Thursday, September 20, 2012

Thursday’s Devotion: Me First in my Prayer Life


James 5:13-14 (GW) Prayer Is Powerful  If any of you are having trouble, pray. If you are happy, sing psalms.  If you are sick, call for the church leaders. Have them pray for you and anoint you with olive oil in the name of the Lord.

My solitary morning walks are my most productive prayer time.  I pray best outside in nature. I’ve shared before that my prayers take different forms. Sometimes I pray or praise God through the alphabet.  Other times I pray for those on our prayer list and for people I know whose homes I pass.  Other times I pray for special concerns going from my immediate family to the larger world. This scripture reminds me to take time to actually pray for myself – something that I often skip other than a simple request that God keep me healthy in mind, body and spirit. . I remember that when flying the attendants always instruct adults to put on their oxygen masks first then to put them on their children.  Good advice for our prayer life, too.   I thank God for the day when I get in bed at night but don’t always ask God to help me get organized and productive when I get out of bed.  Instead of, “Good morning, Lord,” it’s more like, “Good Lord, morning.” Instead of letting myself feel so overwhelmed at all that needs to be done at home and at church that I put off tackling things, perhaps I should ask God to help me take on the tasks I need to accomplish include those I’ve been procrastinating on.  It’s one way to get myself in order so that I can devote more time to praying for others. What have you been putting off that you need God’s help with?

Lord, this day we pray for ourselves first.  Help us to determine what really needs to be done and give us the strength and energy to accomplish that. Then we ask for those moments of joy so that we may be happy and sing psalms. 

God Bless,
Paige

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