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When We Ask For Prayer

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“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.”
1 Timothy 2 NIV
When prayer request time comes around in my small group, I usually ask for prayers for other people close to me and not myself.

What will people think of me if I ask for this?

I don’t want to waste their prayer time asking for prayers when someone else may need it more.

Can anyone else relate?

These thoughts and feelings are a direct result of pride. You want to uphold your reputation and self-image and asking for prayer might affect that.

“Being humble is asking for prayer and not being too proud to admit that you need it.”

I shy away from asking for prayer because I either feel selfish or like my prayer is silly and that it is something I can do on my own (as to not bother anyone with it)

I don’t need to ask others to pray for my continued battle with that sin.

I don’t need to ask others to pray for my issue because it is something that I can handle with your help God, so I don’t need anyone else.

Self-reliance is not Omnipotence.

I have developed this image of myself and what it is supposed to be, and asking for prayer seems like defeat. Like I am giving up on myself, and asking for prayer is my “surrender” flag.

We need to wave our white flag more.

No prayer is too small. No prayer is not important.

As a church and community, we are called to pray for each other. We pray for each other’s sin, struggles, health, marriages, kids, addictions and spiritual relationships.

It’s ok if it is YOUR sin we pray about. It is ok if it is YOUR marriage we pray about.

Asking for prayer is not a sign of defeat. It does not mean that are weak. It is a sign of surrender and with that surrender there is strength.

It is an honor and a privilege to pray for others. So, love and serve others by giving them the privilege them to lift you up in prayer.

Lifting you up in prayer,

Stephanie

 

 

Photo Credit: image created via wordswag

Savoring Your Season: Freedom From Comparison

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Life is full of seasons other than spring, summer, fall and winter. Childhood, adolescence, and adulthood; single, dating, engaged and married. We have healthy and unhealthy seasons, ones of flourishing and of pruning, and every high and low in between. I’ve been one to say I’m in a season of waiting just as often as I say I’m in a season of going. Too often, we lose sight of the present season for looking too much on the seasons past or future. Let’s take some time this week to be honest about our seasons – mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally – and learn to savor and soak in where we are now.

 

Freedom From Comparison

And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live, obey, love and believe right there.

1 Corinthians 7:17 (The Message)

wednesdayI think it’d be a lie if any of us were to say we’ve never compared our lives to someone else’s. Why are they getting married and I’m not? Why did they get that new promotion while my job has stayed the same for years? Why are they moving into that new house while I’m still here? Why are they having a baby and I can’t?

It can be painful to watch people walk through seasons that are different from our own, especially when they are walking through a season that we deeply desire to experience.

My senior year of college, I spent a lot of weekends going to bridal showers, teas, and weddings of dear friends. If there were ever moments free of some kind of wedding activity for one friend, there was a ring being given to another friend. I threw parties and showers and bought gifts while quietly wondering when it was my turn. Comparison tempted me towards competition, and competition always threatens to contaminate the purity of a community.

It wasn’t until after a summer full of weddings when I was halfway around the world missing one of my best friends’ weddings that I realized how beautiful our different seasons were. She was celebrating with family and friends, gaining a partner for life to follow Jesus with. Other friends were celebrating the beginning of their final year of school; some were mourning the season of college passing, others were walking almost blindly into a new job in a new city, and still more were wondering when their job applications would finally lead to an interview. Our seasons were drastically different, and there were parts of each of them that were easy to look on with envious eyes. But to compare our season to someone else’s robs up of the joy, life, and wisdom in our own.

God never uses one approach to get His job done in the world. He has put you in a unique season that sings a unique song that only another heart can hear clearly. To wish you were in another person’s season not only robs you of what He has for you but can also rob another human of what God has meant for you to share with them.

Instead of comparing my season with those of my friends, I’ve learned that I must learn from them. Each of our seasons brings unique wisdom and perspective that is meant to be shared. To tell the truth, sometimes it really is painful. To tell a bigger truth though? Learning from the unique seasons of others instead of comparing mine to them, especially the ones I am so desperately wanting to be in, allows me to live in my current season more freely and honestly. And when we live freely and honestly in our different seasons – joy and pain included – the gospel comes to life in us and others around us.

Chelsey

Armchair Advice for a Significant Life: Staying Connected

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English proverbs are short, concise sayings that express traditional truths. Many of them, religious and metaphorical in nature, offer sound, uplifting advice and consist of repetitive consonant sounds that make remembering them effortless. This week, we’ll focus on five traditional armchair convictions that connect with scriptural truths and encourage virtuous living.

 

Staying Connected

“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”

Hebrews 10:24–25, NLT

 “Birds of a feather flock together.” 

BIRDS ON A WIREMy parents imparted this time-honored proverb on more than one occasion as they encouraged me to choose my friends wisely. First surfacing in the middle of the sixteenth century, the proverb highlights the fact that birds of the same species congregate in flocks. Ornithologists (bird experts) attribute this behavior to a “safety in numbers” tactic that protects birds from their predators.

Though many of us would classify ourselves as introverts, God created all of us with an innate desire for acceptance and significance. Nevertheless, we sometimes forget that acceptance doesn’t always indicate significance, nor does significance necessitate acceptance. As we observe the lives of philanthropists and celebrities who have made a profound impact upon society, we too yearn to make our mark on the world. Our intentions may be noble, but our pursuit for personal significance can morph into a place of selfish ambition, misplaced energy, and unrealized dreams. Not only do our efforts fail to produce the desired result but we are left with feelings of low self-esteem and worthlessness.

Paul’s teaching in today’s text characterizes a significant life as a life connected to others. He encourages us to live in community:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others”

(Philippians 2:3-4).

Bottom line: we are not autonomous creatures but are created to live life in fellowship with one another and to be unified in thoughts and deeds.

Neighbors once lived in tight-knit communities where everybody knew everyone else. It wasn’t unusual to share the latest gossip over the backyard fence, enjoy an impromptu Sunday afternoon visit in a front-porch rocker with a glass of sweet tea, or simply borrow the proverbial cup of sugar. Today we’ve exchanged our face-to-face encounters with those a few yards away for Facetime video chats, and hundreds of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter followers around the world. Even our evening strolls have become opportunities to engage in cell phone conversations with others continents away while we give our next-door neighbor a quick nod and a halfhearted glance in passing.

There is danger here. To isolate ourselves from society and those within the body of Christ not only hinders our spiritual growth but denies others the uniqueness that we can bring to our world.

What obstacles hinder you from living in community? Let’s push past our exclusive existence, stay connected, and experience the joy and security that true fellowship brings.

Blessings,

Starr