What's wrong with me? I thought to myself as tears streamed down my face. Why am I having such trouble calming down? It's been an hour!
I'm not big on crying. It annoys me. I don't even like to cry in front of myself! When my tear ducts decide to overflow on me I go into the bathroom, shut the door, and keep the lights off so I can't see myself in the mirror, compose myself in a timely manner, and go on with life.
Not this time.
I had just been convicted of my lack of quiet times, so I resolved to get up early the next morning, to have coffee with God to make up for lost time. My reading was Solomon's dedication of the temple. That portion of Scripture is filled with God's covenant faithfulness towards Israel. I highlighted, circled, and underlined like crazy! Then I moved on to prayer.
At first I was just thanking God for mundane things, when out of nowhere my younger brother's name popped into my head. I wasn't really sure why. The last I had heard, he'd settled pretty well into school up north and that he was doing great. Because I thought of him, though, I began to pray for him. I wasn't sure what to pray exactly, so I prayed over him what I had learned in my reading: that God's faithfulness would be made known to him, and that God would become ever more real in his life.
As I prayed I began to cry, which, like I said before, was unusual for me. Something was going on. I sent Luke a quick text letting him know that he was on my heart and that I had prayed like crazy for him. The tears continued to come.
I got a shower, brushed my teeth, and began studying for the day, and still I cried.
That evening Luke and I skyped each other. When he asked what I had prayed for him, and when he heard my answer, he responded with, "Wow! That's exactly what I needed!" I almost fell out of my chair at that!
--------------------------------------------------------
What I am getting at with this narrative is that God has opened my eyes to a new passion --> intercessory prayer.
Oh how I love to pray for other people!
Yes, I pray for myself all the time, and there is a time and a place for that, but during those times when God has given me a break from my own mountain climbing, I love to pray for those who are in the climbing process! As I began to realize this, God brought many people into my life who needed prayer and were willing to share with me.
I can't tell you how many hurting people came to me last semester, either just needing someone to listen first and then pray later, or for someone to pray with them right away. Some of my favorite memories from last semester were the times when I and all my roommates gathered together in our living room to pray for each other as various situations came up.
What a beautiful picture of the body of Christ, coming together, sharing each others pain, and bringing it before the only One who could truly teach and mold us through our circumstances.
You know what? It's encouraging to me to get to see my prayers answered. It doesn't always happen, but I praise and thank God when He allows me to catch a glimpse of what He's doing. I fall ever more in love with Him regardless of whether or not I see that my prayers have an affect because I am spending more time with Him.
Spending time with God.
What a wonderful, wonderful blessing that we should never take for granted!
I get to have a relationship with God, and I get to commune with Him. WOW! I am constantly blown away by that!
On Sunday during communion, I remember begging God to help me never cease to be in a state of awe at the work on the cross.
And that's one of the reasons why I love intercession. It is because of the finished work on the cross, because the sinless savior died and rose again, that I have faith. It is because of my redemption that I have hope for tomorrow, and it's because of that hope I know it's worth it to pray for others.
Is it strange that I feel the most useful in God's kingdom when I'm flat on my face on my bedroom floor?
Intercessory prayer is my passion, and I hope God will continue to bring me to my knees on behalf of my brothers and sisters for the rest of my life.
I'm not big on crying. It annoys me. I don't even like to cry in front of myself! When my tear ducts decide to overflow on me I go into the bathroom, shut the door, and keep the lights off so I can't see myself in the mirror, compose myself in a timely manner, and go on with life.
Not this time.
I had just been convicted of my lack of quiet times, so I resolved to get up early the next morning, to have coffee with God to make up for lost time. My reading was Solomon's dedication of the temple. That portion of Scripture is filled with God's covenant faithfulness towards Israel. I highlighted, circled, and underlined like crazy! Then I moved on to prayer.
At first I was just thanking God for mundane things, when out of nowhere my younger brother's name popped into my head. I wasn't really sure why. The last I had heard, he'd settled pretty well into school up north and that he was doing great. Because I thought of him, though, I began to pray for him. I wasn't sure what to pray exactly, so I prayed over him what I had learned in my reading: that God's faithfulness would be made known to him, and that God would become ever more real in his life.
As I prayed I began to cry, which, like I said before, was unusual for me. Something was going on. I sent Luke a quick text letting him know that he was on my heart and that I had prayed like crazy for him. The tears continued to come.
I got a shower, brushed my teeth, and began studying for the day, and still I cried.
That evening Luke and I skyped each other. When he asked what I had prayed for him, and when he heard my answer, he responded with, "Wow! That's exactly what I needed!" I almost fell out of my chair at that!
--------------------------------------------------------
What I am getting at with this narrative is that God has opened my eyes to a new passion --> intercessory prayer.
Oh how I love to pray for other people!
Yes, I pray for myself all the time, and there is a time and a place for that, but during those times when God has given me a break from my own mountain climbing, I love to pray for those who are in the climbing process! As I began to realize this, God brought many people into my life who needed prayer and were willing to share with me.
I can't tell you how many hurting people came to me last semester, either just needing someone to listen first and then pray later, or for someone to pray with them right away. Some of my favorite memories from last semester were the times when I and all my roommates gathered together in our living room to pray for each other as various situations came up.
What a beautiful picture of the body of Christ, coming together, sharing each others pain, and bringing it before the only One who could truly teach and mold us through our circumstances.
You know what? It's encouraging to me to get to see my prayers answered. It doesn't always happen, but I praise and thank God when He allows me to catch a glimpse of what He's doing. I fall ever more in love with Him regardless of whether or not I see that my prayers have an affect because I am spending more time with Him.
Spending time with God.
What a wonderful, wonderful blessing that we should never take for granted!
I get to have a relationship with God, and I get to commune with Him. WOW! I am constantly blown away by that!
On Sunday during communion, I remember begging God to help me never cease to be in a state of awe at the work on the cross.
And that's one of the reasons why I love intercession. It is because of the finished work on the cross, because the sinless savior died and rose again, that I have faith. It is because of my redemption that I have hope for tomorrow, and it's because of that hope I know it's worth it to pray for others.
Is it strange that I feel the most useful in God's kingdom when I'm flat on my face on my bedroom floor?
Intercessory prayer is my passion, and I hope God will continue to bring me to my knees on behalf of my brothers and sisters for the rest of my life.
