“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.” ~ 2 Corinthians 4:7-10, NLT
“Yet, O Lord, You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our Potter,
And we all are the work of Your hand.” ~ Isaiah 64:8, AMP
“I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” ~ Ephesians 3:16-20 NLT
I may be a fragile jar of clay, but You make me strong
Father, You are my everything. Your faithfulness to me astounds me and Your abiding presence gives me strength to face life’s trials. Some days I feel very fragile and vulnerable, but then I remember … You are the Potter and I am the clay. I am but a jar of clay filled with the power of Your beautiful Spirit.
I may be pressed on every side, but I am not crushed because You are within me. I cannot be driven to despair unless I look away from You and rely on my own strength because You are my hope and my joy. When I get knocked down, You pick me up and put me back together again.
How beautiful is Your love!
I consider that I am made in Your image and that You want me to be holy as You are holy — set apart for Your glory. That is my desire, Lord, but I fail You often. The enemy works hard to put out my light but I’m a stubborn little thing and I know Your power.
Yet I must choose to resist him and not surrender to his efforts to take me down.
You, Lord, empower me with inner strength in this jar of clay — strength to overcome, strength to walk by faith and not by sight.
You are the Potter and I am the clay. Make me pliable in our hands that I may become a jar of clay for Your glory, for You are my great treasure — my exceedingly, great reward.
Be glorified in me. Let Your light so shine within me that others may see You and recognize that it is Your power within me that is working to fulfill Your purposes in me … not by my might, nor by my power, but by Your Spirit, O Lord.
It is well with my soul, for You, O Lord, are with me
You are able. You are good and You are faithful to do immeasurably more than I could ever ask or think of. That’s just who You are! When I am overwhelmed, remind me that although I am fragile like a jar of clay, I am Your jar of clay. With that knowledge, I know that all will be well with my soul.
I love You, Lord and I give You praise.
In Jesus’s Name, I pray,
Amen ~ let it be so
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Please don’t carry your burdens alone. I would be honored to pray for you. You may contact me directly at nan@nanjones.com
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Thank you so much for stopping by. I would love for you to share what’s on your heart in the comments below. Scroll a little farther down and you’ll see where you can leave your comments. Together, we can find the nearness of God in our darkest moments.
Sweet blessings to you,
Hello Nan! I enjoy reading your posts each day! I want to thank you for taking time to share! Your words often remind that I am not alone!
I would appreciate so much, if you would be so kind to pray for my family and myself. My adult children have had such a difficult life. They really had their “childhood” stolen from them. I made so many poor decisions when I was younger! I married too young & was tricked into thinking that my husband loved me. He became more and more abusive. I ended up being trapped & believing that I could never run far enough for him not to find us! He was a Master manipulator! It took decades for me to realize that he had abused my babies! It would’ve hurt me less, had he ripped my chest open and ripped my heart out! I have watched each of my four children literally self destruct! I’m asking for prayers for them! They deserve to have happiness, security & stability! They have never really had these things. I tried so hard but it isn’t easy to be a single parent of four children! God knows every struggle, every tear & every beat of our hearts! Please pray that He will be with them & have His will in their lives. I love my family more than I can find the words to express! Thank you for your time & I thank God for all He has done & all He is going to do!
Hi Vera, please forgive me for just now getting back to you. My husband has dementia and sometimes my days get crazy. You have a beautiful momma’s heart that the Lord sees and appreciates. Please give yourself some grace and try not to live in the season of regrets. We are all prone to that, but that is a tactic of the enemy. You have probably already done this, but if not, I encourage you to openly confess anything that you see as a shortcoming where your children are concerned, to the Lord. Ask His forgiveness and THEN forgive yourself. Let Him cleanse you of regrets and any guilt the enemy is holding you too. You loved your children the best way you knew how, AND everything you did was filtered through the abuse you were receiving. I imagine there was emotional abuse, as well, which will always cloud our judgment. You might even want to write out the regrets you remember, and then burn them, offering them to the Lord. He will receive your offering, and He WILL bring beauty from the ashes.
Let’s pray together for your children, okay?
Father, You are the God who sees us, and knows all about everything we face. You pursue us in our wilderness places. You draw near to the brokenhearted and those who are thoroughly crushed in spirit. And You hear us when we cry out to You. Vera and I are crying out on behalf of her precious children who have been harmed emotionally and spiritually from their childhood. We are boldly asking You to intervene in each of their lives. Bring them to a place of encounter with You, the Living God — not religion, not legalistic jargon, but with You, the One who loves them with an everlasting love. Bring people into their lives that know Jesus, people their age that they will respond to. I ask that pull the blinders from their eyes, and the walls from their hearts that they have built as a survival tactic. Break every chain that binds them and bring them to the Cross. We also ask that You keep a hedge of protection around them while they wander, that no weapon formed against them will prosper.
I pray for Vera and ask that You touch her with a fresh anointing of peace and grace to endure this heartbreak. Stir up faith within her as she waits on You. Help her bite her tongue when necessary, and strengthen her to be a safe haven for her children where they always know she loves them deeply with unconditional love. Bridge the gaps. Heal the hurts. And fill the void in their lives with Your precious Holy Spirit. Thank You, Lord. Thank You for caring about all that concerns us. We are putting our hope in You, our confident expectation with solid certainty that You have heard us and will reveal Yourself to Vera’s children … in Your way and in Your time. Hold Vera fast while she waits. Thank You, Lord. We give You praise! In the Name of Jesus, I pray, amen
Vera, thank you for reaching out to me. And thank you for your kind words. I will add you and the children to my prayer journal and will continue to pray for you. Sweet blessings to you, Nan