Lynn Cowell
"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength" Ephesians 1:18 (NIV)
Mind-boggling devastation filled the screen. I just couldn't wrap my mind around everything that had taken place by the earthquake in Haiti. Such suffering and pain. I went to sleep with the images firmly planted in my mind and heart.
When I awoke in the morning, I began to pray before my feet hit the ground: prayer for miracles, supplies and those who would arrive in that precious country to serve and minister to the broken. A picture of a crying baby being pulled from the rubble came to mind. After over 48 hours of no food, no water and being trapped under a collapsed house, the 18 month-old was rescued. It was truly a miracle.
My prayers moved from the Haitian crisis to praying for a loved one who has gone astray. The one I love has much in common with the newly rescued baby. He too is trapped. Trapped by the weight and destruction of bad decisions and flawed thinking patterns. What seemed like a common path many were taking led to a place of destruction.
What this precious baby and my loved one do not have in common is the desire to be free. The baby sensed something was wrong. Where was her family? Where was food and water? Why wasn't someone coming to her rescue? Such thoughts occupied her tiny immature mind. My loved one has yet to discover that he indeed needs rescuing. He has yet to recognize the weight of selfishness, unforgiveness and self-destruction pressing on him.
Do you have one you desperately love who is heading toward destruction and doesn't realize it? Do you have days when the rubble of sin seems too heavy- too much to be removed? And you just can't see how God is going to break through?
Help is arriving in Haiti. Armies, doctors, nurses and relief workers from around the world are helping. Rescue is taking place. People's lives have been saved, and in time, the destruction will be removed.
Rescue is available for our loved ones, too. Prayer is the place to begin as we hope that in the middle of their own destruction, they will see their need for rescue. When that realization becomes clear, like the tiny baby in Haiti, our loved ones will cry out for help. We know our God will be there to hear and rescue. He may use others to help them. He may call them to push away some of the debris. But more than anything, we know He wants them free.
Dear Lord, some days I grow weary of praying for my loved one. I am so glad that You don't. Please open their eyes to see the destruction they are in and give them the desire to break free. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Divine Prayers for Despairing Parents: What to Pray When You Don’t Know What to Say by Susanne Scheppmann
Confessions of an Adulterous Woman: Lies that Got Me There, Truths that Brought Me Back by Lyndell Holtz
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Visit Lynn’s blog
Read one praying mother’s story The Night I Lost All Hope
Application Steps:
Is your loved one a child? A husband? A friend? Find another godly woman who will partner with you to pray daily for this person; preferably one who has had victory in her life with a loved one in this area.
Pray for divine appointments in this person's life and others who will share compassion, love and Jesus' heart with them.
Get a notebook or journal. Write your loved one's name on the front. Begin to journal prayers, verses, etc., specifically related to your loved one. Fill in their name and use the word "you" i.e. "Today I prayed Ephesians 1:18-19 for you. It says…." Print prayers sent to you by others and put them in the journal. Believe that one day you will give this journal to your loved one as a testimony to what God has done.
Reflections:
Were you ever someone else's wayward loved one? If so, what did the Lord do to bring you to Himself?
Are you the wayward love one? If so, do not be afraid to call out from underneath your rubble. Those around you already see it. They see you and more than anything they want you to be free and to help you to get there!
Power Verses:
Psalm 106:8, "Yet he saved them for his name's sake, to make his mighty power known." (NIV)
Zephaniah 3:17, "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." (NIV)
© 2010 by Lynn Cowell. All rights reserved.
"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength" Ephesians 1:18 (NIV)
Mind-boggling devastation filled the screen. I just couldn't wrap my mind around everything that had taken place by the earthquake in Haiti. Such suffering and pain. I went to sleep with the images firmly planted in my mind and heart.
When I awoke in the morning, I began to pray before my feet hit the ground: prayer for miracles, supplies and those who would arrive in that precious country to serve and minister to the broken. A picture of a crying baby being pulled from the rubble came to mind. After over 48 hours of no food, no water and being trapped under a collapsed house, the 18 month-old was rescued. It was truly a miracle.
My prayers moved from the Haitian crisis to praying for a loved one who has gone astray. The one I love has much in common with the newly rescued baby. He too is trapped. Trapped by the weight and destruction of bad decisions and flawed thinking patterns. What seemed like a common path many were taking led to a place of destruction.
What this precious baby and my loved one do not have in common is the desire to be free. The baby sensed something was wrong. Where was her family? Where was food and water? Why wasn't someone coming to her rescue? Such thoughts occupied her tiny immature mind. My loved one has yet to discover that he indeed needs rescuing. He has yet to recognize the weight of selfishness, unforgiveness and self-destruction pressing on him.
Do you have one you desperately love who is heading toward destruction and doesn't realize it? Do you have days when the rubble of sin seems too heavy- too much to be removed? And you just can't see how God is going to break through?
Help is arriving in Haiti. Armies, doctors, nurses and relief workers from around the world are helping. Rescue is taking place. People's lives have been saved, and in time, the destruction will be removed.
Rescue is available for our loved ones, too. Prayer is the place to begin as we hope that in the middle of their own destruction, they will see their need for rescue. When that realization becomes clear, like the tiny baby in Haiti, our loved ones will cry out for help. We know our God will be there to hear and rescue. He may use others to help them. He may call them to push away some of the debris. But more than anything, we know He wants them free.
Dear Lord, some days I grow weary of praying for my loved one. I am so glad that You don't. Please open their eyes to see the destruction they are in and give them the desire to break free. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Divine Prayers for Despairing Parents: What to Pray When You Don’t Know What to Say by Susanne Scheppmann
Confessions of an Adulterous Woman: Lies that Got Me There, Truths that Brought Me Back by Lyndell Holtz
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Visit Lynn’s blog
Read one praying mother’s story The Night I Lost All Hope
Application Steps:
Is your loved one a child? A husband? A friend? Find another godly woman who will partner with you to pray daily for this person; preferably one who has had victory in her life with a loved one in this area.
Pray for divine appointments in this person's life and others who will share compassion, love and Jesus' heart with them.
Get a notebook or journal. Write your loved one's name on the front. Begin to journal prayers, verses, etc., specifically related to your loved one. Fill in their name and use the word "you" i.e. "Today I prayed Ephesians 1:18-19 for you. It says…." Print prayers sent to you by others and put them in the journal. Believe that one day you will give this journal to your loved one as a testimony to what God has done.
Reflections:
Were you ever someone else's wayward loved one? If so, what did the Lord do to bring you to Himself?
Are you the wayward love one? If so, do not be afraid to call out from underneath your rubble. Those around you already see it. They see you and more than anything they want you to be free and to help you to get there!
Power Verses:
Psalm 106:8, "Yet he saved them for his name's sake, to make his mighty power known." (NIV)
Zephaniah 3:17, "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." (NIV)
© 2010 by Lynn Cowell. All rights reserved.
Labels: God's Perspective, Marriage, Overcoming, Parenting, Patience, Perseverance, Prayer, Relationships, Spiritual Warfare, Trusting God, Waiting On God, Walking in Faith
13 Comments:
I prayed for you and your loved one today. My husband and I were both in the rubble when we met...we're convinced the prayers of our mothers led to that meeting and the climbing out together. Hang in there. Don't give up hope. Sometimes when you are serving it out to others you forget to keep some for yourself. I pray that doesn't happen to you.
I prayed for your loved one today. In this we have hope, that nothing can separate him from the love of God. No matter how far he strays, God will never abandon what is His. He will go after your loved one and woo him back home.
Thank you for your great words of encouragement this morning. Thanks for those words to pray. I sometimes find myself short of words to say and now realize that The Lord placed those words in his promises in the Bible. Thanks for opening my eyes. I will pray for your loved one and ask that you please pray for my son. 37 years old with severe diabetes and neuropathy and insists on continuing eating candy and all kinds of wrong foods all the time. He has a 7 years old daughter that suffers in her little heart to see her dad destroying himself. Please pray for both of them. EMG
WOW! I was on my way to work this morning and was singing to the top of lungs praises to my God, more or less crying out for answers this morning. I am doing a fast and it is very easy for me because I believe this is where God wants/asking me to be. As I am singing, I just see my red light clicking on my cell as to say this is for you today and when I look it is this website(proverbs 31). As soon as I come inside the office, I open and not only did this apply but the words lay heavy on my heart this morning. I have lost my hope and depending on son to give it to me. Thank you so much for what you do and thank you also for this message of Hope;for being so faithful to God's word.
What a word today!
I have been in anguish for the last 24 hours over a loved one that I have been continuing to pray for and fast for him to be healed from his addiction that he denies. This has been going on for 3 years. I see progress and then fall back and go around the mountain again.
This gives me hope and lets me know to let go and let God!!
Wonderful words of encouragment! Thank you for sharing with us what the Lord has given to you. These devotions seem to always be what I need when I need it!!!
I have found renewed hope in your message today. God Bless you for blessing others with your insight while you face your own tribulations. My best wishes for you and your loved ones.
Wow! What a powerful message.
Wow. You couldn't have spoken more directly to me if you tried. Thank you. At a point where my hands were thrown up in the air. Now I know without a doubt what I need to be doing. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you for sharing such a fresh and awesome word with us today. I really needed to hear from God concerning my son and this devotion really ministered to me today.
Thank you for sharing such a fresh and awesome word with us today. I really needed to hear from God concerning my son and this devotion really ministered to me today.
Hm hm.. that's interessting but frankly i have a hard time figuring it... I'm wondering what others have to say....
Post a Comment
Home