 Kathy Cheek: Several years ago, I was in a women’s Sunday school class during an intense season when we had extremely heavy-duty prayer needs. These ladies came to class knowing we would pray for every need because we believed in the power of prayer. I remember a Sunday morning that went like this as we shared our requests. One admitted her divorce was getting uglier, and her son wanted to live with his father. This was breaking her heart.
The next suspected her stepson was doing drugs. The boy’s father seemed to be in denial that there was any possibility of this.
Someone asked for prayer for their daughter, a high school senior who was experiencing a lot of stress as she applied to colleges and suffered from severe migraines.
Someone’s fourteen-year-old niece was losing excessive weight and her parents worried she suffered from an eating disorder.
Another’s son in the Army was going to Afghanistan for his second deployment. He and his wife had two young children and they were having a difficult time watching him leave again.
The last request came from the youngest woman in our class. Her one-year-old baby had an ear infection.
We prayed for each woman’s prayer request with the same compassion and intensity. From the mother whose step-son might be doing drugs to the mother whose baby had an ear infection.
As mothers, we could remember the days our children suffered sore throats and ear infections. And the mother whose son was deployed to Afghanistan probably wished he was still a little boy—too young to go to war. But our children grow up and prayer requests change.
We have a great privilege in sharing our burdens with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we cherish their prayers.
We grow lighter from the load we carry because the body of Christ demonstrates love for one another as we pray for each other.
Through prayer, we need not be anxious, and we know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ cares most of all for every prayer request that passes our lips and is uttered in our hearts.
Lift your prayers before Him, and His peace will guard your heart and ease your worries.
(Photo courtesy of morguefile and taliesin.)
(For more devotions, visit us at www.christiandevotions.us.)
(Used by permission)
 Kathy Cheek writes devotions, inspirational stories, and poetry. She is published in various Christian publications and regularly guest posts on several devotional and ministry sites.
She and her husband live in Dallas, TX, and have two daughters who also reside in the Dallas area.
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| Father, as we consider gathering for prayer and fellowship, may we understand the true purpose of doing it. Impress upon us that we "need not be anxious, and we know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ cares most of all for every prayer request that passes our lips and is uttered in our hearts." As we lift our burdens to You, Father, our spirits are lifted. We're surrendering them to Your care and will. Help us inspire others to also go to You for guidance, help and healing. I ask this in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Today’s Bible verses: Hosea 14:9 b "For the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them."
Ez. 22:30 "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it..."
Today’s quote: Dr. Charles F. Stanley - "The Lord was using the time on the summit to prepare Peter, James, and John for their true purpose. When God lifts us up, He doesn't intend for us to stay there. He gives exceptional spiritual experiences to strengthen us and make us more effective when we engage in everyday life." (Taken from p. 44 of In Touch, a publication of In touch Ministries/April 2015).
Some thoughts today: Hostility between God the Father and sinful man, was bridged by Christ's birth, death and resurrection. This can make us free from God's wrath; seeing that Jesus is pure, holy and righteous all together.
~ Mankind is hopelessly lost without God's provision through Christ Jesus. God's loving kindness has made a way for us. It's His divine invitation for our redemption. ~ God's gift is Jesus, the Savior, God's solution for our sin. Through the centuries, Jesus has been prophesied to come. The Israelites have looked for Him for thousands of years, not realizing that He did, in fact, come already, 2,000 years ago! Praise God!
13th- Sunday evening’s post: Oh, How I Need Your Wisdom, Lord Lee Forbes
15th- Tuesday's post: #95 Masonic Symbolism C. Peter Wagner 17th- Thursday's post: #96 The Rules for City Taking C. Peter Wagner 19th- Saturday's post: My Mother Always Said... Hope Finchbaugh  A popular post: Heavenly Prayer Language There are those who do not believe in ‘glossolalia’ – that is "speaking with other tongues," and they disdain this phenomenon. They say that praying in the spirit is prayer that is led and guided by the Holy Spirit..."
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Thoughts for Life
Saturday, September 12, 2015
The Power of Praying for Each Other
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Thank you, Jean. We need to pray every day.
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