iShineInMinistry

Philippians 2:14

Do all things without complaining…

Sometimes it is just one of those days. We start off the day without a good night’s sleep, then begin running late for work, burn our tongue on our coffee, get a speeding ticket and the day just seems to get worse by the minute. Then we watch the news and see all the horrible things going on and the unkind actions, crimes and terrible decisions that people make. We see so much bad going on all around us and it makes us want to mope or grumble about all that is wrong with the world. We have issues at work that we want to “vent” about. We talk to friends about all the terrible happenings we see and talk about how we would not do those things if we were in control or that we cannot believe that there are so many people that commit awful acts. We get to a place of pure frustration and then our hearts and minds can continue in a negative state.

What if in those times when we see those things that make us want to criticize and murmur we instead stop and pray about each of those horrible situations? What if we prayed for salvation for the criminals we see on the news or intercede for the people in government when they make bad decisions? What if we took the time and made our words count when we see all of the bad in the world? What if we chose to cry out to the Lord and ask for His grace and mercy to reign in those situations? What if every single Christian did this every time we saw something that made us want to scream or complain? I wonder how different the world would look. We all know that prayer is one of the most powerful tools we have from the Lord and yet we use our mouths for negative when we could be praying for the many things we see that make us despair.

James 3:5

Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.

I would like to challenge all of us this week, since it is Thanksgiving, to stop ourselves every time we want to complain and choose to pray instead. See how much more you pray in this week and then take an assessment of how much you really pray in comparison to how much you complain. I pray this little “faith challenge” encourages us all to have mouths that praise, pray and thank the Lord at all times!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.