Prayer Ministry Messages*
A Prayer for Mothers - Thank You!
May 2010
Reverend Ella M. Tharpe
Father God, as we approach the day of celebration for mothers, we want to thank you for creating and ordaining mothers. Your Word admonishes us to, “Honor our father and mother, as the Lord our God commanded; that our days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with us, in the land the Lord our God gives to us.” We honor mothers by saying, thank you. Mothers have been, are and always will be, a foundational strength to the family, church and the community. We thank you for your unfailing love towards mothers. Thank you for mothers who labor with and give their time not only to their own children, but to all of the children with whom they come in contact. Thank you for praying mothers who take all of their cares to you, knowing that you care for them. Thank you for those mothers who have not learned how to pray or to depend on you. Connect them with other mothers that love you and know your heart; who will take the time to mentor them in prayer and teach them to honor you in all they do. Thank you for all mothers, from the youngest to the oldest, who bind up the broken hearted with words of comfort and peace, and who open their hands to the poor. Give them wisdom and strength to birth, teach, mentor and train children, and to love and cherish their family, church and community. Please give them rest when they are weary and strength when they are weak.
I also pray for those who long for the physical presence of their mother, the warm hugs and the pleasant smiles. Let them remember every special moment with tears of joy and laughter, and let them always give thanks to you for every precious memory. Please cover them with love when they feel unloved and a garment of praise when they are heavy in spirit. As they remember their mother, let them thank you for the great works their mother accomplished, the lives she touched, the words of comfort and peace she spoke, and the great and powerful prayers she prayed. Thank you Lord for our mothers leaving us a lifetime legacy of godly wisdom. Help us to share and pass it down to our children. Thanks be to you Father, for all of the great things you have done and will continue to do through mothers. In the mighty and majestic Name of Jesus, Amen!
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More Than Conquerors
November 2009
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37
Do you have times when your life seems out of control?
Do you experience feelings of worry, doubt, fear, insecurity, hopelessness or frustration?
Are you tired of living as a powerless Christian?
God loves you and He created you for His glory. We can experience victory in every season of our lives when we place our faith and trust in the one true God. By faith, we can walk in God’s purpose and plan for our lives.
Ultimately, the way we see God will determine the shape of our faith. How big is your God? 
Recently, I was typing my sermon handout and I took the cursor and proceeded to shrink the large picture of the face of Jesus because I was afraid that it would not fit on the page with my text. The Holy Spirit prompted me to leave the face of Jesus large even if I had to shrink my text. I then took the cursor and began to expand the face of our Lord and with the help of a girlfriend, made a huge beautiful background picture of Jesus and placed my text over it. Many times we shrink God in our lives by trying to make Him fit like we want Him to fit in our situation, which leads us to defeat. We sometimes even press the delete key and take Him totally out of the picture, and then we realize that there is no victory until we press the insert key, bring Him back into the picture and expand the power of God in our lives!
We will walk in defeat when we press the delete Jesus key and leave the cursor of fear (false evidence appearing real) and place human limitations on God. He is a mighty big God…“He’s got the whole world in His hands.” We need to shrink ourselves and our agendas and expand God in our lives to the big, faithful, powerful, I am GOD that He is. John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
It takes God-sized faith to walk in victory. We will walk in victory when we press the insert Jesus key and leave the cursor of faith; the essence of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen,” expand God in our lives and walk in the assurance and expectation of God’s eternal hope.
How big is your God? Are you shrinking God in your life by giving in to fear and frustrations or are you expanding God in your life by walking by faith and trusting God?
God wants to elevate you to a new level of victory and power as you run the race of faith. Determine today that you will shrink yourself, expand God in your life and give Him full access to work in your life. By faith, “in all these things we are more than conquerors.”
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*Carlyn Houston is the National Prayer Ministry Director for Sheila Bailey Ministries. Carlyn Houston is a spirit-filled Prayer Warrior who uses the love language of Heaven to commune with God and lead others "pass the gate…through the courts… into His Holy presence.” Carlyn is a sought out prayer leader, conference keynote and workshop leader.
Carlyn accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior at the age of 7. A licensed Minister, Houston has a passion for people knowing Christ and growing into intimacy with Him through the study of His Word and the power of Prayer. Her life ministry is based on Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."