Pray without ceasing

Have you ever prayed for a complete stranger?  I don't mean praying for someone who you don't know personally.  We've all prayed for the missionary family in Africa or South America whose prayer letters are dispersed through our churches.  I mean someone who you see in the grocery store or on the street, who you will most likely never see again, have no relationship with except a one-time sighting.  Or maybe you haven't seen the stranger, just know he or she exists.

When I was in high school I remember clearly something my history teacher said.  She was my favorite teacher; she made history come alive by talking about people and events in the past as if she were telling her class a story.  But the only words I remember clearly from her now 30 years later told me something about her own life that she probably didn't realize she was revealing.

She gently ridiculed Christians as she taught us about early Western civilization,  the Crusades, or the era of Renaissance and Reformation.  But her words one day are seared into my brain, probably because I had so much respect for her as a teacher.  She spoke in a mocking tone.  "There are people who believe that God has a plan for everyone and that He does plan and carry out His purposes in circumstances as mundane as whether they will be get a red light or a green one while driving, or what they should eat or drink, or whether they should wear this dress or that one.  As if God cares about each person on such a personal level or that He controls the world in such a minute and detailed way.  That kind of blind faith has been the cause of some awful events in history. "

Her comment stuck with me.  I think because I felt she was targeting me personally (she was, whether she meant to or not).  She thought that kind of faith was naive and even dangerous.  But you may be wondering what this has to do with praying for strangers?  Well, as I wrestled with her view of Christians, I realized that my relationship with God was based on just such a 'naive' faith.  In my mind, it was reassuring and a comfort, in her mind, it was simple, silly, and child-like. I prayed for her that day and have prayed for her again and again over the years when that incident is brought to my mind.

Even while I was ridiculed indirectly for my 'child-like' faith, I was exercising that same faith through prayer.  I think that incident helped to contribute to my habit of praying for people I don't know who may be facing situations that are stressful.  When I hear an emergency vehicle barreling down the highway or on the streets of my neighborhood, I pray for the person who is waiting for their response.  I don't know what is happening, but I can hear the siren, so I ask God to be there and to be glorified through it.  I don't have to know what effect my prayer has; what I do know is that I am hearing the distress call and that I can ask for help from the One who sovereignly ordains all that will come to pass.

Today on my walk I saw a woman packing up her car and noticed that her garage was full of boxes, like she was moving.  Her house is not for sale, but someone is leaving it.  I prayed for her situation, asking God to work in the lives of those who live there, that His will may be done and that they would submit to Him and come to Him if they don't know Him.  After praying, I wondered if I am presuming on God in some way.  But I know that even though I don't know the person or situation, He does.  Is it ever the wrong time to pray?  I know I can pray for the wrong things.  I know that my prayers are as imperfect as I am; but I also trust that God will use the intercession as He sees fit.  And that I am called to intercede through prayer when I know someone is in trouble. 

A friend shared with me years ago that she prays for people who the Lord brings to her mind throughout the day.  I have used that model as my own, praying for people that I think about when I think about them, and praying for people especially when I've told them that I will pray for them.  It's not just about words or good intentions.  It's an act of obedience to ask the Lord to govern and intercede in this world so that He can further His kingdom and His glory.  I know that He is using my quick prayers throughout the day to strengthen my faith, if not for any other reason. 

We are to pray without ceasing.  I see prayer as a dialogue with my creator, as an open communication with my heavenly Father.  I am trying to cultivate a prayer life that reminds me in whom I put my trust and "I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me." (I Timothy 1:12)

Secrets

I hate secrets. I don't like people keeping secrets from each other.  I think society would be a better place if people were honest with each other about what they were doing and why.  I especially do not like families keeping secrets from each other.  Sometimes secrets are kept inadvertently because  someone isn't personally involved in an event or situation and so the incident passes and is forgotten.  That is more a matter of privacy and convenience.  But sometimes family members purposefully keep information or incidents from other family members.  Why?  Simply to 'protect' that person in some way?  How does it protect someone to not know something that effects the way a person lives and looks at things?

I believe in open communication in a family.  I am not saying that a  person should be able to say anything to another person in the interest of full honesty.  That could be hurtful.  We should respect feelings and emotions in another person and not purposely try to hurt someone with information. 

But just because someone may be hurt or his life changed if he is let in on a secret, does not justify withholding information.   We don't honor that person or respect him if we think he can't handle a perspective or event that may be hard to swallow.   And we damage our relationship with the person who has information withheld; we can never be completely honest with him again. 

Life is tough; we can't live it as if the hard things didn't exist.  We don't have to tell someone everything we think and feel about what is happening, but we can't say nothing at all.  I think it's a form of Lying to do that.  We are not being true to people when we keep things from them.  Even to some extent, how we feel about something.  It's deception. 

I am not an 'every thing is black and white' legalistic kind of person.  I do think there are 'gray' areas of life where we have to use discernment and wisdom.  Information about certain things is one of them; but we should err on the side of honesty and uprightness, rather than secretiveness, vagueness, deceptive talk or half-truths. 

Just think if everyone around you knew something about you that you yourself did  not know.  Some surprises are like that; your husband plans a birthday party or celebration for you and wants it to be a surprise.  But what if it's knowing that a close family member is in trouble or that your son is leaving college to go into the military or your husband lost his job and hasn't told you yet.  Those are 'surprises' that we cannot plan for but we must disclose to those who need to know.   It is dishonest to not tell someone something because they will be upset, or in shock, or disturbed by the news. 

Keeping secrets that are life-changing from someone whose life will be changed by them may disturb me so much because I am good at keeping someone else's secrets.  I've kept  secrets through the years when a friend or family member has confided in me for advice or encouragement or prayer.  Those confidences weren't mine to divulge, but there are every day secrets that are better to be made known.  I've seen my share of those in my family, too, and I've cringed when asked not to 'tell' mom or dad or sister or whomever. 

Secrets get harder and harder to reveal as time goes by and as the deception grows with time so does the outcome of telling that one person who was kept in the dark.  Betrayal and distrust are fomented with a secret that is kept too long.  Is it worth the pain of the present to bring on deeper pain in the future when all is revealed?  Or is it worth the guilt that comes with keeping the secret for years, or the fear that you or someone else may slip up and reveal it accidentally?

God has kept some things secret from us, his image-bearers.  We do not know the secret will of God as it is worked out in our own life and in this world.  But we do know all that we need to know to love our Creator-Redeemer and to Serve Him in this life and the next.    Some secrets must be kept to protect the innocent or to prevent gossip or to uphold the integrity and respect for an individual  or entity.  But many secrets should never have become secrets; we are not God and we must trust Him enough to deal with the consequence of revealing what needs to be revealed to the person who needs to know and hear.  

Giving a Bridal Shower Devotion

I've been asked to give a devotion for a bridal shower on Saturday.

This devotion will be different than most of the ones I've done in the past because I am only writing notes, not writing out the whole devotion.  I've wanted to try to present a devotion without reading every word.  I am not good at organizing my thoughts in my head and then speaking them to a group of people, but  I will never be good at it if I don't try, so that's why I'm trying.  My fear is that I will begin babbling, with many disjointed thoughts that make sense to me but to no one else.  I get nervous speaking in a large group of adults (I don't get nervous in front of children--only adults--go figure!).

I'm keeping the devotion simple; Scripture readings and some notes on how to apply them to a marriage. Simple is hard when it comes to talking about marriage; I want to include so much more than I have time to say.  There are many directions one could take when speaking to a future wife about what it means to have a good marriage.

Today after finishing what I wanted to say, my husband gave me four main tenets of marriage as he sees it:  love, respect (honor), communication, and sex.  I've included love and respect in my presentation, but missed the other two, not because I don't agree with him, but because of my adherence to 'keep it simple'.
I could just imagine trying to talk about the importance of sex to a group of ladies!  Definitely not a topic to speak about when one is learning how to speak from notes only!

My husband's quick list of what a happy marriage consists confirms that there are more topics to choose from in giving a bridal shower devotion than there is time to share them. Another topic formed in my mind when my husband gave me his list: the differences between men and women, especially in how we think. That could be its own devotion--how God has created us male and female to compliment/complete each other.  Or a devotion on Biblical communication.  Or on physical intimacy as a characteristic in marriage that makes the marriage relationship unique and different from any other human relationship.  I could go on and on. I hope I don't go on and on tomorrow (a sure sign of rambling!).

Tomorrow my topic is living out your Christian walk in the Lord through your marriage: treating a husband as a beloved Christian and centering marriage on a relationship to the Lord Jesus so that as a wife grows in the Lord so will her marriage bear the fruit of that growth. A simple concept that takes a lifetime of practice.  If marriages are based on God's Word and prayer, they can be fruitful. 

I will read the summary of God's Law that Jesus gives us in Matthew, and I will read passages that show how Christians are to treat each other as they learn to serve and love the Lord.  Nothing profound, just a reminder that as Christians our marriages should reflect first our love for Jesus. There will be a lot left unsaid, but hopefully everyone present will be able to relate to the promises and commands that God gives us in His Word, no matter if they are married or single, as long as they are Christians.