they smoke!

Flash forth lightning and scatter them;

send out your arrows and rout them!

Stretch out your hand from on high;

rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,

from the hand of foreigners,

whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

I will sing a new song to you, O God;

upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,

who gives victory to kings,

who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.

Rescue me and deliver me from the hands of foreigners,

whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

God's power is so clearly shown in this Psalm! Especially in the middle paragraph, I think his power is shown. With a touch, he makes the mountains smoke! He can flash forth lightning! And he can rescue us from the many waters of trials.

I hope this encouraged you!

- Sarah :)

ELSIE DINSMORE

I just finished reading the first two books in the Elsie Dinsmore series by Martha Finley, and they are just amazing.

For those of you who haven't read the books, Elsie is a fictional, 8-9 year old Christian girl living before the Civil War. I won't tell you all the details in hopes that you will read them (On a side note: I think you will enjoy them most if you are a girl!), but I will say that Elsie Dinsmore is a godly girl who is such an example to me of how not to grow weary of doing good, how to love your enemies, and how to put your full trust in Jesus when you feel alone. Because this young girl faces some really difficult trials, even in the first two books that I have read! I can't wait to read the rest of them. God has used the Elsie Dinsmore books to really strengthen my faith.

FASTING AND PRAYING

My sister, Emily just shared with me a time when she fasted and prayed. Let me share it with you.

My family is going to Florida for vacation on Saturday, and Emily REALLY wanted a bathing suit that she saw online. It was really expensive, though. So Emily prayed that the price would go down, and fasted from reading one night, and prayed instead. The next day, she saw that the price for the bathing suit had gone down by 5 dollars.

And she's only 10.

WHAT an example to me! I need to take prayer more seriously!

GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES

Here is the final part of my 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 study. Sorry it took so long!

Verses:

Psalm 118:1 – Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Colossians 3:17 – And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Psalm 118:1 tells us that we should be thankful for God's steadfast love for us. If we pray for thankfulness, and dwell on how much God loves us, God gives us thankfulness. Colossians adds that we should be thankful in whatever we do. We take a lot of things for granted; most things we have, actually. If we stop and write down all the things we have and should be thankful for, it would help us be more thankful. We should also be thankful for things that may seem bad in our lives. Please read this section from "The Hiding Place" about this. (For those of you who haven't read it, the "I" is Corrie ten Boom.)

"We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!"

I stared at her, then around me at the dark, foul-aired room. "Such as?" I said.

"Such as being assigned here together."

I bit my lip. "Oh yes, Lord Jesus!"

"Such as what you're holding in your hands."

I looked down at the Bible. "Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all the women, here in this room, who will meet You in these pages."

"Yes," said Betsie. "Thank You for the very crowding here. Since we're packed so close, that many more will hear!" She looked at me expectantly. "Corrie!" She prodded.

"Oh, all right. Thank You for the jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed, suffocating crowds."

"Thank You," Betsie went on serenely, "for the fleas and for–"

The fleas! This was too much. "Betsie, there's no way even God can make me grateful for a flea."

"'Give thanks in all circumstances,'" she quoted. "It doesn't say, 'in pleasant circumstances.' Fleas are part of this place where God has put us."

And so we stood between piers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong.

Later in the book, we see the good that came from the fleas.

One night I got back to the barracks late from a wood-gathering foray outside the walls. . . . Betsie was waiting for me, as always, so that we could wait through the food line together. Her eyes were twinkling.

"You're looking extraordinarily pleased with yourself," I told her.

"You know we've never understood why we had so much freedom in the big room," she said. "Well–I've found out."

That afternoon, she said, there'd been confusion in her knitting group about sock sizes and they'd asked the supervisor to come and settle it.

"But she wouldn't. She wouldn't step through the door and neither would the guards. And you know why?"

Betsie could not keep the triumph from her voice: "Because of the fleas! That's what she said, 'That place is crawling with fleas!'"

My mind rushed back to our first hour in this place. I remembered Betsie's bowed head, remembered her thanks to God for creatures I could see no use for.

This is an example of how God uses things that seem to be bad for our good. Isn't it so cool? :)

Something to remember when we don't feel thankful is that Jesus died for us so that we can go to heaven forever. If, with God's help, we can be thankful for something as big as that, we can remember to thank God for the little blessings (and trials, little or big) in our lives.

I hope reading this has left you encouraged!

Sarah :)

PART 2: PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

I would like to share my notes from my devotions yesterday on the second command in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 with you. So, everything below is pretty much exactly what I have in my notebook. :)

Verses:

1. 1 Timothy 2:1 – "First of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,"

2. Philippians 4:6 – "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

3. Matthew 26:41 – "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Notes:

Timothy tells us that there are different kinds of prayer; some of these are requests thanksgiving, and praise (not all of these are mentioned in the 1 Timothy verse). This tells us that we can pray about anything we feel on our hearts; whether we are struggling with a certain sin, or thankful for God's blessings, or just aware of how great God is. God loves to hear us pray. He loves when we call on him for help, and when we give him all the glory instead of giving it to ourselves. When we are anxious, like Philippians says, we can call on God and ask him for help, to give us what we need. Then we will not be tempted to sin by being anxious. Matthew 26:41 tells us to "watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." This tells us that we must fight against the temptations of the devil by praying. It also mentions that the flesh is weak. We don't have the desire to pray on our own. But with the Holy Spirit in us, we are strengthened, and will have the desire to pray. God will make it easier for us to pray about everything by his Holy Spirit. By prayer, also, we can ask God for faith that he will answer our prayers.

After taking notes, I prayed that God would help me to pray about everything more. I asked him to help me to thank and praise him more, especially. I also prayed that I would pray when I face a struggle, or if I am about to sin and need help, and that I would pray when I feel weak and not able to do what God has called me to do.

I hope this post has been encouraging!

-Sarah :)

Colossians 1:9-14

⁹And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. ¹¹ May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:9-14

This passage is just bursting with things we can pray!!! We can pray "that we may be filled with the knowledge of his will in spiritual wisdom and understanding"; that we will "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God"; that we "may be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might"; and for "endurance and patience with joy". We can also thank God that "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son", and that we have "redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

WOW!

I am going to pray through this a lot!! Thanks to my aunt for telling me about this passage :)

Please comment and tell me about verses/passages in the Bible that you like to pray through!

ANSWERS TO PRAYER

I have this journal, and I write in it the same kind of stuff I'm going to post on here. Looking through it, I realized that I wrote a lot on prayer.

Lately, God has made it easier for me to pray about anything and everything. It's wonderful! For example, I am praying that God would help me overcome complaining, and I have found it much easier to not complain! God loves it when we pray diligently for his will. I also pray through 2 Corinthians 12:9, which says:

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

This is one of my favorite verses, by the way. :) I pray it when I feel weak, like I can't do something I'm called to do. I can feel God's power fill me, and it helps me do my work.

I encourage you to pray to God about every little thing that is on your heart. He wants you to call on Him! Please comment if you have other verses/things you pray about that would benefit others! I would love to hear them. :)