It’s easier to count our troubles than it is to count our blessings! Why? Because troubles surround us, stick to us, wake us up in the night, cause our stomach to churn and never seem to leave our sight! “Blessings pop up like stars in the night and then quickly fade. We have to pay attention to catch sight of them, hold onto them and then thank God for them.”

Anything permitted increases. Another way to put that is this: if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. Little by little we have accepted things that God wasn’t pleased with and little by little we’ve seen the enemy bringing in more and more ungodly thoughts and activities. When are we going to draw a line in the sand and say: No more!

We have prayer backwards. We pray “after the fact”! We pray for help when we end up in divorce court instead of praying we marry the right person and then praying each day for our marriage. We pray for our wayward children instead of praying for them when they are little…asking God to lead, guide and direct them; asking God to have His hand on them keeping them from rebellion; asking God to lead them to the right job, the right mate, the right church. I think we need to go on the offensive every day instead of praying when things fall apart. Our prayers are like shutting the barn door after the horse gets out! Too late!

Our success in life is really decided by what we are willing to ignore! When we focus on the spiritual direction we want to go, we can’t be distracted and wander here and there. There’s a word in the Greek that is scopeo. It has to do with focusing completely on something. Have you ever looked through a scope? In order to see through the scope, you have to close your other eye! That’s a great way to describe what you and I have to do! Keep one eye on God and one eye closed to the things that would pull us away.

The tragedy in the world today is not that prayers go unanswered. It’s that we fail to pray! God is standing ready, willing and able to change our lives, our families, and our nation. Our part is to call out to Him in prayer. Let’s change the world, one prayer at a time.

Every day of your life is filled with assignments. Sometimes in the middle of our daily routine, God “sets us up” to run into a certain person, get a phone call, catch a glimpse of something and the list goes on and on. Why does He do that? We are “Boots on the Ground” as my friend Carol says. We can walk alongside God praying, speaking, loving, helping, serving, laughing and whatever else is needed! Lace those boots up and head for the door! Assignments “accepted” lead us to an exciting and wonderful life.