Redemption

October 2023: Praying for Deliverance Dear God, Tonight I felt courageous during my prayer time like in Joshua 1:9 NLT, “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Tonight I am praying through my prayer requests, while wearing Your mighty armor. As I pray, virtually, I have my spiritual armor on and I am shooting arrows at the enemy, while on horseback. "One, two, three…up to infinity” (Counting My Blessings, Seph Schlueter). I feel powerful, like a warrior princess! After praying all of my prayer requests tonight using my Prayer Bible, I tried watching some TV, but I felt bored so I turned it off and just laid in bed quietly. No music. No audio Bible. No TV. No voices. Just silence. While I laid there I tried not to get angry about my transformation process I've been going through these past 6 months. I know You don't like bitterness or anger as they aren't righteous, so I'm laying here quietly and I just let my mind think of the good times before this transition. My mind quieted down some more. "God, could You remove me from all of these struggles? Just take it all away? It could be like a really bad dream." That's all it took because the next thing I heard You say is in Mark 5:34 NLT, “And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” The past 6 months feel like a bad dream and I know You redeemed me from all of it! (It's taken me a few weeks, but I still cry when I read, "Your suffering is over.") The Life Application Bible says about Jonah 2:1-9 NLT, “Jonah offered a prayer of thanksgiving and a cry for deliverance from the belly of the fish. God saved him from the raging sea, and Jonah was overwhelmed that he had escaped certain death. Even from inside the fish, Jonah's prayer was heard by God. We can pray anywhere at any time and God will always hear us. In the belly of the fish, Jonah was ready to submit to God's will and purpose for him. His hard heart had been humbled by God's mercy toward him. Like Jonah, the Assyrians didn't deserve God's love and mercy, but God offered it anyway. If God could love the cruel Assyrians and the rebel Jonah, your sin could never be too great or your predicament too difficult for his love and mercy to touch you as well.” My crying out to You tonight reminds me of Jonah crying out to You in the belly of the fish asking for deliverance. That's what I did, too, and like Jonah I was saved from the raging sea. Even from the belly of the fish, Jonah's prayer was heard. Thank you for hearing my prayer tonight and for delivering me from my own experience with the strong waves of life. I'm ready to submit to Your will and purpose for me. I humbly come to You, Lord. I don't deserve Your love and mercy. Thank you for offering it anyway. Thank you for Your mercy, which demonstrates that no sin is too big or too small for You to forgive.