Usually the PP that appear concern national concerns and the like, but this week more than any showed that it’s good to make some of the issues personal.
- Health
I was not well at all this week. I suffered from flu like symptoms that affected my breathing, my sinuses, the heaviness of my chest, my throat and thus speaking capacity and also heavy headaches. It was a tough week indeed, but though there are still remnants, thank God I’m over the worse.
It is important to ensure the body is treated well before illness so that it is ready to respond to illness, but sometimes the challenges and duress of life do not make those priorities easy to exercise. Thus no wonder some when ill are knocked out of action for a fairly long time. I am sure there are mind issues to do with that as well, but in any case the primary goal of every believer should be to walk in the fullness of life, something that illness can prevent, hence the ministry of healing. I still believe in a God who heals and have experienced that before. Studying Proverbs, however, also outlines why it is so important not to just rely on supernatural interventions of that type, but to also be aware of those underlying principles of life that can help us to enjoy that fullness that He has promised for those who love Him.
Thus this issue is not just praying for healing for those around you that are unwell, but also to have that follow-up that allows there to be a minimised risk of being any worse. As if to say, this prayer point is about people recognising there is more to health than just getting well, it is staying well, growing well and trusting well in God to follow where He has lead even in the issue of health. Please remember this issue in your prayers.
- Family Ties
I grow more and more convinced that a key target of enemy strategy is the family. The many different tactics to undermine the family remain ever devious and deadly in its divisiveness. Certain cultures not unlike our own place more emphasis on individual responsibility and productivity than the importance of building family ties. The diversity of family styles is indicative of the fruit of the enemy’s labour to mess up the family. Now certain arrangements despite remaining devastating to all parties concerned are being normalised and advocated as a suitable choice on offer for the individual.
There is pressure to make ends meet and to keep with the Jones. There is pressure to oversee the development of the children as they remain ever open to the influence of outside agents, especially if they are in school where they spend a large amount of their waking hours. There is pressure to work out the needs of the family members and meet them whilst exercising your own responsibilities outside of the home. Often in some churches, there is pressure to appear to have it altogether in the service as marked by the quality clothes being worn and immaculate behaviour of the children and married couple.
Often the pressure leads to the strain being too heavy and unnecessary sacrifices being made that only exacerbate the underlying problem that often comes through selfish ambition, pride, lacking in communication and a desire to be someone you are not. True godly contentment is a priceless commodity so much needed in families to allow married couples to serve each other with love and humility. True mutual care is a priceless commodity so much needed in families to allow parents and children to not be so age-segregated or disrespectful, but genuinely display the qualities of the Father and Son that dominate the gospel narratives.
Though we say there are more important things in life than money, a lot of time can be spent concerning ourselves over the finances. Economically challenging situations like the current one highlight where our real goal is and which God we serve. Whether it’s time spent slaving over a work assignment rather than laughing with your children, or viewing the home as a hostile place and preferring the company of others. It remains a big issue and a pressing concern, please thus pray that God’s model for the family expressed throughout scripture and through the interaction between Father and Son is the foundation for the families today.
- Wisdom in the Workplace
The thing about working for a non-Christian organisation, especially if you are the only one working there, is that it is not difficult to draw a line between your church life and your work life. Not to say that a Christian deliberately sets out to be deceiving, just to note even if one makes a public profession of faith (by which of course I’m not referring to finding a soapbox and proclaiming in the canteen that everyone’s going to hell unless they jump the Christian hoops) there’s more to proving your faith than giving the ‘right’ answers to the hot questions of the day. The temptation to compromise and fall in with the office gossip culture or the work ‘banter’ or the common shortcuts of certain ‘successful’ colleagues is subtle and destructive.
Like the seductive woman, the words appear reasonable and enticing. No one appears to be getting hurt by the behaviour overtly and after all it will help you fit in and make progress with the status quo. The subtlety of deception is sometimes so insidious that without even thinking our own actions and priorities are shaped by other concerns rather than kingdom concerns.
I am only too aware of how susceptible I am to not see the mission in the workplace and to collude with what is wrong for the sake of an easier life. Not to castigate and condemn colleagues, but just to make sure the stand for righteousness is being upheld in love with separation of identity of the person in the church gathering and the same person in the work setting. Please remember this vital issue of wisdom in the workplace in your prayers.
I truly appreciate you remembering to pray on these and the other issues in prayer. Times continue to change and things happen that challenge our priority in faith. Prayer often reminds us that the target of prayer is our focus for life and helps us not to get things twisted or be distracted at all. Continue to remember me and my family in your prayers.
Have a great weekend.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
dmcd
Life With CD 