Bible Verse to Prayer Journal and Ponder

{Note: No. I am not admonishing you, by the way. This is a reminder to myself.}

Bible Verse to Prayer Journal and Ponder

Prayer Journal June 20,2014, Friday

Proverbs 12:23 / Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
23 A shrewd person conceals knowledge,
but a foolish heart publicizes stupidity.
-- Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Prayer journal your thoughts.

Wow! 
What a powerful verse.
I cannot help but think how often I've fallen for this trap--and how I've been in the presence of those who have. 
Often times, we are prideful and think we know something, so we boast. We pat ourselves on the back and seek to win man's approval. What we don't realize is we spoke like a fool and didn't really know much at all. And, it's because we are full of pride and want to seek approval. What we forget is the only thing... the only one we should boast in is God and His Word. We tend to overlook how the only approval we should ever seek is God's.
I've spoken out of turn. Too many times. It's done out of a lack of discipline--and a lack of dealing with my stuff. Usually, it's when I haven't been in the Word, prayer journaling, and pondering His Word all day and night. It's when I'm being ugly that this happens. 
Then I say something mean (sometimes without intending) or heated, or something that doesn't make sense, and I look even more like a fool. 
Pride always comes before a fall. Always. 
Isn't it better to keep our opinions to ourselves, unless we are in a place of discipline and closeness with God where He can speak through us, rather than us forcing an issue because we think we know, but really don't? 
And, what do we do when we are in the presence of someone who lives this verse? First, we cut them grace. But, we might want to gently point out the truth in love. Do not let them continue in error. Let them know the foolishness of what was said, through pointing out truth to them in a quiet and non-confrontational way. And, then drop it. Never raise the issue with them again. It's done. Give them grace as you would so have liked others to offer you when you've been in their place. And, say a prayer for yourself that you not stumble again through opening your mouth when you shouldn't. 

Prayer journal your thoughts.

Proverbs 12:23 / Expanded Bible (EXB)

23 ·Wise [Prudent] people ·keep what they know to themselves [L conceal/hide their knowledge],

but ·fools can’t keep from showing how foolish they are [L the heart of fools proclaim their stupidity].

-- -- EXB: Scripture taken from The Expanded Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Prayer journal your thoughts.

Bible Verse to Prayer Journal and Ponder

Bible Verse to Prayer Journal and Ponder

Prayer Journal June 19, 2014, Thursday

40:31 / Expanded Bible (EXB)

31 But the people who ·trust [hope in; wait on] the Lord will become strong again.

They will rise up ·as an eagle in the sky [with wings like eagles];

    they will run and not ·need rest [grow weary];

they will walk and not ·become tired [faint].

-- Scripture taken from The Expanded Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Prayer journal your thoughts.

Who becomes strong? 

It takes three qualities to become strong again:

1 Trust the Lord

2 Hope in the Lord

3 Wait on the Lord

It takes all three at the same time. They are a trio we need to remember and be intentional of so we will gain strength once again. 

Feel weak? Remember these three characteristics, aspects, and qualities and have them. Be about it. 

Isaiah 40:27-31 / Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

27 Jacob, why do you say,

and Israel, why do you assert:

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

and my claim is ignored by my God”?

28 Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

Yahweh is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the whole earth.

He never grows faint or weary;

there is no limit to His understanding.

29 He gives strength to the weary

and strengthens the powerless.

30 Youths may faint and grow weary,

and young men stumble and fall,

31 but those who trust in the Lord

will renew their strength;

they will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary;

they will walk and not faint.

-- Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Prayer journal your thoughts.

My Spiritual Memoir: My Prayer for the United States

"My Prayer for the United States:

A Prayer Journalkeeper’s Reflection on History From Historic Jamestowne to Today

(And What It Means to Faith and Life Today)"

Are you a Christian? Do you pray? Do you prayer journal? Are you an American? Do you like history or want to learn more about it? Do you pay attention to current events? Do you like to read spiritual memoirs and/or want to write your own? Do you like to read about the stories of families and learn about family trees? If you answered yes to any of the previous questions, this book is for you.

This book is my prayer journaling about current events and is a reflection on the history of the United States from Historic Jamestowne to today. I reflect on what the current events and history mean to my faith and life today.

My prayer for the U.S. is a very personal one because I had family members come here through Historic Jamestowne in 1607 and I can trace my family back to Nero, Emperor Charlemagne, and Joseph of Arimathea, never mind the Plantagenet and Tudor families or several Presidents of the USA, along with founding fathers, and writers and signers of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Moreover, several were of the House of Burgess and some even signed and wrote the Magna Carta.

I’ve had men in my family tree serve in every single war of the United States of America. This includes a father and his twelve sons who served in the American Revolutionary War or War of Independence.

The current events happening as I write this, and the history of my nation, along with faith, make me quite passionate about this topic and book. This is a spiritual memoir because as I prayer journal, I’m growing in faith and patriotism as I learn and reflect more on history. It’s how all of this shapes who I am today.

What is happening today in current events in our nation, through the lens of history, is something every citizen and every Christian needs to be aware of, think about, and pray about. There is too much at stake and it impacts each of us right now—where we are. We can keep burying our heads in the sand or we can help make this nation a Christian one again—and it all starts with you (and me, of course). It starts through awareness, thinking, and praying. This book is my spiritual memoir about how I do precisely that and how it impacts me and my life.

Bible Verse to Prayer Journal and Ponder

Bible Verse to Prayer Journal and Ponder

HOW I GET THE MOST OUT OF THE WORD OF GOD EACH DAY
The first thing I do in the morning, is put dog outside and feed Beagle and Maine Coin and grab a cup of coffee. Then, I sit and have time with God. I make Him the precedent of each day. I give Him reverence and put Him first. I turn to the Bible, His love letter to us, His Word.
I am reading the Bible through in a year and am using this program, which you can start at any time:
http://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/old-new-testament/today?version=HCSB
I find at least one verse that speaks to me and try to keep prayer journaling it and pondering it all day long. With every verse that jumps out at me, I try to look it up at least three translations or versions of the Bible of it and get as much meaning out of it as possible. Often I look up five to seven.
Why do I look up more than one translation? As I said, I get a great deal more meaning out of it and I also read it more. The more I read it and ponder it, the verse will take root deep inside of me and become a way of live and living. It becomes part of me. Every time I read it, it grows and changes me.
Then, I read this program, which you can start at any time. I read a chapter of Psalms and Proverbs. Today, it's Psalms 10 and Proverbs 10. I find a verse of several from this reading as well.
I write these verses down and carry them with me. I also keep the tabs open of the internet links that lead to these daily verses and a document on my computer so I can look them up all day. I also pull them.up on my cell and tablet when I am not at my computer.
Some people are anal about checking texts and emails on their cell. I use that as my cue to pull up my daily verses on my cell. I also do this when stopped at a light. I use the light as a reminder to think of my daily verses.
Another cue I use is every time I take a sip of a liquid or a bite of food. I'm hypoglycemic so I eat and drink all dynamic long, so I stretch out my daily verses as much as possible.
This is how I get as much out of the Bible as I can and is how I try to include and remember God and His Word every moment.
I won't lie. Some days, I do all of this. Other days, once and that's it. I am constantly trying to do this more--and in doing so, just being with Him more each day.

Read the following verse and prayer journal about how this applies to you, your marriage, your house and family, your larger family, your city, your county, your state, your nation, and the world:

Proverbs 10:17 / Expanded Bible (EXB)
17 Whoever ·accepts correction [guards instruction/discipline] is on the way to life,
but whoever ·ignores [abandons] correction ·will lead others away from life [wanders aimlessly].
-- Scripture taken from The Expanded Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 10:17 / GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
17 Whoever practices discipline is on the way to life,
    but whoever ignores a warning strays.
-- Scripture is taken from GOD’S WORD®, © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group.

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease June 2014)

Current Events Change Things: A New Book Title

I've written 6,714 words so far of my spiritual memoir, but have put that material at the back of the book as bonus material.

This marks a new book. It's in light of current events, of the USA and in my own life that is causing me to change this book. I will return to the idea of writing a spiritual memoir about living a life of simple faith, but today is not it.

I will now write a spiritual memoir in which I prayer journal about history and current events and what it means for me and my life today as a Christ follower and as an American.

Bible Verse to Ponder and Prayer Journal

Bible Verse to Ponder and Prayer Journal

Psalm 9:1-2 / New Living Translation (NLT)
1 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
    I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
2 I will be filled with joy because of you.
    I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
-- Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

How can we praise God with ALL of our hearts, unless we actually are intentional about it? Prayer journaling makes us live intentionally. Prayer journaling makes us live a life of faith purposefully.
How can we do all of anything without being intentional and purposeful? This is why it is so critical for everyone to prayer journal. Otherwise, we live a life of faith we take for granted and we fail to seek Him first (Matthew 6:33) every moment.
How can we tell of ALL the miraculous, marvelous, wonderous works God has done unless we write them out so we can remember them tomorrow, in a week, in a month, in a year, and in several decades?
This is how important it is to prayer journal.
Now, prayer journal your thoughts.

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease 2009-2014)

Camp NaNoWriMo and My Spiritual Memoir

In July, I'm taking part of Camp NaNoWriMo (Camp National Novel Writing Month), where people around get together and write a book in 30 days. Yes. A book. They write part of a book or an entire book during that space of time.

I try to take part in Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo every year during the months in which I can participate: April, July, November.

This year, I plan on working on my spiritual memoir.

You can find my spiritual memoir and view my progress here--starting July 01, 2014. So, stay tuned.

(NOTE: Click on the bold words above and in this post to go to those links.)

Tentative Title and Cover

This could change, but this is what it is right now. :)

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease at Historic Jamestowne on June 15, 2014)

I Am a Prayer Journalkeeper: The Richness of My Experience

I Am a Prayer Journalkeeper: The Richness of My Experience

Prayer Journal and Letter June 14, 2014, Saturday, 1008 A.M.

Mom,

Hello. I hope you are well on this fine Saturday morning. Thinking and praying for you--always.

I know you want to know how we are here in Virginia. And that is precisely why I write this email, which will be end up being Chapter One of my latest book (with your permission, of course).

For years, I keep fighting it. I surrender. I am not meant to do anything but prayer journal. Why do I keep fighting it? Why else has God allowed the richness of my life experience?

Huh. I never thought of looking at the challenges in my life as a treasure from God--and that makes me rich in Him. Very wealthy. Wow. Wonder of wonders. (Pardon me while I sit here for a moment and try to fully digest what I just prayer journaled, but in form of a letter to you.) I wrote that before I even comprehend what I wrote.

God has allowed the challenges in my life, including the last year and a half, so He could make me rich in Him and His Word. These life challenges are a treasure of great richness to intensify my relationship with Him, my faith, and my growth in Him. Glory!

Wow. I shake my head, blown away by His goodness. What a sacred gift, my life's challenges.

I have been able to, over the last five years, thank the Lord deeply for everything He has done and allowed in my life, including the challenges. For, they have made me who I am today. I thank Him for helping give me this perspective, and my new one of the richness of those challenges.

Wow. Pardon the light bulb moment.

Now, the original reason why I wanted to write this email was to share with you how I am changing, once again (Lord, help us all) what I want to write. I am done fighting it. I know my God-sized life's purpose:

I am a prayer journalkeeper.

Nothing more. Nothing less. This is me. It is all of me--deep and shallow. I am not supposed to be anything but. This is how God made me. Period.

Why hasn't this been enough for me?

That question has stopped me in my tracks. If God made me a prayer journalkeeper, and that is indeed my life's purpose (and, it is), then that is more than enough. This is how He wants me to share Him and His Word with the world, and bring Him glory. This is the sacred thing He wants from me most: To share how I live, in my corner of the world, in faith and how I interact with Him and the Word, through prayer journaling.

Could anything be grander?

Is anything more important?

So, I surrender. I will live as He wants, write what He wants, and share this thing called life with others. I will be the best prayer journalkeeper I can be.

Could life have gotten any simpler? I will live in His will alone and stop living outside of it, which had me hopping in a million other insignificant directions and kept me so busy--and missing Him.

That's the latest here.

I am a prayer journalkeeper.

-- Stacy Duplease, Writer

Sent from Amazon Kindle Fire HDX

Blog: http://APrayerJournalkeeper.blogspot.com/

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease 2011-2014.)

Bible Verse to Ponder and Prayer Journal

Bible Verse to Ponder and Prayer Journal

Deuteronomy 1:29-31 / GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
29 Then I said to you, “Don’t tremble. Don’t be afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God, who is going ahead of you, will fight for you as you saw him fight for you in Egypt 31 and in the desert.” There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as parents carry their children. He carried you wherever you went until you came to this place.
-- Scripture is taken from GOD’S WORD®, © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group.

Do not be afraid now or at any time.
"Them, they, or Egypt" can be anyone, anything, any time.
God will fight for you, for us, so you/we do not have to fight. We just need to open our eyes and look for Him and seek Him. We can live confidently knowing He sees all, even this. He will fight for you and carry you. You are not alone. For, Emanuel. God is always with us.
God knows.
He's got this.
This is true in the good times, the challenges, and the so-so times. God never, ever changes.

Prayer journal your thoughts.

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease 2008-2014.)

Bible Verse to Prayer Journal and Ponder

Bible Verse to Prayer Journal and Ponder 

Psalm 86:8 / Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
8 Lord, there is no one like You among the gods,
and there are no works like Yours
-- Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Prayer journal your thoughts.

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease 2009-2014.)