#walkthesame

walkthesame:

Prayer all the time! (#wtsdevo prayer)

Read: James 5:13-19

How often do you pray over the things in your life? How about the people you know? What about praying, just to spend time with God? Often times in church, we will ask for prayer. We easily offer up our woes to others, in hope that their prayer will intercede for us- or at least bring us some comfort. What we don’t realize, is that we are able to have this personal connection ourselves as well.

Prayer is our main form of communication with God, and he puts puts immense value on it! In today’s passage alone, we are told we should pray when we are in trouble, as well as when we are happy. We are also supposed to call our church leaders to pray over the sick.

I know that I personally, take this open communication with God for granted. I forget that my prayers are powerful and meaningful- because they are listened to by the king of kings. As we read through today’s passage, open your hearts and minds to God. He wants to talk to you, to heal you, to bless you. Let’s recieve those things by hearing what He has to say!

Prayer:

Father, I’m sorry for not making time to pray to you before. I know you want the best for me- your word says so. I just have a difficult time remembering that. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for me, so that I am able to freely speak and listen to you. I want to hear you and know you better. Gently remind me that you are my priority above all else. Amen.

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Devotional Series: Prayer (#wtsdevo prayer)

By: Autumn Holbert \ Personal//Walk The Same

walkthesame:

Ask in His Name

Type & Edit byJude Dias

Throughout the Bible, we see the recurring theme of how steadfast faith wins in the end. From the earliest days in the Old Testament to the times of Christ and after in the New Testament, we see people of God calling out to Him in faith on more than one occasion. And every time the situation, whatever it may’ve been, ended up turning for the better.

It’s also interesting to note how God never fails anyone who calls out to Him. From the perspective of our human minds, it may seem like God isn’t around but the reality of the situations says otherwise. No matter where you are or maybe, God hears you and answers your prayer.

But do keep in mind that God doesn’t work on your schedule. If you think He does and that He ought to, then you are in for a world of disappointment. God knows better and His time is the right time and therefore even when it seems like nothing is happen, after fervent prayers, do know that God is aware and knows fully where you are at and what you are dealing with.

But at the end of the day, much of this comes together when we pray to God in faith. Hoping for prayers to be answered by God without even praying to Him is us being ignorant of who God is, taking Him for granted and more so deceiving ourselves. Never mistake God to be your butler. Rather we are His servants and it is us that needs to call out to Him in constant prayer as we take on this journey with Jesus.

walkthesame:

Why is prayer important? (#wtsdevo prayer)

It’s amazing, beautiful and wonderful when two people get married. Both of them are happy, and things are all going well and they are all set to do life together as husband and wife. However, a problem soon pops up. They don’t communicate with each other very well. Things in their married lives soon get confusing and chaotic. This goes on for a while until they decide that they have no choice but to file for a divorce. Disaster right?

Take a similar scenario in your walk with God. Being a Christian means that now you get to do life with Jesus. Amazing, right? It is amazing- but what if you fail to communicate with God? What if you decide you want to do things your own way? I’m sure you realize that the result of that wouldn’t be an different to the example I shared above.

In both case and in most of life, communication plays and important role in order for us to thrive in the place that we are rooted in. This is most important when it comes to building relationships and maintaining community with other people around you. The alternate word for communicating with God is known to us as prayer. When we pray to God, we are essentially spilling our hearts and souls out to Him. Prayer is where we acknowledge that we aren’t all that awesome next to Him, and that we need His help throughout the way. Now some of you may argue… “Why even tell anything to God? You folks tell us that He is all present and that He knows our hearts, minds and souls? What gives man?” Fair enough. Well God may know all of us for sure but the question comes down to - do we know all of Him? You see, in relationships we get to know the other person much better when we communicate with that person. Once we do, we begin to know the likes, dislikes, etc. of this person. This isn’t any different with our relationship with God.

God has all these amazing plans for our lives. We are not just empty creations, but rather we are all created with a purpose and a mission to conquer. How would we know all this if we don’t communicate with God? What we also need to remember is that our God doesn’t sleep or chill out on us but He’s constantly present and is always right beside us. This is not Him being like that creepy ex-boyfriend or girlfriend that you know but this is Him being a Father to us…. guiding us and giving us direction in this chaotic world that you and I live in. Without Him next to us, we are sure to get lost and sucked into this mess. However none of this will come to be in our lives, if we don’t pray and communicate with Him.

Prayer is important to us because it helps us stay on track and be on check with our mission and purpose in this Gospel narrative that Jesus started. It is only when we pray that we know what to look forward to and we are given the strength to endure through the hard times in life - keeping on strong and pushing on with the fight.

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Devotional Series: Prayer (#wtsdevo prayer)

By: Jude \ Personal//Walk the Same

walkthesamecollected:

2016 is going to be an exciting year and our hope and aim is to do more in the Lord and to reach out to more people from all over the world with His word and therefore we are looking for amazing people to be part of our global team. 

If you are interested in learning more and being part of what we do, check out some of our positions posted on http://walkthesamecollected.com/join-the-team/

We can’t wait to hear from you.

walkthesame:

I will Answer

Type & Edit byJude Dias

As human beings there’s only so much that we know. We aren’t sure what the future holds for us and we aren’t all that equipped to know every little detail our universe contains. So I believe it is safe for me to say that there are gazillion of things that you and I aren’t even aware of. 

God being the Creator of you, me and all of the universe, He knows us and all of the universe  inside and out. The Bible says that all the stars are named and that He even knows the number of hairs that we have on our heads. Crazy right! Crazy as it may be it is also awesome because should we ever fall short, all we need to do is call onto Him and He promises to answer us back.

Now praying to God shouldn’t just happen when things are going sour for us but rather, we should be in constant prayer with Him just so that we are able to develop an intimate relationship and thereby grow closer and closer so that we understand what God wants from us. In the process we also learn and understand more of our purpose and destiny that He has in store for us. 

All this comes with just the simple act of calling out to Him. Praise God for His goodness.

walkthesame:

It’s a way of life (#wtsdevo prayer)

Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

As a new Christian, one of the first questions that one can come across is with the whole aspect of communicating with God. Various religions have their guidelines for what you must do to communicate with their gods. With Christianity, it simply comes down to you having a conversation with God. In other words, this is known as Prayer. This being our means to communicate with God, we are given the opportunity to open our entire selves to God where we can share our joys, fears, praise and concerns.

Most people mistake prayer to be some special ritual that needs to be carried out in this special formula-styled way which isn’t the case at all. Conversations do not call for a special style when it is delivered and neither does it have a time and a place for when it can be exchanged. Similarly, Prayer does not have a designated set of location(s) not a time and neither a style. Rather prayer is just you being open with God in deepest and vulnerable of ways.

Prayer being something that allows us to be out there in the open - in full view of God, by praying we are, in our words, trusting God wholly with everything we have going on in our lives including all of ourselves. By praying, we acknowledge the fact that we are surely in need of a saviour and by doing this, we are continually depending on God to take us forward thereby allowing us to be in constant and faithful communion with Him.

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Devotional Series: Prayer (#wtsdevo prayer)

By: Jude \ Personal//Walk the Same

walkthesame:

Firm & Secure

Type & Edit by Naomi Scheel ,Photography byLizzie Guilbert

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. -  Psalm 22:1-5

At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). -  Mark 15:33-34

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. -  Luke 22:42-44

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Jesus’s cry on the cross moments before his death mirrors that of David in Psalm 22. If you’re like me, you maybe read these parts, and wonder “how on earth can I trust in God’s presence in my life if David, and even Jesus himself doesn’t even seem to?” These are problems we run into when we read Scripture out of its full context, and out of the light the Gospel in its entirety. David’s psalms are so powerful because they speak to us so well. David, a man of great faith, was never afraid to express his doubts and desperation, but always in the light of God’s eternal promise, faithfulness, and trustworthiness. Jesus, being fully God, but also fully human, experienced the same feelings of desperation and separation as a result of OUR sin, but always keeping in mind God’s promise and trusting His will, even to the cross.

Come what may, we can live freely in trusting God’s will for our lives as we pray with Jesus “yet not my will, but yours be done.” Because even when God seems distant, He is still enthroned as The Holy One, always working His sovereign will. So let us not take dismay in the cries of David and Our Lord, but rejoice in the presence and faithfulness of God even in those moments that they cried out. And just as David’s ancestors, and ours as the people of God, trusted in the Lord and were not disappointed, so we can trust in God and never be disappointed by His saving grace. For “when they cried to you, they were saved,” and so are we.  

walkthesame:

My New Year’s Resolution (#wtsdevo trust)

“Commit your way to the Lord;
  trust in him, and he will act.” Psalm 37:5

Happy New Year!

Personally, 2015 was a whirlwind of a year. I grieved the death of a relative, got married, turned 20, became a vegetarian- the list goes on!  It’s been one of the most chaotic, and incredible years of my life.

It’s also been a year that has tested my faith. Every day, I would have to wake up and make a decision; am I going to trust that God is who He says He is? Am I going to give my entire day, my life, to Him?

Are we friends here? Because I’m going to be honest with you. Sometimes I said no. I would look my choice in the face and say no, God just isn’t big enough to deal with these problems. I’m just too stressed, to exhausted- my heart is just too broken to keep on trusting.

Yet some days, I said yes. Yes Lord, I will trust you. I’m sure you can imagine, but I’ll say it anyway: These days are what made 2015 the best year of my life. On these days, I could just feel the blessing and movement of God in my life.

So here I am, 2016 approaching, and I’m left with one question for myself: Am I going to trust God every day? Am I going to give up my pride and let Him work in my life?

Yes, I am. My New Year’s resolution is one simple thing:

To trust God in all, every day, for the rest of my life.

Friends, let’s hand over what we’ve been holding back, and make this all of our lifetime resolutions.

Prayer:
Father, thank you for bringing me through another year full of your blessings. Thank you for the experiences I’ve had, good and bad, because they have helped make me stronger. God, I want to grow closer to you this year. I want to trust you more, trust you fully- please soften my heart, humble me so that I may always lean on your strength. Please bless this year for everyone. May your will be done in 2016, and forever. Amen.

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Devotional Series: Trust (#wtsdevo trust)

By: Autumn \ Personal// Walk the Same

walkthesame:

Wishing all of you a Blessed & a Joyful New Year 2016 from all of us here at Walk the Same

We pray that this year be the best yet - full of victories and moments filled with the Lord and His presence giving us a relentless spirit to be overcomers and conquerors through Him. 

walkthesame:

We wish all of you a Blessed Christmas from all of us here at Walk the Same. Our prayer is that God brings you a renewed sense of hope into your lives this season and in the days moving forward. 

For a child has been born—for us! The gift of a Son—for us! He’ll take over the running of the world. His names will be: Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness. His ruling authority will grow, and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings. - Isaiah 9:6