|
Listen to this devotional: |
Listen while you read: "Breathe On Me Breath Of God"1 (Lyrics) |
James 5:16b – The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (NLT)
I don't drive. So, when my husband died, I had to walk or take the bus wherever I went. As I live in the centre of a busy university town, this meant that, suddenly, I was spending time every day surrounded by the people I had ignored when riding past in an SUV. I began to realize that God was bringing me to specific individuals throughout my day. Beyond my simple, daily devotions, I started to pray that God would help me to recognize the needs of those I encountered: the mother with the crying baby, the man drunk at midmorning, the couple bickering, the lonely senior. Finally, I realized that everyone we see is an opportunity for prayer.
Now, I say good morning and smile at whomever crosses my path. It goes even deeper than that. I held a beggar's hand and prayed with him when I saw the battered New Testament he had been reading. I sat with a young woman on Valentine's Day to listen and discuss why going to a bar to find herself a man was a bad idea. I prayed with a discouraged young man at a bus stop, distributing Bible literature.
"Though He giveth or He taketh," a hymn says, "God His children ne'er forsaketh." He had taken my husband peacefully, and in exchange, given me the opportunity to be a channel of His grace, a life overflowing with meaning, peopled with those on the street whom He loves as much as He loves me.
Someone advised, Pray for others. They need the prayers and we need the practice. This added time for prayer becomes a habit as we practice it wherever we are: street, supermarket, waiting room, lineups … even pictures of people in the papers. Our prayers for others draw us closer to Him who walked these same streets, listened to those in trouble and pain, and brought them the love of His heavenly Father.
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for giving all believers the opportunity to increase our ability to access Your throne of grace on behalf of strangers in need. Thank You for the joy of being a channel of Your peace, for bringing those to us whom You know can use our prayers on our daily journeys through the mundane circumstances of our days. Thank You for prayer itself: that it is Your Spirit communing with our spirits, that it works, that it keeps the door open for Your blessing and inspiration, that it gives us assurance that Your loving purpose can be brought into the lives of those we meet and by so doing, to our own lives also in a new and living way. Thank You for the admonition of Paul to pray without ceasing. Amen.
Forward this devotional Share this devotional on Facebook Like PresbyCan on Facebook
Although PresbyCan doesn't have a mobile app, you can still have a PresbyCan icon on your mobile phone home screen. 
Friday, April 19, 2024 – In Middle East — Thank you for praying for our Bible Study. We are having great times of fellowship and growing in His Word. Pray for God to make disciples who will be sensitive to His leading to share with others who will also trust in Him and share Him.
Prayers for Tom: "April 18, 2024: Update on Prayers for Tom posted on Sunday, August 6, 2023: Tom is still undergoing..." 
Great devotional, thank you.
Thanks Rose, a good devotion. Blessings.
Rose,
We need more people like you. God bless You, write again.
Amen Rose. Thanks for a good word and sharing your new found ministry.
Blessings.
Dear Rose – thank you for showing us that each encounter can be an opportunity for ministry. May God Bless you as you continue to do His will.
Good morning Rose,
I enjoyed your devotional “Always On The Lookout For A Reason To Pray”.
Thank you so much. God bless you!
Dear Rose,
Thank you for your devotional today. It is very encouraging and I couldn’t possibly agree more with you! Our God is so good.
Hi yes, yes, it is so important to smile at people when you see them. Keep it up as that is what I do as we do have something in common on earth and in heaven.
Blessings.
Dear Rose,
Your devotional was an answer to prayer! My friend and I have been prayer walking in our village and it seemed as if this was not useful. Your thoughts have inspired me. Thank you.
Rose
Thank you so much for this.
The spirit is using you in very special ways and you have mentioned some prayer possibilities I had not thought of.
Amen to that! Too long the church has been its own little world and ignore, or worse, disdained the world around them. It is why so many are dying. My prayer is that every Christian would follow your lead and pursue the simple ministry God gives us all.
What wonderful timing. I just gave a “gift subscription” of this devotional to a dear friend who lives in Arkansas and is battling cancer. Friends’ prayers have sustained her these past months and only when she shared her problems with her church family did she sense a difference, a help for coping.
Thank you again for your wisdom Rose.
Hello Rose. Thank you so much for your lovely devotional. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the needs of people I encounter and their difficult situations. I really appreciate your reminder to pray for them and how we are called to do so. Prayer is so powerful and important. God bless you in your special ministry.
(BC)
Your devotional today, Rose, is on a topic that we all, especially yours truly, should take to heart. We live in the country; so, I don’t have the opportunities to interface with people that you do…doesn’t mean there isn’t someone with whom I should dialogue about Jesus Christ.
Thank you,
(Texas)
Dear Rose:
Thank you for sharing your wonderful testimony.
I, too, love to say hello to people I meet and greet them with a warm smile. I carry dog biscuits with me, and I don’t have a dog), just to start a conversation and say “God bless you”. I have met a woman I see and I pray with her, or I should say she prays for me. God bless you Rose on your prayerful journeys.
Rose,
May more Christians follow your example and sharing.
Thanks,
(CA)
Dear Rose,
This is a precious devotional. I keep wanting to know how to approach people with the love of Jesus Christ. You have helped me.
Keep writing.