Are YOU Ready?

"If we are true intercessors, we must be ready to take part in God's work on behalf of the people for whom we pray." 

-Corrie Ten Boom

One thing that excites me about being a Christian is a lot of my fellow brothers and sisters get involved in the issues of the day and  are very passionate about SPEAKING what they believe-issues that they feel the government might be interfering with, preachers who talk up issues and get everyone riled up, and even businesses that take a stand for something they believe strongly about and get everyone rallied around it. 

I got to wondering the other day, though,after I read this quote, do we REALLY mean it when we are praying for something, ie: an issue that needs changing, etc.? Why? Well, just like what she said...when we start praying about something, we usually get thrown in the midst of the solution and we have a decision to make to be there to see change happen in a person's life. And a lot of times, we don't want to be God's vessel of help for those who are hurting or issues that are confronting us every day. 

For EXAMPLE....a lot of folks,  including myself, are pro-life. My question is this: if Roe V. Wade were ever overturned...would you and I be ready to be a part of the solution in helping young women/men through a unwanted/unplanned pregnancy? Would you step up and adopt kids that they weren't able to take care of or fostering them while moms/dads got themselves together?  

There are 800,000 children are in foster care NOW in the United States. Many are waiting on permanent families. Many need a consistent place to live and be nurtured while their birth parents are hopefully getting their lives together so they can be reunified. 

Are  you be willing to be a part of the solution? 

And that is not just for foster care/adoption.  

*It is for helping outgoing prisoners re-acclimate to the outside world by having a church home and support as they recover from their mistakes. 

*It is for those who struggle with generational poverty who need people to help them learn new life skills so that they can be successful in caring for themselves and their families. 

*It is for those racial issues that still exist where churches need to reach out to neighborhoods that are changing and begin to understand each others cultures and

*It is for those teenagers who need mentors to help them make better decisions or the kids who can't read who need someone to show them how.

*It is for those who struggle with deep mental health issues who need a friend to walk with them on this sometimes very dark journey. 

*What if we all realized that "guns" are not the issue here when it comes to all the school violence that is going on these days. What if it were something deeper? Would you be involved in, as a believer in Christ, the solution? 

Just some things I am pondering lately. How ready are we to be involved in God answering our prayers?   

 Maybe, as we pray for an issue or problem that we feel led to bring to the Lord....we should add this..."Lord, if I am to be a part of the solution to this problem, make me willing and give me the courage to DO something. 

 

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I John 3:16-18 
 "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?  Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth".