Power of Prayer

Psalm 88: ¹ LORD, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you. ² May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.

Today is such a beautiful day. I woke to the overcast sky, but we have a sky. My annoying alarm woke me from such a great sleep, which of course I would always love to now wake up from, but I am grateful that I did. Even with that annoying alarm.

My focus as of late has been learning more about how to change the way I think naturally. When I write I have the opportunity to think before I write, which makes what I want to say much clearer and usually more optimistic. Unfortunately, inside my head the first thoughts are not always the best. To help my mind change the way it thinks, I have made some decisions. I need to focus more time and energy on God, period! To do this I am reading other books now. I just finished Cartwheels in the Rain, by Joe Dubowski. It's an inspirational story of him overcoming the grief he found himself in when Gayle was killed (@NIU 2/14/08). I remember many things from my point of view as I read his book. No matter what happens in your life, God is always with you. You're job is never really done. Even after Gayle died, she is still an inspiration to many people, and a joy to remember. I wish I had known her better.

The book I'm reading now is Mind Change, by Thomas Jones. I've read it once before and it helped me at that time. There is also a devotional book that I may purchase at a later time, I'm not sure yet. I wanted to re-read this book as it helped me overcome my depressive thoughts in the past. I need to find many ways to stay focused on the truth and not on what negative things pop into my head.

As for Psalms 88:1-2 prayer can be so powerful. It can help in so many ways. God knows what we want to pray for, even if we cannot put it into words. This happened to be what Sunday's message was about. How even when you don't know what to say to God, just saying to Him "help me" is a prayer. God hears all prayers. Yes, I know, we may not like the answer we get, but he does answer us.

I have also begun writing more in my personal journal. I want so much to write more than I do. I know there is so much stored in my head and I want to get it out. To do this I want to write.

^{Psalm 88: 1} LORD, you are the God who saves me;
day and night I cry out to you.
² May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.

Call out in prayer when you need to... yell to God... cry out to God... pray quietly... whisper to Him... have a conversation with Him... Prayers are answered. Watch the ripple affects once a prayer is answered, no matter how it is answered. How will you respond to His answer?

Even if the answer is not what you expected, will you be joyful? Will you rejoice in any sufferings you go through? Look at it this way... God has entrusted you with going thru whatever He's put infront of you. If you have an illness, God has entrusted you with it. Will you embrace this illness? Or will you be angry and spiteful toward Him? Will you face it with prayer and trust that no matter the outcome God will be with you throughout the whole ordeal? Don't push Him away, allow Him to carry you sometimes to get you through one day. Pray for Him to carry you, to help you through whatever is thrown at you.

He will help you if you allow Him to!