Blog
Praying Through the Common Threads
Written by Katie Forbess, president of Iron Rose Sister Ministries Board
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (Pr 27:17 NIV)
During this exciting month of prayer, we are working our way through the prayer calendar. This is a wonderful way of blessing the ministry. There are so many areas covered for us to think about and pray for together. In this way, many of us are able to pray for the people in our lives by breaking into topics and using scripture.
Another way of praying is to pray through the Common Threads, for yourself or someone else. This, to me, is one of the best resources of IRSM. They are so important that they are incorporated into each of the blog posts. Using them in small groups or even in everyday conversations helps to fulfill the mission of IRSM, which is to help women grow closer to God and to one another. We can use the three parts of the logo as a guide to evaluate what’s going on with ourselves. Then we can transform that into a prayer of our own. Additionally sharing the information with others allows you to pray for each other. That’s awesome!
A Bloom - Which of us doesn’t want a friend to pray for the aspirations of our lives? Reading about wisdom, as it is our theme for this year, makes me want to really grow spiritually in that area, and therefore I want to share that with others so that they can hold that desire up in prayer.
A Thorn - We all have them, and we know it. What an awesome blessing to have the confidence of another sister to share with.
An Iron - The three parts of the logo are very special, but the one that really has proven critical to my long-lasting friendships is the iron sharpening iron piece. I suggest you have friends you can ask to hold you accountable to your aspirations to become more like Jesus. Have a friend who can ask the hard questions and make you face a reality that you are struggling to face.
Michelle often says we are the epitome of Iron Rose Sisters. We have been that for almost 30 years. That means we share and “ooh and ahh” in all the right places as we see each other grow spiritually and become the women that God created us to be (THE ROSE).
This has happened through many seasons over the last 30 years— ups and downs of life that lead us through valleys and to high mountains all bathed in the prayers of each other, knowing each other's thorns and being able to navigate them, helping each other navigate difficult moments, and prayerfully removing or at least dulling the sharpness of them (THE THORN).
Michelle is the one I call when I know she will know before I finish saying what I am saying, and what prayers I need. I don’t have to apologize for being myself, but I can be assured that if what I am saying needs some reality and a biblical lens that I’m not looking through, she will provide those. And vice versa! We can and do say things to each other to hold each other accountable and to help each other dig deeper into areas of our lives that need attention (THE IRON).
Using the Common Threads, we decidedly pray for each part of this tool and then place them in God’s hands, not our own. There is no room for power struggles or power trips or manipulation when you hand it over to God. That’s a special relationship. That’s an Iron Rose Sister relationship.
My prayer for you today is for you to use the Common Threads to pray for yourself as well as other Iron Rose Sisters. I pray they will become part of your daily personal reflections and your conversations with other sisters while you are sharing prayer requests.
Question - Do you know and understand the parts of the Common Threads well enough to make them a part of your daily life?
Build on the Rock or Build on the Sand
Written by Beliza Kocev, Brazil Coordinator for Iron Rose Sister Ministries
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. (Mt 7:25 NIV)
I first went to church when I was a teenager, and I usually say that it was late, to the point that my mind had already been damaged on some level, but early enough that there wasn’t time for me to make some decisions that would have severe consequences for the rest of my life.
Once I started to learn more about the Word of God, I noticed that many things that I had learned or that I had always seen as normal didn’t align with God’s will.
I wanted to do everything right, and for a while, I thought that if I did everything right, nothing bad would happen. After all, I believed that I had been doing everything right… But I came across the first obstacle: the realization that I can’t do everything right. I would have loved to, and I tried, but I failed. I am thankful to God for His grace because He did not give up on me— because His mercies are new every morning (La 3:22-23).
This was my understanding of building a house on the rock: practice what Jesus taught in order to have a house so strong, so firmly established, that storms would not even dare to come close to such a construction. The winds would blow by, the rain would change directions to avoid it, and no weather would reach it.
Well, as time went by, I realized that, yes, I reaped the benefits of good decisions, but the challenges would continue coming, and many times I questioned why those things were happening to me. After all, I was trying to build a strong house! The rain didn’t change directions upon seeing my house. On the contrary, it seemed like the rain called the lightning and thunder to come along with it. I couldn’t understand and I thought that my house wasn’t strong enough.
Building your house on the Rock requires a lot more effort than on the sand and involves denying oneself (Lk 9:23-26). It seemed like I wasn’t trying hard enough, but at the same time, it was too much effort for it not to have worked.
It was only very recently, after years of singing the song that narrates this parable for children, that my brain processed both the house of the wise and the foolish as they each went through tribulations. The rain, the wind, and the floods reached both! It is not because the wise man perfectly obeyed the Lord that he would not go through difficult times.
How did I not realize this? Jesus Himself told us that we would go through difficult moments in life (Jn 16:33). The difference is that, in the case of the wise man who put the Word of God into practice, his house withstood the tribulations.
Jesus explained very clearly that all who practice the Word of God will be able to withstand the tribulations and challenges of life.
I later realized that after the rains, winds, and floods of difficulties, tribulations, and suffering, my house was still standing… not because I was good, or a super civil engineer, or I myself was strong. But because even though my effort was only enough to build an unstable and precarious shack, the Lord is the eternal Rock (Is 26:4).
After a storm, it might take a while before you are able to “get the house in order.” Part of the roof might have fallen off and the wind may have torn down some things. It might take a while before everything that was drenched by the rains has time to dry. But your house will still be standing. You will still be standing!
“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” (Jn 16:33).
What areas of your life are being rained on and wind-beaten but are still standing?
