Hi Alli … I have to begin by telling about how I began and prepared to write a prayer of HOPE! I asked Google if you can hope for something you already have. True! That seemed like a good place to start:) But the FUN was what the Google AI responded with. It actually was quite insightful and even referenced the Bible! Here… take a look at my screenshot:

And that actually is true! You don’t hope for what you already have! The Bible even tells us this:

…for we have been saved in this hope and for this future. But hope does not involve what we already have or see. For who goes around hoping for what he already has? But if we wait expectantly for things we have never seen, then we hope with true perseverance and eager anticipation. (Romans 8:24-25)

You heard that God loves and delights in you. You heard that God favors you. You heard that Jesus died for your salvation and that everlasting life awaits you. And now it can be your hope … your confident expectation of what is to come! Just ask Google about Faith, Hope and Love! Yes, please do. Here is what Google AI told me:

So, with a trust in God and love as our driving force, let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, good morning! Thank You for a restful night waking ANEW with You! Thank You for helping me with my walk to Java Abilities coffee shop yesterday. It wasn’t too cold and my special over the head and face cap did the trick (covering my nose and mouth just like a scarf). And now today, it’s snowing (so I drove to the coffee shop)! Thank You for Your many blessings each day. And thank You for that hope for the days to come… for everlasting life to come!

 I pray that God, the source of all hope, will infuse your lives with an abundance of joy and peace in the midst of your faith so that your hope will overflow through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

Lord, it’s me. I’m here! I’m here on behalf of Alli. I’m praying that You will find a way to connect with her today regarding things that she cannot see. Infuse her life with Your Joy. Surround her with Your Peace. And let her hope overflow! And we will give You the glory. The glory is all Yours. Glory! I pray and ask this in the name and authority of Christ Jesus, King of kings. Amen.

It is interesting that you can get a Bible that highlights (in blue) hundreds of Scripture verses that relate to HOPE! It is called “Find Hope: Holy Bible” part of the VerseLight Bible series.

Here are what the actual pages in the Bible look like. I did NOT highlight anything. The blue highlighting is there as published!

You can take a look at this Bible on Amazon here:
=> Find Hope Bible

Alli … you likely have heard the word “masterpiece”. A beautiful work of art. Or a masterpiece of music. Or a book that was so well written that people refer to it as a “masterpiece”. I just googled it and there are articles about how to turn an ordinary novel into a masterpiece. But what is important NOW is that you look at YOURSELF as the masterpiece … God’s Masterpiece! Yes, God created you perfectly. You are his masterpiece! So let’s pray that you can always feel that way!

Heavenly Father, good evening. Thank you for all the talented people in the world … even just here in the Madison area (including Deforest)! The things that people do are utterly amazing. Sometimes the amount of skill and talent seems so great that it’s hard to even understand. Sometimes we call them Heroes of the Hallways! Thank you for letting me know some of these talented people.  Thank you for letting me know Alli and for giving me the Scripture for today’s prayer (first in the New Living Translation):

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT)

Now just look at how The Voice (in the Bible I gave you) phrases it … you are “Heaven’s Poetry”:

For it’s by God’s grace that you have been saved. You receive it through faith. It was not our plan or our effort. It is God’s gift, pure and simple. You didn’t earn it, not one of us did, so don’t go around bragging that you must have done something amazing. For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10 Voice)

Lord, I’m tired. I need your help more and more each day as it seems that both my mind and my body are slowing down … significantly!  But you, Lord, are not slowing down. You are still full steam ahead! And so I ask that you go full steam ahead with your daughter you love. Take her to new heights Lord. And let her be there with you! Yes, with you! Let her know you more, Lord. Let her see more of you around her today. But then also let her see herself. Let her see a masterpiece. Let the masterpiece that she sees be her, Alli. And then we will give you the praise and the glory. I pray this in the name and authority of Christ Jesus, King of kings. Amen.

God Favors You

Alli … it seems like God is telling me that He is GOOD. When things around us appear not so good … when our situation seems anything but good … it is at those times to remember that God is good. He is good. He is good. Oh, he is good!  Just live with integrity and God has good things for us! And integrity is something we both aim and strive for … so, let’s pray!

Heavenly Father, good afternoon! Thank you for being good. Thank you for the tears that come just saying that you are good. It often seems like I don’t deserve so much goodness from you … and yet, it just is how you are … you just are good! Thank you for revealing your goodness to me and to your favored daughter, Alli!

For the Eternal God is a sun and a shield.
    The Eternal grants favor and glory;
He doesn’t deny any good thing
    to those who live with integrity. (Psalm 84:11)

and

You, O Eternal, are the One who lays all good things in the laps of the right-hearted.
    Your blessings [favor*] surround them like a shield. (Psalm 5:12) * “favor” in some translations

Lord, here I am. You called, and I ran.  I ran because you called me to pray your goodness over my friend Alli. And so Alli … right now I pray that God’s favor and goodness would be obvious to you today. I pray that you can look back to yesterday and see God’s favor over you then. I pray that you can look to tomorrow and anticipate God’s favor and goodness touching you over and over and over.  And as we acknowledge this … this fundamental aspect of our God … let’s give glory to God. Let’s give all the glory to God. Glory! I pray this in the name and authority of Christ Jesus, King of kings. Amen.

God has Enriched You in Every Way

Alli … God has another Scripture for you that is packed with truths, starting with how God is enriching you in every way (yes, this is an EVERY Scripture). And while the Scripture starts with EVERY … it ends with INDESCRIBABLE (referring to his gift to you). So … let’s pray!

Good evening heavenly Father. Yes, it is truly a good evening. You have found a way to carve out this block of time for me to finish writing a prayer for your daughter you love! Thank you for being there for me like that. Thank you for always watching over me (while awake as well as while asleep). Thank you for letting me sleep well each night (I realize that I should not take this for granted as some people have a hard time sleeping). Thank you for the scripture for Alli, your daughter you love … first in the NET translation (the one I think is extremely accurate):

You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous on every occasion, which is producing through us thanksgiving to God, because the service of this ministry is not only providing for the needs of the saints but is also overflowing with many thanks to God. Through the evidence of this service they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your sharing with them and with everyone. And in their prayers on your behalf, they long for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown to you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2Corinthians 9:11-15 NET)

Then in The Voice (same as the Bible I gave you … my favorite translation … very impactful):

You will be made rich in everything so that your generosity will spill over in every direction. Through us your generosity is at work inspiring praise and thanksgiving to God. For this mission will do more than bring food and water to fellow believers in need—it will overflow in a cascade of praises and thanksgivings for our God. When this mission reaches Jerusalem and meets with the approval of God’s people there, they will give glory to God because your confession of the gospel of the Anointed One led to obedient action and your generous sharing with them and with all exhibited your sincere concern. Because of the extraordinary grace of God at work in you, they will pray for you and long for you. Praise God for this incredible, unbelievable, indescribable gift! (2Corinthians 9:11-15 Voice)

Lord, it’s me. I’m still here! I’m here for Alli. I am praying on her behalf (just as the scripture says). And now I am ready to pray this scripture over you Alli, so sit down. Ready? Alli, God wants to enrich your life (which is much better than making you financially rich… I think). He wants to enrich your life in multiple ways. Why? Yes, because he loves you very much. But the scripture actually tells you why! He is enriching your life so that you may be generous… not just now and then, but on every occasion! And what happens when you are generous? It produces a thanksgiving to God by others! Others notice your service Alli. They notice you providing for the needs of everyone at the Legacy. As others see this, their thanks just overflows! Lord, I ask that you open many doors for Alli to serve others. Yes … I see that in you Alli … I see you serving. I see you being generous. Others see this in you as well. Lord, let them ask Alli why she is serving, why she is obeying, why she is so generous … and then Lord, give Alli the words as she answers their question! Alli … God has gifted you in many ways. He has shown you EXTRAORDINARY grace! His gifts to you are literally indescribable! Think about those incredible gifts. Ponder his unbelievable grace. And then join with me now to give the glory to God. The glory is all his. Glory! I pray this all in the name of Christ Jesus, King of kings. Amen!

Alli … Today we get to look at how God sees YOU Alli … with great delight, rejoicing over you! Yes, God has another Scripture that is just for you today. While its focus is on how God DELIGHTS in you, this one Scripture is packed with truths to remember… five of them! Usually, I will use The Voice translation for the Scriptures since it is my favorite and you already have it (my old copy). However … to best see these, we will look at this Scripture in three of my favorite translations.

First, God is right there with you. His presence is all around you Alli. He is in your midst! [interesting side note: I have a website called GodIsInOurMidst.com ]

Second, God is a champion… a warrior … a mighty savior … a hero… and is there to rescue you. You are a hero too Alli, a legacy Hero of the Hallways! 

Third, God delights in you greatly and joyfully celebrates over you. 

Fourth, God loves you a lot. And as you accept his love he renews you and calms your fears. 

Fifth, God is not silently delighting in you. No, he is shouting with joy over you. He is singing joyful songs over you. He is celebrating and wants you to be part of it, Alli.

Continue reading “(D) Delight” →

Alli … I have been looking forward to the prayer for the letter C because I knew that I was choosing “Compassionate”. Yeah, “Courageous” would be good too, but I chose “Brave” for the letter B so that the letter C would be available for “Compassionate”.

Alli, you are without doubt, very compassionate. I see you living from your heart, but at the same time being very observant to notice where you can assist or help. It’s almost like you have eyes behind your head, where you see something that needs attention while you aren’t actually even looking at it! Google explained it like this: “someone who is perceptive and aware of things happening around them, even when they can’t directly see them”.

But that is just the initial part of compassion … the NOTICING of things. The more important aspect needed is taking action … the actual DOING of what is needed. But even more than that … being compassionate goes the extra mile beyond what is simply necessary. Beyond what is merely “good enough”. I see you being compassionate all the time… doing the little extra things… take a bit more care… saying the nice encouraging words. And so, I’d like to pray over you to acknowledge this now!

Continue reading “(C) Compassionate” →

Alli … today I will (finally) continue my A-Z prayers for you that are ABOUT you … the you who you ARE and the you who you MAY BECOME. Today is something that you ARE … I see you as brave! Yeah, it could be saved for the next letter and the word Courageous, but I already know what OTHER word I will be using for the letter C 🙂

Alli, brave is not restricted to those fighting a fierce battle … it also encompasses someone (like you) who are brave on a daily basis, facing everything and anything that comes up throughout the day. I am excited to pray for the Lord to be there with you through any and all things! So … let’s pray.

Continue reading “(B) Brave” →

Alli … well, finally I have a good setup figured out for your website. For your prayers, I thought I would do an A-Z set of prayers revolving around who God says you are (and who you are from my view). I bought a neat keyboard to use for the keycaps words, but it didn’t work out and I had to return it. Instead I am using a black keyboard that I already had. I bought three sets of red keycaps to use for the letter of the words, but the black letters on the dark red keycaps was too hard to read, so I decided to use the pink keycaps that I already had. 

And just what am I talking about? Well, I pull keycaps OFF of the keyboard, and then I insert the new keycaps in their place… spelling out a word. Yeah, of course if you were actually typing on the keyboard, I didn’t change the letters that would come out when you pressed each key 🙂 but it is a fun visual effect that I am able to do quite simply. Here is a photo of my setup in the kitchen making a keyboard to photo for the letter B:

However, that was getting ahead of myself … let’s start at the very beginning … the letter A.

I chose a word that seems to fit you to a T (sorry for the pun … that letter is a ways ahead yet:)

ATTENTIVE

And what is meant by the word attentive? I found an interesting article that talked about it. This paragraph stood out to me:

Continue reading “(A) Attentive” →