Who Should We Talk About?

I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. Psalm 16:7 (NLT)

I don’t know about you but lately, I’ve been waking up a lot in the middle of the night. I don’t normally do this but in the last few weeks it seems to be a thing. For a while, I was praying and asking God to help me go back to sleep. And ask each moment went by, I got more and more frustrated.

Mostly, I woke up the next day tired and annoyed.

But then I started thinking “OK, if I am going to be awake, what do you want to talk about?” This turned into “Who do you want to talk about?” I would wake up, lay there for a minute and ask God who he wanted to talk about and names would pop into my head. I spent these moments (sometimes longer) praying for someone.

Honestly, I find this totally amazing. The names that pop into my head are random. Sometimes they are people I know and am in relationship with. Sometimes, I know what to pray about. Sometimes, they are people I haven’t seen in many years and I have no clue. But I pray anyway.

I’ve also had people tell me that God has placed me on their heart. I absolutely love this. I love that God is prompting me to pray for people and prompting people to pray for me. I love that God wants to talk to us about each other so we can wield the strongest weapon we have at our disposal. Prayer.

Do you want to know what else I find amazing in all this? After I pray for them, I go back to sleep, perfectly at peace.

God is alive and well, taking care of his kids. If you happen to wake up in the middle of the night, ask God who he wants to talk about? And then do it! It’s probably the only time you should engage in talking about people!

Fighting Back

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray.  James 5:13 (NLT)

I was talking to someone the other day about a project that he was working. He was very frustrated because it seemed like he took two steps forward and one step back. Things seemed harder than they needed to be.

We shared together and prayed about it asking God to bless and to show the path.

As we were leaving each other, I turned around and said “Keep your chin up.” He smiled and said, “When you go into battle you are supposed to keep your chin down.” I laughed and agreed. As I walked toward my car he said “You know, when you bow your head in prayer, you are keeping your chin down too.”

And so it is. When circumstances seem to battle against us and just getting to the next step seems harder than it should be, we have to take up our battle stance. And that stance is prayer. With our head bowed, we give to God what is always his; the battle, the outcome and the victory. And then, we keep walking ready for the fight.

A Minute In It - Comforted in God's Word

Some days, we need to read God's Word to feel comforted. Praying for the families and people in Las Vegas and in our country.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (KJV)

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever. (NIV)

Until Then......

and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.  
2 Chronicles 7:14 (HCSB)

I was listening to a song today by Casting Crowns called Prayer For A Friend. Here are some of the lyrics.

Lord, I lift my friend to You, I've done all that I know to do
I lift my friend to You
Complicated circumstances have clouded his view
Lord, I lift my friend up to You

I fear that I won't have the words that he needs to hear
I pray for Your wisdom, oh God, and a heart that's sincere
Lord, I lift my friend up to You

Lord, I lift my friend to You
My best friend in the world, I know he means much more to You
I want so much to help him, but this is something he has to do
And Lord, I lift my friend up to You

I love that song because it gets to the heart of what we should be doing for each other. I often sing it and fill in people's names in the place of "my friend." It's like praying to music. It brings me comfort. We should be praying for each other. We should be praying for our country and for the world. We should be praying that the hate and nastiness that abounds in the world will be gone.

Unfortunately, we know that will not happen until Jesus comes again. Until then, we need to pray.  "Even so, Come Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20