When I awoke…

 

When I awoke…

Since my late husband and I celebrated monthly anniversaries as well as yearly anniversaries, when I awoke this morning, I wished him “Happy anniversary “…his parent’s anniversary is coming up in two days as well. So did a “shout out” to them as well…June is a big wedding  month…

I read this devotional by Ray Stedman and couldn’t help but think of each of the above…

When various people found out my husband had terminal cancer, prayer was spread throughout the world…just because of various connections…it was so humbling to know that people we knew and didn’t know took time to pray for him and our family…

The opportunity has  existed and still does to pray for those we know and don’t know for a variety of reasons…those in conflict, those serving anywhere in the world, those far from us or close by…those who are strangers or close friends..anyone God puts in our path or minds…we may never know the answers, but that should stop us…God has a plan….

Jesus prayed for us so long ago and they are still at work…

Thank YOU…

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

John 17:20-26 

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,  not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

2 Peter 3:8-9

Unceasing Prayer

A daily devotion for June 28th

From your friends at RayStedman.org

Read: Colossians 1:9-14

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. Col. 1:9a

Paul knows that the Colossian Christians are living in a dangerous world. A seething volcano of false teaching has begun to erupt and engulf them, threatening to destroy the simplicity of the faith that is producing such beauty and liberty in their lives. Paul is in Rome, a prisoner in chains, and unable to travel to Colossae, a thousand miles east, to help them. There is nothing he can do physically for them. But spiritually, he is a powerful prayer warrior who can create in their midst a tremendous opportunity to know truth that will free them and enable them to withstand the assault of false teaching. That, then, is what he is doing: he is praying for them.

The striking thing about this prayer is the very first sentence of it: “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you...” This was a continuing prayer. As far as we know, Paul had never been to Colossae. Apart from one or two among them, he did not personally know these believers. And yet he prays continually for them. When we come to statements like this in Scripture it is quite fair to ask, when did he do this? Day and night he is chained to a Roman guard, he never has a moment to himself. Awake or asleep, he is bound to his jailer. Furthermore, when he is awake, his friends are dropping by to see him to seek his counsel and instruction. He even ministers to the Roman guards, many of whom came to Christ, as we learn in the letter to the Philippians. He is busy writing letters, too, so when did he find time to pray for the Colossians?

The answer lies in having an ongoing life of prayer. This refers to quiet, whispered prayers and praises that flow from our hearts all day long. We use interruptions, people or events that break in unexpectedly upon our day, as calls to specific prayer. Most of us use mealtime to think of God and to voice our thanks to him. But more than food can call us to prayer. We can even use the newspaper or the television set in the same way. As world decision-makers are pictured before our eyes we can breathe a quiet prayer for them by name. We can read a newspaper prayerfully, whispering back to God our intercessions for those in need, about whom we are reading. When we run across someone, even in an impolite way, tripping us on the bus, jabbing us with an umbrella, dodging in front of us in traffic, God may be calling that particular individual to our attention in order to inspire prayer for him.

Have you ever prayed for people who cut in front of you in traffic, asking God to bless them, not blast them? That is what this is suggesting: that continual prayer arises constantly as a reaction to what you are going through. I am sure this explains the apostle's words here. Through the day he would think of the Colossians; how they were doing and what was threatening them, and he would breathe a prayer for them. This is what he means when he says, “we have not stopped praying for you.” We can pray for each other in the same wonderful way.

Lord, teach me the secret of ongoing prayer. Help me to see every event and every person in my life as an invitation to pray.

          

Life Application

Is communication with our Father becoming a spontaneous response to all of life? Are we faithful prayer-responders to the plethora of need continually surrounding us