Ellen Chauvin | Soaked & Sprouting

Soaked in God's Word, Sprouting Seeds of Faith

The Key to Peace in Your Life

by 9 Comments

Are you ready to experience God in fresh new ways? Then you are in for a treat today!

I Know His Name: Discovering Power in the Names of God is a new Bible study written by my friend Wendy Blight. Wendy teaches how the very names of God reveal His character and heart.

I’ve invited Wendy to share with you today about Jehovah Shalom: The One Who Brings Me Peace. Here is her story:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few years ago I found myself in one of those busy seasons of life. You know, the kind where your calendar is void of white space. Where you spend your days trying to balance the daily tasks that have to be done with the fun events that keep you a well-adjusted, delightful-to-be-with co-worker, girlfriend, wife, and/or mom.

Mentally, I felt like I was balancing it all well. Reading my daily devotional and praying my neatly ordered list of prayers.
But physically, my body said otherwise.

My spirit felt uneasy. Anxious.

My heart beat erratically.

My symptoms escalated with each passing day.

Night after night, I lay awake counting my heartbeats, faster and faster they came. Lack of sleep led to exhaustion. Exhaustion to withdrawal. I felt disconnected from everything around me.

One morning I stepped into the shower.  Within moments, I struggled to breathe. Inexplicable panic ensued. I flung open the shower door, enveloped myself in a towel, and collapsed on the tile floor. Tears poured forth uncontrollably.

What was happening to me? I felt as if my life … my faith … the very core of who I am was unraveling. I felt like a failure.
I mustered what little faith I could find and dropped to my knees. It was weak faith, but it was there. I needed more. More of Jesus. More of His peace.

My sweet Savior met me right there on the carpet. He turned my eyes to my bedside table where my unopened Bible lay.
My heart ached. I had not opened that precious book in weeks. I had been reading my daily devotional. Reading what another woman had to say about the Bible. But I had not been in my Bible, listening for what Jesus had to say about His Word … to me.

I had been spending very little time with Jesus.

I crawled over to my precious Bible and opened it. With each turn of the page, truths spilled into my empty, thirsty heart … truths to cling to … to pray … to quench my empty, thirsty heart.

Truths I want to share with you today.

From the Old Testament:
“For to us a child is born … And he will be called … Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)

From the New Testament, not forgetting our verse for today (John 14:27):
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 (NIV)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

Jesus is our Prince of Peace, and His Peace is ours. It’s a fruit of God’s Spirit that lives and breathes in those of us who are children of God.

Believe it.

Claim it.

Now let me share the key to believing and claiming it:
Personalizing and praying these truths. When we pray God’s Hebrews 4:12 living and active Word, His Word comes alive in us. It infuses every part of our being.

So, how do we go about personalizing and praying God’s Word?

Here are a few of my prayers:
Wendy, I will keep you in perfect peace when your mind is steadfast, because you trust in Me. (Isaiah 26:3)

Peace I leave with you, Wendy; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be anxious, troubled or afraid.
(John 14:26-28)

Wendy, when you stop being anxious, when you give everything to me in prayer, My peace, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

~~~~~~~~~~

Want to learn more about Jehovah Shalom: The One Who Brings Me Peace? Wendy teaches about this Name of God in Chapter 5 of her newest Bible study, I Know His Name: Discovering Power in the Names of God. I invite you to visit Wendy’s blog to get a sneak peek of I Know His Name and also sign up for her FREE companion devotional, “5 Days to Knowing God More Intimately.”

Grace be with you,

 

Praying to God Our Promise-Keeper

by 12 Comments

Do you believe in the power of prayer?

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16 (NIV)

I invited my friend Wendy Blight to share with you today about Praying to God Our Promise-Keeper. Here is her beautiful story:

Knowing God by name. Calling upon God by name. Praying His Word … His Promises … back to Him are powerful and effective ways to usher God’s life-transforming work into our lives because our God is a Promise-Keeper.

But prayer is hard. It doesn’t come naturally to most women. I know it didn’t for me. The thought of praying out loud intimidated me. Made me feel uncomfortable.

I have also learned that without prayer, we will never get to know the promise-keeping side of God. In order to know our Promise-Keeper, we’ve got to interact with Him. Pray to Him. And more than just pray, pray His promises … His Word … back to Him. It’s the substance of His promises that transform our prayers to be those powerful and effective prayers James talks about in James 5:16.

This truth came alive to me last year at a women’s conference in Houston.

The women’s ministry leader invited me to share my testimony. It’s a hard story for me to tell. In 1986, just days after my graduation from Baylor University, I fell victim to an armed, masked man hiding in my apartment. The horrific events of that June day locked me in a prison of fear for years. I hated God. I felt abandoned and forgotten by the One I grew up believing loved and cared for me.

A few weeks after my attack, a friend gave me this promise: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deut. 31:6, NIV). But at the time, it meant nothing. In fact, I saw it as a lie. He had forsaken me. He sat on his throne in heaven and watched what happened to me and did nothing.

Thankfully, God did not leave me in that dark place. As time passed, my heart slowly opened to God’s Word. It was a long and arduous journey, but over a decade later, through much prayer and the transforming power of His Word healing came. Freedom came. My test became a powerful testimony.

As I closed my message and stepped off the stage, a woman walked up and shared her story. Little did I know it was my story too.
She had been a student at Baylor at the time of my attack. She was part of a ministry whose leader invited them to pray for the young woman who had been attacked (me). They prayed a passage from Psalm 62 over me every week … for two years! They prayed the promises of the Promise-Keeper.

IKHN-blog-3

Grasp the miracle here. At the very time I felt abandoned by God, He had raised up believers to pray. And not just pray, but pray God’s Word. His promises. She showed me her Bible. Yes, she still had it! Next to the passage was 1986 and my name.
As I read the passage, I saw clearly how each promise had come alive in my life. My promise-keeping God had honored each and every one.

I pray my story not only encourages you to pray but also opens doors for you to invite others to pray. Because you never know what God is up to in the midst of all those prayers!

Will you join me in praying God’s Word back to the One who is our Promise-Keeper? He always honors His Word. In fact, Isaiah 55:11 promises His Word will never return void and will accomplish everything He desires and achieve every purpose for which He sent it … even thirty years later!

 

In addition to God Our Promise-Keeper, there are hundreds of Names of God. I invite you to visit Wendy’s blog to get a sneak peek of her newest Bible study, I Know His Name and also sign up for her FREE companion devotional, “5 Days to Knowing God More Intimately.”