Thought for the Week

The Bible says, “Pray without ceasing.” This means I need to bring God into everything all the time. I must stay in contact with God about all sorts of things. It’s critical because I want God involved in everything, large and small. Small things become large. My range of knowledge is very small. For instance, the “Presidential Prayer Team” encourages me to pray for one elected official each day. To help me do this, they list one official and eight things about that person daily. Eventually, I’ll be introduced to 435 Representatives and 100 Senators. Representative John Joyce was my doctor so I would recognize him including the sound of his voice. I knew just a few things about him. But the other 534 I do not know. Yet, their lives and the decisions they make impact my life and the lives of my loved ones. So, I should pray for them. I should also pray for the President, his cabinet and staff. There are nine Justices on the Supreme Court and they also need prayer. God has given general guidelines for what these folks in authority should do. My prayers for them include asking God to help them fulfill His calling upon them. I should also pray for state and local officials. Certainly I need to pray for the leaders of the church. Neighbors get a pretty high priority in my prayers. Our children and grandchildren need prayer as they face life. I need to pray for those who face danger and hardship on my behalf. Police, firemen, first responders, those who work hard to provide goods and services for our community need prayer. In this time of epidemic, healthcare workers at all levels are under much stress and need God’s blessing and enablement. Educators and all who work within that field are under much stress. It seems no matter what decisions are made by those in authority, folks oppose them; some from one side and some from the other. So, I should pray decision-makers will allow God to guide them. Certainly God, who has absolute wisdom, knows what is best. There are immense needs in our world. I scarcely know what should be my primary focus in prayer for our world. I pray for those who live in fear, in poverty, in turmoil, in ignorance, and are helpless, hopeless, and handicapped, in the ability to conquer the problems they face. God calls us to serve and minister but if we do not begin and end with prayer, we really have not done our part. We have enemies. Do we need enemies? No, and I think the best way to deal with enemies is to turn them into friends. But we cannot do that without God’s help and guidance. So I must pray for our enemies. I truly want people to come to know God through Jesus Christ. So, I pray for missionaries who work in multiple ways to introduce people to Jesus. I am convinced that if people would truly surrender their lives to Him, it would go a long way toward solving the problems our world faces. I must also remember a part of my prayer needs to be, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done…” I need to remind myself that Jesus prayed, “… not my will but Thy will be done.” That prayer cost Him greatly. I need to be ready to also pay a price for my prayers as well. I know God has answers for all my prayers. Join me in prayer. God wants to answer but there must be someone to call out to Him. Do you?

Scriptures to Read

James 1:5-6

Romans 8:26

St. Luke 11:9

St. Matthew 6:5-8

St. Mark 11:25-26

St. John 15:7

Hebrews 11:6