A Goldilocks Life

It’s True!

A friend admitted to feeling anxious and depressed, and I listened as she shared what she’s been facing. She couldn’t understand why or what to do. I promised to pray for her and asked if she had prayed about it. She confessed that believing in a God she cannot see is hard. I explained that we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We plan to meet soon to talk about her concerns. Meanwhile, I keep praying for her.

Though I have faced hardship and loss since I’ve been a Christian, God has never let me down. When I call on the Lord in prayer, I sense His presence. The Bible has guided me through times of doubt and decisions, and though the answers have not always come right away, I’ve learned to wait. Pastor Voddie Baucham expressed it this way: “It’s not true because it works. It works because it’s true.”

Praying Friends

Girlfriend time abounded these past few weeks, and my heart feels refreshed. Something about sharing with someone who’s known you for years makes catching up easy. You may move on to significant things you’re facing in the days ahead. Other times, we learn of ongoing pain. One friend talked about struggles in her past, including details we’d never heard before. I think it was hard but cathartic for her. One of the meaningful things is to take the hurts to the Lord in prayer.

Prayers straight from the Bible often guide what I say. For example, “I thank you, Jesus, that you have given me strength and consider me trustworthy, appointing me to your service” (from 1 Tim 1:12). It’s a privilege to pray for friends, family, and people I meet.

How may I pray for you? Please let me know. I promise to serve you in this way if you need prayer.

Be Love

Some friends and I meet most Sunday mornings before church to pray for the pastor and his message, for all of us who will be receiving what he will share, for needs of our church family, and for God’s help in the world around us. We’ve become so close over the years, and our patterns of prayer are unique. Sometimes M prays something that gives me chills, makes me smile, or forces me to grab my pen and jot it down.

It makes me tear up as I think back on the moments when we’re together and something so profoundly simple and true slips out of M’s mouth. Recently my friend prayed for us to “be love.” Be love—sounds easy enough. Except when that guy in the sports car cuts me off on the interstate. I must force myself not to honk or speed up and tailgate him. I remind myself that God loved me before I ever gave Him a second thought, and He wants me to love to people around me… even my enemies, even that crazy driver.

For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16.