Friday, August 15, 2008

Prayer for Relief

I need to begin to pray more often for relief between each crisis or problem. I don’t expect God to relieve me of the problems themselves. I simply feel that I need a little break between each one, to gather strength to move to the next situation. Of course, if I had the faith of a mustard seed, I’d probably not even need that relief. Obviously I do not have even that little bit of faith.

But I do have my own level of faith. Even if it is smaller than the mustard seed, it is still there. So, with that level of faith, I will try to pray for his help to stay calm and serene when there is a non-stop marathon of issues to handle.
I think about Jesus asking that his burden, his cup, be lifted from him. Then I wonder if I am being selfish or arrogant in asking for this relief. I have noticed that I must be careful about how I pray and what I ask for. If I complain, for example, by saying, “Lord, all I need is a little break between problems,” it’s as though the problems suddenly come faster, as though he is saying, “You do not need time in between; you need to trust me for strength; you need to ask me for strength.”

Noticing this, I’ve been trying to resist complaining and instead, start praying for his help, and praying in thanks that he trusts me to take care of these things.

Father, thank you for your trust, and please bless me with your strength when I need it.

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