daily prayer

   Good morning! How are we faithing? A good friend of mine has been on my mind all week. He is struggling with events and situations in the world. He has some really deep, thought provoking yet not unheard of questions. Some events in life are happenstance because the Word tells us that the "rain falls on the just and the unjust". That isn't a whole lot of comfort when you are deep in the midst of turmoil. God understands this. God knows where you are. How you recognise that fact makes a huge difference on how you deal with the circumstances you are in. Our God cares just like a father does, just like a Daddy does. There is scripture that attests to this. Check this out;

Romans 8:14-17
 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.
NAS

Galatians 4:5-7
  And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
NAS

"ABBA Father", what does this mean? "Abba is the word framed by the lips of infants, and betokens unreasoning trust; "father" expresses an intelligent apprehension of the relationship. The two together express the love and intelligent confidence of the child." With that definition we can see that knowing who God is and how God is can make a marked difference in how we approach him in prayer. Do you ask in prayer because of duty? Do you pray only for yourself and your needs? Do you only petition God for tangible things? These are questions we need to ask ourselves with our focus in mind. Our focus is God and not what we can get from him. Can we ask for stuff? Well sure but this is our Father, our Daddy. Those of you who have kids understand that a kid that continually asks for stuff without any regard for the work needed to get that stuff becomes quite selfish and gets real mad when they don't get what they want, they become spoiled. We can go to our father with praise and requests. We can speak in a relationship manner. Realize the woes others have and pray for them. Realize you are not alone or enduring anything unusual. Take your eyes off yourself and put them on God and his truth and wisdom and your choices will become clear. You may not like them, they may hurt but God's wisdom will guide your path and you will overcome.
 
Remember Aaron Williams family...remember Bill...remember Norma Jean McQueen family...
 
 Heavenly Father,
   We beseech you this morning to grant wisdom and vision in us so we may make the choices best for all. Lord we are struggling and need your grace and touch to see clearly the choices we must make. Lord we ask you for forgiveness because we desire to do things righteously but stumble. Lord the pain is getting worse but we await you. Lord please comfort those facing tragedies today. Hold and let them know you understand and love them. Thank you for your grace . Thank you Father for your love and tolerance for a motley crew like us, bless you Lord for we love and honor you in your most holy and gracious name, amen