Category Archives: Prayer

For the brave young souls at the pole this morning… we see you <3

Empty Nest, Encouragement, Prayer
www.laurareimer.net

It’s a rainy morning here on the prairie.

I am thinking of any brave young brothers and sisters in Christ who may have crawled out of bed a bit earlier than usual so they could join up with youth group friends to pray over their school.

See You At the Pole has been around since at least our own three were enrolled in public school back in the day.

A student-led initiative, it was up to the kids to promote and invite and set it up with the administration. It was also up to them to put together any music, prayers, and event organization for the morning gathering. 

Of course, my generation of parents were definitely hands on, and while we certainly did let them do their own programming and leading; we did have to drive in the early years and so we would form a circle around their circle and basically wipe tears as we listened to our young ones sing and offer prayers and operate whatever sound system they managed to come up with via a boom box…because it was, after all…the 90’s. 

One year, I stood around that circle in front of the high school two of our kiddos attended.

As we were nearing the end of the small service, the other students began arriving for the day. With my back to the sidewalk and my head bowed, I wept a new kind of tears. 

Jeering words and taunts began to flow from behind me as the circle of young believers in front of me continued to sing a worship song and close in prayer for their classmates, teachers and school. 

Suddenly I got a fresh understanding of what we were asking our kiddos to do every day. 

Go in there and be a light…share Jesus…invite your friends to church…be a world changer. 

Easier said when your circle is mostly other Christian moms. Sure sharing Jesus with people who are at least mildly interested makes one think that it shouldn’t be that hard for young ones to do the same. 

But what about when you are ridiculed? 

What about when you are held to a standard of the caricature of a Christian by those who do not understand that you are well aware you fall short all the time? Because even those who are not believers (and often especially those) will call you out on what they know to be moral values and label you a hypocrite, even if they do not hold to those standards in the least. 

How about the work place where you could be fired or at least severely reprimanded for sharing your faith openly? If you don’t think that’s a thing, you don’t know some sweet Christians who have had it happen. I do. It’s a thing.

As adults, we can be a bit more choosy about where we spend our time and who can have access to our faith life.

For our children to walk openly as Christians in a daily school setting is not an easy road. They have nowhere to go but the halls, lunch table, locker room and a desk sitting amidst 20 plus other desks. 

Being a light on a hill sounds appealing until you feel quite alone shining forth. 

So today a prayer for the ones who pray, sometimes alone, around unknown settings in their schools:

Heavenly Father, I lift up our young Christian students to you.

Lord, I know you see them in the midst of these difficult times of conflict, covid and culture shift.

For our kids who are trying to live for You, I pray for an added measure of knowing Your presence with them today.

I pray You would tangibly walk alongside them as they go from class to class.

I pray You would give them Your heart for the lost and broken.

I pray you give them the gift of wisdom and discernment and knowledge of You and Your ways.

I pray You would strengthen them in the face of temptations and You would pour Your spirit into them to know truth, to live truth, and to speak truth in love.

I pray You would daily remind them of who they are in You and that You would help them beyond their years and experience to be people of mercy, grace and love.

I pray for those who have somehow become isolated in a small group of believers and may have forgotten that You were a suffering servant.

I pray they would not become so insulated in belonging to a smaller group of like-minded people that they forget You came to seek and save the lost.

I pray they would remember that they are following YOU, not a YOUth group.

I pray that their sense of belonging comes, not from their current circle of Christian friends, but because they belong first and foremost to YOU through Your blood <3

I pray for youth leaders and parents to have wisdom as they give them love, encouragement and counsel.

I pray for the fulfillment of Your promise that in the last days You will pour Your Spirit out on our young people.

Thank You for Your love, care and protection over our children because in truth, they are Your children. 

In Jesus’ Name

Amen

a prayer from my heart on this SYATP morning 2021 <3
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Sometimes we just don’t know what we left in our wake <3

Encouragement, Healing & Forgiveness, Prayer
www.laurareimer.net

We are headed off today to see our John. It has been almost two years since we have been able to visit him on his own turf. I thank God that John has been able to travel to see us a few times, but have mercy. That’s a long time. 

Every once in a while I experience a sucker punch from what this pandemic has taken. I tend to focus on the global impact and then occasionally I think of what we have missed personally. 

While it is not anything in comparison to what this has cost others, it hurts a bit and I have to stop and grieve a little bit for it.

I am sure you each have things…a senior year in high school, a planned wedding that got pre-empted, a job shift that left you reeling, first day of school pics with your kiddos in a mask, a year plus of your family’s story spent far differently than you ever expected…so hugs and prayers for God to show up in the midst of any moments of grief and bring you comfort and hope. 

Now for the thought I wanted to share today with you. 

Recently we were chatting with friends about a fender bender that impacted all but the person who probably caused it. A sudden lane change up ahead set up a chain reaction for several cars as they tried to avoid hitting the instigator. As the injured put their cars in park and dug in the glove box for insurance cards, the car that was responsible drove off around the corner, oblivious to all that had transpired. 

This made me think about a prayer book I have been using called “A Diary of Private Prayer” by John Baille. My copy has been updated by Susanna Wright (which makes me wish I had the original, but that’s just me…I love the old wording of classics.)

The book has a morning and an evening prayer for each day of the month. Since I drag out my devotions with my coffee just about every morning of the year, the A.M. ones are easily done. I struggle finding a routine for the evening though and have been praying for a way to remember to pray those before bed. I know. I know…I could keep it by my bed and do first thing and last each day…but habit is deeply engrained to do with my stack of other readings so…not going to work for me. 

Anyway, to the point of this and the tie-in with the accident I mentioned above, the prayers for evening have prompts for things I would never think to pray about. And as I pondered the car that cluelessly caused all the damage, I realized that often I am that driver. 

Like the old cartoon where one character is eating a banana, throws the peel over his shoulder and causes someone coming behind to slip and fall; I must be aware that without even realizing it I may have been the catalyst for someone else to stumble or be hurt or run into an inconvenience that soured the day for him or her. 

With my words or actions, I may have left damage behind and no…we don’t need to live in a constant state of guilt that this could have happened. But we do need to humbly realize our frailties and flaws are not always what we see and notice. I am rather conscious of many things I do or say that I regret; and there are quite a number of people these days who loudly declare they have been offended…24/7. But what about the accidents I caused that I failed to notice just because that’s life on planet earth?

And so at the end of the day, as I scan back over the events and confess and repent of the ones I can see; I am trying to also remember that I may have caused a fender bender for someone physically or emotionally. While I certainly didn’t do it intentionally, compassion would compel me to ask God if there was anyone I hurt today and ask for forgiveness from Him and healing for that one left in my wake. 

In the manner of what I have been learning about prayer from Baillie; here is a sample prayer to pray at the end of the day before entering into rest:

Heavenly Father, I realize today I may have inadvertently caused someone to be derailed physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually.

While it was not my intent, thank you for your forgiveness of my errors and flaws through Jesus. I pray you would work forgiveness into the heart of anyone to whom I have brought harm.  I pray You would show up for them to bring healing and comfort and restoration.

Father, I pray for any pain I have caused others that may be remembered and I ask you Lord to reconcile that one to You and to me through the power of Your Spirit. I pray if I have done something that I need to remember and ask forgiveness for, You would remind me.

If the offense should be forgotten by the one I have hurt, I pray that You would bring a blessed washing away of the memory of the act of injury towards them.

Thank You God for your love, forgiveness, mercy and grace towards us. You know what we are made of. Do not let our mistakes and flawed natures divide us but bring us closer to You as we walk in Your strength and healing. 

In Jesus Name

Amen

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Lesson application and being given a test….

Discipline, Prayer, Refined by the Word
www.laurareimer.net

Well, well, well…

We seem to have a new situation across the map of the USA and it all stems from bizarre and dangerous weather. 

Which seemed to be a proving ground yesterday for me and all the things I said in my posts last week. 

Because the rubber hit the ice packed roads as we monitored our John down in the frozen south where we normally are envying him for being out hiking and riding his bike while we hunker down for a snow day. 

I got a text early morning that he had been without power since 3 A.M. and it was hovering above 50 degrees in his apartment. 

Being born and raised in the Midwest affords the young man quite a bit of knowledge on how to navigate these kinds of cold weather challenges like ice, snow and wind chills…but he now resides in a state where there are no salt trucks, snow plows and the demand on power across the state wreaked havoc that sent this mom to her knees. 

All day we touched base with him, family, friends, friends who have family…thinking of them trying to get out and get phones charged and get warm.

Hotels that had power were sold out – and really no guarantee they would even have power through the night. 

So as I was repeatedly tempted to succumb to fear and anxiety throughout the day, the words I typed last week rose up and reminded me to ask myself…what I am saying to myself and to others about this situation that is out of my control.

It was a mighty battle my friends as I applied those lessons. 

I did reach out and ask several friends to pray. One responded with Psalm 91 so I headed right there and I camped there. 

Those feathers that He is supposed to surround us with became a down jacket and blanket wrapped around our son and others as I prayed. 

When he was making his way after dark to a friend’s home that had power, and we weren’t hearing from him; I spoke things like…

I don’t know where he is, but I know You know. I know You love him and You are with him no matter what and I will trust Your love and care for him. 

I still cried from time to time. 

I still was honest that I was deeply concerned for him. 

But I did do what I said last week we should do. 

I read things that spoke of His promises to never leave or forsake us and I hummed praise songs and I forced myself up out of my chair and away from my phone to get some house tasks finished. 

And when he texted that he had arrived and sent video of a room with lights and space for his things to camp out for a day or two, I thanked the Lord with all my heart and thanked our praying friends and continued to pray for and check on others who were still in homes without power. 

It is a good thing to love to speak Life. 

I will assure you, the outcome could have been different and yet – the process must always remain the same. 

He or she who loves to use the tongue to speak life, will eat the fruit of it. 

Prove it out for yourself in all the circumstances and see.

Today we pray for the homes that are without power or water throughout the South. We pray for those whose lives were ripped apart in North Carolina and we pray for the first responders, the road crews, the utility workers, community leaders. Our hearts and prayers are for you.

We will sing praises over you and we will thank God for His love and provision for you. We will pray for your safety and for comfort. We will pray that in all things, the good and the bad and the ugly, your hearts will be drawn to Him <3

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