prayer

yesterday, God rebuked me through a brother who's 3yrs my junior. here i was, talking about the turmoil in japan and then, BAM. he unintentionally guilt-tripped me. what about the ongoing sufferings in the middle east? the agonizing miseries in north korea? the poverty and hunger-stricken in africa? etc, etc. basically, the world!! have i always been this ignorant of life outside of my own?

..yes.

and i realized... it's not even just about the nations that are crying out for help but that EVERY ONE PERSON is fighting his/her own battle(s). at retreat, my small group shared some of their anxieties and hardships that they're going through. as each person opened up, i became sorrowful and troubled. why, oh, why does life have to be this difficult? and why does life have to hurt so much?

there's not much that i can do to help specific people, let alone the world. but from retreat, i learned that there's one thing that i CAN do and this one thing is the most important thing that i'm called to do and that is to pray. the night before Jesus' crucifixion, He was found at the garden of Gethsemane, praying to His Father to let His will be done (Matthew 26:39-43). in His last hours of His life, He got to His knees and prayed.

as a follower of Christ, i want to make prayer an essential part of my life. i've been so inconsistent with it that i'm so ashamed of myself when i call myself a Christian. but by the grace of God, my eyes have been opened to how crucial prayer is. and really, praying is THE way to help anyone.

with that said, i'm going to.... start going to saturday morning prayer (please keep me accountable). i've been saying this for awhile now but i have yet to actually do it. 8am. oh me, oh my. but, i really need to do this. i really want to do this. not just for my own spiritual walk but to pray for everyone and every nation around me. i may only be one person but thankfully, God hears everyONE's prayers :)