Every year it seems like once October hits
my life becomes a whirl wind of birthdays, holidays, work events, church
events, dinners, errands, family time, friend time, etc. The thing is, for the
most part these are all things that I sincerely want to partake in, yet I still
kind of dread this time of year. This week, I have been feeling especially busy
and tired. The little time that I have spent in my apartment has been sleep
time for the most part. I’m so tired writing this blog post right now that I
want to face palm on my Bible just like this:
But thank God I am making it through
because I have been encouraged by his word!
Today’s reading in Psalms 141 really
struck me. I wasn’t struck so much by the subject matter of the Psalmist’s
prayer, but rather the manner in which he prays, with fervor and with power,
but most of all with sincerity and with faith. He repeatedly calls for HELP,
saying, “O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry! Listen when I cry to
you for help! I look to you for help, O Sovereign Lord. You are
my refuge” (Psalms 141:1).
It instantly hit me after reading
those verses that all week I did not once stop and pray for God to for help. I
didn’t call on Him to strengthen me and restore life and energy to my body and
mind. Instead I just kept thinking over and over in my head, “I’m tired. I
need to get to my bed. I’m tired.” I didn’t take the time to offer up even
a quick prayer to the one that is able, explaining that I sincerely need his
help in this situation, and believing by faith that he would make it happen.
Instead I tried to “power thru” on my own.
Sadly, I sometimes, I think that I can
handle my problems on my own, so it doesn’t even cross my mind to bring them to
God. When I was younger my mom would lose her keys and then pray to God for
help finding them. And when she did find them (she always would!) she would say
of prayer of thanks. Call me crazy, but as a kid I honestly used to always
think it was just a little stupid. I thought that she should find her keys on
her own because God had better things to worry about, like world peace or the
war in the Middle East, or helping end homelessness. But I now know better.
Philippians 4:6 says, “Don’t worry
about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and
thank him for all he has done” and one of my favorite verses Mark 11:24 says, “ I
tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received
it, it will be yours. While Colossians 1:17 says, “And he is before all
things, and in him all things hold together.” We can pray for help in any
situation because God is everything and he holds everything together. When you
seek him he can help hold your mind together despite the forces that try to
drive it towards insanity. He can help hold your marriage together despite the
generational curses that try to break it apart. And he can help hold your
broken heart together despite the people that try their best to break into tiny
little insignificant pieces.
God wants us to give everything to him
and he wants us to ask for help. Don’t hold back your blessing by keeping your
worries (no matter how big or small) to yourself. Instead, PRAY ABOUT
EVERYTHING!
So now I’m going to take a minute to
pray for help for myself and for all of those like me that are feeling weary
and worrying about all of their impending responsibilities…
MY PRAYER: Dear God, thank you for using
your word to remind me that I can come to you with any problem. Right now, I
come before you asking that you give me energy to fulfill all of my
obligations. Keep my mind and my health so that I can continue to do the work
that I need to do. I pray for all of those that are feeling overwhelmed right
now with work, school (midterms!), family gatherings, and so on. I ask that
you pour out a blessing of your joy upon us, so much that we cannot contain it
all, because we know that the JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH. We love you and
we praise you for helping us right now and providing spiritual, emotional,
physical, and psychological renewal. Help us to remember that it is us that it
is you that holds all things together and that we cannot and should not try to
do it alone, but call on you when in need. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Merciful Mondays: Jael
“For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.” Deuteronomy 4:31
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