Tag: restored notebook

Build A Better Prayer Life (By Avoiding This Perfectionism Pitfall)

Published by Leslie Newman Blog Posts, Prayer 32 comments
There is Someone who can do a better job building our prayer life than we can. Avoid this perfectionism pitfall in your prayer life! Read to find out more!

For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. (Hebrews 3:4, NKJV)

Prayer is a little like building a house. It takes a plan, a whole lot of time and effort, the right tools and a master builder.

Now if there’s anything a perfectionist likes, it’s a good plan, right? We like the tools, and we are willing to put in the time and effort. As a matter of fact, we are driven in many ways (and not all of them are healthy ways). We want to be efficient, and we focus on that end result, often at the expense of the process it takes to get there. These are all things we need to keep an eye on in our day to day life situations.

But we also have to watch out for these things in our prayer lives, because if we are not careful, we’ll focus so much on the plan that we’ll forget who the builder is.

Join me today as we talk more about prayer and a common perfectionism pitfall.

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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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Three Powerful Strategies to Transform Your Prayer Life

Published by Leslie Newman Prayer 82 comments
Does your prayer life need a transformation? Try these three powerful strategies!

God is personal, loving, powerful, all-knowing, wise and holy and He invites us to spend time with Him. Can you imagine that? He loves us that much! Prayer is the outpouring of our relationship with Him and His with us. It’s a place we can go to talk to Him and interact with Him in a personal way.

But prayer isn’t always easy. Perhaps you feel distracted. Maybe it’s hard to pray with confidence. Maybe there is no joy to be found. Perhaps it’s hard to let go and let God be in control. There are times when we are not sure what to say or how to pray in the first place. If so, you are not alone. I’ve been in every one of these situations over the years in my prayer life.

The great thing is that God gives us all the knowledge we need. He will equip us for everything He calls us to do. Since prayer is something He calls us to do, we know he will equip is for that, too.

Join me this week as we discuss three powerful strategies that can transform your prayer life.

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6 Things to Remember When You Feel Overwhelmed in Your Prayer Life

Published by Leslie Newman Prayer 27 comments
Have you ever felt overwhelmed in your prayer life? I think a lot of us do, but it's easy to get discouraged and feel alone. It's very true that prayer can be overwhelming, but it's also true that there are things we can do about it. Click to read more.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed in your prayer life? I think a lot of us do, but it’s easy to get discouraged and feel alone. It’s very true that prayer can be overwhelming, but it’s also true that there are things we can do about it.

Perhaps you can relate to these thoughts about prayer which have come from my own life and from conversations I’ve had with other people.

*I have a family, a job, and other commitments. It’s hard to find extra time to pray and read the Bible.
*It’s hard to concentrate and I can’t focus when I try to pray.
*I don’t know what to say or how to go about praying the right way.
*There are so many needs. I don’t know how to pray over them all.
*I feel guilty if I spend any time praying for my own needs. Other prayer needs are more important and need all of my attention.
*It’s really hard to let go and let God have control. It involves so much waiting that sometimes I run ahead of God.

Do any of these statements describe something you have struggled with? If so, you are not alone.

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How to Persevere When Prayer Takes You to Hard Places

Published by Leslie Newman Prayer 24 comments
How to Persevere When Prayer Takes You to Hard Places

Prayer is the answer. We’ve heard this many times and we believe it, too. We know God is faithful. We know He answers. We work hard on our prayer lives and then, out of the blue, it hits us – something really hard. It’s true, sometimes prayer takes us places we’d really rather not be.

We particularly see this in our personal life when we are asking to be set free form the things that hold us back. Sometimes, to work through the setting free, God has to take us into some very unexpected places.

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Be an Overcomer! 6 Steps to a More Intentional Quiet Time

Published by Leslie Newman Blog Posts, Overcoming Perfectionism, Prayer, Quiet Time, Resources, RESTORED Notebook 7 comments

It’s all quiet in the house. You have your Bible, a notebook and your pen in hand. You have a little list of things that you want to pray over. You know what you need to do, but it’s just not quite working today. Ever been there before? I have. Many times. Read more to find out how to have a more intentional quiet time in 6 easy steps.

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