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Posts Tagged ‘God calling you to pray’

Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening He went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, and all the people came early in the morning to hear Him at the temple” (Luke 21:37-38).

I’d never noticed it before. Perhaps I am the only one. But in the Scripture passage above it states that Jesus went to the Mount of Olives to rest and rejuvenate after each day of teaching to the crowds. It became His refuge.

Now it makes sense that He would go there His last night on earth to pray and rededicate Himself for the torturous mission that lay ahead. It was the one place He’d often found peace. And that night, He needed it more than ever before.

Do you have a place of peace?

Perhaps it is the park down the block, or an off the beaten path stretch of beach. Maybe it is closer to home such as a bench in your garden, a soaking tub filled with bubble bath (and if you have kids, a locked door!), or a cozy chair draped with a prayer shawl.

Wherever your peace place is, go there.  Take a few deep breaths. God will meet you. Just as He met His Son on the night before the most important day of His ministry. We all need a break now and then.

 


The internet is a vast mission field. At Campus Crusades of Canada’s  Power to Change, I edit and write for two websites that draw people closer to God:  Issues I Face  and The Life.   Our free articles and devotionals glean a readership of 500,000 plus a month.  Some are believers, others don’t know what to believe. All are seeking. We help them know Jesus, one mouse click at a time.
In 2017, over 10 million viewed and or responded to our internet presence and over a half million went deeper to learn more about Jesus.
But as with any missionary organization, we are funded solely through the donations of ministry partners. And at this moment, an anonymous beneficiary will match any and all donations up to one hundred thousand dollars. 
Find out more about my work as a writer and editor at https://thelifeproject.com/team/julie/  

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MP900444553[1]I felt it coming on. I tried to ignore it, but it kept building. Small things, like my purse dumping all over the floorboard when I turned the corner. Dropping  a sack of groceries–not the ones with the eggs, thank the Lord. Catching the pocket of my skirt on the doorknob when my arms were full. . The shower curtain collapsing in the middle of my shower. Stubbing my toe as my sandal slipped.

Each time my blood pressure inched up another point or so. Every incident piled onto the other like a tower of cards wobbling in the blast of an oscillating fan.

WHAT WAS GOING ON????

Perhaps it is because I have been instrumental in planning three large events and five talks coming up in the eleven weeks after coming off the roller coaster of launching a novel and jumping from book signing to book signing.  Then it is Toastmasters contest season and I am chief judging five of them. Plus, I am helping two people edit their books and reviewing three more. When I told a writer friend of all I had planned  over the next two months she wrote back that she became tired just reading about it.

Then,,,My computer erased my work in a brown out and the auto back up (scheduled for every 5 minutes) decided not to kick in as it should. ARGHHH!!!!

I finally sat with my head on my desk, tears swimming, and prayed. I prayed for Satan to quit messing with me. I prayed for the Holy Spirit to bolster me and and calm me. I prayed to the Lord to bring me His peace. I prayed for all these end-of-rope frustrations to stop. “What are you trying to tell me, Lord?”

Then, like a whisper in the ear, but from the inside out, came a voice. “I will see you through it and protect you from attacks, my child. But next time, pray to me before you take all this on.”

OH! Okay. Sure. My cheeks warmed and my heart sunk.

How often do we overload ourselves, and then ask for strength to endure it? How many times do we rush ahead and then reach back for Jesus’ hand and try to pull Him along with us? What makes us think we can keep running on empty and not refill through quiet God-time?

When frustrations build, stop, breathe and pray. Above all else, pray. Abba Father may be allowing these things because He is trying to call you to His side so you’ll give Him your undivided attention.

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.Mark 4:39

If He can calm a storm over a lake, will He not find a way to calm us? Lord, may I be as obedient as the waves in the Gospels.

 

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