Every day the El Camino staff meets at 11:30 a.m. to have a time of prayer for each other and for our church. I lead the prayer time on Thursday mornings and yesterday we did one of my favorite things to pray...giving praise to God for the things we are struggling with in our lives.
I say it's one of my favorites but it's also the hardest. Most days when we open it up for prayer requests or praises, everyone is quick to participate. But every time I lead this kind of prayer, it's always a little more difficult for those present to open up, including myself. It's very easy for us all to pray for trials in our life or to praise God for our blessings, but shouldn't it be just as easy to praise Him for our trials too? Everything that comes from God is good and perfect and, therefore, praiseworthy. Think about the trials that you've experienced in your life. Once you get through them, don't you always see what God's plan was? How He was testing you? Changing you? Molding you into a better likeness of Himself?
We don't find out a lot about ourselves when we are feeling blessed and life is going swell. But when God tests and tries us, we are given the opportunity to prove our faith, our love and our trust in Him. Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him!
Hoss
How easy it is to forget that trials can be God's way of drawing us to Himself. If I could remember that, I think I'd also be quicker to praise Him!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Diane!
ReplyDeletethank you for the reminder, Hoss! good to take my focus a different direction, instead of "poor me", I can focus on what God is doing in my life.
ReplyDelete