Encouragement. Everyone needs encouragement...no matter who they are or what their status is. And encouragement is not something that can be sought...believe me...I tried to surround myself with people who I thought could and would encourage me for quite a while, only to be disappointed. Our encouragement comes from the Lord...always. Granted, He can and does use people He has placed in our lives as vessels to deliver this encouragement to us. He knows us better than we know ourselves, therefore, He knows what our hearts need...He alone can fill us up so that we can pour out. I have seen the impact that encouragement can have on people in a mighty way lately. God always provides someone to give me a word that uplifts me when I didn't realize that I was downtrodden. And I will venture to say that the more power and authority someone has, the more they need encouragement...but we are often too afraid to listen to the Lord nudging our hearts to uplift them, just because of their position. God uses the weak to lead the strong. You may not ever see the impact that your feeble words have on these people, but that does not mean that you will not be rewarded. Gratification will come in some form or another. So, encourage someone today.
The Power of Prayer. One of my favorite lines in the book/movie The List is: "God's friends and His enemies both make the same mistake: they underestimate the power of prayer." So true. I don't even really know what to say about this, because I don't know where to begin. Prayer is one of the hardest simple (as well as simplest hard) things to do. We can never spend too much time in prayer...in fact, our lives should be a constant prayer...an attitude of prayer, as I have written about before. I think that there is a misconception regarding prayer: even though we typically think of prayer as a time when we sit still with our hands folded and our eyes closed, it is sometimes more fruitful to go about it another way. God has made our minds to work differently than everyone else's...honestly, I cannot think when I am just sitting still, which makes it very hard to focus in prayer. The best conversations with the Lord can occur while you're walking to class, running on the treadmill, listening to music, hiking and then sitting on the top of a mountain, sitting in a rocking chair, wandering around admiring His creation, driving from place to place...you get the point. There is a time for all of these things, in fact...because situations change, as do attitudes of the heart...the important thing is that you find a way to remain close to the Lord and maintain an open line of communication.
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