The five most powerful words you can say to someone are, "I am praying for you."
And I'll be honest, this one convicted me really hard because I am pretty hit and miss when it comes to following through with what I say when it comes to prayer. It's one thing to say I'll be praying for somebody, that's easy. It's the actually remembering to pray for them that's the struggle.
I don't want to be that kind of person. That person who is so inattentive that I just use "I'll be praying for you" as a way to get out of a conversation or as a space-filler when I'm out of words. I want my words to mean something, every single one of them. I want to stick to my word, no matter what the subject is, and no subject is more worthy of that than going to the Lord on behalf of the people I love, people whom I have seen go to Him for me.
So this week, I've decided to start taking this really seriously. Since I spend so much time on my computer as it is, I made a word document of all the prayer requests I could think of that I've heard recently for my family, friends, and blog friends, and that way I can easily add to it any time I hear one. I want to be more purposeful with my prayer time, so my goal is to end each night by pulling up the list and praying over everything that is on there. If the list gets too big, I suppose I can break it down into a section a night, but for now, this works.
I also want to get more habitual about spending time in the Word. Another thing that I've heard recently, I can't remember if it was Pastor Sean or Chris who said this, was that if we wonder why there's no power in our prayer, it's because we're not intimately connected with the Father. We can't treat prayer like it's just a drive-through order and God is our waiter. And one short but so true and powerful thing that Earl said at the purity conference a couple weeks ago was, "It's really hard to fight a battle with a weapon you've never touched." I'm in the middle of a long battle; if I want to make sure the enemy doesn't win, I need to be as prepared as possible. That's only going to happen if I get more intimately acquainted with the God I know loves me so deeply.
I don't want my time here to be a waste. I want it to be filled with opportunities to show other people the Lord that I serve, and growing closer and closer to Him as I wait for the day that He'll call me home. This sounds like a good place to start to me.
As a side note...three people today alone have told me I should write a book. Others have told me in the past that I should do that, or that I should be a public speaker, but never three people in one day. Are you trying to tell me something, God? I've decided I'm not going to fight for opportunities that I want anymore. I want to get back to Nashville this fall, but I'm not going to try and force it. If God wants me back there, He'll get me there. I want to get to Texas to meet Chris and visit his church, but I'm not going to force that, either. I can't force that; I don't have the money to go both places and I'd pick Taylor's wedding any day. If God wants me to get there, He'll work a miracle and make it happen. I want to do something bigger with my story/testimony, write a book, public speaking, who knows, but I wouldn't even know where to begin, especially in the middle of college, so if it's going to happen, God's going to have to put the opportunity in front of my face.
I'm just too tired to fight anymore. God's results always turn out far better than what I could work out, anyway. So I'm releasing myself from the pressure of trying to make things happen. Ah, release. My One Word comes back.
I guess this is what letting go feels like. Letting go...but with a purpose.
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