Tuesday, July 03, 2012

What If We Prayed, Instead?


"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.  ... James 5:16

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So. When the news broke that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are divorcing, some of my friends got all, "Oh... such a great big tragedy! Will the world survive this huge catastrophe?"

Sigh. Have we really become that desensitized? Have we reached the point where we believe actors are not real people (like ourselves) who experience emotional pain and cry and--most of all--need Jesus?

Have we forgotten, "There but for the grace of God go I?"

Some days I think we have. And I know for myself that, too often, I've forgotten that--to God--love is the most important thing on the planet and my words are just noise without it.

If only, all along, we would have prayed for men's souls instead of criticizing and condemning them with our words-- this world might look extremely different. More filled with light and gentler words and love. A little more like heaven, a little less like hell.




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"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  ... Romans 5:8

"Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven."  ... Matthew 18:19

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Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  ... Matthew 9:38
















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Good-bye, Andy Griffith... Someone who blessed us so richly by sharing the God-given gifts he was given. Sigh. I didn't know him personally, but I feel as though I did.


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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

After the comment I left you late last night on your last post you know I know prayer works. This post is an eye opener. All but for sure the "If only" paragraph stops you in your tracks and I read it over again to get it in my brain for sure. Disjointed? No ..Powerful..the whole post was dead on. Also it is not just Tom and Katie..they have a child. A child that God loves too. Yes by the grace of God alone we are where we are now but what would the world have been like if we had prayed for men's souls instead of criticized and condemned them with our words??? Sarah

Debra said...

Sarah--thank-you for 'getting it.' And yes, I thought of their child, too, but this post was already stepping on some toes pretty hard so I didn't feel I should go farther and 'crunch them.' And thanks for reminding me--hooray! I'm so glad your friend received such a great report and that things have turned around--awesome news, the best kind! Thanks for your faithful comments here for I really appreciate them so much. Blessings, Debra

Anonymous said...

I just read what Andy Griffith's wife said about his faith after he died. I knew he was a Christian but so good of her to put it out there again for the world to read. Wonderful ! Sarah