My Prayer

We had such an amazing time at Bible study last night. I am still doing the Beth Moore study, "Going Beyond Yourself...The Fruits of the Spirit". I've had to miss a couple meetings because of baseball {because I refuse to miss baseball!}, so I was glad to get to be there.

Anyway, the whole dvd was great...the fruit of the Spirit we talked about last night was "goodness". And the verses that spoke volumes to us all were these:

⁶ "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

I especially love verse 10...."if you spend yourselves...then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday." That is so true. How have you ever spent yourself? And by that, I mean to pour yourself out onto....to serve....to minister to. It's really amazing how when you do that, God blesses you in return. Have you ever been fortunate enough to do this kind of work?

I love the feeling that you get afterwards...you really do feel taller, stronger....as if your frame has been strengthened. He does bless those who bless others.

Another thing that we talked about last night was our obsession with OURSELVES in these times that we live in. Something that struck me was that we can be self absorbed even in our walk with the Lord. How many times do we ask so much of Him? We ask for things from Him for ourselves, for our loved ones, for friends of friends...do we take enough time to ask Him what we can do for Him today? And I say we...because I am included in this.

So today I feel led to thank Him for all that He has done in my life, all the blessings He so richly pours out on me, and to ask Him what I can do for Him today. This is my new daily prayer. I pray that He will help me to search for opportunities to serve Him. I pray that I am as faithful to Him as He is to me. I pray that He will remind me...daily...that I should act like Jesus did while He walked the earth. I pray that I never judge, or hold back a blessing from someone. You never know what the power of your words do...they can truly make or break someone. I pray that mine reflect the Lord.

Care to join me?