Monday Morning Minute-May 23 . 2011

For today, I had this great devotional planned that I thought would change people's way of thinking.

However, in light of the events last night, I don't feel it would be appropriate.

For those of you who might be reading this and not know what I'm talking about, our area of the country was ravaged by at least 6 confirmed tornadoes within 3 hours. The worst of which seems to have been located in the town of Joplin, MO, where as of now there are 90 confirmed dead, scores more injured and homeless.

I personally have never lived there, but my parents did 4 years ago and, via text/email/phone calls, are trying to track down all of their friends who still live there.

In a time like this I feel the best thing I could write for a Monday Morning Minute would be a call to prayer. And not just a blanket "God be with them" prayer (which of course he still hears!), but a more focused set of prayers.

I feel we should focus on these areas:

1) Prayer for strength.
           It can be so hard to find the strength to go, both physically and emotionally, during a time like this. But King David, at the end of his turmoil of war and conflict with Saul said this in 2 Samuel 22:29 & 30 "O Lord, you are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness. In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall."
           For some this seems like a wall so high, they might never escape it. But David said (after his experience) that through the Lord he "can scale any wall."
            Pray for strength to scale walls.

2) Prayer for guarding of hearts.
             No one knows the reason for devastation such as this. There will come crazies out of the woodwork that will say all kinds of things about this being the wrath of God and other such nonsense. Just like after Katrina ravaged the Gulf, people said it was God's punishment on them (which of course in contradictory to the word because after Noah's flood, God said he would never destroy the world through water again...but that's a whole 'nother devotion!)
              People will be grappling with the "whys" and the "why nots" for many months to come.
              Pray for guarding of hearts, that they might know that, even through they might not have the answers to the "whys," they will not be swayed, but will keep an understanding of the "hows"-through God, they will get through this.

3) Prayer for miraculous encounters
              This is a time that God could show himself in fantastic and new ways.
               Pray for divine and life changing encounters that will bring eternal changes to people's life, in spite of the physical-world devastation.

4) Prayer for Peace.
               For so many, just laying their heads down to sleep, will become a test of faith in and of itself. So many will constantly relive what they have been through and safety will become a foreign concept.
                Be in prayer for them, to have peace after the storm.
                Psalm 4:8 says "In peace I will lie down and sleep,for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe."
                Pray this and share it with everyone....

God Bless and stay safe. :)