If I don't start my day with a song of praise on my lips or the opportunity to pray, I just might as well stay in bed.
I make it a daily habit to pray and meditate on what the Lord has in store for me. I read the Bible and thank God for all the blessings that He has given me.
Being disabled and unable to work any more, I have the time to pray, sing, and do my devotionals. I spend at least an hour a day with my Lord and Saviour; it is the sweetest part of my entire day. Being with Him is what orchestrates how the rest of my day is going to be.
I am going to have times when the enemy, Satan, will try to distract me with temptation, illness, or other interruptions. I refuse to give in to his wily ways. Satan is nothing but a thief, a liar, a destroyer, and overall bad news. I have God on my side and He's stronger than Satan and his minions could ever dream of being. I will fight Satan with every fibre of my being.
Satan may not like it, but all I have to say is this: too bad. I am going to stretch my prayer muscles with all the strength I have in my body and let God direct my ways, NOT the devil!!
Prayer does work. I've seen it , not only in my own personal life, but in the lives of family, friends, even strangers. For example, there's this family in town who has a bunch of adopted children, and one of them happened to be in the hospital after suffering a series of seizures. The boy was already suffering the ravages of muscular dystrophy, so his situation was extremely serious. I prayed for that boy like there was no tomorrow, and miracle of miracles, the boy recovered and is now doing fantastic!
It wasn't my doing. It was God's mercy to answer the prayers of many getting down on their knees on behalf of this child.
The boy is also no longer a boy: he is a grown man and recently got married. A miracle! (When he was diagnosed with MD, doctors didn't think he would live to see five. He's going to be nineteen in a little over a week.)
And here's another example of the power of prayer. I needed seventy dollars to pay off a delinquent electric bill, but I just didn't have the money; it was the middle of the month. The electric company was threatening to shut off my power, and I got on my knees (with much difficulty, given my disability) and prayed and cried as I poured my anguish out to God. God answered my prayer in a powerful and meaningful way.
That day, I had gone to my therapy appointment and while heading to the local Golden Corral to eat lunch, I happened to find a bill lying on the ground. It was a $100 bill! So I had more than enough to pay off the bill AND go out to eat!!
This happened about six years ago. And I have never forgotten it, especially since that particular day, I woke up with the verse "For God shall supply all your needs, according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Phillippians 4:19) running through my head!
WOW! God still is in the miracle-making busines, even today!!
Well, it is time for me to run along. Time to do my "God time", to start the day off right. Take care and may God bless you mightily! And ... Merry Christmas!
