A Whole New Year

 We will soon enter a whole new year, 2021. Very few could say they were sorry 2020 was ending. We are given a re-boot. 

What will you do with your fresh start? Will you thank God for the vaccines that were developed so quickly in 2020? Will you appreciate the time you were able to spend with your family? Or, will you blame God that He "let" Covid-19 kill so many people, make many more sick, and destroy the economy?

God did none of that. You may accuse, "Did He stop any of it from happening?" Did you?

Life happens to the living. Praise the Lord, we are among the living. Let 2021 be the year when we make life better for others; when we stop complaining that we are among the living rather than the angels; when we begin to find the reason for our life and praise God for it.

Let's Pray: "Oh Father God who lives in Heaven and in our hearts at the same time, holy, holy, holy is your name . . . the precious name I sometimes tarnish. Forgive me Father and let this new year be a new beginning for my walk with You. May Your kingdom of heaven be my new dwelling place, so that Your will may be accomplished in my life. For today, I ask that the virus released on the world may be dissolved into dust with the vaccines You laid on scientists' creative minds. Forgive me for the part I may have paid that added to the division in our country. Bring Love, and Hope, and Acceptance to everyone. Fill us so full of Your light we are unable to share anything but Your essence - Your love. To you, oh Father, belongs all the glory. By the power of the name of your son, Jesus the Christ, I pray. Amen"

Many blessings and much healing to you in this coming year of 2021,

Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.

Copyright 2020, 2021 Doris Gaines Rapp

Who Were You?

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him, who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 2:9

When a friend introduces us to a retired person, they may say, “He was the principal at the high school.” Or, “She was judge of Superior Court Four.” That was their job when they were active in their career. If all they “were” was their job title, they become invisible when they retire. Are you only your job description?

When I was a child and student at Pasadena Grade School, my principal, Miss Miller, asked me to come to her office after lunch and help file some papers. Wow, gray hair-in-a-bun, ankle-length dark dresses, pronounced underbite, strict and beloved Miss Rose Miller asked for my help. It never occurred to me that I should inform my teacher I wouldn’t be in class after lunch. After all, Miss Miller was the Grand Poobah of everyone and everything.

When I returned to class, brown-flat-men’s-shoes-Mrs. Haas waited at the classroom door with her arms folded and a stern expression. She asked, “Where have you been? Who do you think you are?”

I knew where I had been, but I was flabbergasted with the second question. I had no idea who I was. Humiliated, I took my seat in the classroom and vowed to myself, if asked again, I would know the answer. I would be able to say, “I am—“

Over time, my answer to the identity question expanded. I didn’t think I was-; I knew myself to be, “a child of the living God, a disciple of my risen savior, Jesus Christ, a wife, mother, daughter, sister, grandmother, friend, novelist, psychologist, catalystic speaker.”

I will never “used to be” any of these descriptors. As our scripture states, I am all of these, not to boast, but to “declare the praises of him.” When I am one-hundred four years old, I will still be a child of the living God; a joint heir with Jesus for all God has to offer.

As you develop your own answer to the question, “Who do you think you are?” will your identity fade and disappear? Will you evaporated into a “has-been” or a “used to be” as defined by your job or as the world as a whole may describe you? Or, will you wrap your identity in WHO you are and WHOSE you are?  To be an always-living-soul we must know who we are apart from how the world knows us. Let us pray:

“Father God, you have chosen me, calling me out of the darkness, to proclaim who and whose I am, in order to praise your holy name. I am here to bear witness to your grace and glory. That is the job or career of my soul, my true identity. May I come to a clear awareness of who I am.  For today, I ask that I may see the reality of who I am and stand amazed by the truth of the origin of my soul. Forgive me when I have been afraid to lose my identity. Without a willingness to give up who I “think” I am, I can never become who I “know” myself to be. I now borrow from the holiness and son-ship of Jesus Christ and pray in his name and by his power. Amen”

Doris

Copyright 2020 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D

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https://prayertherapyofjesus.blogspot.com

www.tuckermcbrideintheclassroom.com

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Times Have Changed - And Yet ... Not

     When Tucker McBride was young, the church across the street held Watch Night services on New Year's Eve. Songs of love in Christ and prayers for the New Year lilted all the way to the dark beams in the ceiling above.
Today, some churches still have New Year's Eve services filled with games and fellowship, songs and prayers. Other folks gather in homes with friends and family to bring in the new year with popcorn and brownies. Some people go to bed at 10 PM, fulling believing the new year will be there when they wake up in the morning.Times certainly have changed ... and yet, they haven't.
What is similar between the New Year's Eve celebration of 1946 and 2019? Most people want their loved ones around them, to mark a day of victory....victory over a year that may have been hard, or a year that had been successful and a fear it could not be replicated in the next.
The sameness is in the desire to surround oneself with love and acceptance, fellowship and joy. Enjoy your New Year's Eve with your family and friends, and perhaps another several thousand, depending on where you will be tonight. I look forward to Wednesday. Doesn't 2020 sound promising and full of hope?

Choose Positive Thoughts of Thanksgiving

“I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Corinthians 1:4

Thanksgiving is this week. One day, out of three-hundred sixty-five, set aside to give thanks for all we have. One day? Friends, a secret to joyous living is recognizing all we have for which to be thankful each day.

Filling your heart and thoughts with gratitude, heals the pain of feeling like there’s not “enough” in your world. Thanks-living helps us appreciate what we have, not fester inside over what we wish we have but don’t.

Begin by replacing something that burns an ugly hole in your heart, like being envious over a friend’s new car, with thoughts of those who bring you joy. Notice, in 1 Corinthians, it says, “I ALWAYS thank my God for you…”  One cannot hold a negative and positive thought in their mind at the same time. They are opposites. Choose love. Choose thankfulness and you will choose joy and health. Let us pray:

“Our father, God, you have brought Heaven into my heart, for where you are, there is peace, joy and all you are. May your choice of love rule in my life. I willingly give up my bent for old habits of self-pity and envy. I accept that what you have given me is more than enough. For this day, I ask that you develop in me the habit of thankfulness. Forgive me when I put my plans and desires ahead of my time with you. For I know that is the time negative thoughts creep in and tear apart my joy. I seek only to be your servant, not the center of my thoughts of what my world should be, for only you are glorious and good and choose wisely. To you is all power and glory. In the name of Jesus, my savior, I pray. Amen”

Many Blessings,

Doris

Copyright 2019 Doris Gaines Rapp

For previous posts go to: https://prayertherapyrapp.blogspot.com

Fun blog to accompany my newest novel: www.tuckermcbrideintheclassroom.com

Author of nine novels available on www.amazon and www.barnesandnoble.com

Or, order at your local Barnes and Noble

Website: www.dorisgainesrapp.com

Rejoice Always

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  Rejoice at all times. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (NIV) 

As we draw nearer to Thanksgiving, have you begun thinking about thankfulness? Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the knit-picky details of the day we forget all the many blessings we have already received. Other times, we look around and see those with more than we will ever have and believe God has not been fair in handing out His “things.” My friend, God doesn’t have pockets. His blessings are not the tangible assets of this world. However, He can open doors we had no idea were even there. We have to be willing to step through the portal to a new way of being.

I remember a fellow who told me, “Honestly, Dr. Rapp, I never buy lottery tickets. But, one time I needed several hundred dollars for an unexpected bill. While going to visit my mom one sunny Saturday, I pulled into a service station about fifty miles away from home. I didn’t know anyone in the area, so no one I knew would catch me “gambling.” As I handed the cashier a dollar, I couldn’t even make eye contact. I was a middle-aged man but felt like a ten year old, caught with their hand on Momma’s purse. I grabbed the ticket and hurried out to my car. Two-hundred dollars would be enough to cover what I needed, so I prayed for that specific amount as I fished for a coin for the scratch off. There it was, a $35.00 winning. I would have to go back in the store to cash it in. But, I didn’t. God didn’t answer my prayer. I needed a lot more than $35.00. I jammed the ticket into my shirt pocket and drove off. Then, I realized what I had done and my guilt exploded. I had not rejoiced in His gift for me, but had turned down a real blessing from God.”

How many times has God answered our prayers but we didn’t get what we wanted so we refused what He offered? For today, let us pray for the humbleness to recognize the presence of God when He whispers in the darkness of the night, or offers a blessing we hadn’t “ordered.” Let us pray:

“Oh loving and generous father, I rejoice and give thanks for all you are and all you give. Your name is hold and precious, above all names. I surrender to your will in my life and recognize that all you give me are to help me become who you intend for me to be. For this day, I ask for sight-of-the-heart to see your blessings, gentle hands to touch and heal the wounds of a friend, and hearing tuned to your voice above the clatter of the world. Forgive me for putting my desires above your perfect plan. Let me not fall back into self-centeredness but let me focus on you. For only you hold the power of creating and recreating within me a new heart. In the name of Jesus, your son and my savior I pray. Amen”

Blessings,

Doris

Copyright 2019 Doris Gaines Rapp

For previous posts go to: https://prayertherapyrapp.blogspot.com

Fun blog to accompany my newest novel: www.tuckermcbrideintheclassroom.com

Author of nine novels available on www.amazon and www.barnesandnoble.com

Or, order at your local Barnes and Noble

Website: www.dorisgainesrapp.com

Veterans Day - 2019

"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friend. You are my friends if you do what I command you." John 15: 12-14

It is November 11, therefore it is Veterans Day. The sameness of our lives is what makes us feel safe. We believe that life is predictable because a pattern exists that we can depend on. If we have a routine, perhaps the fears that haunt us in the night will dissolve in the brightness of the every-day sunrise.

Originally called Armistice Day, it celebrated the ending of WWI on the 11th hour, the 11th day, of the 11th month of 1911. Today we often hear people include first responders and local police in their list of those we honor. Let us also honor the military families who sacrifice the sameness of their family life: the warm presence and support of a loved one and co-parent; the touch of a son or daughter’s hand on a cheek; and the hoot from the top of the stands when a son or daughter sinks a basket. All of these share their love for family and friends by setting aside their lives and their own needs for the protection of our country.

As you run into the grocery for a fresh carton of milk to replace the one you finished this morning, you may pass a child whose breakfast table had an empty chair today, and every day. At the mall, a man with thinning hair may hide a heart, diminished by grief and sorrow over the death of a military son or daughter. As you sit in the audience of a Veterans Day school program, know that the aggravatingly slow-moving person in front of you may struggle with their own prosthetic limb they gave up for you. When the family sits to watch a ball game, honor the silence of the family member who sheds tears when they play the national anthem, as they still ache over a friend-in-arms they lost to a snipper’s bullet.

Today is a day to remember and honor. But, it’s also a day to make plans for the future, a cause to support like Folds of Honor; Christmas cards to write for those still in the military; a family down the street to adopt for Thanksgiving; a child on the elementary ball team who needs another adult to help validate their experience, that the song they sang was indeed wonderful, or the homerun they hit was as spectacular as they thought. Whatever you choose to do, to set aside your own needs to share the love of Christ with another, dedicate yourself to the sameness of the experience so life may be a little more predictable and safe again. Let us pray.

"Oh loving God, father of my friend and savior Jesus, holy and pure is your name. May I hear your call to love others as you have loved me, even when I may grumble about being too busy to interrupt my day with the needs of others. For this day, I ask that you place someone in my path that needs your love. Forgive me when I do not listen, or do not respond in a loving way because I value what I am doing over the needs of others. If you have placed them there, they will be a blessing to me, as I am to them. I know that love will fill me to the level that I can open my life and love others. May any glory and honor go to you, Father. I want none for myself. I lay the selfishness I secretly harbor at your feet, that I may be a better, more dependable friend. In the precious name of Jesus and by his power as your son I ask. Amen"

Blessings,

Doris

Copyright 2019 Doris Gaines Rapp

For previous posts go to:  https://prayertherapyrapp.blogspot.com

Fun blog to accompany my newest novel: www.tuckermcbrideintheclassroom.com

Author of nine novels available on www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com

Website:  www.dorisgainesrapp.com

A New Beginning

As many of you know, my Prayer Therapy blog was hacked by someone asking for money. I could not delete their post so, much to my sorrow, I deleted the entire blog which I created in 2007. Thank You, Sally Walker was my last post on that original blog in January 2018, before I had major back surgery. When I returned to blogging, I was unable to solve the problem. 

Good news! I can continue to post on this newly renamed blog and you readers can pull up my old blog to discover past posts. Go to https://prayertherapyrapp.blogspot.com to read twelve years of directed, specific prayers. The Lord is Good! In spite of the evil around us, He finds a way to reveal His word and love to us all. Highlight the URL, https://prayertherapyrapp.blogspot.com and copy it to the address line in your browser. Easy peasy.

May the Good Lord bless you all.   Doris