Moments with Marilyn
“When we have put God’s Word in our spirit, the Holy Spirit will bring it forth at the time of our need.” ~Marilyn Hickey
Deuteronomy 3:24
‘O God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Your? ~(Deuteronomy 3:24 NKJV)
Why is one hour of such extreme importance?
Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What? Could you not watch with Me one hour?” Matthew 26:40 NKJV
Jesus had called his disciples to pray with Him for one hour. Why is one hour of such extreme importance? Why did He call them for exactly one hour? Because if they had prayed for one hour, they would have been kept from temptation. Jesus later told Peter that he would not have denied Christ if he had spent that time in prayer.
An early prayer a day keeps the devil away. Early in the morning I like to name my day—that is, I name it what I believe God wants it to be. Perhaps He wants it to be a day of victory, maybe He wants it to be a day of wisdom, or a day of revelation. I believe that my day will be in line with what I name it.
Jesus has again given us authority in His name to name things. We can name our day, and our day will get in line with what we name it. Take that early hour of prayer. It can keep your whole day in victory.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Help us daily to have an early time in prayer to set our day off right and give us a day of victory.
In Jesus’s name,
Amen
Moments with Marilyn
“Your words have power. You can bless or curse yourself and your family by what you say. Be speaking the blessings from God’s Word, you release God’s best into your situation.” ~Marilyn Hickey
James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, Who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. -(James 1:5 NKJV)
It is Never too Late to Change Direction
No sensible building contractor begins a house without a blueprint. If he does, it will be obvious in the end that there was no plan. You may smile at this, but unfortunately, many individuals go through life without a plan, which can end up as disastrous as building without a blueprint. In fact, it is a much greater tragedy, because the value of a house cannot be compared with the value of a life. A house, for whatever purpose, is temporary; a life has an eternal purpose.
You may agree with what I’m saying, but perhaps you’ve made mistakes of you think your situation can’t be changed. Are you now reaping the result of living years without goals? Maybe you’ve just become a Christian, and you see that your goals have all be wrong. Is it possible to start over again? Well, let me tell you about a man who did.
This man’s name was Saul. At the height of his career, Saul had his eyes “opened” to see that he was building his life on the wrong goals. Saul had firmly set goals he thought were right, and he was ardently fulfilling them. However, his goals were all wrong, which is as bad as having no goals at all. This was the same Saul whose name Jesus changed to Paul, the same Paul who wrote most of the New Testament! It certainly wasn’t too late for him to set new goals and change his life, just as it isn’t too late for God to work a turnaround in your life.
Moments with Marilyn
“If the Word is living in our spirits, God is able to turn that word into Wisdom.” ~Marilyn Hickey
Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my hearts trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him. -(Psalm 28:7 NKJV)
Turning Sorrow into Joy
…But your sorrow will be turned into joy. (John 16:20b NKJV)
God has always delighted in turning curses into blessings. Balaam tried to curse God’s people; but every time he went up on the mountain to curse them, he ended up blessing them. Finally, he said, “I can’t curse what God has blessed.”
Are you in a time of sorrow or crisis? Remember: the bigger this crisis, the bigger the opportunity that God has for transforming crisis into a miracle.
I remember one time with I felt very defeated. We had a prayed for a young woman with leukemia, but she had died. I felt like I never again wanted to do a healing prayer. But the Lord spoke to me about the three Hebrews who would not bow down to the image of Nebuchadnezzar. God told me, “That’s Faith!”
The Hebrews also said, “If He doesn’t deliver us, we still won’t bow down.” And God said, “That’s Faithfulness! Marilyn, I’m growing two things in you, faith and faithfulness. Will you still be faithful to My Word when it appears that your faith has failed?”
God had taught me something very special about the prayer of faith for the sick. My sorrow was turned into joy, and the seeming defeat, into faith.
Dear Heavenly Father,
We pray the You will take hold of our sorrowful circumstances and turn them into victory. Help us turn each disadvantage into an advantage that will bring glory to Your name.
In Jesus’s name,
Amen
Moments with Marilyn
“Basing your faith on God’s Word brings blessings.” ~Marilyn Hickey
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. – (Hebrews 13:8 NJKV)
Free to Choose
Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before (Deuteronomy 11:26-28 NLT).
You can choose to spend time with Jesus and how closely you will listen to and obey what he tells you. You can choose what you will allow into your mind and heart. You can choose what you believe. You have free will to make countless choices and decisions every day.
Because of this amazing gift—the God-given freedom to choose—we have the privilege to choose lives of blessing for ourselves and our families. Even if you don’t have the benefits of growing up in a godly family, even if you come from a long line of hard-core sinners, you can choose a life that will bring blessing upon you, your children, and your grandchildren.
