Life can be hard and it can break your heart to hear of friends going through challenges that rock their world. On Saturday, good friends were shocked to hear that their eleven year old son had Leukemia. While his prognosis is excellent, it will be a long road back to health and my heart breaks for the fact that in an instant their lives have forever been changed.
Yet through it all, they are pressing forward relying on their faith and have adopted a family motto for the battle ahead; Be Strong and Courageous.
In my CBS (Community Bible Study) class, we've been studying Joshua and in the first chapter alone, God commands Joshua to "be strong and courageous" three times. When God says something that many times, He means it. Our Bible memory verse for last week was Joshua 1:9
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified: do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
This is the perfect verse for Cole's family as they walk through this storm in the months ahead. Not only are they not to be discouraged or terrified, they are to be confident that God is right there in the midst of it, at their side, feeling their fear, hearing their prayers, and bringing them comfort.
I'm confident that the story this family will have to share on the other side of this storm will bring God great glory, it will be one of God's constant presence and peace. He alone will see them through and He will never leave them or forsake them.
Be Strong and Courageous Cole. I can't wait to hear how God is using this young man in the years ahead to do mighty things, just like Joshua!
I love this song by Matthew West "Strong Enough" and I think it's a great reminder to that God will give us the strength and courage to face the challenge He sets before us. We don't have to be the strong one as Christ will be our strength when we are weak.
We'll be praying for you everyday.
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, January 12, 2009
Praying on the Spot
I'm trying to be deliberate in praying for others. I think about praying about others. I promise I'll pray for them and really mean to, but sometimes I feel like my own prayer life gets so bogged down with stuff that I don't always remember.
I don't always know why, but it's easier to pray for others when you are not sitting in parking lots waiting for pick up at schools focused on my own "Stuff." That's a great time to pray for my family, our needs, but, for some reason, not such a great time to pray for my friends and neighbors.
Oh sure, I can rattle off a prayer for a peaceful day, for my "to do list" to get down, for the safety of my children and the current state of our nation. However, to think about "others" needs and to place their needs before the throne takes more concentration.
Lately, I've decided to just pray on the spot. When someone asks me to pray for them, I just do then. Right then. On the phone, in the hallway at school, wherever we are right then.
The other day a friend called to tell me a heartbreaking story about a family whose child had died at birth. My friend had just lost her own baby the same way three months prior. She was boldly going to the hospital to offer them hope, comfort and knowledge. What a brave and courageous move to walk right back into the same environment where she had experienced deep loss.
Rather than say I'll pray for you as you go; I did it then on the phone. I prayed and offered up my concern and love for my friend. I took it to God right away rather than make a promise to do it later. Yes I did pray that entire night whenever my thoughts turned to the situation (which it did a lot).
Today, the same opportunity presented itself to pray for a friend going through a health scare. I prayed out loud for my friend on the phone again. Why, because I knew my next few hours would be hectic with Girl Scouts and family responsibilities filling my day. I didn't want to forget and I wanted my friend to know that I was praying for her.
I don't say this to toot my own horn or to say I will always be so bold. It's just that I want to remember how impacting this move has been on my own life. It felt powerful to just stop, drop, and pray. To just take it to God right away.
It's also encouraged me to pray more for that person throughout my day. It's freed me up to just pray for others.
I've never been afraid to pray in a group, to pray at a restaurant with my family, but I've not always been so bold as to just pray with the person in need at the time the need was brought to me. Why? Because of my fear.
Amazingly just doing it this week has made me feel bolder, stronger, and more encouraged to not just promise to pray but to do it. Whenever. Wherever.
Maybe that will become my 2009 slogan: Stop. Drop. Pray. I'm thinking it could save as many lives from harm as the fire safety motto I've repeated time and again to my children.
I don't always know why, but it's easier to pray for others when you are not sitting in parking lots waiting for pick up at schools focused on my own "Stuff." That's a great time to pray for my family, our needs, but, for some reason, not such a great time to pray for my friends and neighbors.
Oh sure, I can rattle off a prayer for a peaceful day, for my "to do list" to get down, for the safety of my children and the current state of our nation. However, to think about "others" needs and to place their needs before the throne takes more concentration.
Lately, I've decided to just pray on the spot. When someone asks me to pray for them, I just do then. Right then. On the phone, in the hallway at school, wherever we are right then.
The other day a friend called to tell me a heartbreaking story about a family whose child had died at birth. My friend had just lost her own baby the same way three months prior. She was boldly going to the hospital to offer them hope, comfort and knowledge. What a brave and courageous move to walk right back into the same environment where she had experienced deep loss.
Rather than say I'll pray for you as you go; I did it then on the phone. I prayed and offered up my concern and love for my friend. I took it to God right away rather than make a promise to do it later. Yes I did pray that entire night whenever my thoughts turned to the situation (which it did a lot).
Today, the same opportunity presented itself to pray for a friend going through a health scare. I prayed out loud for my friend on the phone again. Why, because I knew my next few hours would be hectic with Girl Scouts and family responsibilities filling my day. I didn't want to forget and I wanted my friend to know that I was praying for her.
I don't say this to toot my own horn or to say I will always be so bold. It's just that I want to remember how impacting this move has been on my own life. It felt powerful to just stop, drop, and pray. To just take it to God right away.
It's also encouraged me to pray more for that person throughout my day. It's freed me up to just pray for others.
I've never been afraid to pray in a group, to pray at a restaurant with my family, but I've not always been so bold as to just pray with the person in need at the time the need was brought to me. Why? Because of my fear.
Amazingly just doing it this week has made me feel bolder, stronger, and more encouraged to not just promise to pray but to do it. Whenever. Wherever.
Maybe that will become my 2009 slogan: Stop. Drop. Pray. I'm thinking it could save as many lives from harm as the fire safety motto I've repeated time and again to my children.
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