MAMA RAISED ME RIGHT: LIVIN’ ON A PRAYER

Tee: Here; Boots: Here

Do your squats. Eat your vegetables. Wear red lipstick. And don’t let boys be mean to you.

I could maybe sum up what my mama taught my in that, one of my favorite Instagram quotes. Except for the fact that I don’t think I have ever in my life seen my mom wear red lipstick. But she did teach me to eat healthy, workout, and how to pick a good man. At the end of the day though, there’s one really important thing I learned from my mom that I could never live without.

She taught me to pray.

When someone is sick, pray. When your heart is broken, pray. When life doesn’t go as planned, pray. When you need something, pray. When negative thoughts overwhelm you, pray. When you’re afraid, pray.

And you want to know what? It’s changed my life. I grew up in an amazing Christian home. Where my parents showed me what a real relationship with Jesus was like. It was personal. I learned that the Holy Spirit was living and active in my life. And that prayer really really works.

Sometimes prayer is the only answer. Guys. Life is hard. Things happen that we don’t understand. We try to be like Jesus but our selfish, sinful selves sometimes takes over, and we need prayer and Jesus to change us.

I thought I would share a few areas where I have seen the power of prayer at work in my life.

SELF ESTEEM

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

I am proud to say that behind this screen is a girl who’s happy and confident with who she is, both inside and out. But I wasn’t always that way. I used to struggle a lot with my body image and self esteem. I’ve always worked out and ate pretty healthy but it was my mind that kept me from fully loving who I was. You know what I’m talking about, that negative thought that creeps in and then spirals out into you telling yourself so many lies that you start believing them. Or trying to be healthy and workout and then beating yourself up because you ate fully loaded nachos and skipped your workout. And now you are ruined forever and will never be healthy again.

I hated that I always obsessed over thinking about what I ate or if I did or didn’t workout. And so I started praying about it. But more than that I started “taking my thoughts captive”. What I mean by this is that every time I would start thinking a negative thought, I would stop myself by praying. I would think of a verse to meditate on or just simply ask God to take that thought away or replace it with a truth. To be honest, it was kind of exhausting at first. Because you don’t realize how often you think negatively about yourself until you try to stop. But as time went on, my mindset started changing. Those thoughts would actually not even enter my mind to begin with. And I started really believing that I was who God said I was, AND I could eat my fully loaded nachos guilt free. 😛

FEAR

I have always been a pretty fearless girl. I’ve done some crazy, adrenaline sort of things that my dad has later told me weren’t the smartest choice (Sorry, Dad), and just in general, I don’t usually get fearful or nervous about most things in life.

But then I had something happen that left me paralyzed by fear. It was a circumstance that actually wasn’t real but the fear I felt in that moment was, and my once bold and fearless self became very afraid. I didn’t want be alone. Silence was daunting. I didn’t sleep good. I wouldn’t go on my normal runs because I was scared. And I didn’t like going outside in the dark. I actually realized how someone could become so paralyzed by fear that they didn’t live normal life. It was kind of crazy.

Then one day, I came home from work and went to turn on the tv or music to have noise, and I felt like God told me to sit in the silence. That scared me but I knew God was there. I dropped to my knees in prayer, and all of the sudden I was overwhelmed by a sense of God’s presence. I was crying and praying, and I went through the whole house just praying over my home and thanking God for his protection over me and asking Him to heal me of the fear that had overtaken me.

In that instant, I was changed. I know fear has no place in my heart or my home. I know that God is with me everywhere I go, and through prayer and that experience I have become even less fearful I think than I was before. The Devil had tried to rob me of my peace but I know that God came so that I could “have life, and life to the fullest”. Which means with no fear. I’m home alone so much with Ben working as a firefighter, but I’m never scared. And I know it’s because of the power of prayer and God’s peace.

I’m so thankful that my mom raised me to know the power of prayer. I know she learned it from her mom because my grandma is a prayer warrior if I’ve ever seen one. I’m so thankful for the rich heritage my mom and dad have given me.

Right now, I’m asking God to show me how to be an even better wife. Because I want to love Ben like Jesus does. And that means sometimes I just need to shut my mouth and pray.

I don’t think I’ll ever fully know everything about the heart of God until I get to heaven. But until then, I have prayer to help me better understand Him, His heart, and his plan for my life.

xoxo,

Christine

SaveSaveSaveSave