Who Me?

Open _______’s eyes and turn him/her from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that he/she may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus. Acts 26:18

This prayer is printed on the Prayer Sheet each week under Teacher/Staff. This morning, I decided to read it in context and a frightening thing happened!

Go ahead, go get your Bible and read Acts 26. Start around verse 12 and pay close attention to verses 16 and 17. I'll wait while you do that.

{whistling no particular tune - that drives some people crazy}

Ok, just two questions for you

1. Who is speaking?
2. Who is to “open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light...”?

I firmly believe that prayer is not about giving God a to-do list but instead is a time to bring our joys and heartaches to God and ask Lord, what do you want me to do? or How do I respond to this circumstance in your name?

Here’s a challenge for you. At the beginning of the above prayer, add these words when you plug in a teacher’s name: “Lord, send me to....”

It was a tough prayer for me this morning but I’m trusting God will do the work. I just need to be available when (or if) he chooses to indeed send me. Maybe he won’t choose to send me, but I want to be willing if he does.

Lord, send me to open _______’s eyes and turn him/her from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that he/she may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus. Acts 26:18

The Thrill of Prayer

       Rejoice.
Rejoice not so much in victories as in the fact that I am leading.
       Praise Me.
Not so much for My blessings as for My love that prompts them.
       Serve Me with gladness,
not for the ultimate nor present reward,
       but for the thrill of knowing that we labor together;
that I stand beside you in every enterprise, however trivial.

~ Frances J. Roberts Come Away My Beloved

Where does your MITI group seem to struggle in the prayer hour?

Praise?
When first starting out in the MITI prayer format (and even when we've been doing it awhile for some of us) it can be difficult to get used to the concept of Praise over Thanksgiving. I still catch myself once in a while starting with "Thank you for..." in the Praise segment rather than "God, you are..."

Praise is not about the blessings he has given us but His love that prompts those blessings.

Confession?
Rejoice in his leading. It is the prompting of his Holy Spirit that reveals where we fall short of his leading. As we allow the silence to be penetrated by God's love during this time, we see the beauty of the Creator leading us like a good shepherd. He lifts us up. He guides us with the discipline of his rod and staff for his name sake. You can approach the throne of God with confidence because He puts you back onto his path when you submit to His leading.

Thanksgiving?
Oh wow! We thank him not like a child who enjoys a gift but is reluctant to write a thank you note. Oh, no. We thank him from much greater depths than that. This is Almighty God who has entered into our lives - no matter how trivial.

I'm told by many group leaders that this seems to be one of the quiet times of the prayer hour. Moms, this should be the time when the leader is forced to interrupt to stick to our one hour commitment.

I challenge you to not think so much of just the rewards of your prayers but think of who it is entering into the struggles of your child's life. When you say "thank you," pause for just a moment and consider again the attribute or name of God you have just praised at the beginning of your prayer time. Think about how He has been faithful even in the trivial.

Intercession?
Ah, the heart of our prayer time. Asking, Seeking, Finding. What we are really doing here is serving. Prayer is an essential part of being able to see what God is doing around us. Without seeing what God is doing, we cannot participate with him. In Intercession we say "Lord, as your servant, I bring this to you. What do you want me to do with it?" When we know that we are part of what we are asking, part of God's love, we discover the thrill of asking, the thrill of knowing that we labor together with the Creator. Each of us doing as God directs and God doing his part.

Let's not just drop off a to-do list with God. Let's seek his counsel, his perspective, and let him lead us according to his love.