I am so excited to feature Stephanie Byrnes on my blog today! I received my PersistentHeart Journal yesterday and I can't wait to start using it. My time in the Word has been forever changed by an inductive, methodical, and intentional approach. I hope that applying the same intentionality and method to my prayer life will be just as transformative. So, when I saw Stephanie's journals I knew I had to have one. Here are her words to you….
I’ve had the joy and the privilege this summer to delve into
Paul’s ministry within the Thessalonian church through Beth Moore’s bible study
Children of the Day. It was the study
chosen for Living Proof’s Siesta Summer
Bible Study, and along with a few close girlfriends and ladies from my
church, I found myself day-after-day hearing the Holy Spirit speak new words of
truth into my ministry as a woman, a mother, and a follower of Christ.
As I think about my ministry
with PersistentHeart Prayer Journals, however, there is one day in particular
where Beth articulates perfectly what Christ renewed in my prayer life through
the last several months.
I’m not sure what you
imagine when you think of Paul, but I have always had an image of a slightly
harsh man. He seemed empowered, aggressive, a “go-getter.” As a former
Pharisee, he knew the scriptures with incredible precision, and he used that
knowledge to reach the Jews with the gospel though imprisoned time and time
again.
He became a wanderer,
often being separated from those he loved for months or even years at a time.
He took on Christ’s cause in a mighty way, planting church after church,
creating disciple after disciple, writing a great portion of the New Testament
for generations of believers’ teaching and rebuking. He was certainly enabled with Christ’s power.
But this empowerment
was not without faithful preparation. Beth mentions in her study that Paul
wrote the word “pray” in his letters 26 times, in addition to 27 times he used
“prays,” “praying,” “prayer,” and “prayers.” That, of course, doesn’t even
include uses of other variations, such as “supplication” and “intercession” (p.
192). If you like numbers, you’ll appreciate that run-down she gave us, and you
will realize that Paul believed in
prayer.
And Paul didn’t just believe in
prayer, but he accounted his success for the kingdom to prayer and he modeled intercessory prayer with great vigor.
“I will continue to
rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit
of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will
in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always
Christ will be exalted in my body.”
Philippians 1:19-20
Why could Paul have confidence that Christ
would deliver him from great distress? Because he believed that through the prayers of other believers he would have sufficient courage.
How beautiful is that,
y’all? Paul, the Gospel Giant that he was, relied on the prayers of others for
his empowerment to carry out the great works of Christ.
How many of us have
people in our lives that we want to pour that kind of confidence into?
Children? Spouses? Friends? Family? Neighbors? Are we doing our part to lift
them in faithful prayer to support them in the kind of ministry Paul echoed
through the ages?
How many of us want
this kind of confidence in Christ ourselves? Jesus tells us in Luke 11:13 that
all we must do to receive the Holy Spirit and His gifts (hello, gentleness, patience, peace, love, goodness) is ASK!
So why don’t we? Why
don’t we empower others in our lives and in the ministry with the kind of
prayers Paul describes in his letters? Why don’t we feel filled with love,
goodness, gentleness, and faithfulness in abundance each and every day? Because
we are not coming to the Lord and asking for it with persistency!
I was convicted of
this deeply in my own prayer life several months ago. I hurried through prayers
daily, spitting out quick, generic prayers over all the areas and loved ones in
my circle. Jesus, bless my husband’s
ministry. Make him a strong leader. Father, watch over my children. Spirit,
grant me faithfulness and generosity in our finances. Lord, unify your body for a mighty revival in our nation.
There was so much to pray for, and
with two little ones and the busy life that that entails, I didn’t have the
time to truly meditate on all the areas I wanted to.
What the PersistentHeart Prayer Journals
do for me is focus my time and effort on 4 topics a day to bring to the Father
with purpose and passion. Tuesdays I intentionally pray over my three girls and
godly mothering. This way I can truly anoint each one with God’s blessings.
Another day I reserve for the lost, for the local body of believers, for the
global body of believers, and stewardship. Again, focusing on these four topics
intensely every week allows me to best focus my prayer efforts, rather than
praying for everything at once, resulting in lack of passion.
This system of journaling has
renewed my prayer life. It’s brought fresh perspective. I’ve seen my heart and
mind molded by the Spirit. I’ve watched the world change around me by my intentional, persistent, consistent
prayers.
It’s something that helped me so
immensely in my walk with the Lord, that I began to offer it to others,
resulting in stepping out on faith by opening my own shop on Etsy. If you are interested in purchasing a
PersistentHeart Journal for yourself, you can look at my shop at www.etsy.com/shop/persistentheart (use the code JANIESFRIEND1 to receive $2 off your order).
Even if you don’t
purchase a PersistentHeart Journal, I encourage you to find a way to ensure
that in the hurried, crazy pace we find ourselves in, you don’t neglect the
power of prayer. Deep, passionate prayer can move mountains, y’all. It can move
mountains literally, and it can move mountains in our hearts, minds, and soul.
If prayer produced the kind of legacy Paul left, then shouldn’t we all be on
our knees daily asking for that kind of influence?
Here are a few of my favorite blog posts from her….