1.Starts With Me- Tim Timmons
2.Build Your Kingdom Here- Rend Collective Experiment
3.Bad Day- Daniel Powter
4.Life After You- Daughtry
5.It's Time- Imagine Dragons
6.Just Say Jesus- 7eventh Time Down
7.New Man- All Things New
8.Homesick- MercyMe
9.If You Could Only See- Tonic
10.Never Gone- Colton Dixon
11.Come Home- Luminate
12.Cannons- Phil Wickham
I hope everyone is having a good week! Don't forget to rejoice in the good, trust even in the bad, and stay strong in the sad. Love you all.
God bless,
Bex.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
Prayer is Not a Diss.
I spend a lot (I mean a lot) of time on Pinterest. There's a ton of great stuff on there, but there's also a ton of crap. My favorite area to cruise is the humor board. I'd say about half of the pins are appropriate while the rest are well, not quite to not at all. Sometimes I get caught up in the hilariousness of it all and occasionally find myself chuckling at things that ought not be chuckled at. One of them is prayer. We've all seen or heard the "you need prayer" comment from the "better" person to the poor soul, and while it may be true, it's the way it's said that makes it funny (and wrong.) Why has prayer become punishment? Nine times out of ten, those comments are not heart-felt. They're meant to make the other person feel bad and that is sooo not the point of prayer! God says to pray always. ALWAYS! That includes during good times, bad times, in-between times; for thanks, healing, guidance, reassurance, strength, praise, everything! Somehow, the world has honed in on only praying when we're in desperate need of something, and from that, when someone needs to be held accountable for their actions. I go to a Christian school so I'm surrounded by a lot of praying people,
but I still don't think we're using it to it's full advantage or
intended purpose. Yes, there are more prayers of praise, but a majority of the people primarily pray about difficulties. There's nothing wrong with that, but it could be so much more.
"Prayer Request." What comes to your mind when you read that? For me, it's something we want God to do for us or someone else. Same with "how can I pray for you?" and even, "I'm praying for you." They all declare a need. In our human minds, it means we are weak and always have something bad going on. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of sharing my struggles with others, even if they are God-fearing pray-ers. No, I don't have every single thing together all the time, (who does?), but that doesn't mean I always have a crisis to pray about. This is just a thought, but maybe the constant pressure of needing something wrong to pray about is the reason why so many people don't pray. But why can't "prayer request" have two meanings? The second being something we want to do for God.
I want to start a revolution of sorts. Let's use prayer in the way God wants. Yes, continue to ask for help, but also thank Him. Instead of approaching a friend, a stranger, a family member with the standard "what bad situation are you in that I can I pray about?" see what you can rejoice about! Prayer doesn't have to be like a slap in the face. Be honest. If a friend said "I'm praying for you," what would your response be? Silent or not, it will most likely be, "how do they know I'm struggling?" or "do they know something I don't?" Either way, it's not always a pleasant feeling when you hear that, especially when you think you're doing pretty well. If we stopped treating prayer like a hush-hush little secret, whipping it out for the sole purpose of healing and condemning, imagine how much more likely people would use it! According to dictionary.com, prayer is defined as: "a spiritual communion with God or an object of worship, as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession." See that?! Thanksgiving! Adoration! It's not just about requests, it's everything! Prayer does not have to be morose. It does not have to be a diss. It can be beautiful. It can be jubilant. It can be an opportunity to share God's goodness. It can be a joyous celebration. It can be.......everything. With this mindset, I would be honored if someone said they are praying for me. So with that, how can I pray for you?
"Prayer Request." What comes to your mind when you read that? For me, it's something we want God to do for us or someone else. Same with "how can I pray for you?" and even, "I'm praying for you." They all declare a need. In our human minds, it means we are weak and always have something bad going on. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of sharing my struggles with others, even if they are God-fearing pray-ers. No, I don't have every single thing together all the time, (who does?), but that doesn't mean I always have a crisis to pray about. This is just a thought, but maybe the constant pressure of needing something wrong to pray about is the reason why so many people don't pray. But why can't "prayer request" have two meanings? The second being something we want to do for God.
I want to start a revolution of sorts. Let's use prayer in the way God wants. Yes, continue to ask for help, but also thank Him. Instead of approaching a friend, a stranger, a family member with the standard "what bad situation are you in that I can I pray about?" see what you can rejoice about! Prayer doesn't have to be like a slap in the face. Be honest. If a friend said "I'm praying for you," what would your response be? Silent or not, it will most likely be, "how do they know I'm struggling?" or "do they know something I don't?" Either way, it's not always a pleasant feeling when you hear that, especially when you think you're doing pretty well. If we stopped treating prayer like a hush-hush little secret, whipping it out for the sole purpose of healing and condemning, imagine how much more likely people would use it! According to dictionary.com, prayer is defined as: "a spiritual communion with God or an object of worship, as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession." See that?! Thanksgiving! Adoration! It's not just about requests, it's everything! Prayer does not have to be morose. It does not have to be a diss. It can be beautiful. It can be jubilant. It can be an opportunity to share God's goodness. It can be a joyous celebration. It can be.......everything. With this mindset, I would be honored if someone said they are praying for me. So with that, how can I pray for you?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)