Tag: definitions

5 Days to a Thankful Heart

Published by Leslie Newman Word Study 6 comments
Spend 5 days in this easy study of Bible verses about thanksgiving. Come away with deep insights and a thankful heart!

Words. We hear them, we speak them, we read them. From the time we are tiny babies just starting to talk, words are part of who we are. From a very young age, we seek to know and understand the world around us through our developing language. Knowing the meanings of the words we speak and read is necessary in order to understand the world around us and interact with it.

It’s no different with the Bible. Word meanings are very important!

The Bible was first written in Hebrew and Greek. Translations are not perfect because languages are so different. The meanings of words can vary and change over time. The English words that we read in our modern translations can represent two or more different words in the original languages, so sometimes the meaning of one English word doesn’t quite do justice to the complexity of the concept implied in the original languages. This is why it’s a great idea to do a Biblical word study!

Word study can seem very intimidating, but fortunately, we have so many resources for solid Biblical research and understanding right at our fingertips. There are places online that you can go to find concordances and lexicons in order to do a deeper study of God’s word. You do not have to be an expert at languages to gain some deep insight into what God is speaking through His word!

Click below to read more and pick up your FREE WORD STUDY PRINTABLE!

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How to Strengthen Your Prayer Life Through Grace

Published by Leslie Newman Prayer 39 comments
Are you putting too much pressure on yourself? Remember GRACE and receive it to bring strength into your prayer life. His strength is made perfect in our weakness!

Grace has always seemed like a gentle thing to me. A soft something that settles down in the heart unnoticed at first, but there, nevertheless. And we feel it’s peace. The thing is, I’m not good at grace. I might be good at giving grace to others, but when it comes to receiving it for myself, that’s a whole different story.

I think we all probably struggle with being harder on ourselves than we are on others, but for some of us, it is magnified, especially if we struggle with perfectionism.

If you struggle with perfectionism one of the things that you may be doing is putting entirely too much pressure on yourself. It’s a vicious cycle because perfectionism tells you that you are never good enough. And that’s the total opposite of what grace says.

Grace would tell you that you are enough, because of Who God is. He created you and He loves you. All of you. Just the way you are.

If you listen to perfectionism and the voice inside your head that says you are not good enough, you are in for a rough journey. It’s a path that leaves no room for receiving God’s grace.

Satan doesn’t mind us traveling this road though, and this is because he wants us discouraged and defeated in all areas of our lives.

He especially wants to defeat us in our prayer lives. Prayer is where the battles are fought and won. And Satan is always the looser. This means that he will do everything he can to discourage us and keep us from praying. Often, these discouragements will come through negative thought processes.

One of these negative thought patterns involves the tendency to be way too hard on ourselves which creates a whole lot of unnecessary pressure in our lives.

Think about the things we say to ourselves sometimes. We would probably never say these things about other people, but we might constantly repeat them to ourselves.

• “I skipped my prayer time today. God will be disappointed in me.”
• “My prayers seem too simple. I’m not really smart enough.”
• “I don’t really understand the Bible. Who am I to be talking to God?”
• “My life is so chaotic. I’m a mess. God wants someone who has it more together.”
• “I’ve done some pretty bad things. There’s no way God can accept me because of the things I’ve done.

This list could go on and on, couldn’t it?

But there is an answer for this. Read to find out more! {FREE PRINTABLE!}

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Unlock the Power of Praise in Your Prayer Life!

Published by Leslie Newman Prayer 32 comments
Have you ever felt like something was missing from your prayer life? It could be praise and worship. Read to learn more about unlocking the power of praise in your prayer life! {FREE PRINTABLES!}

Have you ever felt like something was missing from your prayer life? I have. I was praying for others, asking for forgiveness, and being thankful, but it seemed like something just wasn’t quite right.

After some searching, I discovered that praise was a missing aspect in my prayer life. When I began adding in praise to my prayer time, an amazing thing happened. I began to have an entirely different focus that really impacted my thought processes for the better.

Praising God is a perspective-changer. There’s no doubt about it!

There are many ways to praise God which are as various and unique as the individuality He has created in all of us. But no matter how we do it, we’ll find that at the core of praising God is recognizing and thinking about His character. When we do this, some very important things begin to happen.

Praise invites His presence.
Praise forces us to take our eyes off ourselves.
Praise helps us understand who God is.
Understanding His character gives us hope helps bring peace.
When we understand Who God is, we find our true identity.
Praise makes the enemy flee!

Last week we studied 2 Peter 1:3 which tells us that God gives us everything we need to live a godly life. He equips us in all areas, including our prayer lives!

If we take a look at what follows (2 Peter 1:4) we gain another valuable insight about prayer. Click below to discover more! {FREE PRINTABLES TOO!}

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Empower Your Prayer Life with This Important First Step

Published by Leslie Newman Prayer 31 comments
Read this article to discover an important and often overlooked first step to empower your prayer life. Free printables to help you!

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3

When I read that verse, and I’m just relieved. It is so reassuring to think that everything we need has already given. Any piece of wisdom or discernment and the faith and knowledge that we need to live a godly life is available to us because of His power!

God equips us for godly living, and that should give us confidence!

There are many aspects to godly living, but at the very top of the list is prayer. Prayer is how we experience a relationship with God. It’s how we talk and listen to Him. It’s such a special relationship that we should do everything we can to keep it alive and well.

There is a step we can take that will empower our prayer lives, but it is one that is often overlooked. It’s something we can do before we ever even start our prayer or Bible study time for the day.

Join me this week as we look at this powerful first step to transforming your prayer life!

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When Being Still is Uncomfortable, A Different Perspective

Published by Leslie Newman Quiet Time 27 comments
When Being Still is Uncomfortable, A Different Perspective

I sat there on my back porch. It was quiet and soft and misty on a peaceful morning in the country. But I was so uncomfortable. I was fidgety and distracted, thinking of all the things I needed to do that day. I couldn’t believe I was having such a hard time being still after all this time.

I had made a commitment this particular week. Each day I was going to work on consistently spending a few minutes in complete stillness and quiet, away from all distractions, just being with God. Although I was consistently studying His word and praying, I found that being completely still before Him was very difficult for me. If you struggle with stillness, too, click to read more. We’ll talk about busyness, being still, and renewal of the mind.

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