Praying and Obedience

A few weeks ago, a friend at church gave me a prayer that she prays every day before she goes to work. I took the paper with me and put it in my car. I started praying that prayer in the parking lot at school before I began my day. It was a little awkward, because the prayer was so general, so I revised the prayer to fit my specific work environment. I was typing the new prayer while at school - during lunch. I felt led to email a copy of the prayer to one of the administrators and just let him know I was thinking of him and I appreciated his life and his witness as a Christian. He emailed back thanking me for sending the prayer to him.

After I sent the prayer, I printed one out for myself and put it on an index card. I took it to the library and asked if they would mind laminating something personal. Usually, the answer is no way. But after glancing at what was contained on the card I was told yes. I then went back to my room where my new laminated prayer card was delivered a few hours later.

The next morning I prayed my new revised prayer. God put on my heart to start praying for specifics as well so I asked him to give me one person or specific thing a day to pray for. Who or what would be up to Him. For the past week I have been praying my prayer, and God has been bringing new people to my mind during the prayer everyday. I look forward to who God wants me to pray for. I never know in advance, it just comes during my morning prayer. I sit in my car, in the parking lot, with my head bowed, and pray. It doesn't take long, but what a sense of purpose I now feel. Imagine - God gives me someone to pray for every day. That is just amazing! What an awesome God we serve. It never ceases to amaze me what God does through us when we simply humble ourselves in obedience to His purposes. I don't know why I am praying for specific people, but God does. He knows when the sparrow falls and he knows what we need, even when we don't know ourselves.

Today, my prayerful attitude and sense of purpose was severely tested. It seemed like everything that could go wrong, did. Through it all, I did not swear or get angry (well not too angry anyway). I just tried again if that was necessary and kept on putting one foot in front of the other. By the end of the day, the problems were mostly solved and I had kept my sense of peace. Last year I would have been so frustrated because things are so unnecessarily chaotic. The problems are mostly due to lack of follow through or a plan on how to do things. I get easily frustrated by that because I usually have a plan and I am dedicated to following through. When something does not work well, I revise it until it flows more smoothly. It seems as if there is a wrong way or a difficult way to do things at work, that is the standard mode of operation. So--- not getting frustrated and spiraling into anger was a huge step. I totally attribute it to my prayer life and my new found sense of purpose. I may not want to stay where I am forever. I would probably jump ship in a heartbeat if I had the chance. But, God has given me a sense of peace and of purpose for this season of my life. Isn't that awesome!