Blessings Of Love

So, another week has passed and the lives of every soul on the planet have changed in one way or another. Have you ever thought about that before? Life is not the same today as it was seven days ago. Case in point, I will use myself, again, as an example. Monday morning began with surgery on my vocal cords, the third time, to remove some carcinoma growths, temporarily suspending my projected speech, lowering it to a loud whisper. Now, for someone who expresses himself through speech, life is not the same at the moment. I have no idea what kind of voice I will eventually end up with again and only time will reveal it as healing continues. It’s a slow process retraining the voice, but, as before, I have confidence there is enough good cord tissue remaining to once again develop a strong voice. I don’t tell you all this to persuade you to feel sorry for me. No, I want to tell you about the support I receive and give on a constant basis that stabilizes my ever changing life in this ever changing world. It is a faithful, powerful, supporting characteristic we can all share with one another. It’s called, prayer. When we are helpless to help those whom we love, we pray. When we lack the reason to understand why, we pray. When words to try and make sense of it all just won’t come, we quietly draw a deep breath, and with tears rolling down our cheeks, we pray. We pray for our own worldly problems, for the adversities of our loved ones and for people we don’t even know, as we witness horrible tragedies unfolding throughout the world. Why? Because we believe in the power of prayer! We believe prayer, our petition to God on high, will bring about intervention. We want to see a miracle! And why shouldn’t we?
An old man in the front pew sat with his head bowed throughout the worship service. At the conclusion the preacher approached him and asked him why he slept the whole time. “I wasn’t sleeping”, the man said. “I was praying!” “That’s very good”, the preacher said, happily. Then the preacher inquired, “Tell me, just what was it you were praying for so earnestly?” Without hesitation the old man replied, “A new preacher!”
The Sunday school teacher asked little Johnny, “Tell me the truth. Do you pray before eating?” “No sir”, Johnny replies. “I don’t have to. My mom’s a good cook!”
[James 1: 2-8] There are those who oppose the thought that God intervenes in the lives of those who love and obey Him. James says we should ask God, believing without doubt, that God will grant us wisdom in all things. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; Seek and you will find; Knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7: 7-8) John writes, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5: 14-15) We live in a world of unexplained “miracles” and I’m not one to discount that of God’s intervention. In fact, I look daily for God’s interactions in my personal life, sometimes in total awe and amazement at answered prayer. What does it mean, “ask anything according to his will”? I am made in the image of God, thus I am spiritual. We see one another in the image of the world, thus I am physical. God’s will rules the spirit of man not the body. When I pray, I must pray for the spirit and be willing to accept the will of God. I seek first the kingdom of God, and His interventions in my life are blessings of love.