As a Christian I am required to pray with the will of God for us. But....how do I pray within His will. His purpose...His meaning for my life...my wife's life and our family is beyond my comprehension. Oh!..I know that His will includes everything that is beneficial and good for me, but I still struggle.
Today as I was reading in Philippians I came across this and it seemed to register a bit in my mind. I am praying for saved people, I know that my former wife is a child of God. I know that we have both accepted Christ as our Lord and Saviour. So with that in mind my prayers for my wife will follow the teaching's of Paul as he prayed for the Philippians:
Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God's Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.
(Philippians 1:3-6 9-11 MSG) I have come to a point in life where I
must have the Holy Spirit sanctifying my whole inner life if I am really to live for God's glory. Why did Christ promise the Spirit to the discipiles, so that they might have the power to witness. Just as He promises me the power of the Spirit so that I might to be a witness for Him, regardless of the situation that I am in.
The fruit of the Spirit is love.
But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard--things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments,
(Galatians 5:22 MSG) Love is the fulfilling of the law, a searchlight for our hearts. Has this philosophy always been a part of my daily life. Tis
indeed that I have to admit that it was not. I spent a large part of my life and energy fulfilling my law, my wants, my desires and my goals.
The end result is that I have now lost a wife and a family.
So lately, over the course of the last year or so I have sought to make this a daily habit, "
to seek being filled with the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of love." The first fruit of the Spirit is love! Why you say is this? Because
God is Love. God delights himself in not being selfish. Has he ever kept anything to just Himself? It is His very nature to always be giving, giving so much that He gives us all things, even the death of His Son so that we might have enternal life with Him. Why? It gets simpler each day to answer that question,
God Is Love. *chuckles to himself*I guess that was the real reason for the giving of His Son, to restore love to this fallen world.
So in ending this moment of thought;
Be assured that from the first day I heard of you, I have not stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. I pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. I pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul--not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes you strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for you.
(Colossians 1:9-12 MSG) slightly revised for present tense
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