One of my Facebook friends, who I went to high school with, had a post today about prayer. I have been really burdened in the past few months to “pray without ceasing.” My Mom and stepdad are both in hospice now. And my family needs prayer for so many reasons. Since becoming a true believer of Jesus Christ, I have experienced some of the most awesome answers to prayer. Answers that would give you goose bumps and chill you! I find that when I pray I am drawn closer to the heart of God, and that’s where I want to be…..as close to His heart as I can get.
Even though I have been a believer for several years, and have taken prayer seriously, I'm just now beginning to understand this as a discipline. The bigness of it. The effects of it. The privilege of it.
There are so many awesome scriptures on prayer….so many quotes by really wonderful people on prayer…..so many good pray-ers. No one really needs me to write a blog post on it.
But here lately, I have been finding so much joy in praying. Instead of it being a monotonous ritual or an anxiety filled plea - it's become more of a communing. It's something I crave. Something I need. Not something I dread. Not something I fear. It's also been more about intercession. That is, praying for other people - interceding for them. I have found so much satisfaction in this. Excitement, even! I've discovered that praying for another person's needs causes a fountain of love and contentment to well up inside - causing the tumult within my own heart to cease. I know that sounds cheesy but it's true.
Right now, outside the bedroom window at my Mom’s house, there is a gazing globe sitting on a stand that is secured in the ground. It has become my daily focal point, if you will. When I look in the globe I can see behind me and all around me. When I am out walking Abbott, my Mom’s canine child, I always go by the gazing globe and stare at it to see just what I can see around me. Things that I might otherwise miss. And when I am sitting with her in her room, I peer out the window into the globe. It serves as a reminder that there is a whole world of people that I can’t see, so many needs of others that I miss or that go un-noticed…by me, not by God. There are people who are missed, those who need the love and compassion of Jesus. And it reminds me to pray for them. It's powerful.
What can I pray about for YOU? Please take me up on this. It would be my pleasure to lift you up in intercession. I'm setting aside some extra time just to pray for you. Take courage in that! I have also joined PRAYBOOK, which interfaces with Facebook. Any of you who are my FB friends, will be getting messages from me about once a week, as I am given a random selection of my FB friends to pray for each day, so that in the course of a week, I have prayed for each FB friend specifically.
I'll leave you with some wisdom far richer than anything I could ever conjure up! Be blessed, friends - and know that you are loved....and prayed for!
Pray without ceasing. - 1 Thessalonians 5:17 ( this is part of my life’s verse..”Be joyful always, pray continually, IN ALL circumstances, give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
"I am so grateful I did not wait until I was perfect or had everything straight before praying for others, otherwise I would never have begun." - Richard Foster
Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. - Jeremiah 33:3
"Understand that praying is more than bowing your head and saying your prayers. Your whole life can be a prayer." - from Checklist for a Woman's Life
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He made abide with you forever. - John 14:16
Lord, lead me in prayer. Meet me in prayer. Teach me how to pray. Let the Spirit pray through me. Bring people and things to my mind that you want prayed for. And let me heed the call. Please bless everyone who stops by my blog with a deep reassurance of Your goodness. Thank you Lord for all you do for us, even when we are do undeserving! We praise you.
In Jesus, Amen.
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