My favorite questions to ask people are, “How was your week?” and “Is there anything we can lift up for you in prayer?” It is rare that a person has no need for prayer. This world is too full of trouble and trials to pass up even one day without prayer. In fact, God’s Word admonishes us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-28).
Living with a prayer in our heart is a common habit of authentic Born Again Believers. We realize that we can do nothing without God (John 15:5-7), and that all things are possible only with God (Matthew 19:26; Proverbs 3:5-6). God’s Holy Spirit inspires us to pray for people even when we have no concept of their need – He knows, and that is all that matters.
One day I woke up with a disappointed church member on my heart. His life fell apart, and he became a recluse, dropping out of church attendance and fellowship. I prayed for him for several hours that day. That evening, without knowing about my prayer focus, my Pastor-husband told me God gave him a divine appointment with this same man, and they had a great time of chatting about so many things.
The next Baptist Men’s group meeting rolled around, and my husband invited this man to attend and eat some of the Southern Gumbo he was preparing for the group at our former Bluebird Café. I was washing dishes at home and guess who I saw walking across the lawn toward the Bluebird? Yep…
God uses prayer to do spiritual warfare in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). His angelic Beings, who are for us, war against satanic forces that fight against us. When we pray, we allow God’s Spirit to use us to verbalize the will of God for our self, our family, our neighbors, and our acquaintances.
Prayer:
Father God, thank You that through the “hard knocks” of my life I learned that a codependent lifestyle is demonic oppression; that our thoughts often negatively control our emotions; and that repressed emotions in our subconscious mind continue to affect our conscious thoughts. You taught me to allow openness to Your will to keep me in Your peace, and that the fruit of Your Spirit can replace the negative characteristics of our personality (Galatians 5:22-23).
I also learned to surrender complete control of my body, soul, and spirit to You and to allow patience to have her perfecting work in me (1 Thessalonians 5:15-25; James 1:3-4). I quit using anger, anxiety, and worry as tools of self-preservation; and instead, I learned to trust You in each moment of time to work out every trial for my good (Romans 8:28). Thank You that our faith in Your faithfulness fills our life with overflowing joy.
Thoughts for the Day:
We are not dependent on what others think and feel about us, but only on God’s searching inventory of our life. If He points out a sin to us, we repent and rely on Him to free us from its bondage. If He changes the direction of our life, we submit to His choice for us and trust only and completely in His goodness, grace, and compassion, even if we do not know where we are going, and if His direction makes no human sense at all.
- Genesis 12:1; Galatians 5:1; Psalm 139:23-24
