Pray You Through

     I stumbled across this song and just had to share it. :)
     So often we have friends who we want to help so bad - but there's nothing we can do.
     Except pray.
     This song really was powerful to me.
     We are called, as Christians to pray for others. To thank God for those who are following Christ, to pray for those who aren't.
     The most powerful thing we can do to help someone is prayer.
     And I've seen prayers answered. Big ones.
     Just an example - a few months back God really impressed on my heart to pray for a friend. I prayed all through that day whenever I thought about it for this friend. But I still felt the intense need to continue praying. I got another friend to pray with me and spent the next day fasting and praying. I was sitting in a room, reading the Bible and praying that afternoon, when I felt this overwhelming peace wash over me. And I felt God say, "I am in control. This friend is in my hands and I have a plan for them." The intense need for prayer for this friend left(of course I'm not saying that there was no need to pray for them anymore. Everyone needs prayer.). A week later I found out this friend had kinda what you could say a life-changing moment and felt closer to God to ever before. Praise God!
     Prayer is a powerful thing. It really is.
     Talking to the God who CREATED you. Opening your heart to Him. Crying out to Him. I mean it's ....wow. Most people seem to take prayer for granted. To "do it" just because the Bible says to pray. So before they go to bed, before they eat a meal, they'll just say a quick prayer. We should be praying because we are talking to our CREATOR. Our Heavenly Father. We should be constantly praying. Constantly seeking Christ.
     2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
     Do you have a friend who is falling away? Who is going through a hard time? Who just needs comfort? The best thing you can do for them is pray. Pray for their salvation if they aren't saved. Pray for God to reveal Himself to them if it be His will.
      Pray. 
      Pray not out of habit. But out of love for Christ. Out of the desire to seek Him. Pray from your heart to a God who loves you.
     Pray because we are called to pray. Not forced. Called.

Burden For Prayer

This is a more personal post, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to post it. And I don't want this to sound all weird or anything. But I decided to post it.
Something that hasn't happened very often to me, but yet I remember each and every time as though it was yesterday...is when God places on my heart a burden to pray for someone.
I'm not talking about a burden as Christians we feel to pray. It's really hard to explain, but it's a burden so great it's as though you feel the pain of the person you are praying for.
And it really really  hurts. I can't describe how it feels. It's a feeling of hurt, lost and empty, with no cure. But when I feel it, it's not coming from me. I'm feeling someone else's pain. That might sound really weird, but that the closest way I can explain it. I feel the pain, and with it comes the extreme need to pray. To pray for that person.
I wrote these songs tonight based off what I feel. They aren't wonderful written songs or anything, they're more my thoughts and prayers.

Galation 6:2, "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

Praying for You Tonight

Please understand this isn't easy
Please understand it hurts
Please understand that I know
The pain you feel tonight

I'm here to share your burden
It's not yours alone
God has opened up my eyes
To see the hurt

I cry for you tonight
I hurt for you tonight
I pray
I pray for you tonight

Maybe I barely even know you
Maybe I saw you only once
But I feel as if I've know
Every pain within your heart

So I'm praying for you tonight
I'm asking God to show you
That he loves you tonight
I'm praying for you
Asking God to opened up your eyes
To know a truth beyond the pain
I'm praying for you
Praying for you
As the tears fall from my eyes
Your pain is mine
So I'm praying for you
Praying for you
tonight

***

On My Knees In Prayer 

Dear God I have a letter
But I'll write it in a song
Oh Lord why have you placed me here
Why in this place right now?

I feel like I can't stand the pain
Why do I feel it  now?
Is it a curse or a blessing
I've asked myself before

When I'm down on the floor
And the pain they feel becomes my own
I'll listen and bear he burden
Here on my knees in prayer

And when the tears are fallin', but they aren't my own
When my heart is aching, but the pain isn't mine
God I'll be on my knees in prayer
Praying you'll open up their eyes

I'm not asking for you
To take away the pain
I'll gladly bare the burden
And stay on my knees in prayer

But God I'm asking
For the strength, courage and wisdom
To bare this burden
To stay on my knees in prayer

And I'll be on my knees in prayer
For a burden I don't always understand
For a pain greater then I've ever felt
I'm on my knees in prayer.

A Burden For Prayer

     About fifteen minutes ago I saw a picture of someone I used to know, and it was disgusting. To see a person grow up in a Christian family, then turn away from the God who created them, grieves me so much. Quite often the only thing you can do for them, is pray.

     1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
     Prayer is extremely powerful. I saw this quote that said, "Pray as if your life depended on it. It does." Are we praying sincerely for those we love? Are we praying sincerely for our enemies? (Matt 5:43-44 - "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.")Are we praying sincerely to God? Or are we just praying during Church, when the pastor says, "let's pray"? Are we praying because it's just the 'Christian thing to do'? Why do you pray? How often do you pray? WHO are you praying for?
     When we go to someone's house, and they aren't saved, are we ashamed to bow our heads before the meal? Are we ashamed when we go to a friends house, and they are saved, to bow our heads and thank God...even if they don't?
     Prayer is something that should be taken seriously. When praying we are speaking to a God who created us and loved us! We are casting our cares upon Him. We are asking Him for grace, for mercy. We are thanking Him for all He's given us.
      Psalm 5:3 - "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning I will direct my prayer to You, and I will look up."
     Are we praying through-out the day? When we pray is are we letting our thoughts wander?


      Luke 11:1-13 - "One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: "'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.'"

More Then Just A Face

     So today I went to some property we are renting out to clean up. We keep getting new renters, and each time they leave, they leave a HUGE mess. Garbage EVERYWHERE. It's disgusting and takes us days to clean up and truckloads of trips to the dump. Today I was cleaning out this huge storage container, and it was filled with boxes and boxes and random stuff. I kept finding these old picture albums filled with old photos.
     Two things hit me really hard inside.
     1. The fact that these people would just throw away these memories.
     2. The fact that these people were such slobs.
     We were burning everything that was burnable, and each album I threw in the fire, I felt so bad. These pictures, were more then pictures, these were peoples LIVES. And you could see from all the junk that was around, these lives were so torn apart. No, I don't mean the pictures themselves were oh-so-important. But it was the people in the pictures. I saw families, friends, brothers, sisters, grandparents. Broken lives. Lives of people who didn't know the truth of God's love.
     It really tore me apart and gave me this extreme burden to help these people. With each album I threw into the fire, I would pray for them. I wanted so bad to take each of those albums home, I don't know what I would have done with them. But I just wanted to keep them 'alive' somehow. I don't know if what I'm saying even makes sense. But each picture I looked at, I saw a face, a face of someone who was a stranger to me. But though that face was a stranger to me, that face wasn't a stranger to others. This person had family and friends. This person wasn't a stranger to God. This person was like me, a child whom God created in His image.
     I'm trying to figure out how to put into words what is going on in my head right now, and I'm having an extremely hard time.
     I don't know what else more I can say, because, it's something I can't explain. I have a deep longing to help these people. Help those people who's lives are so broken.
     How often do we pass by a chance to share the love of Christ with someone? How often do we see that cashier at SafeWay, and you can see the pain in their eyes? What do we do? Do we just make our purchase and continue on our way? We can make a difference. Even if we don't have the chance to speak aloud to whoever may be hurting, we ALWAYS have the chance to pray. Pray for them. Constantly.
      Galatians 6:2, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."
     This is something that is super important to me in my life. I believe God is calling me to somehow help these people. Right now I don't know what I can do other then pray for them. I'm kinda more of an introvert, so it's super hard for me to talk to the cashier I see or too give encouragement to a stranger. But it's not impossible. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 
     My plea for you is this: Though it may be hard. Follow God's calling. Talk to that person who needs to hear God's love. Pray for that person.

     Matthew 25:35-40, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
 ³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

 ⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."