Day 4 - Draw the Circle - Don't Pray Away

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Theme: Sometimes God delivers us from our problems; sometimes God delivers us through our problems.

WHAT DID YOU HEAR?
My breath prayer, Make it count.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
In some of my darkest times, this simple prayer was all at once an act of courage, a declaration of faith and was a source great comfort.

Lord, make it count.

I have to admit, looking back at the times when I CLUNG to this prayer - unemployment, going through the death of my dad - I didn't see it as terribly courageous to pray these words and I certainly didn't feel brave.  I was just a daughter pleading to  her Heavenly Father to not waste a BIT of my suffering.  In retrospect, the courage came from the acknowledgement that things were dire and still facing it head-on.  There was no denial, running away or ignoring the circumstances we were in.  I was fighting for the survival of our family and through the despair of loss.  This prayer was a battle cry as I took up my sword and joined the fray.  This prayer GAVE me courage.

This prayer is also an act of faith.  ALL prayer is an ACT OF FAITH.  It is turning  your heart, your dreams, desires, petitions, fears and joy over to God, someone we don't typically perceive with our humanly senses. And, yet, we do it anyway.  For Christians, it is not just a  practice in religious tradition, it's the KNOWLEDGE that our words don't end as we speak them. We know they become more tangible BECAUSE we speak them.  Not only do I take up my sword in battle, I know that God IS my sword, my armor, my commander and my King.  I have faith that this is so.

This prayer is SO comforting to me because it's a hopeful prayer. It is in these words that I feel the expectation of redemption.  We didn't experience fear without blessing or pain without glory. It is in this prayer that I fought with the knowledge the battle had already been won.

WHAT WILL YOU DO?
I will keep praying.   Whether God chooses to deliver me from anxious things or He strengthens me through them, I will pray.

NOW TALK TO GOD...
Father God, through all our trials, PLEASE...make it count. Through all our triumphs, to You be the glory. In all things , Father, may they prompt us to pray.  They are an offering we lay at the foot of the cross and at Your throne.  God, Your will. Jesus, Your presence. Holy Spirit, Your counsel. Amen.