Praise, Thanksgiving, Forgiveness, Intercession

When I spend time wth the Lord in the morning, I start with praise!  I love to praise His Holy and Righteous Name. I praise Him for who He is, the Mighty, Magnificent, Wonderful Father, the King of kings, Lord of lords, the Great I Am, the Rose of Sharon, the Bright and Morning Star, Creator of the Universe, the Alpha and Omega, my Comforter, Prince of Peace, Lover of my soul, a Kind, Compassionate Friend!  I tell the Lord, that He and He alone is worthy of all my praise. 

After I praise the Lord, I thank Him.  I thank Him for each day and His reminder to rejoice in it, for allowing me to awaken with the capacity to think and speak with all of my limbs functioning, for no phone calls with bad news through the night, for my husband and his ability to move about, for my parents and my mother-in-law who are all 70+ years of age yet still able to live on their own, for my children and grandchildren, my extended family, my church family and being able to worship the Lord freely, friends, my husband's job, our home and the material goods including our cars He's given to us.  Then I thank Him specifically for recent blessings - sometimes something as simple as a phone call with one of my grandchildren.  

I thank Him because I'm reminded of how much He's blessing me and I'm faced with the reality that I haven't done anything to deserve all this.  Thanking Him reminds me of how much I need forgiveness for my lack of appreciation, an unkind word, a negative thought, not following through on His instructions or something else that is lacking in me.  I ask Him to forgive me.  Although I know I'm not perfect, when I acknowledge all He's done and is doing for me on a daily basis, I'm humbled.  I know when I confess my sin, he is faithful and just and will forgive me.  (1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.)

After praying for forgiveness, I approach Him boldly (I John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him).  I ask Him to comfort the bereaved (I pray for bereaved families for at least 2 years; I'm praying for almost 50 families who've experienced the death of a loved one since April 2009), heal the sick knowing I have to accept His choice of healing should He decide to end someone's suffering here on earth, protect our soldiers (with a special request for my nephew and cousin serving in Afghanistan), guide our President and elected officials, and minister to those in prison (there are five men who I lift to the Lord).  I solicit His help for individuals who I know have specific prayer needs whether those needs are financial, stressful situations, marriage issues, etc. 

I am confident that prayer works.  I pray while on the telephone, in a parking lot, at the hospital, or whereever I physically am when the need is shared with me. After I spend time praying with my Father, I am energized and ready to tackle my day.  I'm refreshed and renewed.  Joy floods my soul.  As a little girl, I heard the saints singing, 'just a little talk with Jesus makes it all right!"  Now I know for myself  that these saints knew what they were talking about.  Go ahead and try it - have a little talk with Jesus right now.  You'll be energized to run on a little while longer!