• kelly stanley
    Devotionals

    Prayer for the Unfocused

    PRAYER FOR THE UNFOCUSED [editor’s note: This is part of a series of guest posts by the lovely Kelly O’Dell Stanley. See her previous posts, Prayer for the Weary Parent and Prayer for the Overwhelmed by following the links!] Dear Lord, I’m so glad you are rock-steady, because I feel like I ricochet from one place to the next, faster than I can catch my breath. But it’s not just my activities—my mind, Lord, spins and whirs. So many distractions, so many thoughts, so many ideas, so much to do. I want to pray. I want to focus on you, to prioritize the things that matter and let everything else…

  • Kelly O'Dell Stanley on Devotional Diva
    Devotionals

    Prayer for Those Stuck In A Rut

    Prayer for Those Stuck In A Rut [Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series of devotionals by Praying Upside Down’s Kelly O’Dell Stanley. I am so grateful to have Kelly’s posts here on Devotional Diva. You can check out her other posts on prayer by following this link!] This is for all of you people out there who love God but sometimes get bored. Who have had good prayer lives but sometimes feel like you’ve lost that spark. Will you please pray with me? Lord, I love you, I do. That has never changed. I long to grow closer to you. I’m excited by the new things I discover in Your word,…

  • Kelly O’Dell Stanley on Devotional Diva
    Devotionals,  Faith

    Prayer for the Distracted

    Prayer for the Distracted [Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series of guest posts on prayer by Kelly O’Dell Stanley! Check out the previous prayers for the… Overwhelmed, Weary Parent, Unfocused, Comparer.] Dear Lord, I’m so glad that I can come to You at any time. But I wish I could focus more, that I wouldn’t start my prayer and already be distracted before the end of the sentence. I hope that it doesn’t indicate a lack of interest in You. You know my heart, better than I do, but I think my intentions are good. I just can’t still my brain enough to stay on one thought for very long. And…

  • Devotionals

    Prayer for the Comparer

    Prayer for the Comparer [Editor’s Note: This is the latest installment in a series of devotionals by Kelly O’Dell Stanley. Check out Prayer for the Unfocused, Prayer for the Weary Parent and Prayer for the Overwhelmed by following the links!] I confess my tendency to look at what someone else has with judgment, envy, longing. I fight feelings of jealousy when I see people who seem to have it all together—happy marriages, successful children, thriving careers, financial abundance. Wherever I look, I find myself feeling like I cannot measure up. I’m just not good enough. But instead of getting down on myself, I turn my disappointment towards others. I find myself feeling…

  • Devotionals,  Family

    Prayer for the Weary Parent

    But at the same time, I'm weary. It's hard to be a parent, to make decisions that aren't easy and won't make me popular. It's difficult to enforce the rules, day after day, to monitor behavior and ask them to pick things up and remind them to do homework and to not take it personally every time they resist.