I've never been a good pray-er.
My praying regimen has always been more reactive than proactive. When things comes up, i pray for them. Otherwise i don't have a regular, routine prayer life.
The past few weeks i had been feeling drawn to prayer in a new way. I want to grow and mature in this area. Incidentally, the leaders of my church feel the same way. Our church is focusing intently on prayer this summer, with several resources to help people learn more about praying.
Our pastor is preaching through the Psalms, and we are using the lessons found there to shape our prayers. We have a daily reading guide to use for personal study.
Let me quickly explain why the heck i'm telling you all this. It's because i am a huge failure when it comes to journaling. I kind of hate to journal. But occasionally, there are journal-worthy events that i want to record. This blog is composed of 30% BabyGirl stories, 25% cosmic freak-outs, 40% preserving our life events to remember when we are old and gray, and 5% miscellaneous. This entry on prayer falls into "miscellaneous." You are welcome to leave now. I'm not writing this because i necessarily want you to know about it. It's more so that i personally want to remember it. Having evaluated all my options of effective places to document things i want to remember, this came out as the best choice.
Okay, so moving on. Last night The Professor and i studied Psalm 5 together. As we were discussing it, we decided that we couldn't fully identify with it because we do not have any full-fledged, oppressive enemies. We started brainstorming people we are close to who are currently being attacked by enemies. The answer was very clear. There are two men in the Big City that are having a terrible time right now as a result of a particular person. To accomplish our task of praying through the psalms, we are praying Psalm 5: 11-12 for our friends who are dealing with an enemy:
"But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield."
Glory to God for the new spark in your prayer life and THANK YOU for lifting up those men in the city. You and Mark are very much a part of the 'shield' we sense from the Lord in our church family.
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