Day 7 - 40 Day Prayer Journal & Empowerment Challenge

Love is always being tested.  Don’t ever discount love, because you don’t feel the emotion.  Love is mostly action.  Emotions come and go much without our permission or acknowledgement; but, our actions are always our choice.  I’ve found that when we are intentional about holding love in our hearts for someone or people in general, that the lost feeling can easily be found again.  Frankly, it’s usually not lost at all, but perhaps covered with busyness, selfishness, fear, un-forgiveness, hard-heartedness, and many other things.  These effects are simply tests of our love.

My husband and I had a heated argument once; and, I was so angry, I could remember thinking, “I hate you!!!” and, instantly, I thought “Where ‘in hell’ did that come from?” I did not utter it, because I knew it was not true; but, if I had allowed myself to be controlled by my feeling of anger in that moment, I could have blurted it out and never been able to take it back.  Knowing my husband, he would have forgiven me but that would have been forever sketched in his mind.  Our love was being tested by and from the pits of hell. Fortunately for us, we passed the test and I am so thankful!

It is imperative that we know what love is and what it is not.  It is just as important that when we find love that we never allow how we feel in a moment control what we say and how we treat each other.  When we find love, it can never be lost; even if you decide that being apart is better than being together, separating for the sake of each other’s wellbeing is still an act of love.  So, again, love isn’t lost.  Love is everywhere, it’s all knowing, and it’s the most powerful emotion.  Therefore, never give the forces of evil permission to gain entry to your heart and mind and tell you that it doesn’t exist.  Love is in you, all around you and all over you.  If you make your bed in hell, love is there, because God is Love and he is there with you.  He’s everywhere.  Just embrace that overwhelming Love, hold it in your arms and just imagine that you cannot escape it.  Then, be intentional about your feelings and actions and stand guard against any thief that seeks to rob you of it.

Our Father, please guard our hearts! We know that the line between of love and hate has been crossed by many.  We asked that you guide us so that we will never go there ourselves and that we don’t fall prey to the enemy of our souls, believe the lies he whispers to us, nor be a conduit for him to hurt our loved ones through our words and deeds.  Help us remember that Jesus sweat drops of blood and prayed earnestly to you before he was captured by the soldiers who were to later take his life.  We are more than sure Jesus did not “feel” like dying, but His love purposed Him to endure an excruciating death for us.  “There’s no greater love than for a man to lay down His life for friends.” Just like Jesus, show us how to love more perfectly, to hold love in our hearts for others even when they don’t love themselves or know how to love us back.  We are willing vessels for you right now. Use us as you will, Father, we pray! Amen!

#IAmMySistersKeeper

 

 

Day 6 - 40 Day Prayer and Empowerment Challege

The power of loving energy! Have you have ever entered a room full of people and it felt so warm, positive, and loving?  Have you have ever entered a room full of people and experienced the opposite?  I am sure the answer is “yes” to both questions.  We often take for granted the energy we exude when we enter into a place.  So, when there’s a room full of people who are unaware or unintentional about their subconscious emotions and attitudes, then any great event, occasion, or gathering could quickly take a downward turn. 

Loving energy, however, can bring sunshine to a rainy day, bring life to a dead dream, and light to a dark situation, and awesomeness to a party.  It is so important that we remain conscious of how we feel, our body language, the frequency of our vibrations, the look on our faces, and anything that’s driving our outward display of happiness or displeasure at all times.  As women, we can carry so much baggage like anger, sadness, frustration, misery, offensiveness, jealousy around with us and not even know it. It is during these times, we miss opportunity after opportunity to give love to others.  Conversely, when we make it a practice to stop and make a mental note of how we are feeling and then shift our energy when we realize we are in the dumps, we can become more enlightened about the possibilities of chance encounters to show love.

Jesus attracted these occurrences, often, because of his loving energy.  It was loving energy that healed the woman with an issue of blood.  It was loving energy that made stone throwers drop their rocks and walk away from the woman caught in adultery.  It was loving energy that performed miracle after miracle, like feeding thousands with a couple pieces of fish and a few loaves of bread.  It was Christ’s loving energy that healed the sick and raised the dead.

Father, I pray today for women to consciously open their hearts and minds to the ways of Christs, not just to learn of them but to employ them.  You’ve made us to be loving creatures, because we are created in your image, and You are Love.  You’ve given us an example of how to love through Christ; and, You’ve given us the power to Love through your Holy Spirit, which lives inside of us.  You have equipped us Father.  Please convict us time and time again until we continue to love others the way you’ve commanded us.  May your Spirit quicken our thoughts and memory and awaken us to an awareness like no other to be mindful of the sensation of our energies and empower us to shift it when we need to. I pray that we will be obedient, so that we will find the peace we need and the love and happiness we desire.  Amen!

#IAmMySistersKeeper

DAY 5 - 40 Day Prayer and Empowerment Challenge

Today, as I think of Patrice Lanier, a 47 year old woman who just two nights ago was brutally bludgeon to death with a hammer by a man she knew and possibly dated, I hold a special place in my heart for all women who’ve opened their heart to evil forces for the sake of love only to have hatred spewed upon them.  I hold in my heart the love that is true, pure, giving, compassionate, holy, righteous, and that in which we are worthy!  Though death is inevitable, none of us are worthy of leaving this world the way this young lady did.  I dare you, today, to tell yourself, “I am worthy of real love!” and mean it!

The clutching of my heart is for the women still living and are so desperate for man’s love that they don’t realize they already possess the love in which they seek.  I clamp and hold the overwhelming Love of God and hold it in my soul for you, who know no boundaries.  Yes, I’ve relished in this love for you, who accept an, “I love you!” from anyone who tells you.  I am intensely protecting this love for you, who don’t realize that you have a choice in the matter.  Women I hold this place for you as I say to you that Love doesn’t cross over into abuse, neglect, ridicule, slander, badgering, cursing, yelling, threatening, cheating, lying, bullying, ostracizing, meddling, comparing, and any other similar manner of things.  I beg you right now to get understanding of true love, embrace God’s infinite and unfathomable love for you, and realize how to love yourself enough to know what real love is and is not when you encounter others.

Today, my prayer is simple!  Lord, bless the little girl who has witnessed abuse first hand and accepted it as a way of life, because she watched the women she trusted to take care of her consent to it.  Shake her to consciousness! Guide her reality into all truth and give her a different mindset about relationships and the fortitude the follow it! Father, bless the woman who’s lost her way on her wild chase for love and found it in all the wrong places.  Give her eyes wide open and the strength to be still, walk away, run, close a door or chapter, or do whatever is needed for her the brake the chain of bondage in which has entangled herself.  I ask that you sit us all down and be our teacher and guide us one-on-one about your true love, which never changes, never lies, never hurts, and never fails. Uplift us with your hand of righteousness, forgive us, and help us to forgive ourselves, and one another.  Teach us to set boundaries and love from a distance when needed.  Finally, Lord, help us feel the emotion of love, hold it in our hands, and use it for good not for manipulation, control, and negative persuasion; so, that when it comes to us that way we will know it and not fall prey to it.  Give us eyes wide open and the will to say NO at the inception of any relationship which will not serve our highest and greatest good! THANK YOU & AMEN!

 

Day 4 - 40 Day Women's Prayer and Empowerment Challenge

Inspiration comes from a place beyond our knowledge and intellect.  We can always tell by the energy we feel in your bodies, the expression on our faces, and the lightness of our spirits once we’ve been inspired. It is as if all the cares and burdens we carry are lifted and moved far away from us, even if it’s just for a moment.  Inspiration makes us feel the overwhelming Love that we so desperately long for!  Inspiration comes from God.

So, why is it so difficult to find inspiration when we need it?  I can only speak for myself.  I am an inspiration addict.  I feel empty without it.  I look for it in the sky, in the birds, in the children, in a stranger at the mall; but, just like an addict, I am chasing a pipe dream.  I am looking for the same high that I received from my last point of contact with it.  It’s sad to say, but that is a hopeless pursuit. What I’ve found is that it is only when I am in my most relaxed and confident states of being that the magic happens.  Visions come, words and phrases evolve, and inspiration is evident when I just flow and allow it to come to me.

Inspiration also comes when I am freely serving others like in those moments I see a child needing a hug and I allow that child to melt in my arms, or when I’m able to help a stranger in need.  Whenever we inspire others, we too are inspired.  However, as women, we are masters of performance and fulfilling our obligations.  We do our due diligence and complete the duties assigned, because we’ve been taught it is what we are “supposed” to do.  When we do these things because of duty, they don’t have the same effect on the recipient or the giver as they do when done out of love and inspiration. Good works are fine and most times necessary, but the problem occurs when at the end of it all, we do not experience love, fulfillment, and inspiration.  In fact, we may even feel tired, used, angry, and resentful.  These don’t just rob us of inspiration, but they can place us so far in the negative that it feels nearly impossible to at least get back to ground zero (the nonchalant feeling). 

Here’s the problem:  When we don’t start from a place of inspiration we won’t end at inspiration.  It’s time to understand why we do what we do beyond the idea that “this is what I am supposed to do.”  For example, I feel it is my obligation to take care of my children, and some days I am simply too tired to fulfill my responsibility; so, I become fussy about every little thing and even begin acting very selfish and nasty while vying for my right to be.  Well, if I’d just take “one” moment and ask, “Why do I enjoy and love being a mother?” and look around at the children and ask, “Why do I love that child so much?”, my whole attitude would shift.  My “duty” would then become my “pleasure.” Instead of saying, “I have to…” I would say “I get to…” In those moments I am not chasing inspiration or obligation, I am just allowing myself to be inspired by my own “real truth.”

Women, take time for you!!!  Get away, rest well, meditate, pray, read, and just be.  Take time daily to do just a couple of those things and inspiration (the feeling love) will pop all throughout your days, in the most unpredictable ways and moments.  We must be intentional about finding inspiration, not by chasing after it like a dog chasing its tale, but by making room for it through our daily “God time” and “me time”.

Lord, my prayer today is that my sister reading this realizes that YOU freely give inspiration and that it is Your desire for her to hear and receive from You.  I pray that my sister makes a commitment to love and inspire her family by first committing to herself to create room for you to overwhelm her with inspiration, to feel the empty places of their lives with you more of You, and to open her heart to the love that is already inside and all around her.  Let her know there’s no escaping YOUR Love! I sincerely ask, Father, that You engrain deep etches in their psyche the thought that You love her so much and that she can rest in your arms at any moment she needs to refuel herself throughout the day.  May she be inspired even at this very moment!!! Amen!

 #IAmMySistersKeeper

 

 

 

Day 3 - 40 Day Women's Prayer & Empowerment Challenge

I’ll never forget the day I sat in my pastor’s office for marriage counseling.  You see, this was my second marriage and I was blessed with the opportunity to marry someone I had fallen madly in love with in college some 20 plus years prior.  I never had the chance to tell him I loved him, then, because my heart was so closed and afraid to love at such a deep level.  I thought that if I told him, he’d only break it.  Nonetheless, it was broken anyway.  We could never get our relationship off the ground in our younger days because of the lack of maturity on both of our parts. 

Now, here I am in 2013 with this amazing opportunity; and, again, I love him and I am afraid to take the plunge and allow myself to fall head over hills in love with him.  I loved him so much yet I was extremely guarded.  He could only get so emotionally close to me before I would totally freeze up in my mind and actions.  My heart was so willing, but my fears were getting the best of me; and, he had done nothing whatsoever to warrant those fears.  They were totally false.

Our pastor was wonderful, he fully allowed us to be transparent as we discussed all of these darkest matters with him without judgement, ridicule, and bible beatings.  Therefore, we felt completely free to discuss the fact that to me my husband’s love was like an overwhelming ocean and I wanted to love but I needed to wear a safety jacket because I was so afraid of drowning.  What my pastor said next, totally, blew me away, made me more fearful, but spoken volumes to heart at the same time.  He said, “Kreslyn, when you love someone, you literally take your heart, place in their hands and give them permission to break it over and over again.” Wow!!!! I did not want to hear that, but at the same time I needed to hear it so badly; because, it was the absolute truth!

What I discovered is just because your heart is closed does not mean that behind the walls and doors of it that love doesn’t exist.  You still love that person with the same kind of passion and energy, you are just withholding it; and, since you still love them you are still subject to being hurt.  Frankly, being hard-hearted does not protect us from pain and only exacerbates the inevitable.  So we may as well have OPEN HEARTS and share our own ocean with the people who truly love us and show us love. 

As women, we have allowed past pain to dictate how we are to feel about others in the future and even block our heart when it should be open.  Past pain, resentment, and trauma distort our view of what’s real and what’s not, so everyone in our future pays for the pain in our past.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  I want to encourage you today, to open your heart to your loved ones and give them permission to break it while also knowing that not giving them permission doesn’t protect you from heart break but an OPEN HEART gives you innumerable opportunities to lift others in life, love, and hope.  Why pass up the opportunity to do that?

I have come a long way in this area but still have much ground to cover.  So, I pray for “US” today!!! I pray that we ask for the same OPEN HEART Christ has.  He opened his heart to us, displayed it through his ministry, death, and resurrection; yet, we break His heart over and over again but He still loves us. His LOVE never fades and it never fails.  Thank you, LORD!!!!! I pray that all of yesterday’s mail of hurt, pain, and trauma is shredded, deleted, and destroyed, and that we cease tying our history to our future but commit to re-writing it to include LOVE, FORGIVENESS, PEACE, and JOY no matter our life’s situation.  AMEN!!!!  Blessings to you my sister! Now go and be a blessing!

#IAmMySistersKeeper

 

 

Day 2 - 40 Day Women's Prayer and Empowerment Challenge

Oftentimes God shows up in the flesh; but, we miss Him by our own impaired vision.  At other times, His countenance is so bright that we could not escape it even if we wanted to.  So, today, I am grateful for the evidence of his powerful, yet nurturing presence in Women! I’ve witnessed His love poured out unto the world by many women of greatness, like to Mother Theresa, Rosa Parks, Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, and Hillary Clinton (only to name a few). 

These women along with so many unsung “Sheroes” shed their light upon the world through their acts of courage, purpose, grit, and determination.  They exemplify the very essence of love for people, for community, for family, for themselves.  They’ve sacrificed their lives, careers, reputation, and self in order that others may become healed, whole, and complete through their examples of service. You may asked, “How did Oprah or Hillary Clinton sacrifice their careers?”  Well, anytime you go against status quo, you put your job, popularity, and following on the line.  A woman of love and greatness will lay down her position to live her purpose.  That’s sacrifice.

The real beauty here is that when we recognize these attributes in others, it is easy to recognize them in ourselves.  We too possess this Spirit of True Love, which is unconditional and longs to emerge and be seen, shared, and given to the world.  We too have purpose in our bellies waiting to be birthed.  We too have courage to overcome the challenges and fears which often block our actions.  We too are light in a dark and dying world.  We possess the Spirit of Woman, the Spirit of Greatness, and the Spirit of God. 

Let us walk in Spirit today. Let us place our lights on a lamp stand.  Let us recognize and call out the greatness in other women, who may not otherwise receive recognition.  Let us show love and be love, today!  My prayer for women today, is that all hard-heartedness will be removed so that she may live in the freedom of vulnerability, love, and greatness!

#IAmMySistersKeeper

Day 1 - 40 Day Women’s Prayer and Empowerment Challenge

I AM MY SISTERS KEEPER

As I reflect upon the abuse, neglect, rejections, and exploitation of women for thousands of years, my soul cries out for my ancestors as well as for my predecessors; for, there seems to be little hope for the future based on the stories today.  I can only imagine that my slave mothers and sisters had hearts open to love, before their men were snatched from their homes and coupled with other women to keep the slave industry alive and well.  I pity my sister slave owner whose husband betrayed her with the woman of color she entrusted with her possessions and offspring.  My heart bleeds for today’s woman who’s lost her husband or children’s father to the modern day slavery systems called prison, addiction, pornography and infidelity.  I feel the aches in my belly for my sisters who trusted a father, uncle, or family friend as a caregiver only to have something to go so wrong.  I soak my pillows for my sister who lost their innocence in an untimely manner.  I scream for the strong sister with a voice and opinion but is ridiculed, beaten, ostracized, and even murdered because of it.

I know without a doubt that they once had an open heart to freely LOVE and now it is hardened as means of protection, uncompromising against men and untrusting towards women. Oh, how I feel the pain of my sisters.  WE so desperately need LOVE again! Right now, we are only surviving.  We are unknowingly holding our breath, carrying the cares of the world in the tension knots in our bodies.  We’ve got the bottled up tears that we refuse to cry that are manifesting themselves in every manner of cancer and disease in our organs.  We need a refuge, a place to be safe with our hearts, our secrets, our shame, our guilt, and our confessions.  We need each other!  We need sisterhood!  We need LOVE!  We need hope! We need to exhale!

Let’s breathe and bow our heads and pray this day, that we can eliminate impatience, envy, arrogance, rudeness, self-seeking, provoking spirit, and continual thoughts of evil and fill our heart and souls with kindness, patience, a celebration of truth, longsuffering, and endurance of love which are highlighted in I Corinthians 13: 1-8.  Let’s us Love in spite of what has happened and exemplify unfailing, forever, true LOVE for our God, ourselves, our families, and our sisters!

Let this be your safe place!  #IAmMySistersKeeper