Warfare Wednesday

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

I have bits and pieces to pray about first today. But first, a bit of praise. Last night, having nothing else to do, I sat down a watched a movie on a movie channel. It was a cute, clean, made-for-tv movie set during the time of slavery in the south. I know we'll be studying some of that in the school year to come, but what I was thinking, as I watched this movie unfold, was thank God! Thank God our nation has walked away from such atrocities. Thank God we live in a free country, where more and more every day, people are people- regardless of their color. I pray that 100 years from now, if we're still here, that our ancestors will look and back and say the same thing about the abolition of abortion.

This week, we definitely need to continue praying for President Obama. It seems his approval rating just keeps dropping and dropping, and where so many people had hope when this president was elected, so much of that hope is falling away. People are failing into despair and hard times. I just read on the Presidential Prayer Team website that more people are having their energy cut off than ever before. People can't pay their bills, and are having the power shut off to their homes. It's summer. The kids and I are reading about Native American tribes from the south who would freeze to death over the long, cold winters. And I can't help but feel such compassion and heartache for these families who have no choice but to allow their utilities to be cut. I pray that God will look on this nation, see all the heartache and suffering, and raise up the right men and women to do away with the suffering. May God pour down his love on these people, and may they know that God loves them.

I feel like we need to pray this week for compassion to be stirred up across this entire country. I don't know exactly where this is coming from, but we're in a difficult time... I just read somewhere that unemployment is nearing 16%, and people are just hurting. Yet, there are people who are not. Sure, we're all tightening our purse strings, but as we're tightening up and spending less, we should be more aware of the need around us. If we're spending less on groceries- and have a steady income, imagine how much harder it is for that family on a part-time or no income. May God stir up a desire to give and share. May he stir up the hearts of the "haves" to share what they do have with the "have nots". When I hear about someone in need, I want my first reaction to take that $20 out of wallet and give it selflessly. Not to think about that $20 in my wallet and think about how I was saving it in case I need it for groceries later this week.

And while I'm rolling with the compassion this week, let's make sure we're praying for the fires in California. I truly cannot wrap my mind around these fires. I have no idea what it is like to live somewhere where there is actual fire season. I have no idea what it is like to wake up every morning, look out the window, and see fire on the horizon- or smoke, clouding the sun instead of clouds. And I definitely cannot fathom the idea of going to work every morning, knowing that by the time work is done, I could have lost my home to a fire. I just pray for peace for everyone dealing with loss with these fires. I pray for strength and energy and wisdom for the firefighters who are working so hard around the clock to manage the fires. I pray for supernatural interference from the heavens, that the winds will die down, and that a cleansing rain will fall from the sky and saturate the fires that rage.