The power of a praying friend

Over the last 2 months, I have experienced a few things in my life that has caused me to be in constant prayer. I strive to keep an active and engaged prayer life no matter what's going on in my life, but the month of November and December has been especially critical in regards to standing in the need of prayer.

The events of the past 2 months have not only affected me, but things have occurred in the lives of my friends who have needed prayer.  I realized in the midst of these trials and tests, it's such an advantage to have friends who encourage you and pray with you and for you. I was going through a situation that began at the end of October and one of my friends jumped right in and offered to pray with me every morning.  When she offered this to me, I was thankful, but I didn't realize at the time how powerful this would be in my life.  We would talk every morning and share our prayer requests with each other then take turns praying.  Times when we wouldn't be able to connect in the mornings, I would still find myself praying for whatever her requests were from the day before and lifting up my own petitions to God.  

I experienced a lot of things in the month of November that without prayer could have left me bitter, broken, and discouraged.  I look back over these events and just evaluate how amazing it is that I came out of it with such a positive outlook and a renewed spirit.  One of of these experiences left a lasting impression on my heart because I had a chance to thoroughly evaluate myself and learn from the experience.  

Life lessons are so profound because the test comes first and the lesson comes afterwards.  Everyone isn't always open to the lesson, but when you open your mind and heart to trying to find the blessing in every lesson, it's amazing! 

December has been a month of me getting down on my knees and carrying friends through tough times.  I realized how important it is to be there for a friend and really pray for them when you say you will.  I must admit I used to be guilty of offering those sweet words "I'll be praying for you" and then I'd go about my way and totally forget to pray for that person.  I would even forget what I said I would pray about. I had to check myself and realize I was only saying what sounded good, but wasn't following through with an action that would be so beneficial to a friend in need.  Prayers are free and God desires for us to cast our cares on him (1 Peter 5:7).  

Be blessed!  

Prayers for Newtown, CT...

As you all may have heard by now, there was a tragic mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut early yesterday morning.  It is with a very heavy heart that I state 20 children and 6 adults were killed.  Although our nation still remains in great shock over these horrific events, school shootings are becoming very familiar in America.  This event really hit home for me because I work in an elementary school  that is about the same size as Sandy Hook E.S.  Every day, I walk into the building and the joy those children bring me is beyond what words can describe! They are our future and I love them all!

Yesterday, I went home and I read countless Facebook status posts, twitter messages, and tweetgram messages on Instagram about this senseless tragedy.  All I could think about was praying for these people.  It is about 10 days before Christmas and families are torn to pieces with grief and an unanswered question of "Why?"

Many of the posts I read were posts of anger labeling the gun man as "crazy", "sick", "evil", and the list goes on.  I don't know what the motive for this was, but all I could think of was mental illness.  Many of the shootings that have taken place in our nation have been committed by someone who suffers from a mental illness (depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder, etc.). All of these illnesses are real and we must educate ourselves and get the people who are suffering the help they need!

I can't put this all on mental illness because the case is still being investigated.  We still don't know why.  In the mean time, prayers for those who are too weak to pray on their own are much needed right now! I can't stop thinking about everyone affected! The parents of the children who were killed, the family members of the staff members who were slain, the children in the building who were there to witness their classmates be murdered, the staff members who had to think as fast as they could to protect the children in their classroom, the members of the community who never thought this would happen in a town like Newtown.  They all need our prayers right now.

Times like this are times when we need to cling to God! To seek him and really rely on Him to get us through.  Some people will be angry with God, swearing He is nowhere to be found because how could He let this happen? God is always there and we don't know why things happen the way they do, but despite this tragedy, the rest of our nation is coming together grieving with these people.  We are pulling together to host candle light vigils in honor and memory of the slain victims.  We are interceding on their behalf to pray for peace, comfort, and joy to come in the morning.  God is working in the lives of so many of us right now! I even saw a Facebook post that said "I"m not really religious, but I'm praying for these people".  Now that's God! Tragedy does that sometimes.  We can't control what happened or change it, but we can control our reaction.  My reaction is to mourn with these people, but mainly to pray for them.  My reaction is to continue to spread the love of Jesus and to believe his word that he will comfort those who mourn (Matthew 5:4), he will heal the brokenhearted and bind their wounds (Psalm 147:3), and that these children will come to Jesus and be among the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:4).

God bless Newtown, Connecticut and God Bless America!