A note from Marti: From now until Christmas, I plan to share a few posts from the Pearl Girls’  fourth annual “12 Pearls of Christmas” blog series from some favorite authors. I do so partly because I’m on deadline with an exciting new book I hope to tell you about soon, and partly because I appreciate the writing and ministry of Pearl Girls. I don’t often post on Wednesdays, but Cara Putman’s post spoke to my heart, and I wanted to share it. Also, I’m posting on the Christian Authors’ Network blog tomorrow with with an author interview, so watch for that link.  Enjoy, and don’t forget to check out the contest at the end of the post to learn how you can win a pearl necklace.   Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas blog series! Merry Christmas from Pearl Girls™! We hope you enjoy these Christmas “Pearls of Wisdom” from the authors who were so kind to donate their time and talents! If you miss a few posts, you’ll be able go back through and read them on this blog throughout the next few days. We’re giving away a pearl necklace in celebration of the holidays, as well as some items from the contributors! Enter now below. The winner will be announced on January 2, 2014, at the Pearl Girls blog. If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we’re all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Mother of Pearl, Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace, or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls. *** My Gift to Him by: Cara Putman As Christmas nears, I’m staggering under a year that’s been too full. A fall that’s been too busy. A season of good, but overwhelming days. Does anyone else feel the same? There’s nothing bad—life is just full. Too full. And I feel emptied. So empty. It would be easy to enter this season with a sense of exhaustion, feeling like I just want to get through and on to January. Instead, I want to offer my life again. May my gift be my life. My dreams. My talents. My all. May I be available to Him to transform from the inside out. I want my life to be lived for His glory. Yet I fail. And on the days that I am most tired and overwhelmed I seem to fail more. It is then that I take comfort in the reality that He is the King born in a manager. A King...

  Have you ever had a Bible verse come to mind as you were praying for someone? That often happens to me. And sometimes, God reverses the pattern. Today, I was studying for a Sunday School lesson I’ll teach on Ephesians 6. Part of what we’re studying is a familiar passage on spiritual warfare that ends with, “so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” Stand firm.  As soon as I read these words, I thought of the friend who received a difficult cancer diagnosis last week. She’s already fought a long, painful battle—and now, she faces another. Karen needs strength to stand. A few moments later, I read of another friend also facing a cancer battle. Her immediate prognosis is worse than doctors thought. As a result, the medical side of her battle will be longer and more complicated. Carrie needs strength to stand. Lord, You are a good God who gives us good and perfect gifts. We praise and thank You for Your goodness toward us. And we praise You more for Your great love. We also know that because we live in a fallen world, we will face trials, troubles, and battles. We will come up against the unthinkable. We will grow weary. We will want to give up. Today, precious Father, we pray for those who are weak. We pray for those who have been hit with unexpected news, unwanted trials, unwelcome situations. We pray for those who want to trust but are fighting fear. We pray for those whose tears come with no warning. And we pray for those whose healing comes at great cost. We pray for those who need strength to stand. Lord, be near to each one. Make their every breath a prayer, their every tear a heart-cry to You. Remind us to intercede so consistently, so constantly on their behalf that our prayers cover every moment and every need. We know, Lord Jesus, that You are praying for them. Move our spirits to agree with Your Spirit and Your desires for each one. We ask You to give them courage when they want to flee, hope when they drown in discouragement, and peace when confusion reigns. Lift their burdens and surround them with a blanket of mercy. Keep them in the fullness and power of Your name, protect them from the evil one, and use them—Lord, use them in Your weakness—to make Your kingdom strong. We pray this together as one in Your spirit and in Your matchless name—AMEN. Do you or does someone you know need strength to stand? Feel free to share a prayer request in a comment below...

Social media personalizes the news. Not only do we read headlines or see rolling video of natural disasters or other current events, but we can now read our friends’ personal insights and pleas via Twitter, Facebook, and more. Taiphoon Haiyan happened thousands of miles away from my Florida home, but it has a personal connection for me. Close friends have served as missionaries there for many years. Others with whom I’ve recently reconnected have served there almost as long. And still other friends count the Philippines as their homeland. What does this mean? When I pray for the Philippines, I’m praying for my friends and the people they love. I’m praying for their families, their cities, their homes. Personal insight helps make my prayers fervent and powerful. Whether or not you know someone in the Philippines, I know you know someone dealing with destruction. Because we live in a beautiful world scarred by evil, we see its evidence all around us. Marriages shatter. Innocent children and adults receive cancer diagnoses. Illness or unemployment strikes, and destruction blasts family landscapes with as much power as a hurricane or typhoon. Will you join me in praying those we love through the storms and their aftermath? Lord, today I want to lift up those dealing with destruction. I thank You that You are the absolute opposite of that. You came to give life, and that abundantly. You came to heal and lift up. You are mighty to save. Thank You. Loving and merciful Father, today I ask You to intervene in the lives of those dealing with destruction from Taiphoon Haiyan. Many have lost homes. Some have lost family members. And many are miles away from family, friends, or anyone who can help. God, meet their needs today and in the long days to come. Prepare the way before those who are hurrying to help. Make their paths straight and their road smooth. Give them insights and wisdom to make wise decisions. Give those in these places of pain access to transportation and whatever else they need. Give them the financial, mental, emotional, and spiritual resources to move forward in power. Help them face their fears with faith, their despair with hope, and their darkness with the light You bring to every situation. Most of all, God, we ask that You show Yourself strong, that those dealing with destruction would see You at every turn. We ask You to bring glory to Your name as Your grace unfolds across the Philippines and across every life, every heart. May we look up from the storm’s devastation to see Your rainbow of promise. In Your holy, almighty, all-knowing name I pray—AMEN. Here’s a link...

When we pray for others, we can sound so noble, can’t we? Interceding on behalf of someone else can make us appear—whether we intend it to or not—as though we have no problems of our own. But sometimes, our prayers for others slam us square in the heart. The other day, I posted a prayer for those who need to keep quiet. Later that day, I was tempted to respond to unjust treatment with a pointed rebuke. Tempted, that is, until God reminded me of my earlier prayer. This fall, I’m working through the book of 1 John using the Sword Study you can read about here. And God is using it to convict me about my lack of true love. Today, He brought to mind a person who has wronged me. This person has hurt me in ways open and hidden, known and unknown. I pray for this person. I seek to serve this person. And I pray for this person every day. But as I read what God says about love, I realized I’m not loving this person the way He loves me. I’ve held unto the wrongs done and refused to grant full forgiveness. The ugly root of bitterness planted deep in my heart does not have the capacity to bear sweet-smelling fruit. And, with it present, neither do I. If you’ve ever had a similar experience or if you’re having it now, you may want to join me in today’s prayer: Lord, you know the ugly weed I discovered in my heart. And you know from where it came. Please forgive me for allowing it room to grow. Father, I want to live before You as a beautiful garden. I want people to see me and want to know You. I want them to dig deep and find cleanness, wholeness, purity all the way through. I want to be open. I want to be real. Lord, I know I can only reflect on the outside the work that You do on the inside. So today, I place the hidden and the revealed under Your pruning, Your tending, Your care. Cut away the dead places so new life can push through. Strip away the ugliness, the hardness, and the hate. And sow fresh seeds of righteousness, peace, and joy in Your Spirit. I can’t grow on my own. I can’t love on my own. And I can’t die to myself except as You allow me to live before You. I know this is Your desire, so I pray with confidence in Your great name—AMEN.  Have you struggled with bitterness, or have you seen how it has hurt someone you live? Feel free to share your story...

Earlier this summer, I spent time in Ohio visiting my mom, who was widowed last June. We enjoyed some quiet days together working in her (huge) gardens, cleaning, and sorting things out. Mom lives in a beautiful log home on 112 acres. Someday, she’ll move to a smaller place. While I visited, we went through her many antique cabinets and hutches. Because Mom has inherited many heirlooms and has had the privilege of a long life, she has lots of china, glassware, and other items to sort out. Together, we took time to categorize everything, setting aside a few items aside for sale or donation. Mom was amazed (and pleased) when I used my laptop to record our work. How do we sort things out? Sometimes the task can seem impossible. And an emotional or spiritual sorting-out can overwhelm us even more than a physical one. We may find ourselves locked in fear, worry, or even depression because of the need to sort things out. A connection with God offers a better solution. If you or someone you know is sorting things out, please join your prayers with mine: Gracious God, my world and my circumstances overwhelm me at times. I can see so many sides to my situation, so many ways it could go, so many avenues and choices. But Father, I need to make some decisions. I need to move forward. And I need Your grace and power to sort things out. Lord, when I look at the pictures of Jesus in Scripture, I don’t see Him confused or upset. I don’t see Him wondering what to do or how to do it. When He faced big decisions and life-changing moments, He always drew apart and spent time with You. Lord, when I’m tempted to worry, please pull me into prayer. When my thoughts swirl about me, remind me that I have Your mind. Help me acknowledge You in every way as I trust You to make my paths straight. Savior, I want to say along with You, “Lord, not my will but Yours be done.” Grant my desire to seek You first. Give me grace to seek You always. And help me as I sort things out according to Your Word, Your will, and Your way. In the holy name of Jesus I pray—AMEN. Are you struggling to sort things out? Do you know someone who is? Feel free to share your prayer need in a comment or email through the contact link at the top right. As always, it’s my joy and privilege to pray for you.    ...

  Two weeks ago, a shooting took place in the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. It seemed like just one more awful event until I learned a friend’s husband worked there. For several hours, he and an entire group of employees remained out of touch and on lockdown. My prayers for the situation become more fervent and more personal once I learned of his direct involvement. Scripture commands us to pray for “kings and all who are in authority” (1 Tim. 2:2). Put in modern-day terms, we are to pray for our government officials, from the local policeman to our state senators to the President of the United States and other top officials in this and other countries. But, short of having a neighbor who’s a policeman (I do) or a relative who’s a politician (I don’t), how do we personalize this type of prayer? My answer: keep it simple, sweetie. If we held that position, how would we want someone to pray for us? What concerns have surfaced through media channels? What needs does God’s Spirit reveal? The next time you’re tempted to complain about those in authority, try praying for them instead. Perhaps you can start by joining me in today’s prayer: Lord of all, we know You have no rivals. Nothing and no one compares with You. But we also know You use structure, law, and government to accomplish Your purposes. You work in and through these avenues and personalities. And just as with us, You work in spite of them, too. Today, my Master, I lift up those in positions of government authority. From the least to the great, from the weakest to the strongest, from the minor to the mighty, all rest in Your powerful hand. We ask You to grant them wisdom and courage to make wise decisions. We ask You to help them consider not their own interests but those of the people they serve. We ask for Your truth, Your justice to prevail. We ask that, more and more, these officials, their plans and programs would lean on You. And God, we also ask for the outworking of Your will and Your kingdom. We ask that You would turn even the bad, the unjust, the destructive to Your purposes and Your plans. We ask that You would work all things—the ones that make You smile and the ones that make You weep—into a tapestry woven of grace. We ask You to rescue the hopeless, to lift up the fallen, to cast out the evil one, to bring Your victory and peace in Your matchless way. Lord, we also pray for the families of these who serve You by serving others. Grant...