Pray

Walking up the path to my office this morning, seeing the grounds so well kept by one member, I give thanks to God for his work, and ask God to guard and guide him as he walks along the Journey with Christ.

Glancing to my right, I see the hanging baskets another has given and which bless everyone here with their beauty. She and her husband work here together. He's a real role model for the boys he leads in RA's, and she's a blessing in whatever she places her hand on. They're off on a vacation trip, so I breathe a prayer of intercession for their safe return.

Arriving at my office, yesterday's contacts are still on the monitor before me. One family is coping with the devastation of cancer's onslaught. I stop and pray, asking God to comfort, strengthen, and heal. Another deals daily with the prolonged separation from each other, with the wife in a nursing home, and the husband of decades going home each night to an empty house. Hard work that, after decades as a loving couple together. So I pray.

Oswald Chambers wrote, "the purpose of prayer is to reveal the presence of God."

After thinking through some of the problems that our church family members are dealing with, I'm sure looking for Him.

In reading through the Psalms, two things stand out. First, the writers sure did have a lot of problems. Second, they never lost their focus on God. In the 150 Psalms, the names "Lord" and "God" are mentioned more than 1200 times. Even though some of the Psalms were written during times of great distress, they were able to look past those to God.

So I pray. There's a lot of things a pastor does, but two activities top the list.

Acts 6:4 (Msg)
Meanwhile, we'll stick to our assigned tasks of prayer and speaking God's Word."

I don't have to get to my office to begin. Neither do you.

Pray.

Don't wait.

Pray.

Grace!

David

This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.