NEW! THE PRAYER PROJECT 2014! (Sign-Up)

I am excited to announce my new project for the new year that you all can participate in! It is called The Prayer Project. 

The Prayer Project is a 30-day written prayer challenge starting January 1, 2014! This idea enveloped me a few months ago during my personal study time with God and I knew I had to do it. I have witnessed the transforming ability of prayer and I would love to help others experience that as well. God gave us prayer to help us build a relationship with Him and lighten the burden of our daily problems. And as simple as prayer is, many of us are intimidated by it or just forget to incorporate it into our daily lives. Prayer is essential to spiritual growth and getting to know God. God longs for us to know Him, but how can we know Him if we never talk to Him? God also gave us prayer to lift up others. Sometimes the people that concern us the most, don't know how to pray for themselves or they may be going through so much that praying for themselves is the last thing on their mind. This is an opportunity for us to step in a pray for them on their behalf. This act is called "intercession".

The idea of this project is to commit yourselves to praying for one individual by writing a prayer a day for 30 days straight. I have done this in the past for someone that weighed heavy on my heart and the relieving, transforming, mending power of prayer changed me and the situation. This is where the idea was birthed. What better way to begin the new year than by praying for those that concern you? Read below to find out more and how you can participate.

“THE PRAYER PROJECT”

The Transforming, Healing and Unifying Power of Intercession

30 Day Written Prayer Challenge! 

How often do we tell someone, “I’ll keep you in my prayers” and never actually pray for them? It slips our mind or we forget about them by the time we actually close our eyes to pray.

Are you one whose prayers consist of mostly petitions and requests? How often do you take the time to pray for people other than yourself? People like your friends, loved ones, or even strangers?

Committing to pray for an individual is one of the most selfless acts anyone can perform. It says, “I choose to love you. I care for your soul and your well being. It takes any differences that you have with that individual, release any desired control and place it God’s hands.

Not only does this selfless act of love benefit the individual that you are praying for, it greatly benefits you! It strengthens your personal prayer life and your relationship with the Lord. It softens your heart to anger and hurt by allowing you to release those burdens to God. It helps your attitude toward people improve. You develop a compassionate and unselfish heart. You become less likely to talk about people and their problems and more likely to pray for them. And overall, it is exciting! It allows you to see lives change and God’s hands at work in the lives of others.

Intercession helps you redirect your focus. Instead of immediate judgment of a person, you will be led to pray for them. And what better way to help someone you love than by taking your concerns for them to the One who created them. It’s an honorable act that is reverenced by God.

The Prayer Project is designed to:

• Help mend relationships
• Strengthen bonds
• Turn our worries and concerns for the people we love into prayers
• Create deeper intimacy with God
• Strengthen prayer lives
• Teach humility and selflessness through focused prayers for specific individuals
• Create habits of building up those around us by praying for them
• Build regular communication with God
• Encourage more unity among family and friends and less division
• And ultimately, to encourage spiritual growth

How to Participate:

• Choose a person that is on your heart to dedicate 30 days of prayer to. Do not inform the person you are praying for that you are doing this.
• For 30 days, write one prayer a day as a journal entry. Keep them in a handwritten journal or type them and keep them in a folder on your computer.
• At the end of the 30 days, if you choose, present the person you were praying for with the prayer journal as a gift. Let them know that God placed them on your heart to lift them up in prayer and that you decided to pray for them with no hidden agenda or intent to receive anything in return. Make sure you are doing this as a pure and genuine act of love.

The first 30-Day written prayer challenge will begin January 1, 2014.
After signing up, during the 30 day challenge, you will be sent weekly tips, testimonials, encouragement, and more to help you get through the 30 days.

If you are up for the challenge, sign up at the link below to let me know that you are joining! Make sure that you check your email and click the link to confirm your participation! 

Sign Up For The Challenge HERE!

Follow Saunya on Twitter Here - Enjoyed this post? Subscribe Here - Sign Up for The Prayer Project Here

Growth Is Scary (Audio Blurb #1)

This year of 2013 is coming to an end and I have been doing a lot of reflecting. As I think about this year I can see more and more of God's purpose for the things I went through. I call it my "year of recovery". To be quite honest, God has worked on me this year more than He ever has. I have grieved losses, experienced trying of my faith, and have really been put in a position to trust God. I have learned SO much about myself and have grown more in love with God and can see how much He has taken care of me and restored a lot of my brokenness. I am amazed at my progress but I must admit that the adjustments are not as easy as I thought they would be.


To be 100% transparent, I find myself so blown away at my growth sometimes that it scares me. It scares me because I have evolved so much this year and can clearly see God putting the pieces in my life together so that I can start walking in the purpose that He designed for me. Knowing that I am getting closer to my purpose is exciting yet scary at the same time. I notice that I question my abilities a lot. Am I capable? That's the question I continuously ask myself. The thing is, I know that God wouldn't take me into any territory without preparing me first. I know that. But that doesn't make it any less frightening for me. It's like I'm being prepared for something and I don't even know what it is yet.

What's most interesting in this growth process is when I start seeing changes in myself that even I find it hard to believe. It's funny when you shock yourself. I am responding to situations differently, speaking up at times when I would normally be quiet and being quiet in situations when I would normally speak up. My discernment has been refined, and my compassion has multiplied. I'm changing. And the person I used to be is fighting the person that I am becoming.

Somewhere in my subconscious, I have not fully given myself permission to grow up. There are thoughts like, "What will people think of me?" And because I occasionally have those thoughts I at times allow fear from allowing me to be 100% great. It's like I have given myself permission to be 75% great, but if I go that full 100%, I fear that I will get a lot of side-eyes from people around me who won't understand.

I hope I'm making some kind of sense here lol, but these are things that I have been thinking about lately. My recent prayer is that God would take my fear away. The fear of the unknown, the fear of what people will think, and any other fear that may be a hindrance to me receiving everything that the Lord has for me. It definitely is a process. But I'm glad to say that I am slowly getting there.

I write often. Not just here on my blog in my own personal time. I find great relief in writing, so I journal about pretty much everything. I write about my thoughts, I frequently write poetry and sometimes when I can't articulate my thoughts into written words or if I am just too lazy to write, I release my thoughts and record them in my phone. Yesterday morning, this same topic was on my mind and I recorded my random, free, scattered thoughts. I decided to share them. Now I must warn you that I did not plan this or edit this in any way lol, these are my raw, random feelings on the topic of growth.

Are you experiencing the same? Have you freed yourself from fear and given yourself permission to grow? Click below to take a listen.

Love.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words, Hearts Speak Louder Than Actions

Source

What if for a day, your heart was on display? What if everyone’s heart was on the outside of their body instead of hidden inside? It would be the first thing that everyone sees when they see you coming. How would your perception of the people you know change? How would others’ perception of YOU change?

Some people wouldn’t even leave their house for fear of judgment. So many people would be shocked of the truth that their friends were hiding. Many would be surprised that the people they thought they knew were totally different. Sad to say, it has become quite easy for people to act one way but feel another. And this truth makes it more and more difficult to discern who’s for real and who’s not.

My Dad told me something that I will carry with me forever. He said,

“Never allow others to confuse your actions from your heart.”

At first I didn’t quite understand what he meant by this, but the older I became, the more it resonated with me. Overtime I began to clearly understand what he meant.


Growing up, I struggled with wanting to control others perception of me. It kept me from being 100% genuine. I ended up saying and doing things to try to win over the approval and acceptance of others and would often find myself misunderstood. At the time I didn’t understand why. It was because I wasn’t being true to myself. I was allowing myself to be controlled by what I wanted people to see in me instead of just being me! I didn’t fully accept my introverted, creative self because in comparison to my surroundings, I was a rarity. There wasn’t many like me. I struggled with not understanding that so I tried to be like everybody else, losing myself in the process. Sounds like a recipe for being miserable huh?

This is why I thank God for deliverance and growth. To be honest, it took me until my adult years to get to a place of full acceptance and contentment with the way God created me. I thank God that He delivered me from seeking approval from people. Through a combination of diligence and my experiences, God showed me exactly who I was. He showed me the reasons he made me the way that I am and clearly showed me how refreshing individuality can be. It still hurts at times when people judge me based on outward appearance and what they think they know of me when it’s not the truth. But it doesn't hurt as much anymore because I’m secure. I’m secure in knowing my worth and my value, I know how perfect God sees me and who he created me to be, and THAT is who I am.

“For a man looks at the outward appearance, but The Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Because of God’s gentle rearing and developing, I have been able remain consistent with the parallelism of my actions and my heart. I am constantly reminded that God sees what’s in my heart first before anything else. I constantly pray over my heart that I will forever be true to myself and that my motives and intentions will forever remain pure. Like my Daddy said, I never want my actions and my heart to confuse the people around me. That could easily ruin my witness.

Take time and ask God to show you if there is anything hiding in your heart that needs to be removed. He will show you. Continually make efforts to line up your actions with what’s truly in your heart and you will find that because of your sincerity and the light you emit, the same kind of people will be drawn to you.

Love.

Reference Scriptures:
1 Samuel 16:7

Be My Calm

No matter how strong I am spiritually, I always have weak moments. There are times when Satan attacks me when I'm most vulnerable and unaware and he has a field day with my emotions and my thoughts. As much as I don't like admitting that I have these moments, I do. I know many of you do too. Sometimes I close my door to my room, go into my bathroom and cry my eyes out to God and release all of my frustrations to Him. I have learned that it is in these moments where I welcome God to be my peace and my comfort. Even though it sometimes feel as if no one is listening or that I am alone, deep in my heart, I know God is right there with me. He sees me.

I often write my personal prayers like poetry. In my writing, it just flows that way. It reminds me of the many Psalms that David wrote when He was feeling at his lowest. It reminds me that I am not the only one who feels this way and that God knows the frustrations we face here on earth. He longs to be our comfort. I debated as to whether I wanted to share this prayer because it is real and it really displays my raw emotions, but I remembered that there could be someone who can relate and may need help with calling on God in moments like these. I know God has heard my prayer and I know that He knows even the unspoken prayers of my heart. I pray that anyone else feeling the same is comforted by this. 

Father,

I need Your peace and comfort to rule in my heart. 

I know You are near and that You see me. I know You hear my cries and know of my pain. 

Lord, be my calm.  

My spirit is disrupted and my sight of You is blurred, I know You are near, but I need to feel You. 

I know of your strength and have experienced Your power, but my body is weak and my soul is bothered.

Lord, be my calm.

I feel alone, no one can hear me, but Lord you know me. You see me. You promised to comfort me.

I need You Lord. I need Your peace. 

Calm my spirit, 

Calm my anxiety,

Calm my fears,

I know You are near.

Build my hope.

Strengthen my confidence.

Lift my head.

Dry my eyes.

Fill my heart.

Calm my spirit.

Lord, be my calm.

I need You...to be my calm.

"Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about what happens to you." - 1 Peter 5:7

Choices

God granted us all free will when we entered the world. He gave us the freedom to make our own decisions. He doesn't force us to do anything. If He did, we would basically be puppets. However, God knows the choices we will make before we even make them. Our story was written before we were even born. Interesting right?

"You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." - Psalm 139:16

Every day we are faced with choices and decisions to make. Some are tough and some are easy, but we have to make them.  I saw a quote this past week that was thought provoking and very fitting of this topic:

“We are all one choice away from a completely different life.” - Rob Hill Sr.

Although God has already written our stories, we still have the ability to choose which path we take in life. We can choose a life full of heartache, pain and sorrow, or we can choose a life full of triumph, victory and promise. We each hold in our hands the freedom to live our lives God's way or our own way. Most of the circumstances we find ourselves in, whether good or bad are a direct result of the choices we make.

Even though God will not force us to do anything, He allows us to experience the consequences of our choices. Sometimes He interjects to protect us from disaster, and other times He sits back and allows us to make the choice we choose in order to teach us a lesson. God often does this to help refine and mature us. He tends to put us in a situation where we feel the need to call on Him for help. It is through those helpless times that our relationship with God has the potential to be strengthened and taken to a more intimate level.

I can admit that most of my spiritual growth is a result of me calling on The Lord for help in the most difficult times in my life. Break ups, loss, financial struggles... God blessed me with the strength to call on Him in those low moments. It was through those moments that I learned that God heals. It was through the darkest hours in my life that I learned that God restores. Even though those times in my life were the most difficult, I often look back and thank God for them because I grew up. I matured tremendously and I learned even more about God's character. I can honestly say that even this blog is a by-product of those trying moments in my life. It gave me something to talk about. It gave me something to share. The victory of overcoming those rough times motivated me to want to show others the way to achieving that same victory while experiencing the love of God in a new way. 

Even now I still have trouble making choices for myself for the fear of making the wrong decision and possibly ending up in a situation that I may not be proud of. But one thing I do know is that although the choice is mine, God directs and orchestrates everything. He has given me His Holy Spirit to guide me when I need help. And as long as I make my decisions based off of the leading of the Holy Spirit and not by my own head knowledge or emotions, I know that God will take care of everything that follows.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, 

and he will show you which path to take." - Proverbs 3:5-6 

Love.

Reference Scriptures:

Psalm 139:16

Proverbs 3:5-6