Are you wearied of bad news? Of the social media hashtags that beg us to pray for yet another city mired in violence? The seemingly endless culture wars and political battles? I know I am.
There are times when we need to shut out the world and immerse ourselves in prayer. Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts, knows this. Lest you think Voskamp is a hermit or a cloistered nun and therefore has the time and ability to shut out the world and pray far more easily than you or I, think again. She’s a wife. A mom with six kids. Married to a farmer and a homeschooler. But she knows about prayer. Here are some of her thoughts:
God doesn’t need us to praise him but he needs us to praise.
What else keeps us from bitterness? …
Words praising Christ or wrangling to be praised ourselves.
This seeping of bitterness or straight spires of blessings …
I’m not sure how my life stands. How my inner and outer walls stand, how I make a home. Unless we make it a habit to give thanks we habitually give our family grief.
Unless we consistently speak praise, we consistently speak poison.
Unless we are intentional about giving God glory throughout the day, our days unintentionally give way to grumbling …
It’s in praising a Savior in all things that we are saved from discouragement in all things …
Father God, make me speak praise today, not poison; make me intentionally give you glory throughout the day, that my day doesn’t unintentionally crumble in grumbling. In thanking you in all things, I am saved from discouragement in all things, and this today is my earnest prayer: Make me do doxology, not destruction.
You can find more of Voskamp’s work at her blog, A Holy Experience.
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