The past few days/weeks, I've been wondering about 'impulses'. That feeling you get that you need to pray right now for a certain situation, or you should call someone that just came to mind, or you should stop in at this coffee shop, even though you weren't planning on it when you left your house.
How many of those impulses are from God? How many of them do we actually follow and go for? I've had it happen three times in the last two days, that I've gotten the 'impulse' to pray for someone. And I've done it. Actually, once I ignored it, but then someone else asked if we could pray and I knew right away that I should not have ignored my impulse.
I think we get them a lot more than we think we do. For some reason though, we can sometimes tend to ignore those thoughts. I have a huge tendency to say, "Oh, that's just me and my thoughts, not God". What if I'm wrong?
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says "pray continually". That means as you're looking around, you see things from God's perspective. As I'm writing this and I look out the window in my office, I see three houses outside, and the thought comes to mind - "pray for the people in those houses". Is that God? I can't imagine that EVERY time it's an impulse from Him telling me to pray; personally, I don't think that's how it works. But I do think that as we become more Christ-like, we get His mind, see things His way. And I believe Jesus probably prayed for everything, all the time. Even short, quick prayers - "God please help that person"; "God, let the people in the car in front of me come to know you"; "God, let something good happen to this cashier today, and let them know that it was because of you"...etc.
I wonder if that's how it's supposed to be. I think so. I try to do that. And it's nice to know that God hears each of those prayers, even if I don't know what will come of them.
How many of those impulses are from God? How many of them do we actually follow and go for? I've had it happen three times in the last two days, that I've gotten the 'impulse' to pray for someone. And I've done it. Actually, once I ignored it, but then someone else asked if we could pray and I knew right away that I should not have ignored my impulse.
I think we get them a lot more than we think we do. For some reason though, we can sometimes tend to ignore those thoughts. I have a huge tendency to say, "Oh, that's just me and my thoughts, not God". What if I'm wrong?
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says "pray continually". That means as you're looking around, you see things from God's perspective. As I'm writing this and I look out the window in my office, I see three houses outside, and the thought comes to mind - "pray for the people in those houses". Is that God? I can't imagine that EVERY time it's an impulse from Him telling me to pray; personally, I don't think that's how it works. But I do think that as we become more Christ-like, we get His mind, see things His way. And I believe Jesus probably prayed for everything, all the time. Even short, quick prayers - "God please help that person"; "God, let the people in the car in front of me come to know you"; "God, let something good happen to this cashier today, and let them know that it was because of you"...etc.
I wonder if that's how it's supposed to be. I think so. I try to do that. And it's nice to know that God hears each of those prayers, even if I don't know what will come of them.
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