Pray Without Ceasing

Our vacation turned out to be sick leave. Our plans turned out to be the complete opposite of what we had intended. Instead of spending a few days sight-seeing, we spent a few days finding out more about the intensive care unit, brain surgery and prayer.  I have no regrets on the change of plans because I believe God already knew what was going to happen and He knew that faced with the choice of being at my brother’s bedside or being somewhere else, there was no choice to make. I love my brother.  

He stood at the crossroads of the Cross and surveyed the choice. He could have called 10,000 angels to His defense. He could have looked at you and I and said, not worth it. And yet, in the garden of Gethsemane, He prayed so urgently and so deeply that drops of blood beaded on His forehead.  When faced with the choice of going to the Cross or being somewhere else, there was no choice for Him to make. He loved you and He loved me. He has no regrets. He prayed in the Garden and He continues to pray in heaven for us. He never quits interceding.  He loves us.

God wants you to know today that Easter is for you. It is the greatest story ever told and it was written with you in mind. He loves you. He loved you before the foundation of the world and He continues to love you. He surveyed the Cross, took the beating, faced the humiliation, stepped into hell and faced it all for you.  God wants you to know that He loves you. (period, end of sentence) Because of this Great Love, He will be with you to guide you, protect you, redeem you, restore you, bless you and remain faithful to you forever and ever.  Every single time you have called out to Him He has been right at your side. You might not always feel His presence, but you can count on it.  He knows the pain you have experienced at the hands of another. He knows the humiliation you’ve felt when decisions were made that had nothing to do with love. He knows the sorrow you experience as prayers seemed to go unanswered.

God also wants you to know that because Easter is a day of resurrection, you too will experience resurrection. When you are at the end of your life, the resurrection will be in heaven with the Lord. But even now, while things look bleak and the grave of your hopes and dreams is all you can see, resurrection is coming! God is going to work all things out for your good. He is reviving your calling even as you are reading this. He is renewing your hopes, restoring your dreams and rearranging your circumstances so that your life will be a blessing to all who know you. Now is the time to pray more, read His Word and walk in faith. Three days Christ was in the grave and yet there was much going on we could not see. You may feel that you’ve been in the grave of sorrow, humiliation, regret and uselessness. But much is going on behind the scenes of your life. Keep praying. Keep believing. Keep looking for the stone to roll away from the Grave.

Oh beloved, never quit praying. God loves you and He is for you. It makes no difference what others are doing or who has walked away. You are in His hands and His plans for you are as sure as Easter morning. Rejoice in His truth and linger in prayer for at just the right time God will show His plans to you and you will live in the light of His Word!

I Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

Romans 8:34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Psalm 116:2 Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! NLT

John 11:20 Jesus said to her, “I AM the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.

Ephesians 1:11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan. NLT