Karen Gamble Writes

Global Week of Student Prayer 2019

Today marks the beginning of the Global Week of Student Prayer.

It is a time set aside to focus on praying for students, schools, teachers, and administrators.

The highlight of this week is Wednesday, September 25th, (7 a.m. local time) when students all over the country will gather at their school’s flag pole to pray together.

This year’s theme is “if…”.

It references the verse 2 Chronicles 7:14:

if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (NIV)

I encourage you to spend time this week praying for our schools and their leaders.

Please also pray for Christian students to show up and pray that morning.

Pray they are a light in the darkness for the others to see.

Ask the Father to give them the words they need to share His love with their fellow students.

Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders. It’s imperative we cover them in prayer as they grow so they will become the person God has called them to be.

If you would like more information, please check out the See You At the Pole website by clicking here.

Category: Faith, Life, Prayer | LEAVE A COMMENT

Conviction vs. Condemnation

There are two very similar things we experience concerning mistakes we make and sins we commit.

One is conviction, the other is condemnation.

I’m not talking about the condemnation we are under if we are not Christians. (You can read more about that condemnation here.)

I’m talking about what we feel concerning our sins and our regrets towards those sins.

Condemnation and conviction both speak to us about our sins but they come from two very different places.

Condemnation says what we did is bad, we’re no good, God might not even love us anymore.

Condemnation brings up past mistakes and sins as a way of trying to falsely prove we are of low worth.

It is demoralizing, discouraging, and deters us from trying.

It encourages us to give up.

These thoughts and ideas are from the enemy and/or our lack of understanding of who we are in Christ.

Conviction, on the other hand, says what we did was wrong and we need to apologize to God. We need to make things right.

It is correcting, revealing the truth of our errors and ways. It seeks to reconcile us to God.

Conviction is from God by way of the Holy Spirit speaking to us and pointing out our sins so we can repent and restore our relationship with God to its proper place.

A wise friend once told me,

“Condemnation makes you want to run FROM God, while conviction makes you want to run TO God.”

Wise words, indeed.

The whole point of condemnation is to get our eyes off Christ and what He did for us and on to our own insufficiency.

Don’t fall for this trick of the enemy.

Instead, when condemnation comes, remember, as a Christian we are no longer condemned.

Yes, we made a bad choice. Yes, we sinned.

But – it’s not the end of the world. We haven’t lost our chances with God. He hasn’t, and won’t, turn His back on us.

Instead of giving in to the condemnation and the tailspin of chaos it creates, we can go straight to God in prayer.

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)

We can tell Him what we are feeling. Ask Him to help us navigate it.

We can repent of our sin.

(Repent – to agree with God that He is right, that what we did was wrong, apologize, and commit to not doing it again.)

After repenting, it’s important to let go of it and refuse to go back to it. Once it’s dealt with, it’s dealt with. There’s no reason to revisit it.

Once we have repented, we are restored in our relationship with God. We can move on, being careful not to repeat the same sin.

Condemnation may want to take us back to the scene of the crime. We can’t let it. There’s no value in it.

Instead, rest in the knowledge that God’s grace is sufficient, walking in the assurance that now that the sin has been dealt with we can confidently move forward in our relationship with God.

Is there something you are feeling condemnation or conviction over? Will you take it to God in prayer?

For further reading

Romans 8:1 –There is now no condemnation...

Philippians 3:13-14 Forgetting what is behind and pressing on...

My post on being Condemned.

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Condemned

One of the things I often hear people say about why they have not or cannot become a Christian is that they think they have done things that are so bad that God would never accept them.

They think they are condemned by what they have done.

And they are partially correct.

We are condemned because of our many sins.

God is perfect and Holy. He cannot tolerate sin anywhere near Him.

Because of our sins we are separated from God and cannot reconcile ourselves to Him.

Understand, though, it’s not just those who have done terrible things.

All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. ~Romans 3:23 (NIV)

All of us.

This does not mean there is no hope for us or that we are no longer eligible to have a relationship with God.

Jesus came to earth, died on the cross, was buried in a tomb, raised from the dead, and ascended into heaven.

He did this to pay for our sins and reconcile us to God!

This payment makes atonement and releases us from condemnation.

It redeems and rescues us.

In order to receive this reconciliation and rescue we must do something in return.

We must accept this free gift as something done personally for us.

Scripture tells us how we must do it:

⁹If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ~Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)

The truth is there is nothing you have done that is too big to be forgiven. NO MATTER WHAT IT IS!

Jesus is a really big Savior and He can redeem us from absolutely anything.

When He died on the cross to pay our sin debt He did not put a limit on the size, number, or sort of sins He would cover. He covered them all. He did it completely and willingly.

So, no matter what it is you have done it is not too big nor too bad for God to forgive through the blood of Christ that was shed on that cross at Calvary.

Once you have trusted Christ to be your Savior, you are completely redeemed and completely free from the guilt of your past sins.

No questions asked.

No exceptions.

You are redeemed, rescued, reconciled.

You are free!

So, whatever it is you are feeling condemned for, why don’t you trust Christ to take away all your sins and reconcile you to God so you can start life anew without the burden of old sins hanging over you?

For further reading

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, (Jesus) that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”(NIV)

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”(NIV)

My post on Conviction vs. Condemnation

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Philippians 4:6-7, Part 2

The Scripture verse Philippians 4:6-7 tells us we are not to be anxious about anything.

It tells us we are to instead humbly present our requests to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving.

Some Bible translations use the word supplication instead of petition.

What exactly does petition/supplication mean?

It means to make a formal request.

Instead of, “Hey, I want you to work on this”, or, “this needs your attention,”, it is a carefully considered request politely and humbly expressed.

We are asking the God of the Universe for something we want or need. Honor, reverence, and respect is required.

We can make requests about any situation, or anything we see, feel, or experience. It doesn’t even have to be for or about us.

In fact, we can, and should, petition for others. 1 Timothy 2:1 tells us “…petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving should be made for all people…” (NIV)

It’s important to remember that petitions should be made in agreement with Scripture.

God will not grant requests that go against His will or His Word.

Consider this verse:

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us ¹⁵And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him. ~1 John 5:14-15 (NIV)

Did you catch that? If we ask anything according to His will…

Our petitions must be in agreement with His will.

That’s one of the reasons why knowing what Scripture says is so important.

If we know a request we have doesn’t agree with what Scripture says, we can adjust our petition and/or ourselves to more properly reflect what God’s will is. This puts us in a position to be heard.

Once we know God has heard our request, we can thank Him and trust that He will respond.

It may take a while for the answer to come and/or the situation to change, but we can be sure He is working on it and will bring about the best outcome for all involved.

This is the best response we can hope to receive for any petition we might bring before Him.

What petitions do you want to bring before God today? Will you remember to submit them with thanksgiving?

For further reading

1 Timothy 2:1 …petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people… (NIV)

My post on Philippians 4:6-7
My post on How to Give Thanks

Category: New Testament, Scripture Study | LEAVE A COMMENT

Philippians 4:6-7

One verse I often pray is Philippians 4:6-7 (read more about praying Scripture here).

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

The verses specifically tell us we are not to be anxious about anything.

At it’s core, being anxious means we are worried about a situation and how to handle it. We are concerned it won’t turn out like it should or that there is no hope.

But look at the rest of that sentence:

“…by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

In other words, when we are worried or upset about something we are to go to God and present our requests to Him. We do this by praying to Him.

We are to pray and ask God for what we need and for help with whatever the situation is.

We are to thank Him for His help and for considering our requests, trusting that He will move on the issue.

When we do this with an honest and humble heart, God responds by giving us His peace which guards our hearts and minds in Christ.

This is not just any peace. It’s a peace so wonderful it can’t even be understood.

It’s this peace we get when we trust God with our burdens that eliminates our anxiety.

It guards our hearts because we’ve chosen to trust God.

Some might say, “but He’s God. He already knows everything. Why doesn’t He just handle it?”

There are several reasons for that. Here are two:

1-He wants us to come to Him and ask because this improves our relationship with Him. By seeing Him respond to our requests, we see firsthand He does answer our prayers, which causes us to trust Him even more. This strengthens our faith and causes us to grow closer to Him. We are reminded that He is always there and that we can go to Him at any time.

2-He wants to remind us of Who He is. When we go to Him in prayer we are reminded that He is the One, True, Living God. He is the God who holds the world in His hands. By going to Him we are reminded of the proper order of things and that we were created for Him, not the other way around. This puts us back into proper alignment concerning authority and helps us to remember it is not about us, it is about Him.

It is this remembering who He is and putting Him in His proper place in our lives that allows us to live free of thinking we have to handle things ourselves, which is what causes the anxiety in the first place.

The next time you feel anxious, stop, pray, ask God to move on it, then thank Him for working in your life and your situation.

Then, trust and watch for Him to help you.

No, the situation might not always turn out the way you would like it to, but you can have the peace of knowing that God is working on it and that He will help you with it in a way only He can, and that whatever happens, He has His hand on it.

What situation will you prayerfully ask Him about today?

For further reading

“Come boldly unto the throne of God…” Hebrews 4:16 NIV
“We are His workmanship, created…” Ephesians 2:10 NIV

My post on How to Give Thanks
My followup post to this one: Philippians 4:6-7, Part 2

Category: Faith, New Testament, Scripture Study | LEAVE A COMMENT

How to Give Thanks

I recently wrote about the need to give thanks in all circumstances (read that post here).

We saw from 1 Thessalonians 5:18 how we are to give thanks in all situations, whether good or bad, big or small.

The question, then, is:

“What does it mean to give thanks, and how do you do it?”

To give thanks means just what it says, to say thank you from a feeling of appreciation for what someone has done.

When we tell God thank you, it’s our way of letting Him know we see and appreciate Him and how He is working in our lives.

We are to be thankful for His sacrifice of Jesus, for the salvation it offers, and that this gift has provided a way for us to be rescued from ourselves and our sins.

We are to:

“give thanks to God because He is good and His love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1 (NIV)

Not only is the above verse true, it’s so important that it or a verse very similar to it is repeated in the Scriptures several times!

If you’re not sure how to go about doing it, you can follow these steps to say thank you to God:

1-Humble your heart and realize that God does deserve to be thanked for what He has done, is doing, and will do.

2-From the deepest part of you, look to God and at what He has done for you personally.

3-Pick one thing and say something along the lines of, “God, thank you for _____,” and tell Him what it is you are thankful for. You can do it silently or out loud, whichever you are more comfortable with.

It’s that simple.

If you don’t know what to start with, try thanking Him for any one of these:

You have a job, a place to stay, a vehicle, a meal to eat today, a sibling you are close to, $3 in your pocket. You saw a bird outside, it rained, it didn’t rain, the clouds are out, the sun is out, you have a pair of shoes to wear, you have water to bathe in at home. You got to go to lunch with a friend, you got to visit with your grandparent, you went on a trip, you got to stay home and rest.

You get the idea.

Don’t worry if you aren’t good at it. Don’t worry if it feels odd.

Just pick something and try it. The more you do it, the easier it will become.

The more you do this, the more you will begin to see just how much He is working in your life and all around you.

You might even consider keeping a journal of the things you are thankful for. This will give you a chance to look back at the good things going on in your life so that when you are down you can be reminded of just how faithful and generous God really is.

The important thing is to daily tell God how thankful you are and how much you appreciate Him.

So, tell me, what are you thankful for today?

For further reading
1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances
Psalm 107:1 Give thanks to the Lord
Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to the Lord
Psalm 136:3 Give thanks to the Lord

Category: God, Prayer, Scripture Study | LEAVE A COMMENT

Praying Scriptures

I like to include Scriptures in my prayers during my personal prayer time.

I find it helps me to better understand the meaning of the verse.

It also helps me apply and understand it in a very personal way. It’s as if it makes it come more alive in my life.

Another thing it does is remind me of the truth of what God has promised.

When I pray back a Scripture to Him, I am reminding myself that I can trust God and rely on what He has said.

I am also asking Him to keep that particular promise.

It is not that He can’t be trusted to keep His promises, or that if I don’t specifically pray that verse it won’t happen.

It’s that by repeating the promise and asking Him to fulfill it, I am recognizing that as the Creator of the Universe and all that is in it, God alone is the One who can make it happen.

By repeating them, I am acknowledging God’s authority and superiority as I submit my life and plans to Him.

So, how do you do that?

How do you pray the Scriptures?

It’s very easy.

1-Choose the Scripture you want to pray.

2-Personalize it to make it coming from you to God, if necessary. Not all verses need this.

3-Add it in to your prayer and speak it to God, either silently or aloud.

Here’s an example.

You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek You;
I thirst for You,
my whole being longs for You,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water. Psalm 63:1 (NIV)

For this one, you can either just repeat it as it’s written, or else you can paraphrase it and say,

“You’re my God,
I am earnestly* seeking You;
I’m thirsty for You,
All of me wants Your presence,
in a dry and parched** land
where there is no water***.”

Now, let’s look at one I would personalize:

Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from Him.
²Truly He is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1-2 (NIV)

For this one, I might pray:

My soul really does find rest in You, God;
I know my salvation comes from You.
2 You really are my rock and my salvation;
Because you are my fortress I will never be shaken.

In this paraphrase, I am saying the same thing, but I am making it personal and applying it to my life and how it affects me personally.

Can you see how the subtle changes keep the truth of the verse, but better show what the Scriptures are saying to me personally, and how they actually affect and apply to me?

To me, it makes them come alive and shows me just who God is and how He thinks about things.

This in turn causes me to better understand God and want to draw closer to Him and build a stronger relationship with Him.

Remember, praying Scriptures isn’t some mysterious thing.

It’s an opportunity to humbly go to God and let Him know I am reading His word and I’m seeking to communicate with Him about things He has said in His book, the Bible.

I encourage you to try praying a verse of Scripture in your next quiet time. You might be surprised at just how much it draws you closer to Him!

Let me know how it goes. I’d really like to hear about your experience!

*earnestly means sincerely, intensely, with great seriousness – you can pray these words instead of earnestly if that is better for you

**parched means drought-stricken, desert-like

***the water in this instance is referring to God’s Spirit and presence.

Category: Prayer, Scripture Study | LEAVE A COMMENT

Thanking God In the Bad Times

As Christians, we are called to be thankful to God.

It’s not that hard to thank Him for the good things that happen to us, but what about when bad things happen?

Do we thank Him then? Should we?

Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:18 –

“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

It says we are to give thanks in ALL circumstances.

Not just in the good ones. In the bad ones, too.

That can be hard!

How do we thank God in a situation where a loved one is ill?

Or, a relative is seriously injured in an accident? What if they die?

What if a partner leaves without warning?

Do we thank God in these situations?

The answer is yes, we do. In all of them.

No matter the circumstance or situation, there is always something to thank God for. Otherwise, He wouldn’t have told us to.

We can thank Him that they only broke one arm, not both. We can thank Him the illness isn’t worse. We can thank Him for the friends who step up to support and encourage us.

Even if the worst case scenario happens, there are still things we can thank God for.

We can thank Him for the privilege of having known that person and having them in our lives.

We can thank Him for how He blessed our time together.

We can thank God for being there for us; for His presence in our lives as He comforts and strengthens us to walk through this season of heartache.

We can thank God for knowing what is the best outcome for the situation, even when we don’t understand or agree with that outcome.

We can thank God for working in our lives, even when we can’t or won’t see it.

It may seem impossible at first, but if we will focus on God’s goodness and trust that as Creator of the Universe and Author and Finisher of our faith God knows best as He is working all things together, we will begin to see where He is working in the situation.

Then, we can thank Him for those specific things. This will open our eyes to even more things He is doing. More things to thank Him for.

The point is we are supposed to turn our hearts and eyes to God and to begin to thank Him for the good things in our lives despite this hard situation we are dealing with as we maintain our focus on Him and not on the things happening to and/or around us.

Will it be easy? Not necessarily. But as we begin to thank Him for His goodness and who He is, our heart will begin to soften and we will begin to feel His presence. This will give us peace and strength that will sustain us through the hard season.

Will it be painful? Often. But, out of that pain will come healing, growth, and learning.

It will be a chance to grow closer to Christ as we see God for who He truly is and begin to better understand that He really is both working in our lives and interested in comforting and healing us.

It is this seeing His presence and work in our lives and knowing He cares about each one of us that will make it so much easier to give thanks for all that He is doing for us, both in good seasons and bad.

What about you? Are you giving thanks to God in the season you’re in?

Isaiah 41:10

Someone in my life occasionally makes my life difficult for no apparent reason.

I’m not sure why but nothing I do ever pleases them.

To make matters worse, for a lot of reasons it is not someone I can just walk away from.

The last few days have been some of those days when they made things tough.

Yesterday was especially stressful.

I spent an entire day upset, almost to the point of tears.

I kept asking God, “Why is this happening?”, and, “Why won’t You do something?”.

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Feeling Anchored

Recently I went through a struggle concerning feeling anchored.

My brother died unexpectedly and I had to go 600+ miles away to attend his service and take care of the family stuff that went with it.

I’d strongly felt God’s presence during the trip, but once I got home and reality set in I started to feel like I was floating. I felt aimless. Like I wasn’t anchored to anything. Just in a bit of limbo.

That is not a very good feeling.

I prayed and prayed and asked the Lord to help me feel more/better connected to Him (God). Then I got in my Bible and started looking at Scripture.

He led me to Hebrews 6.

In it the author is talking about the absolute certainty of God’s promises to us.

Verse 19 said it best-

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, (NIV)

Did you catch that?

Our hope in God’s promises is an anchor.

It’s our belief that God is who He says He is and that He’ll do what He says He will do that gives us hope and faith. It’s what binds us to Him.

When we hold on to this hope in Him we can live our lives according to His promises, knowing they are waiting for us both here and in the next life.

This is what will keep us anchored to Him. Unmovable. Unshakable. Secure.

Reminding myself that I do trust God, I have seen Him prove Himself trustworthy, and that He will do what He says He will do, made me feel better. It gave me peace and a sense of calm.

It helped me “right” myself as I balanced back out and felt anchored again.

I can tell you first hand, this was exactly what I needed.

I needed to be reminded that God is there for me no matter the circumstance, no matter the situation.

He is Who He said He is, and He will do exactly what He said he would do.

I am so thankful that God’s promises are true and I can trust Him no matter what!

For further reading: Hebrews 11

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