Good morning…
Up in the middle of the night, I crafted a message with God. Then some technical glitch clogged up our communications, and, tired, I decided to go back to bed. I hoped things would work more smoothly after waking from my second sleep.
Then an interesting thing happened. I was stirred awake by a song. A song from my childhood sang sweetly in my brain.
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.
Overriding the original message we had crafted, God sensed our need for these lyrics, for this old familiar song, on this given day, in these troubled times. Our pain disperses into deep peace as we carry everything, everything to God in prayer. Again and again and again. Each day.
Jesus said, “I call you friends” (John 15:15b, VOICE). What a transformational gift he gives, exchanging our pain for God’s peace, our grief for God’s strength. We are all invited into intimate, ongoing friendship with Jesus, who knows our pain and understands our grief.
In conversational prayer, how might we surrender every single burden we bear?
…Sue…
P.S. A prayer service will be held tonight at 6:00 pm in the Northside Church sanctuary as we support the urgent needs of Dr. Gil Watson, our previous pastor, who is a loving, huge hugging friend to all. Gil, whose condition is improving after emergency heart surgery, still remains in critical care.
