Selfish Heart

This has been a tough pill to swallow. Because this whole time I have made it my goal to pursue Daddy in a way I never pursue Him before. I feel so defeated and disappointed in myself. I feel like what is the use of the Christian journey if this is going to be the end result of my efforts of getting close to Daddy. But, here is the thing this is where the enemy wants me.  Question have you ever felt like where I am? Have you ever felt doubtful, hopeless, and discourage in your pursuit to seek Daddy? Have you ever felt like it wasn’t worth it? Can I tell you something that has really saved me from feeling guilty and unworthy of Daddy’s presence and love (because those are the emotions that I felt when I realize this was my heart), His grace and mercy is new daily!!! I know that seems so simple but not good enough. I know it seems like there should be more to help with a selfish heart. But after realizing how selfish I was.  I heard the Holy Spirit say ” His grace is sufficient.” ( 2 Corinthians 12:9).

How awesome is our Daddy, that He knew that one day we would make time to pray the prayer, asking him to search our hearts and finding out the selfishness that was in it… that He put a clause in place that would cover us. His grace covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)
In all of this, I never thought that I would feel free as I feel now. I am in a place where I know there are some root issues that I need to deal with. That I need to learn how to apply the fruits of the spirit in a life applicable way. That I have to love in spite of how I feel or what they did. Because Daddy first love me (1 John 4:19), and there is nothing greater than love. (1 Peter 4:8). That His joy is my strength (Psalms 28:8) and in Him can I only find peace. (2 Thessalonians 3:16). That long-suffering create perseverance (Matthew 24:13) and gentleness creates a place of forgiveness (Philippians 4:5).

Goodness creates confidence (Psalms 27:13), faith ties the fruits of the Spirit together creating boldness in you (2 Peter 1:5-7). Meekness creates the opportunity for you to gain an inheritance (Matthew 5:5) and self-control keeps you out of trouble (Proverbs 21:23).

Today I challenge us to not meditate on the selfishness of our hearts, but the fact that they can become selfless if we just apply the word of God to our lives.

Prayer:  Daddy, we come to say thank you that your grace is sufficient enough to cover the multitude of sins that our heart creates. Thank you for taking out the time to examine our hearts and not allow us to remain selfish. Thank you that you have allowed the fruits of the Spirit to come in and take over that we may be better sons and daughters. Helps us to remain in a place of faith and examination. That we will not get settled where we are, but we will grow in your light and remain selfless and not selfish. In JESUS  name! Amen

Dangerous Prayer Part:2

Last week I talked about the dangerous prayer that I prayed concerning being a demand in the earth. This week I am going to talk about the most dangerous prayer that I have prayed. It has caused me to be all in my emotions and respond to life differently. Last week sometime I prayed this simple prayer found in Psalms 139:23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts”.

Yep, that’s the prayer that I prayed. Dangerous I know…but, I am sure some are wondering why it is so dangerous prayers? Well, it is dangerous for 5 reasons.

  1. It tells Daddy that you are ready for Him to have total control of the thing that you function from… your heart.
  2. You recognize that He knows, even the things that don’t line up with His word, will, and way.
  3. You ask Him to test you… Let me say that again… You are asking Daddy to test you. That means you are telling Him… Daddy, I may not be ready for the test, but because I trust you, test me.
  4. You are telling Daddy to help you identify the things that have caused you to become unfocused, doubtful, and fearful.
  5. You are asking Daddy to be a mind regulator for you and do surgery on your heart. 
If those things aren’t dangerous, I don’t know what is.  But, today can I encourage, motivate, and push you to make this a prayer that you pray. Not just once but daily. Because let’s be honest… When we remove things from our heart, we can add things back in it that aren’t good and line up in accordance to Daddy’s will for our lives. The prayer may be dangerous but it is effective and one that will cause you to grow.
 
Let’s pray…
 
Prayer:  Daddy, today we come to you praying this simple and effective prayer. Search us! Search our hearts. That all the brokenness in it is revealed to us, and we may come to a place of forgiveness for ourselves and others. Search our minds. That every thought that has caused us to not trust You fully is destroyed and uprooted, so we can have the mind of Christ. We thank you, Daddy, that we fully surrender all of us to you. In JESUS name…AMEN!!!

Transition

I know it’s been a while and I do apologize. I am realizing that in order for this thing to really work you all need to hear from me.  So today you, my readers are my accountability partners. That’s right I have given you the task to email me at: shawndrikaLcook@gmail.com if you aren’t getting a blog once a week. See we must realize that we are meant to do life alone, and sometimes strangers, people we don’t know are for us will hold us accountable. So welcome ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERS!

With that being said let’s talk about transition! So for the past 4 months, I have been in a place of total transition. I went from working a full 8-5 in my field, to leaving there and doing ministry full time!! Yep, ministry FULL TIME!!!  Now I know you are wondering what causes me to make this move. I mean I just passed my licensure examine only a year ago, I have not been a private practice therapist at all, and now I am in ministry. To answer the question of why, is simple, obedience. But, in my obedience, the walk and the focus of my next has been hard.  I find myself feeling lost, confused, out of place, ill-prepared,  hopeless, distraught, and discourage. Any negative feelings that a human being can express… This girl expressed them and more. I know you are wondering why did you experience all these negative emotions. I mean you were being obedient right? Well, here is the thing with obedience comes sacrifice, thought 1 Samuel 15:22  states, “Obedience is better than sacrifice”.  There is a sacrifice that comes with obedience. Maybe I shouldn’t say a sacrifice, there is a surrendering that comes with it. To some that surrendering position can feel like a sacrifice. I mean give up everything you know just to be submerged into something you know nothing about.

So, here I am in the 5th month of the transition and I am stuck! Yep, stuck like a truck in the mud. I am not writing this blog from a place of overcoming this time. This time I am writing to you while the process is still going. While I am still in the place of getting to the prize or the next that GOD has called me to. I am in that,  “I have to more trust GOD moments”, rather than “I will figure something out moments”. I’m at a place where I need the manifestation whether than being on ok with waiting for the manifestation.

I know someone who is reading this is wondering why am I telling the story as it is happening? Well. it’s because you need to know the process of transitioning. When you are in a place where the transition is not by choice, but assignment there are certain things you can’t control or deal with because you truly trust Daddy to guide your every step. For instance, I can’t control the demands that my assignment has on my life. I took a $2500 pay cut, yet I have not wanted for anything for real. I have tried to apply for a second job with the conviction that I couldn’t because of the demands of this assignment.

Why tell you the now of my transition for real?!? Because you need to know that transition is worth it!!! It’s worth leaving something that you do know for something you don’t know. It’s worth moving beyond you to get to Daddy. It’s worth the process… OOOOOO!!! That’s a word PROCESS!!! The process will be the foundation of your transition. How you see your process will determine how long you will stay in your transition. If you see your process as a burden, then your transition will last longer, because you are not able to receive the benefits of the process. But, if you see the process as a purpose, that it pushes you to your next, stretches you to another level in GOD, and betters your faith and trust in Daddy. Then the transition will be short and one that you can talk about as part of your testimony. Let me say this I don’t care what kind of transition you experience good or bad, no one likes the discomfort that comes with it. No one likes being in limbo where you aren’t sure what’s going on, but you know where you are going. No one likes looking at the preview of their promise and wondering when they will get there. These are the feelings of transition.

Today, I want to encourage someone to keep pressing in their transition!!! Keep enjoying the process no matter how uncomfortable it gets. Remember this transition is not about you, but about those who are looking at you. You are the only manifestation of GOD they may see! This is about your legacy, your future, your next…DON’T FORFEIT IT!!!

Prayer: Daddy transition is not easy. It can be uncomfortable and stressful if we don’t allow You to guide us. Today we say guide us!!! Open our ears to your instructions. Open our minds to the thoughts that you have towards us. Remind us that your thoughts towards us are good and they have the outcome of your perfection. Open our eyes that we don’t see things in the natural but in the spirit. Let us see the manifestation of the prayer that the Prophet Elisha prayed for his servant in 2 Kings 6:17, where he said: “LORD open his eyes so he can see”. Daddy open our eyes so we can see. Let us see your hand of protection and provision on us. Let us see your wisdom, knowledge, and understand. Let us see that your plan is great than our process. Daddy, help us with our words. Help us speak the words that line up with your will, word, and way. Let us not get so frustrated in this transition that we forget the power of our tongue. That we speak life when we feel like death is trying to overtake us. We respond to situations and people with a soft answer. Daddy, be our Jehovah Shalom and let us experience your peace like never before. Be Jehovah Jierha so we can know that you will provide and meet our needs and wants. Daddy, we thank you that we will be the examples we need to be during this time of transition. In JESUS name AMEN!!!

Soul Passion

Psalm 42:1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my GOD.

It’s amazes me every time I read that verse how it bring about fresh revelation. As soul commanders we must realize that the true pursuit of seeking GOD, is seeking him beyond our own strength. The word pant in this verse means to breath with short, quick breaths.  So let me put this definition to use with this verse. As a deer that breathes with short, quick breaths for streams of water, so my soul will press with short, quick steps towards you GOD. Hum that is really deep.  This scripture is telling us that we have to command our souls to go beyond its strength to press towards the presence of GOD. WOW that means we cannot give up even when we feel like life is taking our breath away.

Life Application: Ask yourself this question: am I to a place or point where I am willing to press towards GOD, even when life seems to be taking my breath away? If you are not in a place where you can see yourself pressing towards GOD, to the point you are fighting for your last breath, then there are three things you need command your soul to do: 1. Trust GOD. 2. Let go of doubt and fear. 3. Let go of your own strength.

Prayer: Father we thank you that in you we have breath, because you are the creator of all things. Father we just ask as we press towards you out of breath, feeling like our oxygen is low, and life is sucking us dry, remind us that you breathe breath of life back into us. Father up us to surrender our strength that yours can make us strong. Father we command our souls to submit to you and your will and we command it to obey your plan for the pressing you called us to, just to be in your presence. In Jesus Name! AMEN

Soul Devotion

Psalms 35:9: Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation.

I love David, because despite his mood swings he always came back to the place of salvation, the LORD. He always found a way to remind himself of the great things that can be found in  the LORD which was salvation. The same salvation we have access to through Christ Jesus. The same salvation that sets us apart from the words and gives us the eternal promise of everlasting life. The same salvation that allows us the ability to gain new grace and mercy every day. SALVATION, what a powerful word, but most importantly a powerful action. When one thinks about salvation we immediately think the cross, which is truly the access to all the promise of GOD, but David knew nothing about the cross, yet he commanded his soul to rejoice, due to his salvation, found in who…the LORD. Wow!!! David got the revelation of the promise before the promise was even born. What a mighty GOD we serve. That the LORD can give revelation to the ancestor of the one who would save the world, before he was even born.

Life Application: Ask yourself these questions when was the last time I rejoice about being saved? Have I allowed salvation to be limited to words, or have I allowed salvation to become an action that fuels my trust in GOD? Remember salvation is free, the price has been paid, but the things that fuel the action of salvation to remain active in your life, is your ability to rejoice in what Christ did on the cross for you over 2,000 years ago. Never allow your ability to be save by grace, through faith, be something you take for granted. Do like David did and command your Soul to rejoice in the LORD, because he has given you access to salvation with eternal promises.

Prayer: Father, we thank you that through Christ we have access to salvation, which gives us direct access to you. We thank you that in you  we do rejoice, because it’s in you that we find everlasting life, blessings, and the promises of yes and amen. In JESUS name. Amen

Soul Detox Prayer

Daddy, I realize I’m going backward and not forward.  My flesh is out ruling my spirit because I’ve given into it daily. I’ve allowed myself to be overcome with thoughts of what my flesh wants and not what you want for me. My heart is heavy and filled with emotions I can’t bare to carry or talk about. I feel so alone that I have reduced myself to the now fix, than the GOD fix. I’ve open doors you have shut and shut doors you have open; I’ve tainted them with my sinful nature just to numb the pain of the process. I ‘ve lost hope, faith, and trust in you because it seems as though you keep working in my later when I need you in my now. I’ve kept silent far too long Daddy, trying to have the faith of your word. I feel lost and confused and you are the only one I can turn to. The world and country I live in is more divided as ever, and it feels like your victory is but a distant memory. What can I say or do to get you to move on my behalf? My tongues feel traditional, my heart empty, and my prayers muffled. My soul is in need of a dexto from You. I find myself screaming Your name, pleading for the blood to cover every guilty stain. I try to stay under the umbrella of your mercy and grace, but then I find myself being out of place. I want you Daddy and all you called me to be. But right now this assignment of being me seems too heavy for me. To be your standard, daughter, and bride. To be the one that never gets caught up in her pride. To be strong in your strength, operate in your gifts, and yield to your will; is not a stroll in the park. Daddy my soul needs the reminder of your love manifested in my now and interrupting my later. My soul needs the reminder of Your why. Why do you want me, why do you need me, and why don’t you move in my timing? My soul needs your detox. The detox that clears my vision, restores my heart, guides me through the ups and downs, and shows me how to put me to the side. My soul needs the dexto of your joy, for you said in your word ” I can find strength in it.” You said it will be an exchange for my weakness. My soul needs your peace, for in it Your understanding will be released. I can see clearly now when your peace over takes me. Detox me Daddy for my soul is filled with thoughts of failure, fear, destruction, negativity, and hidden secrets. Remind me that your thoughts towards me are good, and so are the plans for my life. Remind me of the victorious victory of this fixed fight. DADDY DETOX ME!!! That my spirit man can be free in your liberty and my heart can show your love alone. DADDY DETOX ME!! So I won’t become intoxicated with the instant gratification of this world, caught up in the politics of this nation, and overwhelmed by the words of men that state you can’t and don’t exist. DADDY DETOX ME!! That others connected to me can remember they are joint heirs of Christ, there is no lack in their lives, and you are the supplier of all their needs. DADDY DETOX ME!! That my husband can find me working for your kingdom, and serving your people. DADDY DETOX ME!! So I can have the faith to speak life to dead situations, see miracles, signs, and wonders. DADDY DETOX ME!! that my heart never feels the weight of disappointment. DADDY DETOX ME so I can be and look like your daughter again because right now I feel alone and abandoned. DADDY DETOX ME!! DADDY DETOX ME, so I can feel your presence every morning and every day. DADDY DETOX ME!! DADDY DETOX ME, because I don’t know how much more my soul can take. DADDY DETOX ME so the enemy has no case against me. DADDY DETOX ME!! DADDY DETOX ME!! DADDY DETOX ME!!

In Jesus Name,

 

AMEN

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