More on Prayer
I great lady by the name of Charlotte Dennis was in a Sunday School class with me about 10 years ago. We were talking in this class about a concern that someone had and I told them that they could pray. Charlotte wanted to make sure the emphasis was placed properly in that sentence. She spoke up and said. We CAN pray. Charlotte was one of those quite people that when they did talk it was usually something deep and profound. She wanted us to make sure that we understood the power that is ours when we pray and how fortunate that we are to pray. Prayer is not something that we do when nothing else works. Prayer is the most powerful thing that we can do. To pray for someone and with someone is awesome and powerful. It is a gift that is ours. We CAN pray. We are able to place our lives and the lives of others into the hands of God. We CAN pray. We are able to talk and listen to God; to share our lives with God and God hears us and cares about us. We can pray. We have access to the power that raised Lazarus from the dead and formed the earth and everything in it. We CAN pray.
A few years ago, I was at a Casting Crowns concert in St. Louis, MO. During there concert they played all of the songs on their newest album except for one. The name of the song they did not sing was "Prayer for a Friend."
For several weeks before this concert I had been praying about how I could sacrifice some things in my life so that I could give to a project that was happening in the church. As I prayed, I felt that God was telling me that I should quit chewing tobacco and the money that was saved there could go to the project at the church. Now, I had tried to quit several times before and every time I had been unsuccessful. I had been chewing most of my life, about 23 years. I knew that the reason I could never quit before was because I just could not let go. I was not sure that I could do it this time for the same reason. So, I didn't tell anyone that this was what I was thinking. I didn't tell Nicole, my wife, because I was sure if I told her that I was even thinking about it she would really push me to do it. But God was working on me as I continued to pray about this opportunity to give to this project.
So back to the concert and that song. They didn't sing the song but at one time in the concert they stopped and each of the band members pulled stools up to the center of the stage and they sat down. They than began to just have a prayer time. One by one each of the members of the band prayed for people. They prayed for men, women, children, and youth. They prayed for couples and marriages. They prayed for people who were sick and peoples needs. At one point a member of the band prayed for people with addictions. And he prayed that they would "just let go." I have had lots of addictions in my life that God has gotten me through. In this moment I realized that This guy was praying for me. I was who he was talking about. It was my life that he was placing before God. I was the one addicted I needed to just let go. I was able to let go that day. In that moment I experienced the power of prayer in my life once again. This time, as a someone I didn't know lifted me up in prayer. I was thankful that they didn't sing the song that night and instead did what the song is talking about.
We CAN pray.
Love today.
In Christ's love and mine,
Doug
A few years ago, I was at a Casting Crowns concert in St. Louis, MO. During there concert they played all of the songs on their newest album except for one. The name of the song they did not sing was "Prayer for a Friend."
For several weeks before this concert I had been praying about how I could sacrifice some things in my life so that I could give to a project that was happening in the church. As I prayed, I felt that God was telling me that I should quit chewing tobacco and the money that was saved there could go to the project at the church. Now, I had tried to quit several times before and every time I had been unsuccessful. I had been chewing most of my life, about 23 years. I knew that the reason I could never quit before was because I just could not let go. I was not sure that I could do it this time for the same reason. So, I didn't tell anyone that this was what I was thinking. I didn't tell Nicole, my wife, because I was sure if I told her that I was even thinking about it she would really push me to do it. But God was working on me as I continued to pray about this opportunity to give to this project.
So back to the concert and that song. They didn't sing the song but at one time in the concert they stopped and each of the band members pulled stools up to the center of the stage and they sat down. They than began to just have a prayer time. One by one each of the members of the band prayed for people. They prayed for men, women, children, and youth. They prayed for couples and marriages. They prayed for people who were sick and peoples needs. At one point a member of the band prayed for people with addictions. And he prayed that they would "just let go." I have had lots of addictions in my life that God has gotten me through. In this moment I realized that This guy was praying for me. I was who he was talking about. It was my life that he was placing before God. I was the one addicted I needed to just let go. I was able to let go that day. In that moment I experienced the power of prayer in my life once again. This time, as a someone I didn't know lifted me up in prayer. I was thankful that they didn't sing the song that night and instead did what the song is talking about.
We CAN pray.
Love today.
In Christ's love and mine,
Doug
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