June Update

Recently I went on a staff retreat and part of it was learning another way to pray. We studied the model Jesus gave us and how we can use it. Jesus gave us the Lord's Prayer to help us.

Matthew 6:9-13

 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from the evil one.

 I realized that at times my prayer life doesn't give God the glory and praise He deserves. Prayer should be a time of fellowship with God instead of just a list of wants and concerns. The beginning of the prayer is giving God praise, surrendering control and praying that Jesus returns. These few parts are so important to prayer, yet I often fly by them in my hurry to get to my daily bread or needs. God longs to be in constant communication with us. This relationship should be personal and deep. He loves us so dearly and our prayer time needs to reflect our desire to be in a personal relationship with Him. 

Allowing God to Work in All Circumstances

In some ways, these last few months have been hard. Many people close to us have passed on, gotten sick or hurt. It seems like there are more and more difficult situations. In life it is so easy to ask God why do things happen or what could possibly be the purpose. I think that this month God opened my eyes to another way of looking at hardships. 

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind." "Neither this man nor his parents sinned,"said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work." John 9:1-4

In this passage the disciples just wanted to know why the man was born blind, but Jesus explains that it wasn't because of sin, but so that the works of God could be displayed in him. What a beautiful way of looking at troubles or situations that maybe challenging. May we all be praying that in all things God's work is displayed in us. 

This coming month we are determined to look at the hard, bad and ugly as an opportunity for God's work to shine!