Author: Marlene Dior

“For God so loved the world, He gave his only begotten son that whoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

-John 3:16

This is the first bible verse I learned.  My granddaddy taught it to me.  As a Christian, it is the very core of what we believe.  It’s where we place our hope.  Hope that God loves us and had a plan for us from the very beginning. God gave His one and ONLY son so that while I am yet in sin, I will live.  Flesh death is NOT the final death.  It has no power over us.

For this reason, this verse has never left me.  It is always there in the back of my mind.  When I am down and discouraged or have a foggy mind and can’t articulate a word to God, I just thank Him for giving His son for a sinner like me.  And yet, despite it’s power, John 3:16 is not my favorite verse.  No, that honor is reserved for Jeremiah 29:11.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

-Jeremiah 29:11

I don’t remember when, where, or how I first came to meet this scripture, but it gives me hope when I’m hopeless and confidence when I am without.  God is telling me that he does have a plan for my life.  Despite where I think I should be or what I think I should have, God has a plan.  I can be confident when my plans are not coming together because God has a plan!!

I want to be married.  God has a plan. I want to have children. God has a plan.  I want to prosper in my career.  God has a plan.  I want to pay off my student loans. God has a plan. God’s plan is for good (Genesis 50:20).  God has given me hope and a future.

This verse comforts me when I am lost, discouraged, or feeling helpless. This verse helps me when I am in despair.  This verse makes me thankful. This verse makes me grateful.  This verse helps me to be reflective. Because I know that God’s plan is better than anything that I could plan for myself, this verse gives me hope, faith, and a more expectant prayer life.

What’s your favorite verse and what does it mean to you?

We had been on a spiritual journey of trying to find deeper connection with God through prayer initially incited by the movie The War Room.  Then my sister, Charlene Dior, suggested we start blessing jars (more on blessing jars later).  On January 1, 2016, we committed to placing every blessing in the jar so that we would be more cognizant of how God was indeed blessing us despite still waiting on some very specific prayers to be answered and having experienced a traumatic 2014.

My sister, the creative brain of our little family, suggested after reading an article that we commit 30 days to praying for three people other than ourselves, so we began that journey on March 19th.  Then on April 8th, we received a group text: “This is a crazy idea.  I thought we could start a blog about prayer.”  Little did she know, my mother and I didn’t think it was a crazy idea at all!! There was no convincing needed!

So here we are ?.

For me, I feel I am desperately yearning for something more that I quite honestly can’t  necessarily articulate at this moment, but I have the sense that I cannot obtain “it” without a deeper commitment to God through prayer.

I hope to share my journey as we embark individually and collectively to more faithful prayer lives.  I pray that this endeavor brings hope, faith, and prayer to our readers.