Thursday, May 04, 2006

... Conviction

Allow me to share a few things I've been convicted of recently.

One: my lack of prayer for unsaved souls. Sure, I pray for friends- no problem there- but I was recently asked if I pray for unsaved people. Uh, the answer had to be no, that is not a part of my regular prayers. I immediately wrote down the names of people I'd come into contact with over the past few weeks, people who don't know the Lord, and made a committment to pray for them.

Two: do I pray for my Church. Yet another area I can grow in. My Church family is the Bride of Christ. As it is MY Church and my FAMILY, I am called to protect it... yet I all too often find fault with it. Another friend reminded me that as a part of the Church, I am the Church- meaning if I see something we can grow in, I am part of the "we" and can start participating in it's growth.

So, thanks to good friends, their reminders, and the Holy Spirits conviction, I've decided that I'm going to regularly pray for these two things. In fact, I feel led to set aside a specific hour each week in intercessory prayer and here is how you can help.

1. Pray that I actually do this. I am weak and often feel led by the Lord but fail to follow His leading.

2. Provide me with names of loved ones & acquaintances that do not know Jesus at their Savior. Even if I haven't met them before, I'd like to meet them one day in heaven.

3. Consider joining me in prayer. I'm setting aside every Thursday from 5:30-6:30pm to just pray. I'll go for a walk, sit in a park, somehow separate myself from regular distracting life to pray. You can do this too- while you are driving home from work, preparing dinner, etc., make an effort to converse with the Lord. I think it'd be kinda neat to know we are all doing it at the same time.

Smiles...

4 comments:

Bethany said...

What a great reminder. I too have been convicted just to set aside QUIET time to pray...so I have been getting up now at 530 before my workout time to read and have QUIET time to pray. I had been praying throughout the day and on the elliptical but really felt convicted to wake up before my kids and house starts moving and pray. But I have to agree with you...haven't been praying for church or lost souls that are not close friends or family. So thanks for the encouragement. PS you will be in my prayers. GREAT POST.

Ashleigh said...

Michelle, as Bethany said, this is a great reminder! I find myself praying throughout the day, but never seeming to get my quiet times in as I should. I was definitely convicted by your post (which is a good thing). I wish I could be praying with you on Thursdays, but that's 3:30-4:30 p.m. here which is normally VERY busy for me, and since the girls are up for their naps and Ted still at work, I don't think I'd find quiet. But, I do need to start praying for those things too. And, I'll be praying for you. Thanks so much for this post!

Charissa said...

I'm with you, girl :0) That just happens to be 2:30 here - nap time! The unsaved people most on my heart are Simon (from China), my dad (Wayne) and my oldest brother (Cory) I'm actually having a blast right now doing several long-distance evangelism projects. I'm sending care packages to France, Sweden and Iraq and am taking advantage of this opportunity to get wonderful Christian books into the hands of these people. So this will be great for me to be setting aside undistracted time to pray for them. Thanks for including us!

Michelle said...

Sweet! Mind if I pray for them too? Last week went great and I'm super excited about what God is going to do with this all... keep us informed!