"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." (Phil 4:6)
"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thess. 5:18) How is your prayer life looking these days? Especially as we near the end of 2023, we tend to evaluate our goals, what we've accomplished, where we can improve in the new year, etc. Let me rephrase that question: have you received answers to your prayers? I don't know about you, but I tend to focus on the specific requests I've prayed over and get disappointed or frustrated if they're "not answered." Then I realized how limited my perspective had become. We have prayers answered every day; maybe not the big job promotion we were hoping for, or health for the holiday gatherings coming up. Were you safe on the road today? God kept you safe. I'm always praying for safety on the roads and trying not to take that for granted. Did you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner? God provided sustenance for you. Again, this is an answer to prayer we take for granted. Or maybe it wasn't something we even prayed about, but the Lord provided for us anyway. Did you wake up this morning? God has given you life. Another day to live for His glory! Did you have good sleep? God gives his beloved children sleep (Ps. 127:2) "God has given us a variety of refreshments to relieve us, yet how often are we unthankful! We have better things than a cup of water to delight us when thirsty, yet are we not grateful. . . Did the Lord of Glory cry "I thirst" and have nothing in His extremity to comfort Him, and dost thou, who hast a thousand times forfeited all right to temporal as well as spiritual mercies, slight the common bounties of Providence! What! grumble at a cup of water, who deservest but a cup of wrath. O lay it to heart and learn to be content with what you have, though it be but the very barest necessaries of life." Arthur W. Pink, The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross. They may seem like "little things," but they ARE answers to our prayers. Stop and thank God for each and every blessing He bestows on you. In this way, we'll become a little more mindful of His Hand in our lives. :) P.S. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I'll see you in 2o24!
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AuthorHi! I'm Carolyn, a writer seeking to glorify God with my words. Archives
February 2024
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