Daily Devotion

Saved by the Prayer

 

"But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer."  Psalm 66:19 NASB

But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.  Luke 23:34 NASB

 

I know that everyone has woke up on the wrong side of the bed once or 10 times lol.  And to tell you the truth actually I didn't this morning.  I was in a great mood; I had been playing my praise and worship music, singing as I got ready for work.  Then one thing after another started to make me angry.  My own lack of awareness and clumsiness caused me to hit the corner of my eye really hard against the molding in the linen closet...which, by the way, still hurts, ouch.  Then the usual horror played out as I dodged someone turning into oncoming traffic causing me an early morning shake-up and my other personality took over, enraged at the driver's miscalculations.  I took the time then to pray and ask God to forgive me for not praying and started the day over while I was on the highway.  Then I was angered once again when I realized I left my ID card to get on the base and on my computer.  By sheer favor, I got on base.  However I wasn't sure if I had left my ID at the gym the previous day or in my clothes.  So I searched my purse and gym bag...I think by then the anger was nicely boiling over.  Fortunately, thanks to God again, it was in my clothes and my brother sat it out for me.  So at my desk, I started the day over for the third time.  And shortly thereafter, I started to notice some blessings God sprinkled along the way. 

 

But I remember this poem about how rotten the person's day was when they did not pray.  It seemed like everything that could go wrong, did...and that is how I felt this morning so fortunately I did not let it go too far before I fixed my error.  It made me think, thank God for reminding me to pray because I could only imagine how much worse my day could have gotten.  Prayer has a way of framing your mindset, regardless of when you take the time to utter one.  Prayer does many things, most importantly having a life-changing impact on the user.  Prayer can ease physical pain, emotional distress, and spiritual anguish.  Prayer, when done correctly and repetitiously with fervency, even gives you great things like unbelievable blessings, favor, and peace.  The key is to recognize that when we pray, we are communicating with God.  We have to wait to hear back from Him, and be sure to not run ahead and do our own thing.

 

I know there have been many instances in my life when my day and nerves for that matter have been saved by the prayer.  Today could have been down right rotten had some of the blips along the road actually been worse.  If it were not for prayers of our own or of someone else, most likely we would not even be here.  Ironically, if it were not for God ignoring Jesus' prayer the night before He was crucified--had God decided to spare Jesus' life instead, levying the weight of all our sins upon us, we very well may not even be here.  But God chose to redeem us once and for all, forgiving us for things we are unaware of and restoring us to our place as His children.  If you have nothing else today, and you feel like you have tried everything and it did not work for you, try praying to God for His help.  He sure saved me today!

 

"I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.  Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live."  Psalm 116:1-2 NIV