"For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit..." ... 1 Peter 3:10
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Debra. Age 9:
You should have seen me: I'd sit in our tiny farm-town church and pray for Lucille Ball. I liked imagining her walking into our sanctuary, sitting beside me(!) then, at the service's end, stepping down the aisle to accept Jesus into her heart.
Seriously, yeah, I did that. Over a few weeks I felt such a divine compassion for her. I wanted her to 'be saved' when technically, I hadn't officially made that decision for myself yet.
Age 15: I felt that same divine compassion for Michael Learned, you know, the mother from The Waltons. Wanted her to know Jesus, also, and I prayed for her over some weeks.
Age 24: One day while cleaning house I felt an urgency to pray for Ken Osmond, a.k.a. Eddie Haskell from Leave It To Beaver. Prayers went up for him approximately a week.
Age 43 through the Present: I've had weeks of divine compassion for these celebrities so I interceded for them:
Dennis Quaid (and his wife. Yes, I know what's happened, but I'm called to pray, God's called to know all the reasons why.)
Jim Caviezel (Wow, some awesome growth there!)
Lindsay Lohan
Tom Cruise
Simon Cowell
Gordon Ramsay
President Donald Trump
I'm remembering this today because I watched a video, God Loves Hollywood, by someone who gets it, who's been there and knows what (kinda intense) divine compassion for celebrities feels like.
Only sometimes online have I found fellow pray-ers for celebrities. And do you know what else we have in common? --
We refuse to ruin, negate, our prayers by speaking negatively about these folks. Instead, we take verses like this one, seriously:
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]." ...Proverbs 18:21
And if you sit beside us with your list of what's wrong with these people? Or you tell us all of Hollywood is hopelessly evil? Well, we might just ask you to knock it off. Then we'll explain why:
We believe God loved everyone, even radical left-wing celebrities, so much that He sent Jesus to die for them as well as the rest of us sinners. We believe God changes hearts, minds, and some future day Hollywood will reflect that.
So in the meantime? We'll pray for celebrities (and anyone else God asks us to) and our divine compassion for them will continue growing strong so that we'll not be all faint-hearted at the behavior our eyes see today.
So if we don't join you in bad-mouthing actors, politicians and others? Now you'll know why: Our God-breathed love and concern for their very souls is God-sent and too huge to allow us--and--we just don't want to.
"She (my mother) became a warrior far superior to any epic hero. She became a giant on her knees. With a sword in one hand she battled the enemies of death and disease, and with her other hand stretched toward heaven she kept beseeching God’s help and His mercy." - Bishop T.D. Jakes
"There are parts of our calling, works of the Holy Spirit, and defeats of the darkness that will come no other way than through furious, fervent, faith-filled, unceasing prayer." - Beth Moore
Whole decades ago God told me, "Stop expecting non-Christians to act like Christians. Right now I'm expecting you to pray for them--yours is the greater responsibility at this moment."
Whole decades ago God told me, "Stop expecting non-Christians to act like Christians. Right now I'm expecting you to pray for them--yours is the greater responsibility at this moment."
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Shared this at Facebook yesterday:
Was watching the News about our President this morning and this verse came to mind. (And not for the first time, either.)
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(Me at age 9, praying for Lucille Ball.................ha!) ツ
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"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel ..." 2 Corinthians 4:4 (So let's pray against this blindness!)
"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15
5 comments:
I agree with your post and love what Jakes wrote about his mother, a prayer warrior and prayer healer. I pray for our President and anybody God puts on my mind, sometimes annoying people from my past. So many people loathe certain celebrities and politicians, that is not following what Scripture tells us. Great post.
A good reminder for all of us to pray, even for those who seem to be living far from Christian lives. God came to die for all of us. They will face Him someday just as we will and we don't truly know what is in anyone's heart. So we pray. It's the biggest job and the greatest honor we will ever have. To pray.
Blessings,
Betsy
One of the things I appreciate most about being retired is having more time and flexibility in my schedule. That means there's more time for prayer. It really is the greatest gift we can give--praying for others. I thank God for a mom and grandma who made prayer akin to breathing. It wasn't uncommon to hear them praying while they tended to their chores, and every time a need surfaced, we would stop to pray. Debra, your commitment to praying for those in Hollywood reminded me of my grandma. She didn't give her heart to the Lord until she and my grandpa were married, with children. I remember seeing pictures of her in her "flapper dresses" with her friends (she was a young woman in the Roaring 1920s). She had loved to dance and sing and she was a natural-born entertainer. Even though she and her entire family came to know the Lord and served him faithfully after they learned of His saving grace, she never changed in her love for dance and music. I adored her!! She cared very much about actors and entertainers, like you, Debra. Because she was not a Christ follower in her early years, she did not have a spirit of judgment toward others. My parents raised me in what I would consider to be a very legalistic church. Although I haven't been part of that church for many years, I still fight deep seated judgment that springs up in my mind and heart. I know that God can help to remove that spirit of judgment from us--that's my prayer. I want to be more like my fun-loving, never-ceasing-to-pray Grandma. Sorry for this lengthy comment, but you inspired me, Debra!
This line: "Stop expecting non-Christians to act like Christians" changed my once-judgmental heart and helped me to have compassion on those who were not yet walking by God's Spirit. It also reminds me that if I'm going to call myself a Christian, I need to be acting like one!
Thanks so much for commenting, Everyone! I love hearing your added insights and stories so much. I do thank you for reading here and letting me know that my posts reminded you of something or showed you a new way to view things. Seriously, thanks! ... Debra
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