Hello everyone!
We're back on track today. Had a little publishing problem the past couple of days, but we're working it out.
Today, I want to talk about prayer.
But first, I want to mention a gift that some friends generously gave us. Some wonderful food from Florida Fields to Forks.
FFTF is run by our friends, Jan Pence and her son Brock Hall. For the past few years they have been running a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm that provides organic produce and meats to their members.
If you haven't heard of them, you can check out their website here. Thanks to our friends for the thoughtful gift and thanks to our other friends for being in the area to make these things available.
Back to prayer.
Prayer is foundational to faith . If you want to be in a relationship with someone you need to communicate with them and prayer is the mechanism for communicating with God. People sometimes say that they don't know how to pray and I always say "you should talk to God about that." Guess what? That qualifies as praying!
Prayer doesn't have to be elaborate or contrived, only what is on your heart. If you are having trouble coming up with your own, the Bible has some great examples for us, including the tried and true classic, The Lord's Prayer.
One of my favorite prayers is one I say for my son, substituting his name for the places where it says "you" and "your".
“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
It can be for others but it is for you too!
On page 55 of the Daniel Plan book, there is a highlighted section on faith power. Kalei's story goes like this:
“Kalei Kekuna has always struggled with her body image and being self-conscious. For many years she battled with an eating disorder. As she realized God’s power and love through The Daniel Plan, her focus shifted. “I learned that God loves me exactly the way that I am, unconditionally. It’s not necessarily about losing weight or looking a certain way. It’s more about making healthy choices that help me follow God’s plan for me. I wake up every morning and say, ‘God, I need help with this. Can you please just be there with me through this day as I make healthy choices and as I choose to go to the gym versus sitting on my couch, and as I choose the healthy salad versus the donut?’ Just knowing that he’s there the entire time helping me through this was a huge change for me.””
Today's Bible verse is the end of the prayer in Ephesians.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
How much can you ask or imagine?!
Healthy Blessings to all.
-Noel