Category: Prayer

Prayer For Orlando

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“Prayer is what opens up the floodgates for God to come down and be involved in our everyday circumstances.“-War Room

A week ago today, aspiring singer, Christina Grimmie, was murdered by a gunshot in St. Petersburg, Florida. A day later, in the same state, what has been called the deadliest shooting in American history occurred, leaving hundreds of victims, families, and friends devastated.

In one weekend, over fifty lives were cut tragically short.

Things like this can leave us asking where God is in the midst of all of this. Why would He allow a young girl like Christina Grimmie to be shot? Why would he allow that shooter to walk into that nightclub? The truth is, I don’t have all of the answers. I don’t think any of us do. But I do know this: People have free will. Because of original sin, people have done unthinkable things throughout history. But, in the midst of tragedy, goodhearted people have also stepped up to the plate to help. Some have donated blood to the victims of the Pulse Nightclub and others have held vigils and funerals for those grieving.

One thing that we an all do during this time is pray. 1 John 5:14 says “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

I believe that God and his angel armies were grieved when Christina Grimmie’s shooter decided to pull the trigger.

I believe God and his angel armies also grieved the death and injury of countless people at the Pulse Nightclub.

Let us continue to keep in prayer Christina Grimmie’s family, the families of those who have died, the people who were injured, and those in the LGBT community who feel unsafe right now because of the Pulse shooting.

As Christians, we need to be a light when the world feels dark.

Let us never forget that prayer moves mountains.

“Jesus, please be with all of the families and friends who are mourning the loss or injury of a loved one. Please bring them healing and help them to find you or grow closer to you through this time. Help those who are injured to recover and find you or grow closer to you through this time. Please be with all those who are living in fear right now, those who are feeling their safety compromised right now. Lastly, please be with the city of Orlando and have your hand of protection and comfort on it right now. I ask these things in Jesus’ name, amen.”

 

Some Thoughts on Tragedy and the Resurrection

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Yesterday, at Brussels International Airport, two bombs went off and killed over thirty people, with many scarred by the trauma of the event. (www.bbc.com)

But that’s not the first tragedy to strike the world. Just last year, ISIS struck Paris in a series of traumatic attacks. And, a couple of months back, California dealt with their own incident, this one a shooting. Not to mention that we have hundreds of refugees fleeing from danger in their own country and hundreds of our own citizens dealing with homelessness, poverty, disease, abuse, and about a thousand other tragedies.

Most of this doesn’t even surprise us when we see it. It’s just another hour of nightly news, which leaves us asking “Where is God in all of this?”

It has often been said that tragedy is the atheist’s best argument against God. After all, if God is good, why would He allow suffering?

The truth is, we often don’t know. We can’t always explain the reason behind every tragedy. While I believe that God can work through tragedy, I don’t believe He ever causes it.  It is simply the result of living in a fallen world. Someday, God promises to take away the suffering of the world, and make it bright, beautiful, and new.

We have hope, even in a world that’s broken. Jesus experienced suffering on this earth too, as He died on the cross to wash away our sins. And, because He did, no matter what we go through in this life, we can have hope for the next. Hebrews 9:28 says “So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

When Jesus died on the cross, He didn’t stay dead. God Himself looked tragedy straight in the eye so that in the end, none of us would have to. He was beat, flogged, and harassed, and nailed to the cross in hopes that each of us, when we came to the end of life, wouldn’t be faced with death but new life. 

And, because of the cross, we have been given the freedom to go to God directly and approach Him with anything that may be weighing heavily on our heart.

God is bigger than the tragedies that we face in this life. I am not saying this to belittle what the people affected by Brussels went through, but to remind anyone reading this that we have hope beyond this life. As a popular worship song titled Your Love Neve Fails says, “there may be pain in the night, but joy comes in the morning.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

This Easter week, let’s praise God for the life that He’s poured out for us and remain in prayer for all those around the world dealing with hardships.

Pray For Paris

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Hey guys, sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted. I promise to post another article very soon. Nonetheless, I’d like to take the time in this post to ask you to pray for the families who lost loved ones and people living in fear in Paris. Two days ago terrorists killed so many lives and it was very heartbreaking to hear about. I believe that through times of tragedy, God is with us, and let’s pray that the people in Paris feel His presence through all of this.

#PrayforParis

Max the movie and a call to pray for our military

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Good afternoon to all of you reading this. I just saw the movie Max, a military and dog focused drama that has recently come to theaters. It was an incredible movie, and I urge you all to see it. The movie has powerful messages about honesty, loyalty, and bravery, while reminding us how much people in the military sacrifice for our freedom. Sometimes we can take our freedoms for granted, forgetting that there are people out there every day, paying the price for the life that we often take for granted in America. Thus, I urge you to pray for the people fighting for our country and their families, because as I was reminded after seeing the movie Max, freedom is not always free. I’d like to give a shout out to all of those serving in the military who live in constant danger, often without being thanked.

Thank you to all of those bravely paying the

price for our freedom.

Pray For Charleston

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By now, you’ve likely heard about the tragedy of the Charleston Church massacre. I found out about it yesterday, from a news article online as well as a post from a fellow blogger. Since then, I took the time to read an article detailing the events of the massacre. Speculations say that the shooter, Dylann Roof, has been planning this shooting for a long time, and that the shooting was race-related.

It’s a very frightening event for America. In the past, we have heard about school shootings, but now the violence is entering our churches as well. I urge churches across America to have security, to prevent something like this from happening again. I also find it sad to hear about another race related hate crime. It seems that a sharp division is developing between races in America, which is something that should have ended with Martin Luther King Jr. Thus, I ask you to pray for reconciliation in America, the people who attend the Charleston church, and for God’s hand of protection over churches throughout America.