Saved by Prayer

She quietly enters the room. By the bedside she finds me kneeling in prayer to God. She hesitates in the doorway, then mutters under her breath something like, " Saved by prayer. You better be glad you're praying". I raise my head to see my mom positioned, ready to smack me with a snowball!

You must be wondering, a snowball fight in the house, really? I must let you in on the background.

Yesterday evening, my mom and I engaged each other in an intense combat of the snowball. You know how it is... The game never really ends (until there's no more snow). You always want to be the last one to pellet the other with a snowball. I had had the last word. That's why this morning, she had a plan to "fix me".

The phrase "saved by prayer" continues to roll around in my head. 

"Saved by prayer." There must be a great lesson to learn from this...

I was engaged in war. There was not much I could really do to protect myself from the "missiles" that were flung at me. No matter how many times I ducked, no matter if I tried to hide behind something, no matter if I was inside or outside, I was always at risk of being hit.

We're all engaged in a similar, but more fierce battle. Satan throws at us his complete arsenal of temptations (I don't mean to compare my mom's attacks with those of Satan). He wants to win this war for our lives and he plays for keeps.

The only safe place in this war of good against evil is spending time with God in prayer.

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

abides under the shadow of the Almighty... He will rescue you from every trap

and protect you from deadly disease. You shall not be afraid ...of the arrow that flies by day...If you make the LORD your refuge,

if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may ... find grace to help in time of need."

Photo Courtesy of Paige H.

*Scriptures taken from Psalms 91 and Hebrews 4:16. 

Life on Loan

The view was picturesque. The fields livening the wintered countryside with young green wheat. Stately pines standing like centuries. Rolling hills. Not a cloud in the blue sky. The sun spreading its late afternoon beams before the close of the day.


As I took in the beauty of the moment, the words of this majestic hymn began to play through my mind.

" I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise; 

That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies...

As I reached the last verse of this song, the words struck me in a way that they had never before.

 "Creatures that borrow life from Thee are subject to Thy care..."

Creatures borrowing life? I had never even considered that my life is borrowed from God.

When God created man, He breathed His own breath into him, supplying him with life. So, our breath, which is our life, comes from God.

Every- breath- I take, comes from God.

Imagine.

God gave me life. I take the breath that He has so graciously given me, and use it to dishonor Him. Oh, the horror...

"How?" you might ask. How many times have I wasted borrowed breath to satisfy selfish desires, speak thoughtless or senseless words that I would give anything to take back... Oh, how many precious moments have been frittered away with the inconsequential... How many times emotions have been wasted over trivial matters... It seems that I, or might I dare say, we completely miss the reason why our lives have been loaned to us...

--------

Father, please let me not waste the precious life that you've loaned me. Let my life, my every breath, give honor to You.