Tag: Prayer

Hope, Help and a Prayer for the Hill Country

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The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. Psalm 34:18

Our hearts are grieving for those who have lost loved ones in the horrific disaster that happened along the Guadalupe River this past weekend. As we sort through the thoughts, feelings, and details of these events, I want to offer a prayer, a word of comfort, and ways we can help.

First, we must not dismiss the power of prayer or take it lightly. We have the privilege of going to our compassionate Heavenly Father and taking our hurts, cares, confusion, and requests to Him. I want to encourage you to set aside some time alone with Him to grieve and cry, and also ask for God’s comfort for all the families affected. The Bible tells us that God provides a “peace that passes all understanding.” He wraps His loving arms around us in times like these in ways that are beyond our comprehension. He is the God of comfort and knows how to meet us at our point of greatest need. Join me in prayer:

Father, our hearts are heavy with the loss of so many innocent lives. We don’t know how to comfort the hurting, but You do. Lord, we ask that you would lovingly care for and help the families we know personally, as well as all the ones throughout our state who are hurting from this loss. Lord, provide the loving arms that we are not able to provide right now. Heal their heart-wounds as only you can do over time. Help them find their hope and solace in you. Please be with the rescue efforts and help them to find all who are lost. We thank you for those who were rescued, and we ask for more miracles along the way. Lord, show us how we can help and serve, in Jesus’ Name, Amen

Secondly, a word of comfort. God is with us in our darkest hour. In death, He lovingly ushers His children into His presence. Psalm 34:7 says, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.” That deliverance is not from every bad circumstance here on earth – that deliverance is into His presence when we die. It is hard to understand why God may allow some to go to their Heavenly home early, but we do know that He lovingly ushers His beloved there. And they would not want to come back! We grieve the loss of their lives here, but His precious children are more alive than ever in His presence.

Times like these remind us of the brevity of life on this earth and spur us on to care for those around us with a deep and sincere love. We also begin to think of the reality of eternity and the joy of Heaven, which Jesus provides. Still, the sadness and grief on this earth are real, and we should not ignore the pain that they bring. May we live each day with an eternal perspective and yet a sensitivity to the heartaches of this world, knowing that this is not our final destination.

Finally, what can we do to help those who are in need?

Southern Oaks Church in Kerrville is accepting a variety of donations to support flood relief. Here’s their link:  https://southernoakschurch.com/

Community Foundation of Texas Hill Country created the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund that supports relief and rebuilding efforts. The Community Foundation will direct funds to vetted organizations providing assistance in Hunt, Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point, and Comfort. Here’s the link to donate: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201

And for those of you who know someone who has personally lost a loved one, ask the Lord for guidance and direction in how you can specifically help. Find out if they are taking food (or if a food train has been established) and bring them a meal. Sometimes I give a comfort basket with comforting items such as a journal, tea, mug, blanket, chocolates, etc. I encourage you to send a note or card as well. Don’t say too much – simply say you love them and are available to them. Our tendency sometimes is to try to explain why God allowed this or cheer them up, but we need to let them grieve and let them know we are thinking of them and care about them. Most importantly, they need to know you are there for them now and in the days to come. They will have a long journey of recovery.

Let us remain prayerful for our fellow Texans and seek God’s direction on how to love and help those who are hurting.

Creating a Prayer Strategy

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Welcome to Positive Life Principles with Karol Ladd. I’m so glad you have joined me here for a healthy dose of encouragement and wisdom. During the month of January, I’ve asked my friend Candace Gray to be my guest blogger and share her insights on starting the new year in a positive and productive way. Enjoy and be strengthened!

– Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

  Matthew 7:7

Do you have a strategic approach to your prayers? Being strategic is about being consistent and intentional. Making progress on meaningful goals can be a fight, so you need a battle strategy for the year.  Here are some things to consider:  how & when will you pray? What and who will you pray for? What are your go-to Scriptures that encourage you and remind you of truth? Who are the people who will encourage you, pray with you and challenge you?  Finally, does your prayer strategy include bold requests?  

There are many benefits and specific promises tied to prayer. James 5:16 tells us that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  Here are some suggestions for being strategic in prayer:

  1. Ask, Seek, Knock continuously.  Matthew 7:7-10. This passage is an encouragement to be persistent and consistent in prayer and you will be rewarded with a response. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (7:7)” Furthermore, the passage explains the heart of God and His willingness to respond to  His children. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for fish, will give Him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him. (7:9-10)”
  • Be bold. In Matthew 14:29, Peter asked Jesus to allow him to walk on water. Jesus’s response to him was, “Come.”  He allowed Peter to walk on water just because Peter was bold enough to ask.  Not one to waste an opportunity, Jesus used the experience to show His power and increase Peter’s faith.
  • Ask with confidence. 1 John 5:14-15 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God:  that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.”  Don’t over-analyze your prayers and hold back in what you ask of God. If you pray for something that is not in alignment with God’s will, know that He is good and He will sort it out. He does not punish you for asking.  Instead, He teaches you so that you grow in understanding His will.  Therefore, present the desires of your heart to God and let Him guide you in His will. If I pray for something that’s not good for me and is not born out of the right motives, God, in His kindness, will help me to come to that realization. In His mercy, He will not give me something that He knows will be harmful to me.

In the spirit of confidence in God and pursuing a focused, purposeful and bold new year, pray and seek:

  • God’s vision for you for this year; 
  • Ability to do more than you think is possible this year;
  • Wisdom, creativity and practical ideas for accomplishing your goals this year. 

About Candace: Candace Gray is a seasoned leader with a track record of living a life of purpose and helping others to do the same. She is a Senior Director for Buckner Children and Family Services and a longtime member of Concord Church in Dallas. 

If you’d like to follow her full 21-day devotional series, go to www.candacegray.com 

Photo by Diana Simumpande on Unsplash

Prayer Must Not be Our Chance Work

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Prayer must not be our chance work, but our daily business, our habit and vocation. As artists give themselves to their models, and poets to their classical pursuits, so must we addict ourselves to prayer.   Spurgeon

In his book entitled Prayer, Timothy Keller describes a conversation he had with his wife during a particularly challenging time in their lives. His wife Kathy urged him to pray with her every night and she used the following illustration to convince Him:

Imagine you were diagnosed with such a lethal condition that the doctor told you that you would die within hours unless you took a particular medicine – a pill every night before going to sleep. Imagine that you were told that you could never miss or you would die. Would you forget? Would you not get around to it for some nights? No – it would be so crucial that you wouldn’t forget, you would never miss. Well, if we don’t pray together to God, we’re not going to make it because of all we are facing. I’m certainly not. We have to pray, we can’t let it just slip our minds.*

Kathy recognized her desperate need to go to the Father for everything in her life. Last week I read through the book of Daniel and was inspired by his courage and faith, but more than that, I was moved by his commitment to prayer. Think about it, Daniel prayed even when the public policy was against him, and he could be thrown in the lion’s den.

If Daniel took life-risking measures to pray three times a day, then why am I not willing to get up a little earlier and spend time with the Father. Great work happens on our knees. God gives us insight on our knees. We grow more in love with Him, on our knees. We find comfort and peace on our knees. May we be determined not to make prayer a chance thing in our lives, but an essential part of each day.

Here’s one of Daniel’s prayers of praise after God:

Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
    wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons;
    he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what lies in darkness,
    and light dwells with him.
I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
    You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
    you have made known to us the dream of the king.

Daniel 2:20-23

Why wouldn’t we want to pray to a God like that?

* Tim Keller: Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God

Walking Together

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Enoch walked faithfully with God. Genesis 5:23

            When we walk with someone, we enjoy fellowship with them as we travel together. We have a choice to walk with God in a close relationship, or we can choose to wander in our own direction doing as we please. Enoch chose to walk with God. Additionally, the Bible tells us that, “Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.” Even in the Garden of Eden God we see a hint of God’s walking as we read, “The man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.”            

Paul wrote that just as we have received Christ Jesus as Lord, we are also to “walk in Him.”  We can walk with God as we pray to Him throughout our day. It’s one thing to know God as an acquaintance we simply see on Sundays. It’s another thing to walk with Him in close fellowship. God invites us to walk with Him. Will you accept the invitation?

This is an excerpt from my devotional Pursuing God in the Quiet Places

The Happiest Place on Earth

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julio-rivera-498705-unsplash

I did it again! I rushed into my day, with a long list of things that need to get done, and I didn’t even think about seeking God’s guidance and direction, much less His blessings and help. Nope, I just jumped into my To Do list. Ironically, one of the top agenda items was to send out my prayer requests to my prayer warrior friends! Guilty again of asking other people to pray for something that I haven’t even prayed about personally!

But in all this rush, God kindly and tenderly drew me to His throne and reminded me that the happiest place on earth is spending time in His presence. What joy I experience when I fall on my knees, recognizing that the weight of the world is not on my shoulders, but on His.

What a comfort it is to come before Him and praise Him for

His majesty, sufficiency, truth and grace!

I need this divine fellowship every morning, as it offers a time of solace from my frenetic pace. On my knees, I listen for His guidance and ask for His direction. In this quiet meditation, He reminds me of His love and power. Oh the mighty work that is done as I ask for His help and pray against the schemes of the enemy!

I am reassured that I am not alone.

As I encounter people, or experience challenges or simply do the work in front of me, I can do it with enthusiasm. The word enthusiasm literally means inspired or God within (en theos). Could there be a better description of someone who has spent time with the Father and walks closely with Him throughout his or her day?

Let us be enthusiastic people! Let’s go forward with confidence, but let us begin on our knees, knowing that this is where we find our strength and hope.

Photo by Julio Rivera on Unsplash