Showing posts with label Prayers of His People. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prayers of His People. Show all posts

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Sweet Hour of Prayer...


As the year draws to a close, I find myself looking back over the year searching for the fingerprints of God on my life.  Unless I deliberately look and choose to see, I often miss the clear activity of God on my behalf.   I have noticed, when I am trying to teach my grandchildren about the power of prayer, that we have a tendency to go to God asking for things we need, but, when the answer comes, we often fail to notice and thank Him for His care for us.  As I've noticed this in my life, I have felt more and more the need to be very deliberate about looking for those answers to prayer.  I look to see where did I see Him moving to answer whispered prayers?  Where is it I am still waiting for those answers to come?  Have I stopped praying - have I given up hope that those prayers will ever be answered?

This has been a difficult year for many, many people.  What about you?  Have you been through a testing time that has drained you and left you discouraged?  Maybe you're still in it?  Are you weary and worn out to the breaking point?  Are you in need of a fresh vision of what God can do in your life?  Are you losing all hope?  Are you feeling alone in the battle?  Are you grieving a loss of someone you loved more than life itself?  Are you fearful of what is coming next?

These things come to all of us at one time or another.  I personally am in the midst of a very difficult and trying time in my own life.  I am much in need of prayer to come through this as the Lord intends. I also have loved ones for whom I have prayed for many years that are yet to be saved.  I need your prayers every bit as much as I know you need mine.  Let us support one another and give each other the gift of prayer across the miles.  I may never have met you nor you, me.  But, we are brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ just as surely as if we lived in the same house.  God intends that we pray for one another.  We have the great privilege of joining Jesus, Our Intercessor, at the very Throne of Grace.  How can we neglect such a great calling as this?

Please use the comment section below to share a prayer request with us or to share an answered prayer that has particularly touched you.  What was the most surprising answer to prayer you received this year?  What is the prayer that is still left unanswered (as far as you are able to understand)? What is the deepest need you have that you would like us to bring before the Lord in prayer?

Please join us in the privileged place of the believer - on our knees in prayer.

 "Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work."  Oswald Chambers.


Scripture Reference:  Revelation 5:8   NKJV

"Now, when He had taken the scroll, 
the four living creatures 
and the twenty-four elders fell down
 before the Lamb,
 each having a harp, 
and golden bowls full of incense, 
which are the prayers of the saints."





Saturday, December 3, 2011

I Will Carry You...



As I prepared this post on the Persecution of Believers around the world, I found myself having two definite reactions to what I was reading.  One is an overwhelming sense of grief for those who are suffering so deeply for the Cause of Christ.  Second is a deepening awareness that we who are not touched by persecution in our homeland must be moved to compassion and pray, pray, pray for those who are suffering and dying around the world.  We must be aroused from our complacency and answer the call of Christ to get on our knees and 'carry them to Jesus'.

Especially as we prepare to celebrate the joyous birth of our Savior, let's remember those who cannot celebrate openly; those who will be targeted, especially because it is Christmas and Christ is hated for being born; those who will pay the ultimate price and will die a martyr's death this Christmas.

Let us weep with the widow and the orphan and pray for the persecuted wherever they are found around the world.  May God strengthen them for what He calls them to and may God be glorified in the blood of the martyrs.  And may we be found faithful to the call of Christ.  May we be found faithful...

Scripture Reference: Psalm 44:22   NKJV

"Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

Friday, December 2, 2011

The Fruit of the Spirit is...JOY!



I absolutely love the passage in Galatians that describes the Fruit of the Spirit "against which, there is no law." (5:23)  Although I love them all, one of my personal favorites is the spiritual fruit of JOY!  I gravitate toward joy as surely as flowers turn their faces to the noonday Sun!  I drink it in.  I bask in it!  I sing praises to my God in the voice of Joy!

I tell you this to share with you that one of the sources of joy in my life is rapidly becoming this blog!  I started this a little over a month ago, believing that God was leading me to write something to speak to the heart of those who are searching for God and to be willing to be a flashlight in the hand of the searcher, pointing the way to Jesus Christ.  Secondly, but equally important, I believe God wants to use this little blog to encourage other followers of Jesus to stand up, gird up for the battle, get involved in the work of the Kingdom!  For those who are struggling with discouragement in a trial, I want to speak a word of encouragement.  We are not alone in all of this.  God is with us.  Emmanuel!

It gave me a tickle of joy today to discover that I have a new member - my little sister, Teresa Berki!
It made me realize that I want to invite more of you to become members when you visit this site.  Just go down to the bottom of the black box to the right of this post.  Under 'Followers' click the box that says 'Join This Site'.  When you become a member, it enables me to see who you are on the other side of the blog page - something very valuable to me!  I really want this blog to be a community gathering place for me and you.  I want to meet you and get to know you, as you are getting to know me through my writing.  It is my hope that this blog will become, more and more, a two-way communication tool for us to connect over the miles.

I want to know what you are looking for - what encourages you - what are you struggling with in your walk with the Lord?  Are you an unbeliever looking for answers about Jesus Christ?  Are you going through a trial that is testing all your strength?  How can we, as your sisters and brothers in Christ, pray for you?  We all have struggles we are dealing with, myself included!  The wonders of the Internet are erasing borders, pulling down walls, and connecting us to one another in ways never before possible!  We are living in amazing times!

I have decided to periodically profile members of this blog so that you can get to know them and pray for them, as well.  Here is a snapshot picture of my newest member, Teresa Berki.

Terry is my sister, the youngest of eight children.  She is an obstetrical nurse in the OB department of St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights, IL.  She is also a newly licensed Lactation Instructor in her department.  (As any of you ladies who have ever tried to nurse a baby knows, someone who can help us with this is a tremendous blessing!)  Terry teaches birthing classes to expectant parents at St. James.  She is married to my favorite brother in law, Gabe, and is the mother of two adult children, my nephew, Gabriel, and my niece, Meghan (a new bride this year!)

Terry is an extremely hard working and dedicated nurse. I had the great joy of sharing the birth of my youngest grandchild, Ella, with Terry present as a nurse the night that Ella was born.  Unbelievable night!  I have enormous respect for how hard she works, how skilled she has become, and how much she loves her patients.  Lest you think, as I did, that a nurse in the obstetrics department just experiences the fun of having new babies born, I have learned that this is an extremely challenging department to work in.  Nurses in this department minister to young single mothers, first time mamas who are scared of the baby! (I was there, once!), still born babies, babies born with heartbreaking diseases, babies born addicted to drugs...and the list goes on and on.  This is a unique and challenging calling, to say the least!

I share this with you to give you a chance to be part of the prayer support for Teresa and the nurses who work with her.  It is my prayer that God will continue to use her, strengthen her and encourage her on those dark days when it is tempting to give up.  Always remember, Terry - You are not alone! God is in it, God is in it, God is in it ALL!

Please sign up to be a member so we can get to know you, pray for you, and connect with you across the miles.  Also, leave a comment, telling me what you find helpful or what you are looking for when you come to visit me on my 'virtual front porch'!  I have added a Translation Button at the top of the page for those of you whose native tongue is not English!  Don't hesitate to leave a comment in your native language - I can quickly translate it to English, using the same button! God has thought of everything to bring us together from around the world, hasn't He?  All we have to do is press a button to make it happen!

Blessings to You All in this Beautiful Season of Advent!

Maureen Sebek

Scripture Reference:  Galatians 5:22, 23 

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness,
 faithfulness, gentleness, self-contrtol. 
 Against such there is no law."