A Woman of Substance

A woman of substance is a woman graced with beauty, intelligence & strength. The essence of who she is comes from how much time she spends with God, and the kind of prayer life she has built over the years. This is what shapes and molds her into this woman of virtue, people have come to love & admire about her. People draw inspiration from her and she inspires many too. She wears wisdom and kindness as a fine garment, it’s a part of who she is. Her presence brings life, and she is a joy to be around. she possesses a gentle & quiet spirit, and she can flow in the fruit of the spirit in her interaction with others, because she prays daily to become a woman after God’s heart. She is not perfect and will admit areas where she falls short, because she wouldn’t want anyone to compare herself with her, because she struggles just like everyone else. Nothing brings her more joy than working on herself, and becoming the kind of woman people pray to have in their life. Her words can touch the deepest parts of you and can profoundly impact you in such a way that it causes you to change. Her love and gentleness cocoons you, and frees you to be who you are. She is a woman with soul, she pours herself into everything she does. This woman is a gift to the body of Christ. A treasure to her family, and a price to the man who is blessed to call her his wife.

A Virtuous Woman

A virtuous woman is hard to find because she has an inner beauty, a strength of character, and a substance that is priceless. She is more valuable than rubies, because she is a rare gem. She is a woman of strong faith, a wise woman, and a woman after God's heart. When you find a virtuous woman, you just know. You will see it in how she carries herself, and in the words she speaks.

 Esther was a woman anointed by God and chosen with a unique calling of saving the Jewish people from destruction. But she didn’t come into the scene until Vashti was dethroned. No one knew about Esther because she was hidden by God, in order to prepare her for her assignment. When the timing was right, God brought her to the lime light and she was well received by everyone, and was chosen as the queen.

When God is ready to restore a nation, to bring deliverance or healing to a place or family in crisis, he raises up one of his own to become a leader, or allows one to be born during a particular time, and who has the virtues, strength, or wisdom to solve the problem at hand. Samson was one of such leaders, and he was born for this purpose, his destiny was connected to the Philistines. He was endowed with remarkable physical strength, and prowess, that enabled him to begin fighting the Philistines and to deliver the Israelite out of their hand. Every time the Spirit of God came upon Samson, he became fearless, stronger than a lion, and fought with supernatural ability. His extraordinary strength is how the Lord was using him, and this was meant to be kept a secret.

David, A man after God's Heart

God found in David a man he was very pleased with (A man he describes as after his heart). Because he found such favor with God, God chose him among his brothers to be the next king of Israel. From the moment, he was anointed by Samuel, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he became a changed man. Saul also recognized something special in David when he first laid eyes on him, he loved him greatly, and wanted him to remain with him as his armorbearer. When God’s hand’s is upon you, people will be able to sense God’s Spirit on you when they are around you. And you will find great favor with man, because you’ve already found favor with God. You’ll also become the answer to their prayer.

Having a strong prayer life, along with fasting is what will sustain you through the wilderness process & trying times, of preparing you for your calling. Especially when you’re dealing with a spiritual battle with the enemy that involves hindering you from been able to fulfill the calling of God on your life. You would need to fight from a place of power, the power that comes from knowing who you are in Christ, and knowing what God has placed inside of you. The reason the enemy is fighting you so strongly, is because he can see the destiny God has for you, and he is trying to kill that dream, and to prevent the plans of God from coming to pass.

Some gifts are meant to be hidden for a while, while God is working on your character (behind the scenes), by allowing you to go through hard things that will keep you humble, test your ability to persevere, and to build your trust & faith in him. So when he does reveal you to the world, there will be no denying the power of God operating in your life, & the great impact he is going to make in the world through you.

Sometimes the solution to a problem or the answer to a prayer may not already exist in the natural. We may wonder why certain things are taking too long, or why it doesn't appear like anything is changing even when a lot of time has passed, and a lot of physical, mental, and spiritual efforts have been applied. Many times the solution to that problem requires someone somewhere whom you may or may not know to be ready & prepared to be used as the answer to your prayer. Because the solution to your problem is their assignment or calling. Other times the person who will solve the problem is not even born yet. And there is a time & a season for that person to be born and for them to grow & mature to be prepared for the task at hand. God will often delay the answer to a prayer when the blessing has a bigger purpose connected to it, which will impact a lot of people.

Samson couldn’t drink any wine or strong drink, or eat anything from the vine because as a Nazarite, he had to learn how to control his desires, by learning how to be self-controlled & disciplined. A person with this call on their life have to be led by the Holy-Spirit in everything they do. As the Spirit of God would be very evident in their life. They also need to identify their weaknesses, in order to strengthen that area, because one weakness could ruin their entire life.

A Virtuous Woman

A woman of substance is a woman whose inner beauty speaks for her. The bible describes her as a Virtuous Woman. She is not the most visible woman in the room yet her presence is felt in such a powerful way, even long after she leaves. She is the kind of woman who is irreplaceable because she is One-of a kind, and she is rare. People like her because there is an aura, charm, & beauty about her that goes beyond the surface. People are drawn to the beauty found in her spirit which happens naturally without her realizing it. When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness. What attracts people to her comes from within her. This is what people remember most about her.

What Love Means

If I were to put into words what love means in its purest form this is what I would say. Love is something that you become. By that I mean is not just something that you feel, think, or do, whenever you feel like it, even though that's a part of loving. it becomes who you are and people cannot separate the person from the attribute. True love will become real to you once you have lived it. Once you start living love, it changes your life and the people you meet. Because its no longer something you think about doing, or try to do, or feel, but something that comes natural to you, that you can't help but be loving because that's who you are

When Your Gift is Seen by the Right People

Your gift has to be seen & recognized by the right person/people who not only see the greatness inside of you, but who are able to place you in a position where your gift can be taken from the background or behind the scenes into the fore-front, where it can be used to make the most impact.

The impact of your God-given gift

When your gift is touched & anointed by God, it would not only bring you before great men. It would also cause those great men to discern not just the Spirit of God in you; but also the Wisdom God God has placed inside of you. This will cause you to find favor with them and open doors for you.

What it Takes to Love Unconditionally

I think most people know what love means because we know what it feels like, when we are receiving love from the right people. We all have a deep need to be loved, and we spend most of our lives either searching for it, trying to define it, or wondering whether true love still exists when love dies.  We all profess to love others until its time to put our love to the test, and show it through our actions, that we can still love in the most difficult of circumstances. Like the saying goes, love is easier said than done. I have come to realize not everyone who says they love, understands what it means, and only a few people actually know what it takes to love. I am speaking of love across the board not just romantic love. Love when you receive it, is one of the most powerful feelings in the world because it can heal your deepest wounds, it can wipe away your tears, it can comfort you in difficult times, it can restore your joy, it can breathe life into your dreams or any dead areas of your life, it can bring a sense of peace when it brings two people together in the perfect will of God. it can also encourage you during your darkest days, bring back your smile, keep you going when you feel like giving up, and cause your heart to be open to loving again. There is power in love and love is the greatest gift in the world because it conquers all things . Love can change your life in such a way that it profoundly impacts you as a person. You are just not the same person when you experience a love that is true, a love that is pure, and a love that is unconditional. This is what I mean when I speak of love, it is sacrificial, it is selfless, it is kind, patient, sincere, forgiving, it endures all things, and it never fails.

However, to be able to give this kind of love you will need to understand what it requires, and what goes into it to sustain it. This is what I hope to share in this blog. Love should not feel stagnant, whenever it is present, it grows. To love deeply, absolutely takes faith and the deeper, purer, and stronger your love is for a person, the greater your level of faith and trust has to be, to match the kind of love, you are giving. It’s impossible to love someone or something without risking a lot in the process, if the love is unconditional, it will require all of you. Love stretches you because you would have to give it again and again every single day. It’s not something you can give more today and less tomorrow, every day you wake up is an opportunity to love unconditionally.

True love takes everything and is the greatest risk, you’ll ever take in life. To love unconditionally is to love without a second thought, to love without reason, to love just because… giving all of you or what you have to another person to make their day or life easier, often times at your own expense. it’s a selfless kind of love that requires dying to self time and time again. To lose this kind of love from someone who embodies this characteristics, is to lose one of God's greatest gift to you.

           Nothing more will challenge you more than unconditional love, it’s a love that can push you beyond your limit, and will go beyond your human capacity at times because it takes God to love like this. It’s a love that is rare and very hard to find, because it is not an easy love to give. You will know when you are loving unconditionally because you will able to feel it and it will be somewhat painful. It becomes especially painful and stressful when the people you are loving, are not returning your love back, or worse have become comfortable with just receiving it. One thing I have come to realize about this kind of love, especially when it comes to romantic relationships is, two people cannot love like this and the relationship ends up falling apart. One of the reasons relationships fail is because either one or both parties in the relationship are not willing to put in the effort, commitment, and time, that love of this nature requires. They simply gave up on each other when life challenges became unbearable to handle, or when they experienced great stress in the relationship. Genuine authentic relationships cause pain, it’s a part of the package, no relationship/friendship is perfect. Sometimes the pain you experience in the course of the relationship or friendship, is not something you expect or can adequately prepare for beforehand. It’s something that when it happens you either know to rise above the pain or it takes you under. This is what makes unconditional love so hard because you don’t really know what you are getting into, it takes a maturing process growing into love. When a relationship ends after you have given unconditional love on a consistent basis, it hurts the giver profoundly, sometimes to the extent that it causes him/her to change because they have been fractured (hurt deeply). Why I believe everyone deserves love and should be loved, I don’t think you can show/give unconditional love to everybody. Not everyone can handle the capacity of this kind of love, neither can everyone appreciate it, if what they are used to experiencing is the opposite. When a person doesn’t understand unconditional love, or cannot comprehend receiving it, they will certainly abuse it or take it for granted. This is a higher level kind of love, so for the most part you will find a lot of people who are not practicing it, or who don’t know how to receive it.

The process of giving this kind of love often result in disappointment, heartbreak, and pain, because people generally have a limited understand of what it takes to really love on this level, and to add the people you love are going to be flawed and imperfect, which makes it tough. Don’t be discouraged if you experience great hurt in the process of giving it. One thing to keep in mind about unconditional love, which is very important to know is; it doesn’t always feel comfortable, when you’re giving it to someone, it may go against how you feel, it is not convenient most times, and you always end up loving a lot of wrong people (this is a given). Another thing to keep in mind is unconditionally love is experienced differently by people depending on who you are. However, the result of it always leaves a person feeling elated, grateful, at peace, and in awe that God loves you so much that he sent you someone, who brings you so much joy and makes you feel loved beyond your wildest dream and vice versa.

                When you have experienced this kind of love once or twice, it never leaves you the same. It starts to become a part of you, and sometimes what you come to expect from people in your life. This love opens you up to so many possibilities, and you begin to attract people who believe in this kind of love as well. Unconditional love in you will help you identify the one for you, because it will open your eyes to see the God in a person, and a mate who is patient, loving, and kind, because unconditional love embodies that. Unconditional love will also let you know when to stop fighting and when to walk away, with peace in your heart knowing you have done all you can. 

Pain is a Teacher

 People who have been called to heal will often go through the most pain. Their pain would provide the wisdom they need in teaching and helping others with their issues. Because they have experience a lot of pain themselves they will be able to relate with different people on a deep level that makes them feel heard & understood. Their words when they speak them will bring life & hit the broken parts of people who are hurting inside. The power and anointing of God on their gift, will enable them to reach & touch people in a way that would not have been possible, if they had not gone through that pain. Anyone who comes across them will experience divine healing because God's spirit resides in them.

Patience

  

There are certain things you would have to wait for, no matter how ready you think you are for it. There are situations that would take some time to be resolved, even when you are putting in your best effort. there are people your destiny is connected to, but the timing of that encounter may not be for a while, you will need patience to wait on them. There are people you would need to pray for months or years before you begin to see significant changes in them, and that takes patience. There are some prayers that will take some time before they are answered, and you will need patience to keep praying for the same thing over and over until you receive the answer. All of this things requires great patience on your part. This tells me Patience is one of the most important attribute/virtue to have, and a NECESSITY because life in itself is a process that involves patience

Praying for the Right things and for the Right People Sent to Meet those Needs

There is a lot that can be said about prayer and the people God uses to bring about those answers we need. Often times, it is not the people you have in mind that God uses even if they have what you need. When we pray regarding something we need, God checks to see the motives behind those prayers first, and whether it lines up with his will for our life, and then he thinks about the best possible way to bring our answer, which highly depends on what it is you are praying for. There are some prayers that God may choose to answer quickly, for instance if you are praying for confirmation about something, or a prayer for daily bread, or a prayer about favor in a particular area. There are no clear-cut answers why some prayers get answered and why some do not, or why it feels like some prayers take longer to get answered than others, it all depends on the particular situation (i.e our prayer request), and the person involved. However, I would say the prayers that the answer takes has a lot to do with timing, there is a process that God would take a person through in the course of waiting for their prayer to be answered. For instance, he may begin to show you areas in your life that needs to change (i.e attitudes and behaviors that need to be done away with, relational changes you need to make, he will expose wrong motive behind the prayer, or he may begin to lead you in a different direction). While you are waiting for the answer, you find yourself changing while you are praying, and the way you pray about your need also changes as well because you learn how to pray the right way, if you were not already doing so. Sometimes the answer to your prayer doesn’t come the way you expect it, and that can totally catch you of guard because it doesn’t seem like what you specifically asked for, but it meets your need in a way.

For this blog I want to focus on the people God uses to answer certain prayers, and how one can recognize those people when they meet them, I will also be talking about, how to become that person for someone else, and how to pray regarding this matter.

When it comes to being able to identify the people God uses to meet a need in someone’s life, solve a problem, provide direction or confirmation on something, or to provide the resources one needs to get to the next step of their life; one way to identify them, is when you are not praying for them specifically, but you are praying objectively regarding your problem. In the most unusual way God can bring the answer to your prayer by connecting you to somebody (whether its someone you already know or a stranger), and the need you are praying about comes up in the conversation you are having with them, and they are able to pick up on it without you telling them directly about the kind of help you need, and they want to help you meet that need on their own. You definitely know its God when you’re not really explaining your need to someone, but somehow they are able to recognize it and help solve that problem for you. Other times a situation may occur that may not be directly related to the need, but in the process of resolving that issue, you meet the need that you have. I will give you an example, let’s say I am praying to have a good friend because everybody needs someone in their life, they can count on, and I have been praying about this for a while. And I happen to meet someone who is having trouble at work, and may be on the verge of losing their job because of someone mistake they made, and I happen to know how to fix their situation, and I go and help them solve their problem. In the process of helping them get out of the sticky situation I gain a new friend (this may not be the best example, but I hope you get my point). Writing this blog could be a form of an answered prayer to someone who needs the wisdom I am sharing to help them understand this topic better. So they finding this post could be God leading them to me so they could find the answer to the question they have on their heart. Sometimes we can be used as a blessing to others without us realizing it. However, there are some prayers that the answers to those prayers require a miracle, and the way that the need is going to be met is not available to us, and we may not know the way out of that situation. The people God uses in those situations, have to be prepared to meet your need at the right time. Usually you don’t have to go looking for those people, God brings them your way, when the timing is right. Sometimes those people may be around you, but because it is not yet time for God to act in your situation, they may not even know that there are going to be used to solve your problem. At other times, they may be people you are familiar with but do not know personally, so it doesn’t cross your mind to approach those people, yet at other times God uses someone you haven’t met. Usually when a person reaches their appointed time to receive their answer or miracle, their circumstances will begin to move them towards the right people they need. Sometimes this may happen when you are in the midst of a crisis and you are forced to ask someone for help that you normally wouldn’t ask, but you ask them anyway because you really don’t have a choice. But as fate would have it, you end up asking the right person unknowingly, who was sent by God to help you. Bottom line is God can use anybody, who he uses and how he uses those individuals is totally up to him to decide; all he requires from us is our obedience and our willingness for him to work in the way he sees best.

The question how do I become the answer to someone’s prayer or the miracle that they need, is by being in tuned to God and becoming sensitive to others around you. Many times people miss opportunities to be a blessing to others because they were distracted, self-absorbed, or not paying attention to the signs God was giving them. If you are always so busy, always thinking or worrying about something, or focused on your own problems, it would be difficult for God to use you. You wouldn’t be able to recognize he is the one leading you, or who he is leading you too, when you distracted by many things. When God wants to use you, you feel strongly about what he is asking you to do, you don’t sit there questioning it because there is a peace you feel in your heart that you are doing the right thing. And this happens from the moment you find out about the need, whether is by the person mentioning it to you or you sensing it yourself, you just know you want to help the person, and you feel is the right thing to do for them. Sometimes you may have the solution to a person’s problem but are hesitant in helping them, perhaps because you don’t feel led to for whatever reasons, when that happens it may mean you are not the one chosen to meet that need. I remember when I used to get so frustrated because it felt like the people around me or the people I knew didn’t seem to care about my need, and even when they were aware of it, they chose to do nothing. Now it no longer frustrates me as much as before because I understand from experience, not everyone is meant to meet your need, and only the right people will respond to you.

 You can become the answer to someone’s prayer by sincerely praying that prayer daily, and asking God to lead you to the people he wants you to help. Keeping in mind, that help can come in many different ways, as long as you are open and available to be used by God. He can use what you have to bless someone else.

Sometimes the answer to our prayers is hidden until a set time when God suddenly allows people to have their eyes opened, and sometimes we must ask for God to open our eyes and show us the answer. We learn to accept the answer that God gives, whether or not it is according to our personal preferences. You may feel that you have not yet received an answer, but just because you feel that you haven’t received an answer doesn’t mean the answer hasn’t been sent. This is a great prayer that I find to be really helpful in this area. I encourage you to pray this prayer if this blog ministered to you in some way or resonates with you. Here is the prayer:

Father God,

Help me to have the response of faith. Forgive me if I have not been paying attention and you have already sent answers to my prayers. Right now I reject and refuse all unbelief, judgments, opinions and resistance to the answer to my prayers. I believe by faith that in as much as I am an answer for others that have a need, the answer to my prayer is also made available to me in others. Please open my eyes to recognize the answer that is right in front of me. Give me eyes to see how I can be the answer for others, too. Please give me a heart that is willing to accept Your answer, and respond in faith to whatever you show me. I don’t want to miss the time of my visitation! I know you work through human vessels, Lord, so please highlight the ones in which You want me to pay attention. Open my ears to hear the message that is communicated. You have an answer that I need to receive, so help me to receive it. I thank You for adjusting my heart in whatever way is needed so that I can respond in faith to the answer that You have sent. In Jesus name, amen. By Laura Gagnon.