#11-A Season of Prayer and Fasting

Today begins our church's 21 days of prayer and fasting.

 During this season, as a church, we are focusing on the following areas of prayer:

• We are believing God for answered prayer to our specific needs
• We are declaring our total dependence on God in every area of our lives
• We are asking for personal forgiveness for our sins and the sins of our land
• We are praying for the completion of the Great Comission
• We are inviting the presence of God in our lives and in our church
• We are interceeding for revival both locally & globally 

My individual prayer focus (specific needs) are:

• That I will be an effective, efficient and motivated teacher that allows the love of Christ to flow through me in my words and actions. And that my kids are receptive to my classroom management and they come to my class ready to be respectful, productive and prepared. And that I have a successful school year in all areas.
• That the Lord continues to heal mine and my families hearts as we continue to grieve the loss of my mother.
• That the Lord removes the curse over my family's finances, provides divine abundant provision, reveals to us the steps that we need to take to remedy our financial situation and give us divine wisdom in the decisions we make regarding our finances.
• That the Lord will bless me with a supernatural motivation and committment to begin and stick with a plan for healthy living (eating right and exercising) in order to reach a healthy weight.
• That my love and respect for my husband continues to grow and overflows everyday and that God teaches me to be the wife described in Proverbs 31:10-31.
• Continued protection for Mateo and that his love for God grows and his confidence and self-esteem is increased and that he is able to make Godly friends at schoool. That God will begin to impress upon his heart his destiny and purpose, even at a young age.

#10-My One Word for 2012: Happiness

Pleasures Are Meaningless
 1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
 4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem[a] as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
   I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
   and this was the reward for all my toil.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
   and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
   nothing was gained under the sun.
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless
 12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
   and also madness and folly.
What more can the king’s successor do
   than what has already been done?
13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly,
   just as light is better than darkness.
14 The wise have eyes in their heads,
   while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
   that the same fate overtakes them both.
 15 Then I said to myself,
   “The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
   What then do I gain by being wise?”
I said to myself,
   “This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
   the days have already come when both have been forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise too must die!
Toil Is Meaningless
 17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? 23 All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.
 24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.