Thursday, April 15, 2010

The Power of Prayer

Stormie O'Martian had it nailed when she wrote all those "The Power of a Praying _______" books.  There really is something HUGE in prayer. 

I've been extending that part of my life lately, and some of the things I'm seeing as a result are almost comical.  Like, "if I don't laugh at how CRAZY INSANE this is that God is doing this, I'd be on the floor bawling" kind of stuff.  And sometimes I do just that anyway.

It's just amazing.  Not only do I pray in the morning, and at bedtime and at meals {first of all, I need to back up and say that I usually forget to pray at bedtime, so I guess that statement is false}, but I've learned to just pray in the middle of whatever I'm doing. 

Having a bad day?  Prayer solves it.  It's hard to focus on the bad when you're communicating with the God of the universe.

Bored out of my mind {like in being a tcap proctor all week}?  Pray right through it.  God will give you attention, focus, and He will keep your mind centered on whatever task is at hand.

Worried?  Fearful {like of the volcano that just erupted in Iceland, ummmmm, hello????}  God takes our all anxiety away.  His Word says so.  1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."  Doesn't get much simpler than that, does it?  That's the NIV translation, by the way.

Having a moment when you're kind of {slightly, HUGELY} agitated at the kids?  Uttering a quick, heartfelt, "Lord, I need You.  I need You to guide me at this whole parenting thing.  I need You to lead me, and to tell me what to say and when to say it." will do wonders.  WONDERS, I tell you.  It is time tested {and kid approved} in my house, and let me just say that I utter that quite often.  Because you KNOW Daddy is never home when all the loveliness comes down. 

Having a complete, utterly helpless, "freak out moment"???  Read above verse.  1 Peter 5:7.  I'll write it out again, just in case you didn't catch it the first time.  "Cast ALL your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you."

The end.  Period.  The train stops right there. 

God takes all our anxieties.  Every single one. 

But why is it that trusting God is so hard?  Because we don't see Him?  We're not sure that He's going to answer the way we want Him to? 

1 Peter 1:8 says this: "Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an expressible and glorious joy...."

2 Corinthians 4:18  "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Faith. 

Prayer.

Persistent prayer. 

Keep trying it.  God might not answer the way you want Him to answer, but He will hear your pleas.  He will answer...and He will show you that no matter which way He does answer, it will be far better than you could have ever dreamed or imagined.

One more and I'm done.


Isaiah 58:11  "The LORD will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun~scorched land and will strengthen your frame..."

Pray.

Push through it.

P.U.S.H. through it.

P=Pray

U=Until

S=Something

H=Happens

Pray. 

Push through it.

P.U.S.H. through it. 

Love to all.

1 comment:

Dawn Jenkins said...

P.U.S.H. - putting that on a notecard! Thanks!

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