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Empty Prayers

In the popular Josh Wilson song, "I Refuse," there is a line that really makes me think. Josh sings, "I don't wanna live like I don't care, I don't wanna say another empty prayer." I absolutely agree with this statement. 

Lately I feel like all we want to do is get by in life. We don't care as much as we should. Unfortunately if we keep this up, we aren't gonna get to far. We are living our lives too much on a schedule. We wake up at a certain time, eat meals at certain times, and go to sleep at certain times. Little do we notice that God doesn't work on a schedule. He doesn't look at us and say, "Oh, you're free on Thursday? Awesome! I'll be there around 2:30 PM." He doesn't work that way. Not now, not ever. He comes when we least expect Him to be there. So when we live life like we don't care, we won't notice God at all. We will just think, "Man, I got lucky with that."

Living like we don't care is bad, but not as bad as saying empty prayers. When we pray, we are supposed to be intimate with God. It is our time to talk to God one on one, without any distraction. If we just pray because we are Christians and that's what we are supposed to do, we are horribly confused. Yes, we are Christians, and yes, we are supposed to pray. But if we pray with lack of faith and trust in God, we are praying empty prayers. It's time for us to make praying serious again. It is time to bring back the intimacy that prayer is supposed to have with God. So let's do that. 

I challenge you! Next time you pray, don't do it because you "have" to. Do it because you "want" and "need" to. When we pray because we want to pray, we are praying full prayers. When we pray because we need to pray, we are praying full prayers. But when we pray because we feel like we have to, we are praying empty prayers. So your challenge for at least a week, is to pray fully. Pray when want to, and pray when you need to. Praying because you feel like you have to, doesn't get you anywhere. Pray full of faith and trust in God. This is when your prayers will be fullest. 

I'm sorry if you don't agree with what I have said, but I think it's the truth. Praying needs to be full, not empty. In the words of Josh Wilson, "I refuse to make one more excuse 'cause I don't wanna live like I don't care, I don't wanna say another empty prayer."

God Bless,

-Sophie Brooks

#irefuse #joshwilson

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With Every Act of Love

This song by Jason Gray is amazing. It starts out with a man stopped at a stop light. He sees a girl holding a cardboard sign. He wants to ignore it, but God reaches through him to help the girl out. To me this means that even when we try to ignore something that we could easily do, God will break our hearts and make us feel the way He does in those situations. God doesn't look at someone on the corner holding a cardboard sign and want to ignore it. He wants to reach out to them. That's where we can help. God can use us to do His work when we are in situations where we can help someone out.

Next Jason talks about a man and who I assume is his wife. He wants to talk with her but he is too ashamed of something he did in his past. She says they can begin again. This gives him peace and he knows that she has forgiven him for whatever it was he did in his past. This situation happens more often than we realize. It doesn't have to be a husband/wife thing. It can be between two friends, two co-workers, or two siblings. Any time we want to talk to someone about something that hurts our heart, we can't find the words to say. But when the other person looks at us and tells us that it is okay, we are able to be free. We know that we have been forgiven.

The chorus of this song is so powerful. Jason sings, "Oh, we bring the kingdom come oh, with every act of love Jesus, help us carry You alive in us, Your light shines through with every act of love we bring the kingdom come" Every little thing we do to help someone else, brings another little piece of God's kingdom to earth. When we help the girl standing on the corner with a cardboard sign, or when we forgive someone for something they have done to wrong us we bring God's kingdom to earth. Those little acts of love could make a huge difference in the life of the person we show it to. They may not be loved at home, so when we show them only a little love, it could totally change the direction of their day.

In the song there is an extremely inspiring saying. It goes like this, "God put a million, million doors in the world for His love to walk through one of those doors is you." I don't know about anyone else but this makes my heart almost explode every time I hear it. After hearing this song for the first time it killed me to think I was a door for God's love to walk through. It killed me because I knew I wasn't doing the best I could to allow God's love to flow through me. Now that I have taken this saying to heart, I love the idea of being a door for God's love to flow through. Now that I have opened the door, I can't imagine what it would be like if I ever closed it.

So at the end of the day, take a minute to think about the acts of love you performed throughout the day. Did you bring the kingdom with every act of love? Or did you pass up the opportunity? 

Let that sink in before you close your eyes at night. Think to yourself, "did I bring God's kingdom to earth today?" When you can answer yes to that question, you have opened your door for God's love to flow through endlessly.

God Bless

-Sophie Brooks

#JasonGray #WithEveryActofLove

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Ephesians 4:26-27

"In your anger do not sin, Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do NOT give the devil a foothold."

I taught my youth group this past Wednesday evening. One of the main topics was anger. The kids were telling me about times when they had been angry and weren't sure why. They said they would freak out on their parents, friends, teachers, or pretty much whoever was the next person they talked to. I couldn't believe that these kids were dealing with such bad anger problems.

I went into my story. I told them that I went through anger when I was their age. They looked at me like I was joking, so I elaborated. I gave examples of things I did while angry. (Some of which I don't actually remember but are told to me by friends and family.) That seemed to get them to believe me. One of the kids asked me how I got my anger to go away.

I laughed a little on the inside. Then I told him, "my anger never went away, it's still here. I just know how to manage it now." Of course that prompted the question, "How do you manage it?" 

Managing anger is not an easy thing to do. I prayed for months about my anger problems. It wasn't until about last year that I had the revelation of how to deal with my anger. The entire time I was praying about my anger, I was facing trials. The devil was trying to get me to slip up and fall away from God because of my anger. I told the kids over and over again that when you pray for a specific cause (anger in this case) the devil will focus on only that thing. 

They looked at me waiting for more. I continued saying that these trials are for the better. God is walking right next to us when we go through these trials, He isn't going to let us go through them alone. As long as our faith is strong enough and our belief in God and the Holy Spirit is in tact, we will defeat the devil in no time.

Although I do still deal with anger, it is no where near as bad as it was a year ago. With the help of God and the Holy Spirit, I am moving on to bigger and better things without my anger in the picture. 

The main thing I wanted the kids to get out of that, is that anger does NOT make God happy. When we are angry our judgment is awful. We do things on an impulse that we later regret. Once we take the step and ask God to take our anger away, we will see the world in a whole new light. We will be able to appreciate things that we took for granted before. 

God doesn't want to see us suffer. He wants us to be content and satisfied with every situation that we encounter. Someday I hope those kids can help someone else who is dealing with anger. They are more than ready to make a change in our world, so why not start with making our world happier. I believe in them! They have amazing potential. They just need to talk to God and see where He wants them. 

Anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

- James 1:20

So let's bring about the righteous life that God desires with happiness and joy! Those kids are going to change the world one smile at a time! God bless

-Sophie Brooks

#anger issues #jesus is the way

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Do Something

The new Christian song Do Something by Matthew West has been speaking to my heart lately. The song basically about stepping up and doing something to change the world for the better.

The first part of the song Matthew talks about waking up and seeing how far down our world has fallen. He turns to Heaven and asks God to do something. That is where I have been lately. I have noticed that the world is falling further and further down everyday. And I do occasionally ask God to do something. 

The next part of the song talks about specific things happening in our world. Matthew mentions children being sold into slavery and once again asks God why He doesn't do something. That's when he gets God's answer. God said He did do something. He created us. 

Matthew West then has an epiphany of sorts. He realizes that if it isn't us to stand up and change our world for God, then who will. Matthew sings, "If not us then who? If not me and you right now?! It's time for us to do something. If not now then when? We will see and end to all this pain? It's not enough to do nothing. It's time for US to do something!"

God created us to do something. He wants US to change our world by standing up for Jesus Christ who died to save us all. I think Matthew West puts it very well when he says if not us then who. If we don't step up and do something, who else will? We might be the only chance of starting a revolution for Christ!!

In the song Matthew references that we are God's hands and feet. We should be moving and doing things to mold our world into what God desires. Once again I think Matthew puts is best saying, "I'm tired of talking about how we are God’s hands and feet but it’s easier to say than to be live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves it’s alright, “somebody else will do something”." 

If we keep thinking that someone else is going to do something, we are kidding ourselves. If we have to chance to step up and do something we should take it, not wait for someone else to  go first. 

"Well, I don’t know about you but I’m sick and tired of life with no desire I don’t want a flame, I want a fire I wanna be the one who stands up and says, “I’m gonna do something”." I agree so much with this statement. I don't want a flame that will only last for a little while, I want a fire to last a lifetime. We should all want to be the one to stand up and say we wanna do something.

The last part of the song I want to mention is when Matthew sings, "We are the salt of the earth, we are a city on a hill, but we're NEVER gonna change the world by standing still." That is what most of us are doing, myself included. We are standing still. We need to be ready to stand up and do something.

God didn't create us for nothing, He created us to Do Something! God Bless

Sophie Brooks

#matthewwest #dosomething

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Romans 12:6

"We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith." - Romans 12:6

God has given us all a special gift. It may be prophesying about our faith. singing, painting, photography, talking to new people, or anything you are exceptionally good at. God has given every single one of us a gift to use to honor Him and all He has done and what He has yet to do in our world.  The gift you have may not be what you "wanted." That doesn't matter. It is what God knows you "needed." For famous Christian singers like Mandisa, Matthew West, or Jamie Grace, it is easy to see what their God given gift is. For the people who aren't famous, whose gifts are not as prominent, it will take time and prayer to find out what your gift is.  I have recently found that I have a knack for teaching my youth group. Last week I talked to them about missions work and what they can do in their community. Last night, my youth pastor was sick and asked me to fill in again. I had no idea what to do so I sent up a quick prayer. God answered quickly and gave me the words to get the discussion started. We talked about anger management, helping the homeless, and I calmed what nerves they had about going to camp in a couple of weeks. I am 19 years old and I have just discovered what God wants me to do with my life. He wants me to talk to others about what is going on in their life, and give them Christian advice on how to solve it. 

Your gift could be anything. My advice for you is to take a deep breath and pray about what your gift is. We all have a gift, that is certain. But what that gift is, depends on what God is calling you to. Keep in mind that your gift may be way out of your comfort zone, but if God is calling you there He will hold your hand the whole way through.  Pray about what your gift is, and when you get an answer embrace it. When you get the call to your gift, answer it with strong faith and no doubts. God will guide you through it as He does with everything in your life. God bless

- Sophie Brooks

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1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" 

All the situations we go through, we never go through them alone. God is always with us. We should be joyful when we are in sad moments, pray even when we don't want to, and thank God for everything He has given us because that is the way He wants things done. 

Always being joyful sounds crazy, but it is actually quite simple. What it means is that even though we may be having a rough day or week, we should be thankful that God is there giving us something to do. Although it is hard to be happy/joyful in the midst of agony, we can do it with God by our sides.

Praying continually sounds crazy, but it doesn't mean every second of the day. It means that whenever something happens to us (getting a good grade, talking to a crush, or even bad things, failing a test, spilling your lunch) we should talk to our heavenly Father about how to deal with what just happened.

Giving thanks in all circumstances if probably the easiest. In everything that we deal with, we should thank God for not making us go through it alone. It is hard to be thankful of something we didn't want in the first place, but being able to have someone (GOD) there with us is enough to be thankful about.

If you need more help with understanding this verse, or any verse you are having trouble with, don't hesitate to ask for help!

God Bless You All!

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James 5:16

"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

To confess our sins means two things. 1) we recognize our sin in God's eyes and 2) we get rid of our secrets and are honest with other Christians about our weaknesses, vulnerabilities, failures and sins.

When we recognize what sin is in God's eyes we can ask for true forgiveness. If we don't understand that what we have done is a sin, then we will never be able to ask for true forgiveness. 

When we get rid of our secrets and are honest with other Christians (or just other people) we allow ourselves to show the fact that we are small, weak, vulnerable, and sin filled. Jesus did die to forgive our sins, but that doesn't mean that we never sin again. Jesus is there to listen to us ask for forgiveness and knows when we are being honest.

Prayer is such a powerful thing. When we pray with an open heart and mind we will find things we never knew existed. When we pray with an open heart God knows that we are being honest and taking the time of day to pray to Him.

God Bless You All!!

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Philippians 4:6-7

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ."

When you go to God with something that has been on your heart, don't go expecting anything. Go with thanksgiving for all that you do have, in hopes that God will give you what you are asking for.

If you are ever having problems in life, look in the Bible. There are so many great examples of how to live life. There is a ton of great advice. Don't hesitate to ask me questions if you don't understand something. I may not know the answer right away, but with prayer and time spent in the Bible I will give you the best answer I can.

God bless you all!

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John 14:6

And Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." 

That verse is not only my favorite verse in the Bible at this time, it is also a promise that Jesus gave us. He is the only way to the Father. He died for our sins so that we may pass through Him to our heavenly Father, God. 

If you are ever feeling down, or have thoughts that it is impossible, it isn't. Jesus is always there with you waiting for you to reach out and meet His hand with yours. His arm is already outstretched waiting for you to grab on and trust Him to bring you through the thick and thin in life. He will never let go. You just have to keep Him in your sight and you will always see Him, ready to help you and fight for you.

So hopefully now you know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the only way to fully reach the Father. He won't quit as long as you won't either.

He loves you with all His heart and I hope that someday (if not already) you will love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength!

God bless you all!!

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New to Tumblr

Hey everyone! I just created a tumblr today!!! My main reason for having a tumblr is to share the Word of God and His endless love for us. 

I am a Psychology/Sociology major at Olivet Nazarene University. If you are dealing with any sort of problem and need help please come to me. I just want you to be aware that I will look to the Bible for answers. If you are comfortable with talking about God and need help I am here for you. 

God is my Savior and friend, and I want Him to be your Savior and friend too!

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"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

The Bible (Jeremiah 29:11)