We forget about the One Person Who is really in charge, Who knows all the angles of a situation, Who will intervene in the most surprising ways, and Who promises to bring good out of every situation in our lives and our loved ones' lives.
Isn't it laughable though how often we DO forget Him? How often we act and react as if everything is on us, when God our Creator is Lord of the Universe?
When we react, obsess, pace the floor, can't sleep for worry, cry, fret, - we have to stop ourselves, pull ourselves up short. And begin to pray. REALLY pray. God waits for our hearts to rest in His in trust. God is our Father; Jesus is God's Son Who always intercedes for us from where he sits at the Father's right hand. And the Holy Spirit is the One Who "helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought...." (Romans 8: 26.)
Humility is realizing and accepting that it's not our task to plan and control everything - including others' lives - to the last detail. When we let go of this kind of obsessive over-planning, we can be free to ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten, guide, and direct us, leading us wherever the Spirit wills. When we allow the Spirit to embrace our tears, and our prayers for the many people whose faces and names flood our hearts, we acknowledge that the Spirit will mysteriously cause those tears and prayers to bear fruit.
God expects that our prayers and hearts will always be full of people's names and situations. St. Paul's prayers were always directed towards the many people whom he loved: "I constantly pray with you in every one of my prayers for all of you....because I hold you in my heart." (Philippians 1:4, 7.) There can be a certain pattern to our Intercessory prayers for others. These prayers can begin with great gratitude that these people are in our lives: "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you," says St. Paul.
Secondly, we can hold our loved ones in a loving gaze of trust, having deep faith that God is already active in their lives and always will be. We can take a few moments to remember specific times when we've seen that God has looked after them, and taken care of them. We, like St. Paul, are "confident of this: that the One Who began a good work in you (our loved ones) will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1: 6d).
Thirdly we can quiet our hearts and minds, asking God to inspire us, to give us new understandings of these situations affecting our loved ones. When we sit quietly with God, we let go of tension and the nervous desire to control. We let go of our pre-conceived ideas of what should happen in a situation. We pray instead for what is good for those we love, and what is good for us - in God's eyes. We unite our minds and hearts with Jesus our Intercessor so that we too ask for the Father's Will to be done.
Once we "let go and let God, then God's creative Power and God's loving Heart can act in us and for us. God can move us into healthy new directions, can reveal new loving and courageous ways that we can speak and act with and for others so change can come.
When we bring names and faces and our worry list to God in prayer, we aren't telling God anything new. We pray so that we can "sit with God" and God can tell US something new! We can be praying at any time of the day or night, at work or at play, and as soon as we hand everyone and everything on our worry list over to God, the Holy Spirit can enlighten and direct us, can relieve our minds of useless anxiety, and can fill us with faith, inspiration and joy that is wholly unexpected and wholly a wonderful Gift!
If this post has lifted your heart, please share it with a friend.