Philippians 1:3,4 (NIV)
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of
you, I always pray with joy…
1 Thessalonians 1:2 (NIV)
We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.
A few months ago I
wrote a fairly detailed entry focused on prayer (Write From My Heart, Entry #40
– A Pandemic Worse Than COVID-19). We have so many concerns to keep in our
daily prayers, and the list seems to grow exponentially. However those of you
who are familiar with my writing style, know that I often like to call
attention to small details—things that are often overlooked at first glance—very
often, things that I need in my own life.
In my personal life,
I place a high value and priority on prayer. If I know your name, you can be
fairly certain you are frequently in my thoughts and prayers. Ahh, there it is: “thoughts and prayers.”
What I realize is that I typically think of how thankful I am for each of you
and for the gifts and talents you share with others; and typically, I offer
prayers of petition on your behalf for health, safety, well-being. So far, so
good. Or is it?
It may be fairly
obvious to some, but for me it is a slight change making a huge difference in
my prayer life. The Apostle Paul was a man of prayer. Most of his letters
opened with reminders of prayer. Notice the details in the two selected verses
above—when he remembered someone, he offered a prayer of thankfulness to God
for that person (or persons).
Do you realize what
this means? Now, when I remember you, not only will I join you in lifting up
your concerns in prayer, but I will be thanking God for brining you into my
life! I’ll still keep you in my thoughts
of thankfulness, but now I’ll also be keeping you in my prayers of thankfulness!
Gracious Heavenly Father,
What a joy and
privilege to read your Word! How blessed we are to find the tiny little hidden
treasures making such a difference in our daily lives and in the lives of those
we love.
In Christ’s name we
pray, Amen.
Respectfully written and submitted by
Dotty Willmon, Resurrection Christian—looking for the blessed hope of
Christ’s return!
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