Pray Your Way Through

I was at a local business the other day and the proprietor is a Christian.  Now...as I was waiting my turn I sat and listened to the music that was playing over the stereo in the waiting area.  In a word:  RAUNCHY.  Then I took a good look around at the magazines that were lying there.  Hmmm...you guessed it - nasty!   So I considered my options.  Do I say something to her?  How could I possibly broach this subject without coming off as all high and mighty?  I don't want to destroy my witness to her by just shooting from the hip here so how do I proceed?  I wound up complimenting a relatively "clean song" that came on the radio and contrasted that song compared to the filth that was on before the clean song.  She agreed!  OK...that's as far as I took it at that point, but there was at least a point of contact established on the subject. 

The next morning as I was reading a devotional the subject matter was on intercession.  Basically it said that if we see someone going down the wrong road that our first responsibility is to pray for them, to intercede on their behalf.  Now why didn't I think of that?!  I was more concerned with thoughts like "what do I say to her" and "how will she respond to a statement like that" than I was to just lifting up the situation to God in prayer.  I wonder if I had, at that moment, prayed for a graceful entry point into the subject if God might not have opened the floodgates wide.  I don't know.  But I know what to do from now on...  (Perhaps my next visit to that business will see me make my way further ahead on the issue?)

God's word is very clear that:  (1) We ARE to pray even when we don't exactly know what to pray or say and (2) when we don't know what to pray the Holy Spirit DOES know what to pray and WILL do so on our behalf.  Prayer is like a lubricant in our lives in a way.  If we are stuck on something and don't know what to do, then pray to the Almighty God about it.  He can hardly wait to show you how He will help you.  It might not be the exact way you would have chosen to approach the problem, but that's cool - He's God, you're not!  That's WHY we pray; to let God's way become our way.  We don't pray to try to get God to see things our way, He already knows your thoughts about everything.  We pray so that God can line us up with Himself.  

Be encouraged by this.  The Holy Spirit will pray the way ahead for us even when we don't know the way ahead, but it is still our responsibility to take the time to pray.  Pray for yourself.  Pray for others (intercession).  Pray about big things.  Pray about small things.  Pray.   Pray.  Pray.  

Created about 1 year ago