28 Days of Morning Prayer Focus
Friends-
Once again our family has experienced the heartache of loss. I stood holding my mother-in-law as she watched her 88 year old husband being wheeled out of her living room by paramedics. Neither of us realizing it would be the last time she would see him alive. Joe’s three daughters were all out of state. So Monty went to the hospital to see what the doctors would say. Bobbie and I stayed back for her to get dressed and join Joe at the hospital.
~To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
A routine morning changed in an instant. Joe would succumb to respiratory challenges and other underlying health conditions. In a moment, hearts were broken and for my mother-in-law the weight felt more than she could bear. As we left the hospital my heart was heavy. Not only for the Caldwell family and my mother-in-law but for those who were there fighting and those who might enter needing care. Before exiting I paused and breathed deep a prayer over every life that would come in emergent. Peace be still Father.
There is so much brokenness, heartbreak, sadness and pain in this world. I simply encourage you to pause throughout your day- consider those the Lord brings to heart and mind: the lonely, the empty womb of one who longs to be a mama, a mama who has lost her child too soon and cannot bear the thought of life without their child, the homeless, a weary stranger, cancer’s rampage, those who have lost loved ones to Covid, are battling the virus now or the body diseased and ravaged with pain, accidents or unexpected injury.
The list could go on snd your life has likely been impacted by your very own heart-breaking life moment.
I felt so energized by the Lord as I walked out of the ER. Knowing that we can full well carry and lift another’s care as the Lord sees fit. To everything there is a season. Joy and living life full, heartache and pain. Today our prayers can rise together as we fulfill Galatians 6:2 to “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”
So I ask you to pray with me. I ask that you reach out to someone to share your hearts need of you need prayer today. But I ask more than anything that we consider praying for those within and beyond our reach that the Lord will lighten the load that we can carry for them.
In this world we will have trouble. Life. Death. Loss. Pain. Suffering. Victory. Defeat.
But this I know. We are not alone. Joe Caldwell moved from life to eternal life. His joy has been made complete by His creator. For those who know this hope in Jesus, we can carry the difficult loads for those we know and love or God allows along our way. Pay attention to those who may be walking the broken road.
A Prayer Those With A Heavy Heart
Dear God,
Thank you for reminding us in your Word that we do not face the storms alone, but you are always with us. Whispering calm. Speaking peace. Bringing rest to our souls.
This world feels like a hard place some days; it’s hurting and broken. We pray for those who are facing deep losses right now, for the times that grief has covered us all. Please comfort us through the painful seasons, surrounding those we love with your huge peace and the reassuring presence of your Holy Spirit.
We confess our need for you. We ask you to forgive us for trying to figure everything out on our own, for not trusting that you are more than able and powerful to work on our behalf. Forgive us for picking back up what we already determined to lay down at your feet. Give us the ability to trust you more, give us hearts that find rest in your presence. Give us the wisdom to seek peace and pursue it, remembering that it’s only to be found in You.
Thank you for the promise that your yoke is easy, and your burden is light. Thank you that you care for us so incredibly and that the peace of your loving presence guards and protects our hearts and minds in you. Thank you that we never have to walk in fear or live constantly in these overwhelmed cycles of worry and stress.
Help us to keep our eyes on you, and to see when another soul around us needs to be encouraged. Help us to be faithful to carry one another’s burdens, remembering that we’re all in this life together, and there’s such great power in unity and love.
Thank you that you are the soul refresher, the One who brings us rest, lifts our burdens, and gives peace. Thank you that you renew our strength and encourage our weary hearts. Thank you that you know our needs before we even ask you, that you know our thoughts, and all that troubles us today.
We ask you to please bring us into seasons of refreshing from your Spirit, that you would draw us closer to your presence as we seek to follow you. Help us to remember what’s most important in this world, and what’s not. Teach us to hold on to what matters, and to better know how to let go of what doesn’t.
Thank you for the gift of Jesus and the freedom He brings. For no matter what we go through in this life, or what we’re up against today, we never have to be shaken. You hold us secure, and we’re kept safe with you.
We love you Lord. We need you today, to once again lift from our hearts this heaviness and constant burden, as only you are able. And help us to find rest and hope in you again.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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