365 PRAISE REPORT

Friends, I was going to send this to you via my E-Devotional, but decided since this is the way you are used to hearing from me, I’d post here.

Why use today to PRAISE GOD for what He did in 2013? Well, it is fitting, isn’t it? 🙂

But, also, just as God tells us to praise Him, He tells us to THANK HIM. Both commands, to praise and to thank Him, are not vain requests. He isn’t sitting on His holy throne saying, “Oh, I just love to hear how wonderful I am.” Far from it! God, who wired us, knows it’s spiritually, emotionally, and even physically unhealthy and unproductive when our minds are stuck in a loop of what we don’t have and don’t like. So, He tells us to look heavenward and be reminded that He’s present and can help us. Then, when He’s answered our prayer, it’s important to think on it and celebrate! So today, we celebrate what God had in mind long before we knew we were to be a part of 365 DAYS of PRAISE in 2013!

It began when I asked God how I could effectively manage my prayers. I would get requests and sometimes forget to pray for the person. I also knew I was supposed to thank God for His answers, but would often have trouble finding where I had recorded the request. God’s answer was the spreadsheet format of Prayers of My Heart. Once, after speaking in the Houston area, I visited Beth Moore’s class. She saw my journal, complimented it, and so I gave her one. Later, I prayed that if God could use it to help her organize her prayers, that He would prompt her to read it. A few weeks later, she called my ministry and ordered them for her staff and volunteers. Sometime later I went to my first writer’s conference and showed the journal and Beth’s endorsement to Howard Publishing. A few weeks later, they offered me 2 book contracts: one for the prayer journal and another for a book on prayer. Thus, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion, which focuses on 26 of God’s A-Z attributes, was born.

BUT I COULDN’T STOP with 26. In my personal study, I soon collected 100, then 200, then 365 ways God revealed Himself. In 2012, the Lord prompted me – “Debbie, don’t hang on to it. Share it.” YOU, DEAR FRIEND have been a part of God’s unfolding plan.

So today we PRAISE GOD for all the OBSTACLES that HE OVERCAME such as:

* Me clicking on something and losing the formatting 2 days before kickoff. Praise the Lord, Jason Barnes, the graphic designer, and Feedblitz were able to re-install it.

* Scheduling attributes to go out several days ahead when I was out of the country and then they didn’t go out. But, praise the Lord, my daughter, Lauren, jumped in. God used her to forward them to you.

* As recently as last month, the whole thing shut down. We had no idea why. My hands were tied. All we could do was pray. It was finally figured out, although the days were messed up. But, at least you were able to receive them.  Thank You, Lord!

* And then, there were those days that I would come home from work or a retreat and think, “Oh! I haven’t done my 365 yet!” You see, I had not intended to write a devotional with each one. I had planned to schedule an attribute with the Scripture reference to go out for  the year . However, a few days before kickoff several people suggested that I write a short devotional. It sounds simple, but it wasn’t. Especially, when what should have taken 30 minutes often took an hour because my internet was down. Thank YOU, Lord!

So, we celebrate God’s goodness and thank Him for His faithfulness!  

Won’t it be thrilling when we stand before His throne and 365 and MORE attributes flow from our hearts in praise? 

WHAT NOW? Well, don’t be surprised if you find a little something in your inbox Monday. And, if you haven’t replied “YES” to let me know you want to be notified when 365 DAYS of PRAISE is available in a keepsake /reference book, you can reply “YES” now. You’ll be among the first to know!  

Love, Debbie

Hill Country Ministries, Spreading the Word and Love of God

260 Thompson Dr, Kerrville, TX 78028 

PO Box 290264, Kerrville, TX 78029-0264 (NEW MAILING ADDRESS)

Phone: 888.815.9412 or 830.257.5995