Prayer, Burden, and Health Wanderings

Tonight as I was looking at my blank walls and freely talking with God, sharing both prayer intercessions and words of praise/thanksgiving, I reflect upon how freely and easily I approached Him and was unable to share openly and honestly. It wasn't that long ago, just a few weeks, that it seemed a burden to come before God and lay my requests, concerns, and thoughts down before Him, because there were just too many too express! Perhaps that is a mode of concern, a warning flag of when one has become too busy, to overwhelmed with the needs and cares of others, the blanket statements of "Lord, please reveal yourself in the life of the people associated with this organization," rather than specific prayers for specific people. When consenting to pray for someone leads to a prayer in that moment and a prayer in the evening asking God to bless whoever it was (name and identity of person long forgotten) that shared that they needed prayers for encouragement that day then perhaps that is when one has passed the point of pausing to re-focus and instead needs to speed up the process of re-delegating. I find it very pleasant to be concerned with the prayer needs of those here and now around me, although I recognize that I have left behind a laundry list of needs at home. This leads to the question, "When is it okay to be burdened by the prayer needs of others and when has this burden become unhealthy in a bad way?" I know in our world today, "healthy" lives is the ultimate goal, the icon of a successful social and mental life, but is the intentional dismissal of the unhealthy healthy? And this then leads to several questions which ultimately lead to the end conclusion of wondering if it is ever possible to really be healthy since we live in such a fallen and selfish world. Okay, enough unparagraphed nonsensical wanderings with made-up words, for tonight.... I am just avoiding trying to translate some sentences from the Septuagint and New Testament and finding myself quite inept. Blessings!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

They touched Jesus, but then, how did they pray?

I'm sitting in my room praying and thinking, "After the resurrection did the disciples pray to Jesus?" Just imagine this with me for a moment. You have spent the past 2 - 3 years of your life following this intriguing man around, your feet are calloused, your memory is overflowing with moments around the campfire or dinner table, and you've been challenged to completely shift your Jewish worldview. And then he is gone. Just as quick as he came, just as brief as the moment he walked the shoreline past your fishing boat and called out to you, he is gone. And you are left knowing you've met an incredible man who was more than a man -- a man who was somehow divine. Now there is no one around you analyzing deep fulfilled Christological theological concepts, but there are plenty of Greek voices and new philosophical ways of contemplating life's happenings, there are Jewish commentaries, and there are the conversations that have happened along the roadside. An...
Read more

Palm Sunday School Lesson for Teenagers

Scripture: Luke 22:17-20 Topic: When Jesus ate with his Disciples Background: This lesson would be taught during a Sunday morning breakfast club for teenagers. Once a month the youth meet to cook breakfast and then we try to relate the lesson to food. Last time the Middle School breakfast club met a middle school student led his peers in a devotional that went through the various stories of Jesus sharing food with his disciples. This Sunday we are going to focus on one of those stories and how it relates to Easter. Opening: 1. Ask, “Have you ever helped plan a party?” a. Ask the students to share about the various things they did to prepare (send invites, decorate, blow up balloons, set the table, plan games, order food). 2. Say, “For some families, Easter is a time of celebration, a party of sorts.” a. Ask, “What does your family do to celebrate Easter?” (family gets together, we eat dinner together, Easter egg hunt, attend church se...
Read more

Sabbath

Genesis 2:2-4 (The Message) 2-4 By the seventh day God had finished his work. On the seventh day he rested from all his work. God blessed the seventh day. He made it a Holy Day Because on that day he rested from his work, all the creating God had done. This is the story of how it all started, of Heaven and Earth when they were created. If God the greatest worker rested, why don't we?
Read more