Spirituality
Better Than a Hallelujah
This one made me cry, get the Kleenex first….
BETTER THAN A HALLELUJAH
by Amy Grant
God loves a lullaby
In a mother’s tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes
God loves the drunkard’s cry
The soldier’s plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes
We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah
The woman holding on for life
The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
The tears of shame for what’s been done
The silence when the words won’t come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah
Better than a church bell ringing
Better than a choir singing out, singing out
We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah
We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah
(Better than a Hallelujah sometimes)
Better than a Hallelujah
(Better than a Hallelujah sometimes)
Transformed
TRANSFORMED Transformed from glory to glory, as the LORD renews my mind. Restored by the image of God, through Jesus Christ my Lord. I’m changing from day to day, as I behold His face. I’m just a reflection, of His Spirit in me. I’ve been planted by the Master Gardner, with the seed of the … Read more
You Can Do It!
When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.
~Harriet Beecher Stowe
Why “Prayers and Promises”?
Daily Prompt: All About Me Explain why you chose your blog’s title and what it means to you. “Prayers and Promises” came to be when God spoke to me and asked me to ‘quit playing church’. I didn’t grow up in church. It wasn’t till I was 30-40 something that I even cared. And, like many … Read more
God Blesses What Was Broken
GOD BLESSES WHAT WAS BROKEN © 2013 Diana Rasmussen I refuse to be bound by my past, I will not be defined by your label. Only God knows the road I’ve traveled, God blesses what was broken. All things work together for good, ‘Cuz I am called and chosen. Nothing will be wasted or thrown … Read more
God Blesses What Was Broken
GOD BLESSES WHAT WAS BROKEN © 2013 Diana Rasmussen I refuse to be bound by my past, I will not be defined by your label. Only God knows the road I’ve traveled, God blesses what was broken. All things work together for good, ‘Cuz I am called and chosen. Nothing will be wasted or thrown … Read more
Very Inspiring Blogger Award – Thank you!
Thank you LEAD OUR LIVES for the Very Inspiring Blogging Award. Lead our Lives, aka Carrie, is a life coach and her blog is amazing. My favorite post of hers so far is called COMPASSION. I love how Carrie writes, it’s almost like you are there in the room with her having a cup of … Read more
Famous God Quotes
for the days I forget awesome God is
Hope
DAILY PROMPT
Write about anything you’d like. Somewhere in your post, include the sentence, “I heard the car door slam, and immediately looked at the clock.”
HOPE
© 2012 Diana Rasmussen
(PSALM 62/Matt 12/Romans 4)
My soul waits silently for God,
My expectation is from Him.
I pour my heart out before Him,
He is a refuge for me.
His name is the Hope of all the world.
I will trust Him at all times.
He is my rock and my salvation,
I shall not be moved.
Even when there is no reason for hope,
I will keep on believing,
God is more than able,
To do what He says.
I woke up with this song in my head this morning. And the verse “God’s mercies are new every morning”…hmmm.
Sometimes I think I limit God by what my expectations are. I have lived in the chaos (the desert) for so long, that is what I got accustomed to. It was familiar. And even though I didn’t like it, I knew what to expect – nothing. When you expect nothing, you get nothing. Nothing changes, everything stays the same. Predictable. Boring. Not healthy. Staying in the desert with my victim mentality meant that it was always someone else’s fault. I could blame others for their bad choices while I failed to make any new ones for myself. I did not take responsibility for my own life – I was too busy telling everyone else what to do. Then I didn’t have to do anything. I didn’t have to change, or make a new choice. I learned this was ‘criminal thinking’ at its best. And I was robbing myself of a better future.
There are times when you are at the edge of a new season, and you admit to yourself that you can’t go back. But you are hesitant to go forward. Almost like time has stopped. And then
I heard the car door slam, and immediately looked at the clock.
I am still here. Time has not stopped. I survived. My life will go on. I don’t need all the answers to take the next step forward. It will be ok. Today is the day to say “Yes” to God. I choose to be healed. I will be made whole. God promised to help me, so I am going to let Him.
In the valley of decision, I admit that my hope is not based on my ability, nor the things others do or don’t do. My hope is not based on my failures. My hope is not based on my past abuse. I am no longer a victim. I can make a new choice. I will get up. My hope today is anchored in what the Word says
GOD’S PROMISE TO YOU:
” My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him. He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved”. (Psalm 62:5-6)
It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not.
They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him. (Lamentations 3:22-24 AMP)
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27 NIV)
MY PRAYER FOR YOU:
Dear Lord,
Thank you for slamming the car door and waking us up. Thank you for shaking what can be shaken to see what remains in our lives. We admit, we have tried to live without You, and it hasn’t worked. You are our Hope, show us a new way Lord. We choose to trust in You. Refresh our souls. Renew our minds. Restore our lives, in Jesus’ Name.
MORE POSTS ON HOPE:
http://unshakablehope.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/more-than-just-a-dream/
http://anewcreationtoo.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/one-thing-remains-his-love/
There is a Treasure in You
Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting in my favorite chair, reading some of your awesome blogs, when the Spirit of the Lord came upon me. Perhaps you know what this feels like. All of a sudden you are transported somewhere else when you yield to God. Your body may be here, but the rest of you … Read more
God’s Love
Yesterday I shared about what love is NOT. All of that pain led me to Him – the Healer, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus. He is faithful, and true. He is what love looks like. I poured out my pain as I cried at his feet. It was not wasted. It mattered. It was costly. He took my head in His hands, and looked in my eyes. For the first time, I felt loved.
“If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there;
if you’re kicked in the gut, he’ll help you catch your breath.” (Psalm 34:18 MSG)
GOD’S LOVE
V1
God’s love is faithful,
He’s forever true
He loves me with mercy and grace to be new.
His love has no ending,
His covenant stands.
A promise between us,
and I’m in His hands.
CHORUS
God’s love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things,
God’s love never fails for me.
God’s love never fails for me.
V2
How great is the love Father lavishes on me,
now I am called a child of God.
No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived what God has for me!
REPEAT CHORUS
BRIDGE
My God is love,
I now live in God,
and he lives in me
REPEAT CHORUS
© 2102 Diana Rasmussen
GOD’S PROMISE TO YOU:
“And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the [Holy] Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba (Father)! Father!” (Galatians 4:6)
“But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
MY PRAYER FOR YOU:
Dear Lord,
Thank you for your love today. You are faithful and true. You loved us even in our darkest days. You are close to the broken-hearted, and will bind up all our wounds. We are putting our trust in You, in Jesus’ Name.