Prayer for a Friend

This morning I received an email from a friend asking me to pray for her and her work situation. It has been toxic and she is concerned for her professional reputation and her ability to work in the environment she is in. We have been praying in our small group for this situation on and off over the last few months and at times, it seems like there is a break in the clouds, but then things seem to go back into darkness and the struggles increase.

I composed the following prayer based on different scriptures with inspiration from a book called The Sword and the Spirit The Word of God by Joy Lamb. This book has been a light to me over the years, helping me to pray, when I couldn't find the words because I either felt dry in my Spirit or when I was in the center of the situation anjd felt I was drowning.

I want to share this prayer with you. I am committed to pray this daily for my friend over the next month (I have set it up in my Google calendar with the prayer in the details) and invite you to pray this with me for my friend or feel free to use it as it fits into situations with people you know.

Thank you God, that your word is a lamp unto her feet and a light unto her path. (Psalm 119:105). As she walks in this time of difficulty, I thank you that You go before her and make her rough places smooth. You will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through iron bars. (Isaiah 45:2). We know that you, God, will deliver her from the hand of the wicked (Psalm 97:10) and that the Holy Spirit will lead her into all truth (John 16:13)

I thank you Lord that You said 'Light shall shine out of darkness', and You are the one who has shone in my friend and her boss's hearts in this situation to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6) You can turn this situation from one of mourning into joy. As my fiend continues the time she has in this place she is in, I thank you that you store up sound wisdom for her. You are a shield to her as she walks in integrity. (Proverbs 2:7) Comfort her in the knowledge that she can do all things through Christ who strengthens her. (Philippians 4:13)

AMEN

One of the great powers of prayer is that it not only is good for the spirit(s) of the one(s) receiving prayer but also for our own spirit.

Do you have a friend who needs prayer? I encourage you to find scripture, God's word, to lift up that situation. If you share it with me, I will be glad to join you in prayer.

Luke 11:5-13 - Expect Results

If I haven't mentioned it before, the small group I am apart of is studying prayer. This week, the focus was on Luke 11:5-13:

⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

One of the discussion points was praying audaciously with an expectation of results. At the end of the meeting, I challenged the group to pray audaciously as we shared our prayer requests and then live in a way that expects results...

A little background: One of the people in my group, Lizzie, has been my running partner for the past six months and I started running with, Chase, another of the group members last week. 

The next morning I was meeting with Lizzie and Chase. I arrived and Lizzie was there. When Chase didn't show up, we started running around the parking lot while waiting. After a few minutes, I sent a text to make sure Chase was still planning to come...no response. Eventually we decided to run part of our route.

When we arrived back to the parking lot, Chase was there. Even though time was tight, we decided to run a little bit more and called him over to join us. As soon as he joined us, he asked, "Do you have my phone?" He couldn't find his phone and he had been delayed looking for it and had finally come, hoping that I had found it (the small group meets at my house). I had not, so I called home to have Thomas look for it, but he didn't see it among the chaise or couch cushions. So as we completed our run, I prayed out loud, "God, help us find this phone! We really need it to show up."

So I headed home with Chase following me. He was hoping that the phone would be on the side of the road where he had parked the night before. I kept thinking about all the kids who walked down the road on their way to one of the two schools in the neighborhood...

When we arrived back to the house, Chase started looking along the road and I went to check inside again. He quickly came in...no phone! I decided to just remove all the cushions to check there again. Chase started to insist that was unnecessary...and then we saw it...his phone.

God answered our prayer and we celebrated! I loved the way God had brought us on this journey. We talked about praying audaciously and expecting an answer with the whole group and then God gave the three of us that were meeting together for a run the opportunity to practice it the next morning. God was faithful and the phone was found. The story was shared with the whole group, and now with you.

Have you ever talked about some section of scripture and then seen it applied almost immediately in your life? I feel like it happens all the time when I engage with God and others, how about you? I would love to hear your stories.

Ephesians 4 - An Attitude Check

So have you ever thought about a situation and realized that you need an attitude check? Boy, have I ever, and I am feeling it right now. Over the weekend I got one of those, I would like to talk face-to-face. Not the, hey, we need to catch up, but the heavy, personal subjects that we don't see eye-to-eye on. This would probably not be so bad if it didn't feel like we had been around the ring with these same topics before...but I guess the good news is that I recognized my need for an attitude check. 

Step one, recognize the the bad attitudes and their need to change.

So, recognize, that I have a bad attitude, one which has put up walls and makes me not want to have a face-to-face conversation. What are the problems...well, in the end, I fear that I will be hurt and two, because I am anticipating that, am concerned that I won't be able to hear the other person without hearing it through my lens of previous hurt and who knows what I will say through that same hurt. So to scripture I went, and found myself in Ephesians 4.

As I read this chapter, several places stood out to me. The first was those first 3 verses.

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, ² with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, ³ endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

First, Paul reminds that at the time of this writing, he is a prisoner. The voice in my head is saying, "You think you got it bad, remember where Paul was...and he kept a good attitude." Paul reminds me to walk in love, patience and work toward a peaceful, spiritual unity. I surely can't do that and hold past hurts and disagreements in my mind. I need to release them. I need to be able to speak in love and hear in love, bitterness and resentment can have no place in this conversation.

Of course, inside, I am whining a little bit, "But, I don't want to. I have been hurt and I am tired of making myself vulnerable and being hurt again." Now if this was an abusive situation, I might give into that and say that God's best for me is not to allow myself to be abused, but this is in no way that kind of situation. It just is hard for a non-confrontational person to walk into discussions that are a source of conflict and uncomfortableness.

And then I read verses 31 and 32, a direct answer to my concern about what I might say.

³¹ Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. ³² And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Paul is pretty straightforward about saying that all those negative emotions and instincts need to be put away from you. They just can't be around if this conversation is to be one of love and peace and gentleness. And furthermore...all those past things I want to hold against that person...well verse 32 has got that covered. Drat, that forgiveness thing.

So I can't hold on to the past wrongs, I can't speak through anger and hurt and I need to have this conversation in love and patience. And now you see where the attitude adjustment is necessary.

Next step, give all the thoughts, hurts, fears, anxieties over to God.

This is the hard part for me, but the only way I know how to do this is to pray. To pray hard and to pray long!!! Possibly in my favor is that I live over two hours away from this person and my schedule is pretty tight for awhile, so I can't actually do a face-to-face right away. So there will be a lot of prayer for this. And I don'[t mean, procrastinate until it gets closer, I mean start today and pray, pray, pray! (and maybe you will pray for me too).

A change of attitude does not usually happen over night, but holding on to a bad attitude hurts us more than anyone else. Our joy is stolen and our focus is on negative things.

And while you are working on step two, bring in step three, replace the bad attitude with a positive one. 

As I pray, I also need to fill my head with reminders and scriptures that remind me to focus on what is pure and good, to know that I am loved, to remember to seek peace and healing for all those involved. Fill your head with so much good attitude that there is no room for a bad attitude. So while I am praying, I will be writing myself little scripture notes and reminders for a positive attitude. (feel free to share your positive attitude scriptures and reminders with me).

Do you need an attitude check?

Is so, remember:

• Indentify and acknowledge the bad attitude.
• Give it all up to God.
• Gird yourself with a positive attitude and thoughts.

Ephesians 6 - A Full Faith

What happens if you leave off a piece of of your cold weather clothing when you go out to have a snowball fight? What if you had no gloves...or no hat...or you didn't wear snow pants?  The cold would see in and even though you are wearing the other pieces, you are unprotected.

So let's consider this is our faith...what it you don't one of the basic potions of God's truths for you? What if you believed you were not saved. Maybe you feel unworthy or like God doesn't really know you and couldn't possibly save you. Or maybe you question God's righteousness. You aren't sure that God is good and that God is doing good things on your behalf. Perhaps you don't trust what God says as truth. You feel like you can't count on God's word. Maybe you can't find peace in what God is saying and worry overtakes you or you just struggle to believe...

What happens if one of these things is true? You could be firm in the others, but what if one isn't true? You have a whole in your armor. In spite of all the other pieces, there is a place for Satan to wound you and you are vulnerable.

In this chapter, Paul talks about wearing the full armor of God.

¹³ Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. ¹⁴ Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. ¹⁵ For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.¹⁶ In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. ¹⁷ Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Each piece is important and each fits into the others to provide a full protection. Now, the truth is we all struggle and will have places of weakness and this is why Paul follows up these verses with:

¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Prayer stands in the gaps of our weaknesses and brings God's strengths into fill those places.

So, yes, we need to build a full faith to resist evil and be strong and protected. We need to find ourselves in times of communion with God through prayer and meditation, the Word, and Christian fellowship. And yes, we need to recognize that we have our weaknesses and invite God into those places to help and build us up.

What do you need to do today to start building a full faith?