In today’s reading of My Utmost for His Highest, I most related to this excerpt:
“Vital intercession leaves you with neither the time nor the inclination to pray for your own ‘sad and pitiful self.’ You do not have to struggle to keep thoughts of yourself out, because they are not even there to be kept out of your thinking. You are completely and entirely identified with God’s interests and concerns in other lives” (Chambers).
We are often most caught in a place of turmoil when we’re focused entirely on self and not the needs of others.
{This is especially poignant to me as this is where I am often}
As I lose focus on others, I become more and more focused on myself and the more I become focused on myself, the more I lose focus on others. But, how do we escape this vicious cycle?
Only by the power of the Holy Spirit!
“…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27)
I simply must have a willing heart to go before the Lord (even when I’m not sure what to say) and allow Him to work in me. The Holy Spirit has the ability to articulate the thoughts I cannot. Sitting in His presence grants Him the opportunity empty me out and refill me with Him.
So it seems the first thing I must do is spend time in prayer on behalf of others. Ephesians 6:18 says: “and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
As I lift others up, I pray to become “completely and entirely identified with God’s interests and concerns in other lives” that it is only natural to place others first and not a struggle to think of them.
Becca V
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