Prayer

On this idea of serving and loving others, how comfortable do you feel praying with your friends? Would you feel awkward asking a friend if you could pray for them when they are talking about not getting along with their parents or the pressure they feel to “go to far” with their boyfriend or girlfriend? Will you commit to pray for your friends that are hurting, even though they have no interest in God?

God answers our prayers and does amazing things that we can’t manufacture on our own through prayer.

What are your thoughts?

Ideas

We still have 2 more prizes to give away for people that decide to comment on the site. Hurry so you can get in on that!

As promised, I want to try and share some ideas on how we can actually love others on a daily basis.

My first thought is within our own houses. How do we love the people we live with?

For my wife, one practical thing I can do is actively listen to her. She enjoys talking a little more than I do, but I make it a point to actually sit and listen to what she has to say. I listen without speaking or putting in my 2 cents until she asks for it. By doing that, I show that I love her and care about her. I want her to know that I think she has valuable things to say and that I think she rocks!

Jesus listens to us, so one way I can love others in my own home is by actively listening to others. What about you? What are your ideas?

Pursuit

I learned a lesson from my dog, Diego, yesterday.

For the past 4 weeks, this huge, 7-pound squirrel has been camping out in our maple tree in our back yard. Diego, a 20-pound Jack Russell terrier, has been absolutely consumed with this squirrel. He has spent most of his days sitting by the door, waiting for the opportunity to terrorize this squirrel. Most of the time, he sprints out the door, only to find the squirrel frantically scurrying up the tree, clinging to any substantial piece of bark that will sustain his rather husky body.

Yesterday, after this 4 week, all-consuming hunting campaign, Diego reached his goal. He killed the squirrel. And this taught me a lesson.

What most would have considered impossible, Diego accomplished. The squirrel was much more nimble than Diego. The squirrel spent more time in the back yard than Diego did; it was the squirrel’s terrain. Diego had every reason to give up. He had zero success in his 4 weeks of scouting this animal out. He had no reason to think he could ever catch this menace. I bet our other dog, Miley, talked smack to him every day about how awful he was as a squirrel hunter.

But, Diego never gave up.

How often do I give up my pursuits? How many times do I resist being singularly focused on a goal? How often do I let failure define me? How often do I simply give up because I have no hope for success? How often do I listen to the critics that say something can’t be done? How much more could God do with me if I simply committed my all to him in everything and kept striving, even in the midst of failure?

I think he could do a lot with that kind of focus. In fact, he sent us some instructions to back this idea up:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Col. 3:23-24).

Are you focused on giving your best in all things? If so, you just might be able to kill a squirrel (or maybe something a little more significant).