I knew I could do it as long as my two cousins were going to do it with me.  I was not a particularly good swimmer but that long winding slide that led to the pool just looked like too much fun to pass up; I was determined to not chicken out.    Well, too bad things did not go as planned.

Both of my cousins went first; boys aren’t typically scared of the fast and furious like careful little girls like myself are.  They quickly hopped on their mats and zoomed down.  Since everything looked super easy for them, I carelessly threw my mat down and hopped on for my ride.  To my detriment I did not realize how important it was to make sure my hind end landed squarely in the middle of my mat.  When this maneuver is not properly executed, your butt will not stay on your mat.  Of course, you will still be sliding down the slide, but probably not in an upright position.

I was on my head, then on my side.  I rode down frontwards, backwards and sideways.  I was hysterical and was helplessly grabbing for the hands of the shocked bystanders who were standing along the side of the water slide, waiting for their child to gleefully come down.  My parents watched me skid by frantically with horrified looks on their faces.  There was nothing they could do to help me, and sadly, we both knew it.  I was in for the literal ride of my life, and I was going to have to go it alone.  I splashed into the pool where my cousins were waiting for me.  Obviously, they heard me screaming all.the.way.down.

That was it.  I was done.  There was no way I would ever do that again.  Surprisingly, my cousins were able to talk me into trying one more time.  I got up to the top again, and when it was my turn, I made sure that I hopped on my mat correctly and I made it successfully (and quietly) down the slide and into the pool.  Praise the Lord!

“For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life,” Proverbs 6:23

There have been times when I have not had my head on straight or my heart right, and plunged down a road of sin, leaving a path of destruction.  Delving into sin can be like diving onto a slippery water slide that we are not prepared for.

In an effort to keep myself in check, I have a designated place in my structured prayer journal where I list the things I am struggling with.  Once I have identified a stronghold or an area of weakness, I like to look up scriptures that deal with that very bad habit.  I take those scriptures and recite them during my commute to work and meditate on them throughout the day.  When an opportunity to sin rears its ugly head, I recite the scripture.  I especially use them during prayer.

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11

I am excited to share a helpful tool that I like to use which helps me keep the correction and instruction of God’s Word in front of me.

It’s called OpenBible.info that houses a cross-reference Bible feature.  I go to the topical search page and key in words that represent my sin, and up pops a plethora of scriptures that I can choose from.  You can key in:

Anger

Gluttony

Gossip

Greed

Lust

just to name a few!  Try it out here!

Before you go…

Because the give-away was so successful, I decided that I would do another one in December, but with a little twist; I am going to up the ante this time.  This drawing will be for my blog subscribers.  If you are not a subscriber, you can become one here.This will be another 5-book give-away, plus one more special give-away for the subscriber who most creatively promotes Organizing Your Prayer Closet.  Just email me with details of all the different ways you promoted my book, and my ministry board and I will name a winner on December 20th.

Whomever does the most and is the most creative will win this really cool ASK cross necklace (valued at $38) with a copy of my book!

Here are some idea starters:

• Tweet your love using #OrganizingYourPrayerClosetBook
• Post a picture of yourself with Organizing Your Prayer Closet Book on Instagram
• Tell me how many books you purchased as gifts
• Start your own small group of structured prayer journalers using my small group guide
• Mention Organizing Your Prayer Closet in your Facebook posts.
• Write an online book review of my book for Amazon or Barnes & Noble, etc.
• Write a blog post about it.
• ETC!!!

Thank you, friends!

~gina

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Award-winning author Gina Duke is a wife, mom and the Director of Women’s Ministry at her local church. With a B.S. in Organizational Leadership, she is able to bring a clear word for authentic Christian living. Through her book, “Organizing Your Prayer Closet: A New and Life-Changing Way to Pray” (Abingdon Press), she imparts 1 Peter 4:7 with the gift of structured prayer journaling. If you would like to schedule Gina to speak on prayer or host a prayer journaling workshop, click here for more information. You may also follow her on Twitter and Instagram @TheGinaDuke.

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