A Nighttime Prayer When Fear Prevents SleepBy Kelly Balarie "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." – John 16:33 NIV I tossed left and right in my bed. Frankly, it wasn't only my body that tossed around in my bed – but thoughts of fear that tossed everywhere in my mind. Would my kids turn out okay? Have I permanently messed them up? What if they have horrible things to say about me as a mom when they grow up? Fear gripped me. Of course, I know that I haven't done everything right. I remembered back to that one time when I acted angry in a department store... I thought about another time when I could have been a better listener... I considered how other moms do better at being moms than I do ... Fear was pointing its finger at a horrible future for me and my family. I was not only listening to fear, but I was envisioning it play out. Before long, as I lay in bed, 5 minutes of stressful thinking turned into 30 minutes of sleepless tossing. After that, my 30-minutes of sleeplessness became what seemed like hours of distress, because tomorrow I was afraid I'd turn into monster-mom due to lack of sleep. Have you ever experienced this? Perhaps it is not your children making you feel afraid, but it is your past, your financial situation, your health, your mistakes, your security, your worth, your spouse, or a real and present physical threat. No matter, one thing can be said about fear – fear snowballs. It may start small, but it grows big.  Fear snowballs. It pushes one to the point where they are on the edge of a cliff. Here, worry, stress, and apprehension become so emotionally and physically tangible that the most horrible and worst-case scenarios absolutely are about to happen. We're doomed! We are 100% going over this cliff (even if we are still safe under the covers of our beds). What do we do when fear does this to us in the night?  How do we sleep when our body and mind tell us that we are about to die? My friends, I have been here more times than I'd like to admit. With this, I have learned strategies to fall asleep again, as well as prayer that releases stress. Let's first talk about the tips: 1. Remember, at night, you are tired from a full day of work.Tired minds lead to tired thinking. No good decision ever happens in the middle of the night. A powerful tip is to resolve to think and pray through problems in the morning, not when you are tired and frustrated. Put on pause mental dialogues until the light of day. It is always less stressful the next day. Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Receive Jesus' peace and take heart. 2. Go through the ABCs of God.Instead of restlessly recycling fearful thoughts, go through the "A, B, Cs of God". This is how it works. Lying in bed, you start with the letter A. You can recite bible verses that start with the letter A, the nature of God, or things you love about God. Go through the whole alphabet. I bet you will fall asleep before you do! 3. Tell your mind not to fall asleep.When I go through the ABCs of God, I tell myself to stay awake until the very end. I don't know why telling myself to stay awake works, but it does. I always fall asleep before I reach the letter-Z. I believe these will work for you because they've worked for me on many a night. I'd love to hear your testimonies. God is bigger than fear. Truly, if Jesus has overcome the world, He can overcome any problem we face. Let's pray: Father, help! Fear is making me stressed, anxious, and perturbed. It is trying to steal my sleep. I repent and turn the opposite way of fear. I give to you all my fear right now, Father God. I put every concern and burden in your hands. I let them go. Now, I receive your peace, the peace of Jesus that He has given. May this peace guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus so that I may go to sleep. I also ask for spiritual understanding, discernment, and wisdom for everything You have me to process at Your appointed time.In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Photo credit: ©Getty Images/demaerre Kelly uplifts believers with boosts of faith; be encouraged weekly by getting Kelly's blog posts by email. Kelly, a cheerleader of faith, is a blogger, national speaker, and author of Take Every Thought Captive, Rest Now, Battle Ready, and Fear Fighting. Kelly loves seeing the power of prayer in action. She loves seeing the expression on women's faces when they realize – their God is faithful! Kelly's work has been featured on The Today Show, CBN's 700 Club, Relevant and Today's Christian Woman.  Related Resource: Remember God’s Enduring Love for You in this Guided Meditation on Psalm 100! This guided Christian meditation from Psalm 100 will help you experience and praise God for his unending love for you. Become aware of God's presence with you, and praise God for his loyal and enduring love from the beginning of time and into the future. Listen to every episode of the So Much More Podcast on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode! Now that you’ve prayed, are you in need of someone to pray for YOU? Click the button below! Visit iBelieve.com for more inspiring prayer content. The post A Nighttime Prayer When Fear Prevents Sleep – Your Daily Prayer – July 25 appeared first on GodUpdates.

The latest date on AC/DC's Power Up tour took place at the Vajnory Airport in Bratislava, Slovakia, at the weekend

Bruce Willis retired from acting after four decades after his aphasia diagnosis in 2022. The following year, his family announced Bruce had frontotemporal dementia, and sadly, his health was declining. Bruce has three daughters with ex-wife Demi Moore, Rumer Glen Willis, 35, Scout LaRue Willis, 33, and Tallulah Belle Willis, 30, and two girls with current wife, Emma Heming. Although he and Demi have been apart for a long time, he has strong relationships with both women and all five of his girls. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emma Heming Willis (@emmahemingwillis) Sometimes, kids can have a hard time comprehending a parent’s complicated medical diagnosis. Bruce’s youngest daughter, Evelyn, is 10, and her father became ill when she was only eight years old. And even at such a young age, she did her best to understand. Emma posted about Evelyn’s nurturing ways on Instagram in a loving video. Last year, the little girl asked her mom if she knew that people with dementia often got dehydrated. Her mom explained that she didn’t know that and asked how Evelyn did. Her words were sweet and a gut punch all at the same time. Emma recalled Evelyn saying, “Well, I was at school the other day, and I had some free time and I was looking at fun facts about dementia,'” she said in the video. “Now that’s not funny. But it’s kind of funny. And she is her father’s child because these two love some just random facts. So, I said to her, ‘OK, Evelyn, we will always make sure that Daddy has a bottle of water in hand. Thank you for letting me know.’ I said, ‘That is the most loving and compassionate thing that you can do is to be curious and educate yourself on your dad’s disease.'” Bruce Willis’ Daughter’s Love Touched Her mom and Fans. One person wrote on the Instagram post, “What a precious passionate child you two beautiful souls have made! Great job, Mom and Dad.” Many agreed, like this person, “The way that you have been managing Bruce’s dementia is such a lesson to us all. You share just enough with us to help educate yet you totally keep his dignity and personality intact in your sharing. I love your posts because the family love is so apparent, it makes me feel joy. Bruce is very blessed to be in this family.” This story’s featured image is by Larry Busacca/Getty Images. The post Bruce Willis’ Wife Emma Tearfully Shares How Her Young Daughter Takes Care Of Dad appeared first on InspireMore.

Have you ever noticed that the more connected you are to the Vine, the more loving, joyful, peaceable, patient, kind, caring, faithful, gentle, and even-tempered you are?