“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;” Colossians 4:2…….
I have a precious new fellow-Christ-follower friend who shared with me how the Lord has used a fiery trial he has faced on and off for years to teach him an awesome lesson I believe many if not all of us need to learn and put into practice if we have not already.
For years, it seems, his prayers were centered on someone specific in his life. His concern was for that person as well as I would imagine for himself because of how that person’s challenges affected him.
Then the Lord opened his heart to see there are countless people facing the same fiery trial or a similar one anyway to the one he faced as well as his loved one. So he began to pray earnestly for others in the same situation. But he didn’t stop there. He asked others to pray for them as well.
What began as a brother-in-Jesus praying in a way he didn’t look much beyond his loved one and himself became an opportunity for the Lord to give him a deep compassion and sensitivity and care for countless others with a resolve to love, care for, and pray for them, too.
How easy it is with our sinful nature when we face struggles or love people who face struggles to not see beyond them and ourselves. How beautiful it is to see how the Lord can use our struggles to lead us to love, care about, care for, help, support, pray, etc. for many, many others.
This world is in dire need of Jesus, in dire need of hearing the Gospel message, in dire need of seeing His love directly from Him and through His followers, and in dire need of receiving help in beginning a relationship with Him and forever following Him.
Let’s not be consumed with ourselves and our struggles and those closest to us. Let’s open our hearts and eyes and love and help any the Lord desires all in His name all for His glory, AMEN!