Talking Tuesdays
Day Three in “Week of the Day Prayers”
I was tired. I was hungry. I was busy cooking dinner. My three-year-old daughter patted the steps leading to the front door and said come sit down and talk. God impressed on me the importance of being available, stopping my busyness and listening to my girl. The picture of her sitting there patting the steps, waiting for me, is forever etched in my mind. It is a good reminder of not only the importance of listening and talking with the humans in our lives, but of taking time to sit, listen, and have a good long conversation with the One who is always listening.
How often do we have snippets of conversations with a friend and wish we could have more time to REALLY solve all the world’s problems? Or maybe you are having a really good catch-up time, but you get distracted and lose your train of thought. Happens to me all the time. It happens to me during my prayer time too. Tuesday is the day of the week that I make a conscious effort to make it all the way through my prayer list without getting distracted, well mostly.
I want to make a practice of taking time to be, as it says in James 1, quick to listen and slow to speak. I want to have a full conversation with God, speaking my heart and listening to his voice.
I have heard some people say they don’t want to bother God with their problems; He is too busy to worry about me. And, I have heard others who outright refuse to pray about something or for someone… how sad. God knows our hearts. He knows they are happy, angry, hurting, or broken. He knows how our day was, our successes and our failures. And He wants us to talk to Him about it all.
Philippians 4:6-7 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
We are never alone in our prayers. God is always listening. Always willing to invest His heart in ours. He also has given us a body of believers and leaders to pray with and for us.
James 5:13-16 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven 16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
I am only righteous in and through the blood of Jesus and His saving grace and power. I am earnest in my prayers. God promises that He hears, listens and answers our prayers.
I often stop praying to quickly send a text to a person I am praying for. If the Lord puts them on my heart, they need that encouragement. I think it can be almost as important to let the person for whom I am praying know that they are being prayed for, as it is for me to pray that prayer. Paul often sent messages of his prayers for the believers by way of letters. They serve as good models of prayer for us.
Colossians 1:9-13 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. 11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom[d] and forgave our sins.
Talking Tuesday is not only about my conversations with God and praying about everything. It is the day that I intentionally reach out with words of encouragement to people in my “sphere of influence.” It may be just a quick text, it may be a phone call, or it may be sitting on my back patio enjoying a cup of coffee or iced tea. If God has encouraged me, comforted me, or put someone on my heart, I need to act on that and be a comfort and encouragement. (2 Corinthians 1) We are comforted so that we can comfort others. There is no greater comfort than the God Who Hears wrapping His arms around us and stilling our troubled souls.
Having spent a chunk my youth in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I kind of like the good ole’ hymns
mixed in with some Southern Gospel and good harmonies. When I think of my “Talking Tuesdays,” this song keeps coming to mind. This song “Have a Little Talk With Jesus,” kind of covers all the bases of really hashing it out with Him in our heart to heart talks.
I once was lost in sin but Jesus took me in
And then a little light from heaven fill my soul
He bathed my heart in love and He wrote my name above
And just a little talk with Jesus makes me whole
Now let us have a little talk with Jesus
Let us tell Him all about our troubles
He will hear our faintest cry
And He will answer by and by
And when you feel a little prayer wheel turnin’
And you will know a little fire is burnin’
Find a little talk with Jesus makes it right
I may have doubts and fears
My eyes be filled with tears
But Jesus is a friend who watches day and night
I go to him in prayer
He knows my every care
And just a little talk with Jesus makes it right
Now let us have a little talk with Jesus
Let us tell Him all about our troubles
He will hear our faintest cry
And He will answer by and by
And when you feel a little prayer wheel turnin’
And you will know a little fire is burnin’
You will find a little talk with Jesus makes it right
My prayer for you today.
Ephesians 1:15-20
Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.
