At church yesterday, we had a guest speaker preach the sermon. He was from the country of Jordan and had so much to say about how God provides and is faithful. Through his broken English, he relayed so many truths we American Christians tend to forget. He spoke of church discipline, of God's faithfulness and grace, and of our faithfulness in trusting God will provide. He spoke of living off of $50 per month and was rejected by his own family for making this "foolish" decision. One thing he continued to stress was the importance of prayer. He said (paraphrasing here), if you sacrifice prayer time for something else, you begin to sacrifice worship, which leads to sacrificing your relationship with God. When you sacrifice your relationship with God, you are only opening the door to let Satan step in and steer you further away from God. He quoted the above scripture from Acts 1 in explaining how importance it was the church gather together to pray.
What I really love about that particular verse is where it mentions the women joining in. So many times in the Bible women were not necessarily singled out in group activities. This doesn't mean they weren't involved, it just meant their numbers weren't included. I understand how the mention of women was perceived when the Bible was written. So when a woman's Godly activity is mentioned, you know it's some serious stuff. When the church prays together, it's important to know that the entire church prays together. It's not just the elders of the church, it's not just the preachers, it's not just the Sunday School teachers, but the entire church praying together.
I'm doing this incredible Bible study on the *Proverbs 31 wife (you know, she's my favorite lady in the Bible...and such a role model, so I cling to really any Bible study about her). This week's passage is from Proverbs 31:15-16 "She is up before dawn preparing breakfast for her family and organizing her day". This has been my goal since being a SAHM. Do I have the luxury of sleeping in every morning? Of course I do, but if I want to take care of my family in a way that is pleasing to my Lord, then I need to get up before them and get the day started off right. In my Bible study, it mentions the importance of her getting up early and preparing for the rest of the day. What better way to prepare for the rest of the day than to take a few minutes to pray? Jesus sets this example for us as well! See Mark 1:35: "While it was still night, way before dawn, He got up and went to a secluded spot and prayed." How amazing it is to see our Savior setting the example by getting up early to pray!
Such an important reminder God has sent me today (and I hope He is now sending to you!!) that prayer is so very important and should really be the first thing you do before you start your day. When His people pray, amazing things happen, and blessings are so abundant. I will pray for you to also find a few minutes each morning to pray before the hustle of the day gets moving. Be blessed and love God!
*If you are interested in the Proverbs 31 Bible Study, here are two links to get you started. We are on week 4 (of 14 weeks), but you could really start this any time and follow the study guide OR jump in now and take a day or two to catch up. You WILL be blessed! 1) http://womenlivingwell.org/ and 2) http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/ BOTH of these have a Facebook page as well!
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