2013 National Day of Prayer

Today is the National Day of Prayer for the United States. The theme for 2013 is “Pray for America.” According to the National Day of Prayer web site,

As our nation struggles with continued economic insecurity, vast healthcare reform, and countless challenges to our constitutional rights, citizens of the United States are preparing to exercise their freedom to gather, worship, and pray.  Millions will answer the call to prayer on May 2^nd in observance of the 62^nd annual National Day of Prayer.  Organized events will be held in thousands of public venues where intercession will be made for America and its leadership.

This year’s theme, “Pray for America”, is based on Matthew 12:21 which reminds us that “In His name the nations will put their hope.”  National Day of Prayer (NDP) Task Force Chairman Shirley Dobson, wife of Family Talk founder Dr. James Dobson, has said that, “The American people continue to be plagued with challenges that defy simple answers, and our hope lies in humbly seeking the Almighty’s guidance, protection, and blessing – not only on the National Day of Prayer, but throughout the year.”

The National Day of Prayer tradition predates the founding of the United States of America, evidenced by the Continental Congress’ proclamation in 1775 setting aside a day of prayer.  In 1952, Congress established an annual day of prayer and, in 1988, that law was amended, designating the National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in May.

I would like to share a song written by the group Sanctus Real. Read below about how and why they wrote this song.

We wrote the song Pray because these are anxious times. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been on the edge of my seat, watching and waiting as tensions rise and markets fall. The 2012 election has left me acutely aware of the fact that we are a nation divided, fragile and in dire need of true hope. From my television screen to my twitter feed, I’m confronted with a minute-by-minute timeline of the latest news from around the world. The awareness that we’re just one thumb tap away from another shocking headline can be stressful. What will come next? We wonder if North Korea will launch a nuclear missile, if another homemade bomb in a backpack will be detonated at a public gathering, or if the mild-mannered kid next door will carry out another mass murder.

…

For those who cannot view the video for whatever reason, here are the lyrics to this wonderful song:

I bow my head to pray, I don’t know what to say
I’m not sure how to fix the things I’m dealing with
I’m in a desperate place, I need to share the weight
But I just don’t know how, to let it all pour out
Though I’m silent, my heart is crying
Cause I was made to come to You

So I pray
God I need You more than words can say
Right here in this moment
You know my heart, You know my need
You know every part of me
So even if it’s just to speak Your name
I’m gonna pray

I’ve failed to find the time, but You’ve been calling out
I let the days go by as if I could live without
But it’s gotta be here now, I won’t be pulled away
Cause it’s just You and I, so let the world around us fade

As I pray
God I need You more than words can say
Right here in this moment
You know my heart, You know my need
You know every part of me
So even if it’s just to speak Your name
I’m gonna pray
I’m gonna pray

(Father)
Will You meet me here right now?
(Father)
I surrender, lay it down
(Father)
And every time I close my eyes
I know that I was made
To lift my hands and pray
I lift my hands and pray

You know my heart, You know my need
And every single part of me
So even if it’s just to speak Your name
I’m gonna pray
I’m gonna pray

You know my heart, You know my need
You know every part of me
All the words and all my life
Take it as an offering

Beloved, please join me in praying for the United States of America. We are a country dealing with so many things, and from my personal experience, prayer is the best way to work through any of this:

• Pray for our government leaders, for right decisions during these troubling times.
• Pray for people who are struggling with financial problems, feeding their families, keeping a roof over their heads, and the rising rate of unemployment.
• Pray for those who have been harmed by terrorist activity, AND for those want to do us harm as a nation.
• Pray for the unborn babies that are but a breath away from having their lives snuffed out.
• Pray for all who are disabled and those who live with chronic pain illnesses, who struggle with getting even the seemingly easiest tasks accomplished.
• Pray for our churches and church leaders, that none of them will forgo what the Bible teaches just to go along with the status quo.
• Pray for all of those who claim to be Jesus followers, that none of us will forget our first Love.

This is by no means a complete list, so my final thought for you is: 

just pray…

Beloved, please know that I am praying for all of you, that God will bless you as you bless others through your prayers.

He’s listening!

Prayer…

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.  —Colossians 4:2

Faith and Trust

I hope you’ve enjoyed all the colorfully illustrated Scripture passage images I’ve shared here for the past couple of weeks while I have enjoyed a self-imposed and much-needed break from my blog. It is really nice to be able to write posts ahead of time and schedule them for a future date.

While I was resting from all the blogging activity, I prayerfully realized I have been devoting too much time to my blog which translates to tons of time on my computer. I have learned not to take it lightly when God is trying to teach me something through several different means. In this case, God showed me in various ways that although I am sharing from my heart for the Lord’s purposes, all this computer time means sacrificing time in other areas: my quiet time with the Lord spent in prayer, meditation, Bible reading and devotions; time with my sweet and understanding hubby Rick; taking care of the home God has blessed and entrusted to Rick and me;  fulfilling other writing obligations; and finally … just plain rest, which I sorely need because of ongoing chronic illnesses.

In other words, I have been so much into the work of the Lord that I have been neglecting the Lord of the work.

Not to worry, though. I’m not deserting my blog, just praying about how to reduce my computer time. I have a few ideas I want to mull over and pray about and I’ll share these with you a bit at a time.

For now, I won’t be writing every day but only as the Lord leads me. From past experience, I have learned that God always has a better plan than anything I could ever think up on my own, so I can’t wait to see what He has planned for the future of this blog.

Beloved, God’s love and faithfulness never changes. Because I know He wants the best for me, I also trust and know He will lead me to that best as long as I first and foremost truly seek to know Him better. And that will lead to my understanding His perfect will for my writing and bloggy life.

Leaning hard on the Lord with faith and trust,

Palms Down

Today I’d like to talk about prayer—specific prayer, that is. The kind of prayer about painful or stressful situations that brings us to our knees. So we pray and we pray, and then we pray even more … waiting for an answer from God.

As we pray, we often lift up our hands up in a symbolic gesture as we hand our problem to the Lord. I know what I’m talking about because I used to do this very thing.

One day, however, I had a realization that has completely changed my prayer life. It occurred to me that when I pray with my palms facing up—toward the ceiling (or sky)—I can quickly and easily close my fingers into a fist and mentally and emotionally take back that situation or trouble.

I tend to do that. Take back something I’ve been praying about and have supposedly handed over to the Lord, just because I might be able to somehow take care of it myself.

Does this sound anything like you?

Since I am a very visual person, a picture came to my mind. I visualized praying about specific things palms down—with my hands facing the floor so that I could drop my prayer request at Jesus’ feet. And, to me, giving up that situation palms down tells me that once I’ve let go of it like that, there’s no chance for me to pull it back.

I’m not saying that everything I pray for in this way gets answered exactly as I would like, but what it does is enable me to allow God to do His work—not only on the particular situation I prayed about but also on and through me. Sometimes I get too much in God’s way and don’t give Him enough room.

When I pray in this manner, I feel a real peace come over me. The kind of peace that lets me know that I don’t have to worry about the problem, because:

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?—Luke 12:25

and

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.—Philippians 4:6

This is my prayer for all of us: that we will all remember to pray palms down.

Treasure Tuesday

Anna’s God Box

The other day I was searching for my box of checks. We do our bill paying online so we rarely write checks and I just couldn’t remember where I keep the unused checks.

While looking through every drawer and basket I could think of, I came across something even better, a treasure: my God Box.

Several years ago I came across the idea of writing down my prayer requests on separate pieces of note paper, one page for each person in my life. Then I folded those notes and placed them in this box. And promptly forgot about the whole thing.

So when I found the box yesterday, I could not remember what it was or why I had labeled it Anna’s “God Box.” Until I looked inside and found about a dozen tightly folded notes.

As I read each one in turn, I alternated between sadness and joy. Some of my written prayers had not come to pass, but several of them had turned out as wonderful as I had wanted. This led me to do some serious thinking. If  these prayers were not answered in the exact way I had prayed for them, did that mean God was not listening?

I’m thinking… no.

What it may mean is that God knows what is best for us and we don’t. A different answer to our prayers may simply mean that our solution is not God’s design for that situation. If He is truly our All in All, then what He allows in our lives must be the absolute best for us, whether we believe that at the time or not.

I guess it’s a matter of faith rather than feelings. Oh, can I ever get caught up in feelings! But if I  believe that God loves me so much that He wants only the best for me, then I have to let go of my uncertain feelings and trust that He will make everything right … in His timing. And that’s good enough for me.

Oh, and the saying on the top of my God Box?

“This is the day

the Lord hath made

Let us rejoice

And be glad in it.”

Psalm 118:24

Rejoicing with you for this Lord-made day,