Speaking to a nine year old this morning who had a very difficult time with sleep last night, I asked her if she had anything on her mind. She mentioned an great uncle who has stage four cancer. This person has left people in his wake on the roadside hurting and abandoned. He is not close to his siblings and has sons who he has no relationship. Sadly, it is Nan Nan's own brother and Vicki's uncle. So what do you tell a child?
I reminded her the Apostle James tells us the prayers of a righteous person are effective and powerful. I took her back to a time when as a five year old little girl wanting to play outside, she was prevented from doing so by rain. I told her then to pray and ask God. She sat on the front porch and lowered her head and asked God to make it stop. IT DID, IMMEDIATELY!
We forget the righteousness James speaks of is not ours, but that of Christ in us. Jesus told us our heavenly "Daddy" (Abba, Aramaic for daddy) delights is granting gifts to his children. We talked about how Jacob contended with God for a blessing. Contend does not mean fight but struggle with God. He wanted a blessing from God and I let Stefani know contending with God in prayer for others leads to a blessing for us.
Praying for others is more than a short popcorn prayer because we may not know why God has asked us to pray for them. He justs wants us to join with him.
No comments:
Post a Comment