Category: Prayer

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · lent · power of God · Prayer · psalms · searching · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy
carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 14:2 NIV
[2] The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
The band Whitheart has a song called Desert Rose- in it they say “Lost in a windswept land
In the world of shifting sand
A fragile flower stands apart
There in that barren ground
Feel like the only one
Tryin’ to serve Him with all your heart.”

How often do we feel like the only ones trying to serve God with all our hearts? We have people around us who claim to be Christian as well, but their lives speak of compromise and Luke warm taste. It can make us feel lonely, it can make us feel like somehow we are wrong and their way of submitting to sin under the shelter of “love” or “empathy” or the all famous, “Jesus didn’t really say that, it was meant for those times and not for now,” and we feel alone- hurt- confused. Sometimes we feel like David felt, angry. He was angry as he watched the sinful prosper, as he watched them gloat over the righteous. We feel like anger is a sin, but if it is for the right reason and handled correctly, anger is not always a bad thing. We can be angry about sin. We can certainly be angry when people who claim to be fellow believers attack us for standing with God’s word. But see how David uses his anger correctly and takes it to God and brings his pain before Him and pleads for HIS justice.

Take away:

God is still looking on mankind to see if any understand and seek Him. Will He see us as those who have served Him and stand with Him even when our friends turn away? In our anger and hurt do we turn to Him and ask Him for His help and guidance?
Feel your feels, then give them to God. But no matter what those you once trusted and believed in say and do, never compromise your faith and your stand with righteousness. Where the righteous are, God is also.

Psalms 13:5 NIV[5] But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · lent · no longer lost · power of God · Prayer · psalms · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

Psalms 13:5 NIV[5] But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 13:5 NIV
[5] But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
Trust is so hard. How many people do we really trust? We as humans have been hurt by people so often that we live with a tinge of concern and lack of trust. We often turn that fear over to God. We don’t believe that Jesus will truly come through because we put Him on the same level as people. But His love is unfailing. He will never leave us abandoned. He reaches down and pulls us out of darkness and hurt.
In this passage, David is pleading with God to save him from his enemies. How long will you make me wait before you save me? Is basically what he says over and over again. Then he ends by rejoicing in God and praising Him, because David understood that God would always come through for him no matter how dark everything around him seemed.

Take away:
In the middle of trials we may stumble and feel like we are losing faith, but God will always be there with us. We cannot understand the waiting or the time it takes before our troubles end, but we always know that God has not left us and that He is doing something for us.

Devotional · encouragement · found · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · lent · power of God · Prayer · psalms · searching · still fighting · The Bible
carriedinthecross1 Comment

Psalms 11:1 NLT
[1] I trust in the Lord for protection. So why do you say to me, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!
I really love this! Here we see David singing about the evil who pursue him with underhanded ways. His people (the righteous) try to convince him that they should all find shelter and hide from those who attack them. Yet David believed more in God being his shield than almost any other person in scripture. He trusted so much in God that he refused to flee from his enemies. Sure he had times of great pain and discouragement, even fear; yet he refused to run.
When bad things happen, or darkness rises, it is easy to want to run away. Flee to the mountains to hide and cower. Yet David knew that the only mountain to flee to was the mountain of God. God alone is our mighty stronghold to protect us.
Most of us are not facing violence, sadly some of us are, but we all have some enemy attacking us. It might be anxiety, illness, strife, a wandering child, an addiction, a lost job. Whatever your giant, three headed monster looks like, God is still your safe place to run to. We do not need to flee to the mountains when the enemy draws it’s bow taught, we need to flee to God.

Take away:
A fallen world means people will face pain at sometime in their lives. Pain can come in many shapes and sizes and most of the time it is preloaded by fear. When fear rises and we see pain coming, do not try and find something to hide in that is of this world. Hide in Jesus! He is your safe zone. He is your strong tower. He is the mountain where you run. This world will hurt you and let you down, but Jesus never will.

Psalms 9:20 NIV[20] Strike them with terror, Lord; let the nations know they are only mortal.
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · Jesus · lent · power of God · Prayer · psalms · The Bible

Psalms 9:20 NIV[20] Strike them with terror, Lord; let the nations know they are only mortal.

carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 9:20 NIV
[20] Strike them with terror, Lord; let the nations know they are only mortal.
It is always so interesting how David often shows a sense of seeing the world around him as something that does not love God the way it should.
In Psalms 9:20 we join David as he sings a song of praise to God, (oddly enough to the tune Death of the Son) and then he ends his song with a prayer against people being wicked and ignoring God’s glory. Showing God honor was always the most important thing to David. I have wondered if David would have bothered with Goliath if he had not insulted God. God meant everything to this man. He had so much in his life that was good even before becoming king, and after… well… he was king. Yet despite all the blessings he had, David always held God higher than any of them. Because David worshiped God and put Him first in his times of blessing, it was easy for David to feel and know the power and goodness of God in his times of need.

Take away:
Do we put God first? We often run to Him when life takes a side road, but when things are just good, (not so great that we naturally draw to praising God, just good, fine, decent,) do we turn to God and worship Him? Do we desire for those around us to put God in high authority in their lives? What does He meant to you?
When the world around us falls away from Jesus and turns their backs, we should pray that God strikes them with terror of His power so they change and seek Him. They need Him so badly, yet they do not see it. We need Him so badly, but do we acknowledge it?
Give God time today.

Psalms 8:1 NIV[1]  Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.
Christianity · Devotional · Jesus · lent · Love · power of God · Prayer · psalms · True Joy

Psalms 8:1 NIV[1]  Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.

carriedinthecross1 Comment

Psalms 8:1 NIV
[1]  Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.

There are no small miracles!
How often do we ask God for something that is really important to us, but after He answers we never tell people because we have gotten it into our heads that it was small. I think we have this feeling due to certain testimony expectations. Someone who survived a car wreck unharmed seems to have a testimony that is greater than the girl who was praying for her senior dog to be able to jump up on the couch by himself again. Yet both are equal! Yes. The fact that God answers us at all is the amazing thing, but the lost earring and the broken foot both hold the same weight with God. Nothing we ask for is hard for Him, it’s our mind which make things big. Inside my mind my exams are HUGE! But to God they are nothing, they are so simple to Him. In my mind protection from a terrible storm is MASSIVE! But it’s easy for God.
There are no small miracles. What we ask for is only big or little inside our own minds.
I would like to see us walk away from this and begin boasting on God for EVERYTHING He does, not just for the things that seem big to us.
In the Psalm above, David speaks on how majestic the name of the Lord is; then he goes on to ask God what are we that God Himself cares for us?
We are so small in the whole of things, yet we mean so much to God.

Take away:
We undermine God’s goodness when we speak of how only certain things He does are miracles and others are only little blessings. Yet every work of God’s hand is a miracle, everything He does for us. Because the true miracle is the fact that God loves us and cares about us.
Even if we simply stub our toe, Jesus cares.
So when the things we think are big happen, let’s remember that, to God, they aren’t big at all.

Psalms 7:17 NIV[17] I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · guidance · Jesus · lent · Love · power of God · Prayer · psalms · searching · still fighting

Psalms 7:17 NIV[17] I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.

carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 7:17 NIV
[17] I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.
Here we have David again praising God; honoring his savior because of His righteousness. It seems from this verse that David is in a moment of great joy. But look at the verses above this one and you will see that David is not only in anguish but is being pursued. Despite the danger and all David was going through he not only honors God as sovereign, but he also declares that if he has done anything to wrong the person who is after him that God should permit him to be overtaken.
We like to focus on David’s big failures. His mistake with Bathsheba. His terrible parenting. Yet he was always a man who sought God with his whole heart, throwing himself at the mercy of God even if it brought him pain. God does not overlook our sins, but He does forgive. This same verse where David declares he will sing praises to God, he also acknowledges and accepts that the same weapons God uses to punish his enemies, He will use to punish his followers if they are unrepentant. Can we praise God when are confused and afraid? Can we give Him glory and at the same time know that if we sin without remorse we will be punished?

Take away:

God is always good. He is also always pure. He will not permit sin to run unchecked. Yet when He punishes our enemies He is avenging us, but when He punishes us He is loving us. Just like a parent who protects and disciplines his or her child everyday. Yet God does not hold to His anger. He forgives when you call on Him.

Psalms 4:7 NIV[7] Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · Jesus · lent · Love · power of God · Prayer · searching

Psalms 4:7 NIV[7] Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.

carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 4:7 NIV
[7] Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.

Welcome to lent 2026! This lent we will mostly be spending time in Psalms and learning from the various authors and artists.
Today we look at Psalm 4:7 where David is lamenting about his people. He asks how long they will ignore God and chase idols. The big thing to always learn from David is this: Feel your feels and then let them go.
Feel your emotions- acknowledge them- turn them over to Jesus.
David begins by feeling disheartened and ends in praising God and saying to Him, “let me see you do something wonderful.”
The very end of this chapter has the beloved verse about lying down and sleeping in safety because of God watching over us.

Take away:
Acknowledge problems and things that upset you. Then take a deep breath and hand them to Jesus. After you do this you can open your eyes to His goodness and look forward to the way Jesus cares for you.

You may wonder what the Psalms have to do with lent. Lent is a time of opening your mind to Jesus and all He has done for us. That means taking extra time everyday to be with Him. The Psalms are a great place to look at God’s wonder and how He cares for His people. Making time for a little more Jesus and a little less me is what lent is for as we prepare to remember the sacrifice of Easter.

Refuge
Christianity · Devotional · dreams do come true · encouragement · found · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · Love · no longer lost · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

Refuge

carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 121:1-2 NIV
[1] I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? [2] My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
David found his hiding place within the mountains when he hid from Saul. He knew perfectly well how safe a cave could feel. Yet he reminds us here that his rescue did not come from the mountains. His safety and hiding place was in God.
Too often we find comfort in things of this world. In our jobs, in our studies, in health care, in our homes, so on. All these things are very good but they do not replace God. How often throughout the book of Isaiah did God warn the people about setting up thing as idols, about relying on earthly strength instead of on Him? Just like the Israelites then we seek strength for anything we can touch and see because we fear relying on God.
Yet David saw it. My safety is not from these mountains around me, my safety is from the God who made these mountains.
Our safety and strength and success does not come from anything we can touch or see, sure we will have put out effort on our part, but our salvation from all around us no matter what we face, is in God Himself.
These strongholds cannot save me, but God can!

But you said no anyway
Christianity · CS Lewis · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · Love · no longer lost · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

But you said no anyway

Featured carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

But you said no anyway

I was listening to soft piano music and this title came up. It reminded me of times with God where we have done all the right things. We have been kind to people who would be easier to be mean to. We have given even when we were poor ourselves. We have gone to church each Sunday when all we want to do is sleep in. Yet God said no to our desire anyway.
Times like those are so hard, and many walk away from their Faith during such days because it hurts too much to keep holding on.
But God’s answers to our prayers aren’t based on how good, kind, and giving we’ve been, they are based on His will and timing.
C.S. Lewis said something once along the lines of:
“It is not that we doubt that God has a plan, it’s that we fear how painful His plan will be.”
The days when God says ‘yes’ it is easy to trust in Him. It’s those days when He says ‘no’ that we stumble.
God never promised sunshine, never once did He say we would never walk in storms, but He always promises that He loves us and that His plans are for our good.
Sometimes He says no and it makes no sense. It may never make sense. That’s why we need faith. Because Faith says to keep holding on, when everything else says to fear and despair.
Jesus has never once dropped you or left you alone to suffer, and He isn’t about to start now.

A little dinosaur reminding us of Christ’s love
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · guidance · Jesus · Love · no longer lost · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting · True Joy

A little dinosaur reminding us of Christ’s love

carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Does anyone remember Land before time? I mean the real one, not the new one?
Have you ever thought of how that movie is a great representation of our relationship with Christ?
Don’t give up on me just yet. Let me show what I mean. Littlefoot, the cutest Dino ever, ends up having to walk across the wasteland due to what I would guess to be Pangea splitting in the continental drift.
On his journey, he runs into Sarah. The 3 horn in their world, the Triceratops in ours, and she tells him that they can’t journey together, because he’s not of her kind, so he goes and journeys on his own. Having lost his mother and being totally broken at heart he feels like he will always be alone. Yet as he journeys, he meets several others who are not his kind, who are also journeying alone, and who are frightened and need somebody to care for them. So he puts the differences aside, and allows them all to come with him. And he cares for them and protects them. And then when we have Sarah join back up with the group, she decides to take charge, and she argues with him at every step and tries to show that she is smarter. And eventually, her wrong opinions (which claim to know an easier path) lead all of the friends except Littlefoot, who knows to go the right direction, astray. Isn’t that exactly like our relationship with Jesus, right down to the wandering the wastand and finding friends to wander with him? More than that though, His knowing the answers, His finding lost and broken people in this world and putting aside the fact whether we’re black of skin or white, or we’re Chinese or we have a limp, or we have freckles, none of that matters to Him as long as we are willing to love Him and serve Him, and then He guides us and lets us follow Him. He protects us and then out of nowhere comes the devil whispering in our ear (or shouting) saying Jesus is wrong and that he knows an easier way. Taunting us with “Why are you taking the hard way?” And because we’re human and dumb, we go and we follow the devil’s voice. Even though Jesus has led us the right way up until now. Do we all remember what happens when things get hard? After the other children choose to follow Sarah, instead of Littlefoot?
She ends up leaving them all behind and not even noticing when they fall into turmoil. Yet as soon as they cry for help, little foot comes running. Shouting, “hang on guys, I’m coming.” Isn’t that just like Jesus as soon as we run into trouble? Even though we chose to follow the devil instead of Him, when we call for help He comes running saying, “hang on guys. I’m coming.” Why? Because He loves us and He is the eternal perfect leader. Let us give our lives to Him and trust in Him. Now we all remember that Sarah does get her redemption because Littlefoot allows her to continue to join them. In fact, he even saves her on several occasions throughout several different movies.
Now the devil doesn’t have that chance to be rescued, but the vialist of sinner does, and Jesus will reach out to even those who have hurt Him the most because He is our God and we love Him. More than that, He loves us.