PRAY! PRAY! AND PRAY SOME MORE!

I am all about praying. Prayer is our hotline to God. When you feel like all hope is lost why not try praying. In yesterday's devotion I mentioned the Bible verse found in Lamentations2:19(NIV) which says 'Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin, pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at every street corner.'  In other words, don't throw your hands up in despair and feel hopeless but keep praying and pray again. (See Luke 18:1). 

We need to be on our knees in prayer for the lives of our children. We need to pray seducing  spirits do not hold them captive or lead them astray. The enemy works overtime to try to distract our children from not being sold out to him. The devil perverts the message of Jesus Christ and tries to get us to believe lies. He wants you to be mad at God and turn your back on Him. 

When I was a child we were allowed to pray in school. The Ten Commandments were posted. As a result there was lots less crime, teen pregnancies, school drop outs, and drug use. God was the "standard" that kept it all together. But sadly in 1963 God was made illegal in our public school system. School prayer hit the "chopping block" in the Supreme Court and no longer could we pray as a group in school. You can try to take God out of school but I heard someone say, as long as there are tests there will be prayer in public school.

Colossians 2:8(NIV) says 'See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.' Pray this verse for your family members. The forces of the world and the lure of fun do captivate and sometimes take our eyes off Christ. We can not allow that to happen.

Our world has gone crazy. Little by little we push God out. This happens in our daily lives too. It is more "fun" to read a magazine  or paper than the Bible. Our spirit grows when we get into the word of God. Within the pages we have power to defeat the enemy,Satan. 

We can still pray but just don't pray and feel like that is all that is needed. Psalm 66:18(NASB) says 'If I regard wickedness in my heart the Lord will not hear.' Get your heart right with God first. 

Even prayer gets pushed out of our day. Sure we may utter a quick "thank you for this food" prayer but do you really ever "talk to God" in depth and share your heart with him? Find yourself a place to be your "prayer place" and each day make it a point to not forget to go there and start the day right. If you are a married couple maybe try praying together. Prayer does brings couples closer together. After all the marriage is a three strand cord and God is that third strand that keeps it all together. A rope of two strands would easily break. So too a marriage where God is not first and is a priority.

Yesterday's devotion ended with  Psalm 1:1-3(NIV) and I will repeat it today. Perhaps you can commit it to memory. 'Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.'

PRAYER: Lord I know what I need to do. I need to not put you as last on my "to do" list although at times I have. You bless me so much yet at times I am too busy with worldly things to bother to spend time with you in prayer. It is my desire to not make excuses anymore but to make time daily to pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.

NOTE: Moms interested in prayer for their children check out www.momsinprayer.org.  Moms in Prayer was formerly called Moms in Touch. I have been blessed to be a part since 1996. Check it out!