Praise God for Delights

What things draw your eyes up towards God in heaven? 

Take time today to praise God for the delights around you that draw your attention to Him. 

When I was hiking, I saw a hollow tree stump with a hole at the bottom. I snaked my camera inside for this shot. 

A New Series: Nature Prayers

When I go hiking in nature, I can hear God speaking through the things that I see. 

So for the foreseeable future, this will be a new series here: a nature picture and how it prompts me to reflect on my relationship with God. 

What places is it easier for you to hear from God? 

How often do you visit those places? 

How do you record and remember the lessons that the Spirit is teaching you? 

Praying for the Fatherless, Orphans, and Widows

God cares for those who are lonely, struggling, and without advocates.

One special group that appears over and over again are widows and orphans (or the fatherless). 

The word "fatherless" appears 41 times in the NIV Bible.

The word "orphan" appears 4 times in the NIV Bible. 

The word "widow" appears 103 times in the NIV Bible. 

As you take time to read over these verses, let them guide your prayers. As you notice God's heart for these people, pray that your heart may be aligned with His. 

How is the Spirit convicting you help widows and orphans (or the fatherless) today? This week? This month? This year? 

Praying For Our Enemies

 I know. I know. You have no enemies.

Except, our nation and world are more divided than ever.

Praying for our enemies might be praying for those who hold the opposite position on the hill we die on.

Praying for our enemies might be praying for those across the aisle politically.

Praying for our enemies might be praying for the politician that you despise...errr...have no respect for.

Praying for our enemies might be praying for the side we don't support in the war, be it Russia or Ukraine, Gaza/Hamas or Israel, or even cultural wars.

What does the Bible have to say about our enemies? 

1. We were once God's enemies; but He sent His Son to reconcile us to Him. (See Romans 5:10 and Colossians 1:21)

2. Jesus specifically commanded us to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors. (See Matthew 5:43-48)

3. Luke 6:27-36 takes #2 even further by commanding us to love our enemies, to do good to him, and lend to them without expectations of it being returned. 

How can you pray for your enemies?

Prayer Goal for 2024: Praying More

Let us actually make the effort to devote time to prayer. 

For far too long, I have given lip service to the importance of prayer, but have failed to apply it to my life. 

I would read how spiritual giants like Martin Luther, John Wesley, George Whitefield, E.M. Bounds, and John Welch would spend at least 2-3 hours a day in prayer, and in some cases up to 4-8 hours in prayer and study. 

Normally, this would be where I gave up, because who has that kind of time? 

But, we tend to view things in absolutes. If I am praying, I am doing nothing else. I must be shut up in a room to properly prayer. 

Yet, for Christians, prayer can be any time, any place, and during any activity. We can pray while walking, washing dishes, or folding laundry. 

A monk by the name of Brother Lawrence wrote a book (The Practice of the Presence of God) which can instruct us in the art of praying while working.

Let us resolve to spend more time communing with God, sharing our day with Him and lifting up simple prayers in secret while we go about our days. 

Praying in Secret and Simply

Spoiler Alert: The next blogpost scheduled is about praying as we go about our day, so it seemed prudent to have this post about Jesus' command to pray in secret.

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, gives us instructions/commands on how we should pray.

He tells us NOT to pray hypocritically, to be seen by others. 

He tells us to pray by going into our room and closing the door before praying.

He tells us NOT to pray with many words or by babbling on.

He reminds us that God knows our needs before we ask Him for anything.

(See Matthew 6:5-8)

Every few years, there is a storm of social media activity, because some Christian coach is in trouble for praying with their team on the sporting field. I sit back and watch people get upset at how "persecuted" we are because we are not being allowed to publicly lead prayer at a school event. But we shouldn't be surprised when we are facing opposition, when we are disobeying the commands of Jesus.

Jesus did not command His followers to make public prayer the hill that we die on.

In fact, he condemned public, showy prayers that are meant to be seen by people.

He commanded us to go off in private to pray in secret. 

So let us obey Jesus by praying in secret

Therefore, when the next post challenges us to pray throughout our days, I am not referring to verbal prayers or even whispered prayers, with folded hands or outstretched arms. We can pray silently, as we go through our daily activities, whether that is at work or at home. And no one will be the wiser. If people are noticing, then we are praying too publicly. 

Likewise, we are commanded NOT to pray with many words. 

We are not begging a distant god to listen to us and do good in our world.

He's not counting the number of words or repetitions in our prayers, so He can finally act once we hit the magic number.

So let our prayers be simple. We can pack a lot of prayers in a simple sentence or two. 

God, draw them closer to You.

Thank You, Lord, for a warm sweater today.

That person looks sad. Holy Spirit, comfort them.

I am here to be used by You today. 

Praying Holistic Prayer

Holistic is a fancy word that means that whole is more than the sum of its parts. In the medical field, it involves looking at the whole person, physically, socially, and psychologically when treating them.

We can also apply this to our prayers.

Holistic Intercession: to intercede for people entirely, as we pray for their physical needs, social needs, psychological needs, spiritual needs, and so on. 

When we are hurting physically, it impacts the other areas of our life.

When we are stressed financially, this stress shows up in our relationships, physical health, and emotions.

When we have a broken relationship, it strains the other areas of our life as well. 

Let us consider ways that we can pray for people's...

*Physical Needs: What are their health and environmental concerns? 

*Spiritual Needs: Are they in a relationship with God? Are they growing in that relationship? 

*Financial Needs: Do they have enough money to meet their needs? What debts or insecurity are they facing? 

*Mental Needs: What anxiety, worry, or stress is on their minds? What is taking up their brain-space? 

*Emotional Needs: What emotions are they experiencing this day? What emotions do they need? 

How can we pray for people holistically? 

Are we better at praying for their body, mind, or spirit?

What area is the Spirit challenging us to pray for?