A One Verse Prayer

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Jennifer Grace

But I am poor and needy;
Yet the Lord thinks upon me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God. Psalm 40:17 (NKJV)

I love it when one verse says it all. Memorize this verse, Psalm 40:17, and you will have a prayer on your lips whenever you need it!

But I am poor and needy... this is UNDERSTANDING our story, we are poor and needy. Without Jesus we have nothing. He provides everything we need, food, clothing, family, shelter, salvation… We can spend time THANKING the Lord for His many blessings. It can also be a time for ADMITTING our sins. We are poor because of our sins and desperately need a Savior, Jesus, to rescue us.

Yet the Lord thinks upon me... let us claim this wonderful PROMISE! The Lord is thinking about you! He is thinking about me. He never stops thinking about us. Imagine that, here we are, lost in our troubles, yet God , the Creator of the whole universe is thinking about us. Wow!

You are my help and my deliverer… here again we can claim God’s PROMISE to help us and deliver us from whatever we are facing. And we join the voices through eternity, EXALTING our God, our Helper, our Deliverer.

Do not delay, O my God... and finally, the plea from one who depends on God for all her needs. Do not delay, O my God. I pour out my PETITIONS before you. Hear the cry of my heart. Take care of all my loved ones, my neighbors, all my troubles, our nation and world today. Do not delay, O my God.

Today’s TEA CUPP: Write Psalm 40:17 in your prayer journal today and every day this week. Memorize it. Pray it as you are driving or washing dishes or working in the garden or taking a shower. Use this one verse to cry out to the Lord.

But I am poor and needy;
Yet the Lord thinks upon me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God. Psalm 40:17 (NKJV)

Beach Prayer

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Jennifer Grace

Therefore glorify the Lord in the dawning light,
The name of the Lord God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea. Isaiah 24:15 (NKJV)

I’m hooked on beach running. Sadly, I live in the land-locked (yet beautiful) state of Montana where the nearest ocean is a two-day drive. If I had grown up near the beach, there might have been no moving me to higher ground.

There is just something about the rhythmical crash of waves on the shore, the dodging of the tide as it ascends the beach, the warm sun shining down upon my face, and the joy of miles of sand upon which to run.

A few months ago, I experienced all this as we visited our son in California. Each morning I slipped out of our tent before sunrise to have my quiet time on a bench overlooking the Pacific, praying Isaiah 24:15 (above).

Then donning my running shoes, I jogged down to the beach where I ran in the newly-washed sand on the shore, making fresh footprints with each step. When I reached the turn-around point and came back, I witnessed a marvel, most of my footprints had already been washed away! This reminded me of Jesus washing away our sins. Each footprint of doubts and worries and anger and wrong words is washed into the depths of the sea, gone forever!

…You will cast all our sins
Into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:19 (NKJV)

And if you are concerned about those sins just floating around, waiting to be washed up onto another beach, find hope in Revelations 21:1 where we learn the entire sea disappears! First, our sins are drowned in the ocean and then the ocean is no more! That’s how complete is our forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Revelation 21:1 (NKJV)

Today’s TEA CUPP: As you head into a new year, cast your sins of the old year at the feet of Jesus. Confess your failings to Him in prayer, asking Jesus to wash you clean. Claim Jesus’ promise to throw your sins into the depths of the sea. Ask Him to help you every step of the way this new year.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NKJV)

As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12 (NKJV)

Sing to the Lord a new song,
And His praise from the ends of the earth,
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
You coastlands and you inhabitants of them! Isaiah 42:10 (NKJV)

Bible Mom: Understanding with Ruth

Posted on June 5, 2019 by Jennifer Grace

Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies. Proverbs 31:10 (NKJV)

She was the great-grandmother of King David, the grandmother of Jesse, the mother of Obed, the wife of Boaz, the daughter-in-law of Naomi, a Moabite, a God-seeker, and the only Bible mom to have a book of the Bible named for her. Who was this great lady? Ruth.

I can’t think of anyone more worthy to highlight the “U” part of our TEA CUPP than this marvelous Bible mom. “U” is for “Understanding our stories,” and here is Ruth’s amazing story in these four short Old Testament chapters. When we understand our stories, how God is at work in our lives, how Jesus saved us, we can share this testimony with others. And that’s what our Bibles let us do with Ruth, giving us a glimpse into the life of a godly mom.

How did Ruth end up in Bethlehem? It all happened in the days of the Judges when God’s people kept turning away from Him. God sent a famine on the land, so a man named Elimelech and his wife Naomi and his two sons moved to Moab. The two sons married Moabite women, one of whom was Ruth. Well, Elimelech died and his two sons died, so Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem. She told her daughters-in-law that they should stay in Moab with their families and remarry. But Ruth wouldn’t hear of it. She proclaimed:

“Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.” Ruth 1:16-17 (NKJV)

Back in Bethlehem, Naomi was very sad for she had gone away “full” with a husband and two sons, and had returned “empty.” But she actually wasn’t empty, for she had a wonderful daughter-in-law, Ruth, who was willing to work hard in the fields and do whatever Naomi said. A relative named Boaz noticed Ruth’s dedication, blessing her with these words:

The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge. Ruth 2:12 (NKJV)

You will have to read for yourself the courtship and traditions that allowed Ruth to become the wife of this gentleman Boaz. And once they were married, the Lord blessed them with a son…

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Ruth 4:13 (NKJV)

Today’s TEA CUPP: Read the amazing story of Ruth is Ruth 1-4 today. My friend, your story is found in scripture, too! Whether you have many children like Leah, prayed long for children like Rachel, or are barren like Elizabeth until she was old, you can find a mom like you in scripture. Your salvation story is here, too, whether you learned early to sit at the feet of Jesus, as did Martha’s sister Mary, or if you had five husbands like the Samaritan woman, you will find a kindred soul, and you will find out how much Jesus loves you! What lady from the Bible do you relate to today? Talk to Jesus about her in your prayers. With whom can you share your story?

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Proverbs 31:30 (NKJV)

Praying God’s Word Again

Posted on February 7, 2018 by Jennifer Grace

Bible…God’s Word

The words of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times. Psalm 12:6 (NKJV)

Again and again I want to share with you how you can use Bible verses, God’s Word, to pray to Him. That’s what My TEA CUPP Prayers is all about, sitting down with Jesus for a CUPP of TEA every day, reading His Word to let Him speak first, underlining your favorite verses, then using those verses as conversation starters as you pour out your heart to the Lord. All you need is a Bible. You don’t need my book or this website or anything else, just God’s Word.

So, please sit down with Jesus right now and open your Bible. Here are some verses to get you excited about reading His Word:

1) The Bible, God’s Word, comes from God and is meant for us to study and learn:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV)

2) God’s Word is so powerful! It’s alive! It’s sharper than any knife or sword, digging into the deep parts of our hearts and souls:

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV)

3) God’s Word is forever and ever and never changes:

For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Matthew 5:18 (NKJV)

…The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever. 1 Peter 1:24-25 (NKJV)

4) God promises to put His Word in your mind and write it on your heart and you will be His!

…I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Hebrews 8:10 (NKJV)

5) We should learn and memorize as many verses as we can. Then we won’t wander off God’s path into bad situations.

Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11 (NKJV)

6) If we keep God’s Word in our hearts, we will know God’s will, and can ask anything in His Name:

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7 (NKJV)

7) And when we have verses saved up in our hearts, we can start a conversation with Jesus from anywhere, pouring out our hearts, petitioning for our loved ones. We can even use a verse like Psalm 28:9 to give us creative ways to pray for family members, instead of just saying, “bless.”

Save Your people,
And bless Your inheritance;
Shepherd them also,
And bear them up forever. Psalm 28:9 (NKJV)

Today’s TEA CUPP: Hide God’s Word in your heart today! Write a verse in your prayer journal to remember each week. Use these verses to pray. For example, using Psalm 28:9, I could pray, “Save my loved ones (list by name), bless our children (list by name), shepherd them also (in these specific situations), and bear with me (and all my faults) forever!” Give it a try with your own favorite verses and keep putting God’s Word in your heart!

...Your word is truth. John 17:17 (NKJV)

My TEA CUPP Prayers

Praying God's Word … Inviting Ladies to TEA with the King of kings!

Tag Archives: praying Bible verses

A One Verse Prayer

Beach Prayer

Praying God’s Word Again