Praying the Commonalities

 

The Lord has been working on my heart in the world of intentional prayer. I've always loved to pray (in general and for people, specifically) but this is an area where He is teaching/moving/changing me fairly thoroughly right now.

The new planner I got actually has a whole focus on prayer, which is helping me keep track of requests, and I love that. But I wanted to talk about prayer today with you, because it really matters!

How many times have you said "Oh yes, I'll pray for you!" - and then you totally forget? I'm not here to judge you if the answer is embarrassingly large. I've done it SO many times myself over the course of my lifetime. I'm always looking for ways to keep requests in front of me so I remember to pray intentionally often!

I thought I'd share with you one thing God has been teaching me about prayer that has really helped!

As you know, we just had our yard put in, and we have a new full time job of WATERING. Nothing like having a yard put in before a 100 degree heat wave, right? It's a whole process, with a mix of sprinklers and hand-watering, and I'm fairly convinced that right about the time we perfect our system, the yard will be grown and we can stop. :) 

But watering lawns is such a first world problem, isn't it? A few nights ago, as I stood in the street with the hose, reaching the far corners the sprinklers missed, I thought about some friends I have in a couple different corners of the world that are facing legitimate droughts right now. Their drinking water supplies are drying up. They need rain. And there I stood, with my hose, coaxing grass sprouts up from the dirt, feeling a little guilty that I have water for my lawn when they hope to have enough to drink for survival.

God pushed my heart to use my lawn-watering time to pray for them. So every time I hear the sprinkler spray water on the window, or every time I stand in the street to water the edges of the yard, I'm praying mightily for my friends who need rain.

We had some decent storms here this week, and although our town didn't get hit too badly, Fort Wayne took a big blow, and so did several areas in Ohio. I've been reading posts on social media from friends who are trying to find homes for their frozen food since their power is out - or they're staying with friends because they don't have air conditioning, and it's so hot here right now. 

So when I open the freezer to prep our meals or walk inside to a blast of cool air after being outside, I'm praying for my friends to find provision and for those working out in the heat to restore power to them. 

I'm following along with the story of a young man fighting aggressive cancer. He's a teenager. Everything happened so fast. His family serves on the mission field, so he and his mom are here in the States for his treatment while the rest of the family carries on the work thousands of miles away. So much to pray for! I saw in an early social media post that someone had gifted them a MudLove bracelet that says "Hope." I have the same bracelet and wear it every single day. So when I glance down and see my bracelet, I pray for them and all the many needs they face.

There are more examples, but you get the idea. Look around for things that remind you of people in need and let the sights remind you to pray. We're told in Scripture to pray without ceasing, and for me, this is what that looks like! I still make my lists and cross off requests when they become answers to prayer, but praying the commonalities has helped me stay consistent!