THE STORY OF JESUS: Romans 12:9-16
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)
I remember a poor lady whose home we painted on a Serve project.
She was SO grateful, and though she had little, fed us every day.
Her son was in prison, her teenage granddaughter lived with her.
Her house was severely run down, the paint only made it ‘look’ better.
But this grandmother lived Paul’s words: a joyful, patient prayer warrior.
‘The good Lord hasn’t ever let me down, I’m trusting Him for better days!’
She urged each of us to pray every day, to love and obey God no matter what.
We always came away encouraged and inspired, though also someone humbled.
She was definitely serving us more than we were serving her.
Her life was a shambles, hardly the ‘american dream’, but she had something deeper!
This kind of life does not just happen, it needs to be nurtured and maintained.
She had trained herself through practice to ‘bring it all to the good Lord!’
Its not that she didn’t struggle – she cried several times – but she always came back to the Lord.
Paul is urging us to develop this mindset, to practice responding like this woman did.
Its not just for people whose lives are easy, its especially for those who struggle.
The Spirit of Jesus is nudging us towards love, joy and peace, and we need to work with Him.
Take some time today to practice joyful hope, patience and prayer… no matter what.
You will not only be blessed, but will be a blessing to others as you do.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, help me to start expressing myself with prayer, patience, hope and joy NOW, so that when harder times come, it flows more naturally.