Prayers For My Gambling Habit

5 Keys for Making Prayer a Habit

Prayer is hard work. It’s not something that comes naturally.

We go about our days, engaged in the home or workplace, distracted by good things that would keep us from prayer if we let them. Our hearts are prone to wander from God in self-reliance toward temporary pleasures, rather than running to him in dependence for the lasting joy and satisfaction only he can provide.

No relationship will flourish without intention—and this takes work! Perhaps you feel your need for communion with God, and you want to grow in forming a habit of prayer, but you don’t know where to start…

Five Keys for Making Prayer a Habit

Maybe prayer seems daunting, a high mountain to climb; or perhaps the pace of your day doesn’t seem to allow for this time. Yet, the growth of any relationship won’t fall into our laps; we need to be intentional, trusting God will meet and help us in this time of sought communion.

So here’s a start! The following are five keys to help you form a habit of prayer:

1. Choose it

Forming any habit requires action. Unless I choose to rebuild my strength through physical therapy exercises, it won’t happen. Unless I choose to show up on time by leaving early, it won’t happen. Similarly, we won’t pray unless we choose to pray, despite the obstacles (and there are always obstacles!).

So choose to pray. Choose a location. Choose a time of day that works best. Choose a context that will become familiar over time. Our living room couch is my chosen, consistent spot, the place I go each morning to read my Bible and pray.

Of course, certain times require flexibility in our communion with God—and there’s grace for these seasons! A newborn baby, a relocation, a new job and schedule, a decline in health—these circumstances may change our context for prayer, but they needn’t change our choice to pray. We press on, no matter the season, and we choose prayer by the strength God supplies.

2. Ask God for help

Because prayer doesn’t come naturally, our hearts are wayward, and our circumstances change, we desperately need God to help us pray—and this means we need him to transform our hearts, the seat of our deepest desires.

If prayer is merely something we add to our “spiritual checklist,” a joyless obligation, then we’ll pray for all the wrong reasons and never be transformed.

But if God were to change our hearts, then we’d yearn for prayer because we first and foremost desire him.

Too many of us are passive when it comes to our spiritual affections. We are practical atheists. We think there is nothing we can do….This is not the way the psalmists thought or acted. It is not the way the great saints of church history have acted either. Life is war. And the main battles are fought at the level of desires, not deeds.1

If you’ve been discouraged by your apathy toward prayer, hear this good news: Jesus lived and died and resurrected so your heart would be made new and your desires changed! He gave his life for your apathy and wayward desires, bearing your sin, and now he lives to intercede for you when you ask God to change your heart. So ask for his help today. He delights to give it.

3. Read your Bible

God has graciously spoken to us through his precious Word, and we can open our Bibles to hear from him each day. What an incredible thing, to hear from the God of the universe through words and phrases and sentences and chapters and books! What a wonder that the almighty, holy God would speak to undeserving, sinful humans us.

If prayer is responding to God’s words (he speaks; we listen, consider, and respond), then before prayer can become a habit, we need Scripture reading to become a habit. As in the last point, we can ask God for his help where Bible reading is concerned: God, give me the desire to hear from you in your Word!

Our prayers will also be more focused and clear when they’re rooted in biblical truths we know we can trust because God, himself, has said so.2 The more we read our Bibles, the more inclined our hearts will be to pray in response (Psalm 119:36).

4. Establish a pattern

Prayer can feel overwhelming. How do I know where to begin?, we ask. Choosing patterns for prayer has helped me pray more consistently and with greater intentionality.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication (ACTS)
• The Lord’s Prayer (see Matthew 6:9-13)
• Word-centered prayer (pray through a Scripture passage, verse by verse)
• Concentric circles (start with self and move outward to family, friends, church, local, global, etc.)
• Daily themes (eg. Ministry on Mondays, Unbelievers on Tuesdays, Friends on Wednesdays, Missions/Evangelism on Thursdays, Work/Coworkers on Fridays, etc.)
• John Piper’s I.O.U.S. (a helpful prayer pattern for Bible reading)
• Small group prayer
• Family prayer
• Church/corporate prayer

5. Ask for accountability

Is anyone currently asking you about your prayer life? If you want to make prayer a habit, ask a trusted, believing friend to hold you accountable by checking in with you on a weekly basis: “How has your prayer time been? How can I pray for you in that regard?” See if you might hold them accountable as well.

You’re Never Too Late

At this point, some of you might be feeling discouraged because you haven’t sought to make a habit of prayer.

Friends, because of Christ, you can lift your drooping heads and strengthen your weak knees—it’s never too late to start! God delights to provide for us the desire, motivation, and ability to commune with him in prayer, and he has secured this high privilege for you to draw near through the sacrifice of his Son.

You’re never too late, nor is God ever too far away. Prayer is a gift and, through his strength, it can become a habit for you.

1. Reading the Bible Supernaturally, p. 256
2. Ibid.

This article originally appeared on UnlockingTheBible.org. Used with permission. 

Kristen Wetherell is a writer, Bible teacher, and the content manager of Unlocking the Bible.

She is the author, along with Sarah Walton, of Hope When It Hurts: Biblical Reflections to Help You Grasp God’s Purpose in Your Suffering (The Good Book Company, April 2017). She blogs at her website, and you can follow her on .

She and her husband, Brad, are members of The Orchard in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Connect with Kristen at her website.

Image courtesy: ©Unsplash.com/BenWhite

Publication date: July 28, 2017

Источник: //www.crosswalk.com/faith/prayer/5-keys-for-making-prayer-a-habit.html

How to Pray for Someone You Love?

Prayer is one of the most selfless and amazing things you can do for a person, especially someone that you love dearly. It is a way of being grateful and thankful for that special someone or a group of people you love to be with you. It is about taking out your time and focuses your energy and prays for the blessings of God on their behalf.

Oftentimes, when people pray, they will pray for things that they desire. They ask God for help, give them love, guidance, etc., just a wish list. Take a step back from that and pray for someone else is not only taking you the center of attention, but also giving that person to God.

When you pray for someone, you are performing a selfless act of hoping someone will be better, healthy, happy, and always be blessed. Not many people are willing to pray for other people. However, things can be a little different when it comes to people you love.

We are willing to sacrifice and do something more for the ones that we love.

If you love a man, your boyfriend, your partner, fiancé, husband, significant other, pray for him. It is the best gift that you can give and the best thoughts you can have for him. If you love your children, pray for their safety as well as their wisdom.

Your knowledge and tips will be incomplete, but God knows their situation and will bless him with the wisdom to navigate their lives. If you love your parents, pray for them and tell them that you love them all the time.

Pray for your relationship that your parents will be blessed by God.

Whatever your situation, include prayer. Praying is not the only thing that you can do for your lover, but also your family members, your parents, your children, your friends, your neighbors, and also the people in this world.

So now that you know who you should pray for, but how are you going to do it? Here are a few good suggestions for you.

Suggestions

1. Pray that God will give you a relationship.

God’s word challenges us to ask and brings our needs before God. When your heart is in harmony with His, there are no limits on what you can ask. When it comes to a relationship, what are your deepest needs and desires? Let God knows and prays with your heart. Even if you are single or when you need a listening ear, just pray sincerely and God will send His blessings to you.

2. Pray that God will grant you patience and insight to wait for the right person.

Things may not happen immediately right after every prayer. Sometimes, God is planning for someone better to come into your life, you will never know because God always has a better and bigger plan for you.

After your prayer, have the patience to wait for miracles to occur.

And during the time of your wait, ask God to change you, nourish you, and fill you so that you are empowered and prepared for whatever that God has planned for you.

3. Pray that God will be working to rid anything unhealthy in your life.

Sometimes, we can notice the sin that we made, but sometimes we simply can’t.

It can be because of your bad habit or your negative characters that people do not want to be around you. So pray to God and seek to get to the bottom of your sins and ask for His healing power to be at work.

4. Pray that God will shape your heart and nourish interactions with others.

In life, you will notice that some people seem to have the charisma and everyone loves to be around him or her.

On the other hand, there will be someone that people hate to be around with and they will do everything to avoid being with that person.

Thus, pray for God to open your heart to loving and edifying others the way it was meant to. Pray God to enrich your relationships and for you to learn how to love and not just being loved.

5. Pray that God will bring healing to your past so that you can embrace the future.

One of the most important keys to a loving relationship, regardless of whether it is with your significant others or your family members, is to let go of the past. It is easy to get stuck in the past and unable to let go. When you are paralyzed by your past, you cannot move forward to a better future.

Even when you have a great lover who is willing to spend the rest of her life with you, if you are stuck in the past, the relationship may suffer because of what you hold on to.

Therefore, pray and ask God to relieve you from your past, allow you to let go and move forward in life for a better and more loving relationship.

6. Pray that God will protect and you emotional guidance.

When people fail in their relationship, whether it is a love relationship or a friendship, mainly it is because they do not know how to manage their emotion and let their emotions cloud their head.

So pray for God to guide you for a healthy interaction in all of your relationship.

7. Pray that God will bless you with a great love life.

At the end of the day, you want to ask for God’s blessings in your relationship, especially your love life. It is impossible for us to control other people to live up to our expectation and become who we want them to be.

You cannot control your lover to be what you desire because everyone is unique and different.

Thus, it is best to pray for God to bless you with a great love life rather than trying to change those who are around you to become who you expect them to be.

What If Someone You Love is Stuck in Sin?

The above are the suggestions of how you can pray for someone you love. Now, what if someone you love is stuck in sin and you would to help him or her, but you have no idea what you can do? Turn to God and ask for His help.

It is heartache to see those that you love struggle with an abusive relationship, drugs, gambling, alcohol, and more. Most of the time, there is no way you can change the person’s thought, not without God’s help. So turn to God and ask for His help.

Pray for someone you love who stuck in sins.

Here’s how you can pray for them…

First, pray for the Lord to be with them. One of the first things you can do is to pray that God is with the person and watch over them wherever they are. God will guide them and show them direction and lead them to a healthy life.

You may not see it immediately, but you have to believe that something deep within is slowly changing and that person will eventually change and lead a new and better life.

Furthermore, you can pray for God to open their heart, mind, and spirit to the love, grace, and healing that only He can bring.

And third, pray as if it has already come to pass. You must have the faith and believe that God is already working on that person and is guiding him or her to a brighter life. Give God the praise and the glory for the victory over the person’s life as if it has already happened.

How Prayer Makes Your Relationships Stronger

When you pray for someone you love to be blessed, what truly happens is that you change your thought patterns and you are actively engaging yourself with that person.

Scientists have shown that when someone prays with deep beliefs, their brainwaves will go into a conversation mood as if they are talking to someone. This will ultimately shape the reality.

Meaning to say, when you pray for someone or you wish him or her to be good, what really happens is you are creating the reality in your mind.

As a result, your response will change. You will start to think about that person differently and you will perceive him or her differently. And when your thinking changed, your reality will change. This is why prayer can make your relationship stronger.

Prayer is just focusing your thought on a certain subject. When you pray for someone, you are focusing your thoughts on him. As a result, it will become a new reality and your outer life will change.

Plus, as what you have learned above, when you pray, you must also pray as if God has already made that happen. This is because you choose to believe in God and that He will hear your prayer and fulfills your request.

When you believe that things will become better, you will operate from a more optimistic mindset and act as if things are working out for you instead of against you.

Therefore, it builds the bond between you and the person who you prayed for.

Now, do you pray for that person? Or do you just complain, resent, grumble, and nag? So does praying or nagging works? Yes, science has already proved this.

So why do you want to nag, complain or resent? Rather, choose to pray for the people that you love and whom you want to change.

There are things in other people’s lives that you would to change. The problem is that you cannot change them. You can only change yourself. We always want other people to change, but we simply can’t, not without the help of God.

And when you turn to God and ask for His help, pray and let God do His work, you will change. The fastest way to change a bad relationship to a good one is to start praying for the other person.

When you do this, it will change you, and as a result, it can change the other person.

This is just the saying, “If you can’t fight them, join them.” There is no way you can change someone, but you can always choose to change yourself to impact other people to change. This is a vital subject in a relationship because we often deal with people who have different characteristics and habits than us. We want other people to change, but not us. And this is how prayer can help.

Prayer for Finding Love

Remember that God is almighty God and He can help and fulfill whatever you asked for. If you have no idea what to say when you pray for someone you love, here is an example for you:

“Almighty God, hear this prayer. Almighty God, hear this relationship prayer. As You are first in my heavenly heart and mind and spirit, so do I desire a companion for my earthly heart and mind and being. Guide me to the partner You know is perfect for me.

Help me walk in faith until that time of our first meeting. Show me how I can become a partner worthy of love. Then guide me through every stage of our relationship, so that, as we move ever closer to You, we grow closer to each other in Love, in Joy, and in Faith.

Thank You, God, for hearing my prayer. Amen!”

Источник: //www.thewisdompost.com/prayer/pray-someone-love/2444

Take Charge of Your Gambling Habit

Details Last Updated: 26 April 2019

No matter what your nature of gambling habit is whether you bet on sports, scratch cards, roulette, poker or online slots or in a casino, impulsive gambling can destroy relationships, disturb workflow and lead to bankruptcy.

It might lead you to other vices additional borrowing, stealing of valuables or money to gamble or pay debts. Every chronic gambler always thinks he or she cannot stop, but with the right expert and therapist, you can get over gambling addiction and be in control of your life.

Read more about how to take charge of your gambling habit in our article below.

• How Does Gambling Problem Look ?
• Why Do We Gloss Over?

Myths and facts on gambling addiction

Symptoms of addictive gambling

Psychotherapists usually call Gambling Addiction a Hidden Illness because there are no apparent physical symptoms as found in drug or alcohol addiction. Notwithstanding, gambling addiction symptoms could be noticed in various ways:

Self-help

The most effective step to overcoming compulsive gambling agrees with oneself that there is a psychology issue to be resolved. You need inner strength and the strong conviction to come to term with this. Especially, if one has gone bankrupt, and have a lot of debts and bills to pay.

It might be even be worsened if there are relationship issues to be sorted out with family and friends.

The truth of the matter if others in your shoes could be break-lose from such disheartening situation, you can too, and all you need to do is to find an inner strength to fight your way gambling woods.

• Always Be in The Midst of People Who Have Positive Attitude
• Self-Rehab: After reaching out and joining the right group, your challenges are half-resolved.  You need to work on yourself because no one can help you 100% without making a permanent decision and commitment to stop compulsive gambling.
• Support Group Membership: There are voluntary organisations set up to help addicts.  Some of the organisations are set up NGOs in conjunction with ex-addicts of various vices from gambling, sexuality and substance abusers. They have enough experts and consultants who help in handling addictive issues with little or no financial contribution from you. You will associate with people who were in a worse situation than you are and came out a better person than they were. These people will provide you with guidance and aid you your misery.
• Strengthened Support Network: No one fight any addiction without support it will become a Herculean Task to fight an intense battle all alone. Therefore, reach out to help people within and outside your family and environment. The strength of your network will determine how fast and well you will fight the battle.  Never limit your help-network to already known people; they might not be of help, especially if you all meet in casinos.  Reach out to new people in the neighbourhood; join a sport or social club. Talk to colleagues at work or enrol in an educational class or book society, you can even join any voluntary organisation to keep your mind positively busy on something.
• Fight Rightly: Always fight any harmful habit in the right way, two wrongs cannot make a right, they say! When you are in a gambling mess couple with emotional trauma, not drugs or substance abuse will aid your recovery. You cannot cure an ailment by allowing another disease to take over. For instance, if you know you gamble when you are alone, endeavour’s to be in the midst of your family and right friends. You can gamble or drink your way emotional disaster; you will only end up cause harm to yourself. There are better and more efficient techniques to manage and control your stress, mood-swing and other emotional deficiency, engage in practical sports and other relaxation methods.
• Helping to seek: After you have agreed with yourself that, you have issues to fight; seek help from Psychotherapists, family and friends. It will be disastrous if you allow your financial recession to move to depression, drug abuse, stealing, drug abuse or any social vices. These vices will aggravate the incidence of compulsive gambling and still cause you untold hardship and pains even when you overcome irrational gambling. This is right to fight, do not procrastinate!
• Stop Visiting Tempting Friends, Websites and Environment
• Seek Help in Financial Intelligence
• Replace Gambling with a Healthy Game
• Follow to the Letter the Therapy Instructions Giving to You

Related Articles

• Gambling psychology at a casino
• A game as a meaning of a life

Best Netent casinos list 2019

Источник: //bestnetentcasino.info/en/mind/take-charge-of-your-gambling-habit

Powerful Prayers for Miracles

A miracle is a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of the divine. When Christians talk about a miracle, they mean an event that is not “normal” – that is, one that should not be able to happen according to the laws of nature.

The Gospels describe 35 miracles that Jesus performed. Over half of these 35 stories are about Jesus healing sick people. Others describe Jesus casting out demons from people. On three occasions, Jesus brought dead people back to life.

The rest of the stories show Jesus’ power over things – changing water into wine, feeding a great crowd with very little food, walking on water, calming a storm. This is just a snapshot of the miracles of Jesus. These miracles help us to understand that Jesus was more than just a man.

They also show us what God is – what He cares about and what He chooses to do for His people. That includes us. Here are six prayers for miracles:

For Healing

Often, when we pray for miracles to happen in our lives, we are also praying for healing to happen in our lives as well. We see countless examples of healing happening in Scripture through Jesus’ healing power.

The same is possible in our daily lives: Lord Jesus, heal me. Heal in me whatever You see needs healing. Heal me of whatever might separate me from you. Heal my memory, heal my heart, heal my emotions, heal my spirit, heal my body and heal my soul.

Lay Your hands gently upon me and Heal me through Your love for me. Amen.

For Miracle Power

Miracle power testifies that God’s touch is always a heartbeat away. It’s important that we are conscious of God at work in our lives daily. Miracle power can happen in your life when you have faith and trust that miracles can really happen.

Are you ready to unleash that miracle power? This prayer will guide you: Heavenly Father, I open my heart wide to receive the love of God. As I receive God’s love as universal supply, all my affairs are healed.

I feel the outpouring of God’s love in my body and mind. I feel God’s love in my affairs, and I know all is well. Amen.

For Faith to Always Believe

When we pray for miracles, it’s important that we understand that we too are miraculous beings. We wouldn’t be here without the power of God’s hand and His miraculous power being at work. When we believe in this power, all things are possible: Jesus, Your array of miracles, a true manifestation of Your divinity draws the admiration of searching souls.

Never let it be said, ‘Miracles do not exist!’ You are the living example of such actions. Bless me with the faith to always believe, to affirm the Supreme Power of Your miracles, be they of a physical or spiritual nature. Grant me the aptitude to instantly perceive the source of all supernatural occurrences. So only Your excellence shall be glorified.

Jesus, my existence is a wonderful miracle. Amen.

For What Only God Can Do

Don’t limit your prayers only to simple situations that don’t require much divine intervention to change. Instead, make a habit of praying for big things that only God can do.

For example, instead of praying to get through each workday well, pray for a bigger vision of your vocation and the courage you need to fulfill it, even if that means finding an entirely new job. Invite God to do something incredibly powerful in each situation that you bring to Him: Lord, I am praying for what only You can do. I am praying for a miracle.

I know the source from which it will come. I trust in You to send me a sign. Teach me dear Lord to know wonder. And, if You are willing, I am waiting, ready to receive my miracle today. Amen.

For God’s Strength to Fight Spiritual Battles

You’ll never be able to lose a battle when you fight with God’s strength flowing through you.

So don’t rely on your own limited strength; pray for God to empower you to do battle in every situation and that this strength will enable you to make miracles happen: Dear God, in the name of Jesus, we ask that You come against strongholds, demonic influences, spiritual attacks, and bondages. We believe you have the miraculous power and strength to conquer the darkest enemy, break the strongest barrier, and silence the greatest deceiver. Your name is Worthy, Glorious, Almighty in power and we claim victory today in Your name. Send Your mightiest warriors to fight this battle for us. Lord, to You the darkness shines as bright as the day. Shine Your light upon us, free us, give us peace, and snatch us back from the enemy’s grip. Amen.

Lesli White is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth with a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications and a concentration in print and online journalism. In college, she took a number of religious studies courses and harnessed her talent for storytelling. White has a rich faith background.

Her father, a Lutheran pastor and life coach was a big influence in her faith life, helping her to see the value of sharing the message of Christ with others. She has served in the church from an early age.

Some of these roles include assisting ministry, mutual ministry, worship and music ministry and church council.   

Источник: //www.beliefnet.com/faiths/prayer/powerful-prayers-for-miracles.aspx