Saturday, October 20, 2012

{31 Days} Day 20 ~Taking a new stance - on my knees


"...pray continually..." {1 Thes. 5:17}
Martin Luther, father of the Protestant Reformation, was known to be a man of prayer.  The "kneel before the Lord our Maker" kind of prayer.  I've heard tell that his knees were rough and calloused from this stance.
The Lord used Luther in amazing ways during a turbulent period in church history - Mr. Luther knew who wielded the Power, and he submitted on his knees to it.

And yet, it is so very difficult, I find, to commit to this manner of prayer.  Not merely getting on my knees to pray, but just praying at all!  It's tough for someone who is time, task, and schedule oriented (i.e. me) to stop and pray. And I think, perhaps, part of prayer is the yielding of time to the One who gave us time to begin with.
"[The sun] rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other..." {Ps. 19:6}

So a yielding of time (no matter what seems to be pressing heavy) to the God who set the sun and moon in their courses is a place to begin

Now then, WHAT should I be praying for?  I find that there are so many people to pray for and things to give to the Lord, requests to make, repentance, and rejoicing...it would take hours!!!  
I've read many different suggestions of ways to pray and I've narrowed my field down to two. (No, it's not a typo.  Yes, I said two.)

The first is to pray following the acronym ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication).  
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." {Phil. 4:6}
And when you pray in this order, pray scripture.  It's always amazing to pray God's own words.  In my mind's eye, when I pray straight from scripture, I sense that I've been ushered into a sweet and holy place.  I won't even try to describe it.

My second prayer focus is for my husband.  Daily praying for him, throughout the day and with specificity.
A dear friend passed on a suggestion of how we as wives can pray for our husbands.  I've printed mine off and begun the work of praying for Matthew daily and specifically. 
Here's the link:  http://www.reviveourhearts.com/articles/31-days-of-praying-for-your-husband/


My sisters in the Lord, the battle is on for our families; and our husbands are the prime target.  So I say this to myself and anyone who will take up "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" - KNEEL before the Lord, ADORE Him, CONFESS to Him, THANK Him, & MAKE SUPPLICATION for your husbands before anything else.

Perhaps, one day, I'll discover little callouses on my knees from time spent in the work of prayer.

"The prayer of a righteous [wife] is powerful and effective." {James 5:16b}

~~~
Have a blessed and restful Sabbath!

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