Reason #931
My heart has been heavy today. The heaviest it has felt in a long time. Burdened for the world. All of it. Burdened for people I don't know, but I know what they are going through. I don't know from experience, but I've read about it. I've read the horrifying stories, refused to look at the graphic pictures, and I know that none of it is good.
And as I prayed for these people, as I desperately asked that the Lord would intervene in one of those big Old Testament ways, I started to feel guilty. I felt guilty for all that I have. For living where I do. For the fact that I am where I am and they are where they are. And I wondered why. But the thing is, we can't spend our time wondering. We can't spend our time questioning God. We can't figure it out either. And I feel so bad that I can't do anything about it. It seems like no one can.
We pray about things when they are happening to us. If it affects our lives or someone in our immediate circle, we're on it. I remember walking through my darkest days, which pale in comparison to the things many of God's children are facing right now, and I coveted peoples' prayers. I asked for them, and I hoped with all of my heart that the people who said they were praying for me really were praying for me. I even had friends of friends of friends who were praying for me, and I was grateful. Why, you ask? Because their prayers were working. Sure, I was praying for myself, but I wasn't alone in the battle. So many other people were lifting me up, and I could feel it. I could feel the effects of their prayers, and I could see them being played out before my very eyes. James 5:16 says, "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." And it's true. God heard their prayers, He heard my prayers, and God responded.
Prayer works. I think we tend to overlook it because it seems so simple. It seems too easy. We feel that there must be a more complicated, concrete method. But the Lord asks us to pray. He asks us to lay our burdens at His feet. And maybe, sometimes, those burdens belong to someone else. Maybe that believer is just loaded down with more than they feel they can handle, and they need our help, too. They need us to join them in their battle. We can stand back, watch, and feel helpless that we can't do anything for them, or we can pray. We can ask that the One who can do something for them would. We can intercede for those who can't find the words to pray because whether the prayer is coming straight from their lips or from our lips on their behalf, God hears them. In fact, He may be leading you to pray for them because they're too weary to do it on their own. Maybe their faith is being stretched thin and your prayers are the very thing that's keeping it in tact. After all, I don't think there is such a thing as too much prayer.
So Lord, we ask that you would do mighty things for your people. That you would encourage them and strengthen them. That you would continue to be Jehovah Jireh, their provider, in the midst of great loss. That you would help them endure and persevere. In the midst of fear, persecution, difficulties, and trials, fill them with your peace that surpasses all understanding. And we ask, Lord, that you would rescue your people. That you would provide for them a way out. That even in their darkest days, they would experience you in such a mighty way. Protect your children. Be their refuge and their strong tower. Honor their faithfulness. And as they face life and death circumstances, give them the courage to choose you and to keep choosing you. To proclaim your goodness even when it's hard to see. To believe that you have the last say, the final victory. And may you use it all to bring glory to your name. May lives be changed and hearts be turned to you because of the testament of their great faith, Lord. And help us to see beyond the here and now. To remember your promises of what is to come. To cling to them, to believe them, and to hold true to them. And thank you, Lord, for having a greater plan. Though we can't see it, and though we can't understand it, we trust that you will work all things out for the good. Somehow, someway, you will. And so give us eyes that can see you in the darkest moments, give us ears that can hear you through the lies, give us hearts that can feel you through the pain, and give us unwavering faith to withstand the storms that we will face.
#931 - Because He will respond.
"He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea." - Psalm 102:17
And as I prayed for these people, as I desperately asked that the Lord would intervene in one of those big Old Testament ways, I started to feel guilty. I felt guilty for all that I have. For living where I do. For the fact that I am where I am and they are where they are. And I wondered why. But the thing is, we can't spend our time wondering. We can't spend our time questioning God. We can't figure it out either. And I feel so bad that I can't do anything about it. It seems like no one can.
We pray about things when they are happening to us. If it affects our lives or someone in our immediate circle, we're on it. I remember walking through my darkest days, which pale in comparison to the things many of God's children are facing right now, and I coveted peoples' prayers. I asked for them, and I hoped with all of my heart that the people who said they were praying for me really were praying for me. I even had friends of friends of friends who were praying for me, and I was grateful. Why, you ask? Because their prayers were working. Sure, I was praying for myself, but I wasn't alone in the battle. So many other people were lifting me up, and I could feel it. I could feel the effects of their prayers, and I could see them being played out before my very eyes. James 5:16 says, "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." And it's true. God heard their prayers, He heard my prayers, and God responded.
Prayer works. I think we tend to overlook it because it seems so simple. It seems too easy. We feel that there must be a more complicated, concrete method. But the Lord asks us to pray. He asks us to lay our burdens at His feet. And maybe, sometimes, those burdens belong to someone else. Maybe that believer is just loaded down with more than they feel they can handle, and they need our help, too. They need us to join them in their battle. We can stand back, watch, and feel helpless that we can't do anything for them, or we can pray. We can ask that the One who can do something for them would. We can intercede for those who can't find the words to pray because whether the prayer is coming straight from their lips or from our lips on their behalf, God hears them. In fact, He may be leading you to pray for them because they're too weary to do it on their own. Maybe their faith is being stretched thin and your prayers are the very thing that's keeping it in tact. After all, I don't think there is such a thing as too much prayer.
So Lord, we ask that you would do mighty things for your people. That you would encourage them and strengthen them. That you would continue to be Jehovah Jireh, their provider, in the midst of great loss. That you would help them endure and persevere. In the midst of fear, persecution, difficulties, and trials, fill them with your peace that surpasses all understanding. And we ask, Lord, that you would rescue your people. That you would provide for them a way out. That even in their darkest days, they would experience you in such a mighty way. Protect your children. Be their refuge and their strong tower. Honor their faithfulness. And as they face life and death circumstances, give them the courage to choose you and to keep choosing you. To proclaim your goodness even when it's hard to see. To believe that you have the last say, the final victory. And may you use it all to bring glory to your name. May lives be changed and hearts be turned to you because of the testament of their great faith, Lord. And help us to see beyond the here and now. To remember your promises of what is to come. To cling to them, to believe them, and to hold true to them. And thank you, Lord, for having a greater plan. Though we can't see it, and though we can't understand it, we trust that you will work all things out for the good. Somehow, someway, you will. And so give us eyes that can see you in the darkest moments, give us ears that can hear you through the lies, give us hearts that can feel you through the pain, and give us unwavering faith to withstand the storms that we will face.
#931 - Because He will respond.
"He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea." - Psalm 102:17
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