Originally published Sunday, 31 August 2014.
Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. Psalm 69:16 (NIV)
Anne Lamott says there are three kinds of prayers: those that we say when we need God to help us, those that we utter out of gratitude, and those that we yell out of amazement.
In the two and a half years since Xylon and I stared at a doctor while he told us Xylon had cancer, I’ve prayed lots of the “help” kind of prayers:
“Lord, give us wisdom.”
“Jesus, help me.”
“Saviour, like a shepherd lead me.”
“God, we need you.”
I’ve prayed them as doctors walk in for consultations, in the middle of the night while Xylon shivers from fever, and on long trips to-and-from the hospital.
Last week, we sat with a specialist talking about the way forward. The specialist spoke hard words. Words that suck hope out of a heart.
I sat there. Listening to her. Praying my “help” prayers when suddenly the feeling in the room changed. Xylon describes it as he felt like God came and joined us in the room. All of a sudden where there had been death, life began to be spoken. Hope returned.
Last week, in the doctors office, I was reminded that it is through prayer God’s grace can breathe light into the darkest situations.
“Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God. (tweet this)
Don’t say, “I will endure this until I can get away and pray.” Pray now – draw on the grace of God in your moment of need.”
Sometimes I forget that God’s grace is enough for me. I forget that God’s grace is sufficient to carry me through everything I struggle with.
Through prayer, I am reminded that God’s grace is sufficient for today, for this moment, for this need.
Ponder: Do you think praying in the middle of your problems will change anything? Can you remember a circumstance where praying like that changed something? Share it in the comments and encourage others.
Prayer: Lord, I need you now.
{Other places I've been writing lately}
iBelieve.com | Why I Stopped Saying I'm a Bad Person
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- This was orginally published on my site in June 2014 to read more devotionals like this go to ilovedevotionals.com
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