Greetings from Austin Street

Blessed Sunday to you all!  All is well here at 811.

The candle is lit…

Lord, nothing strengthens me more, dear God, than to perceive that Jesus in on his knees praying for me. God when I need streams in the deserts of my life, I will place my hope in your faithfulness and love for me.  Thank you Jesus for a wonderful Sunday of worship.  Lord, continue to be present with Amber as she receives platelet infusions and battles the allergic reactions. Please be with her in her healing and strengthen her body to receive the treatments and care for her spirit and the spirits of her family.  May she look to you for hope and peace. Thank you Lord. I love you Lord, in Jesus’ name, amen.

One of the questions I was asked at my ordination interview was “What are the qualities that a minister needs to have?”  One of my answers was a life of prayer.  As I began to think about what a life in prayer is I thought about Jesus and how not only how He modeled a life in prayer for us, but that when Jesus prays, His prayers go straight to His heavenly Father; God. Can we even imagine what it is like for Jesus to be on His knees before the Creator of the universe praying for you and me.  Can we just close our eyes and picture Jesus speaking our name and talking to God about our relationship with Him, our relationships with others, our wants, our needs, how we need forgiveness and offering to God our great thanksgiving for the blessings we receive and the blanket of grace  we wear.  Can we imagine Jesus telling God about the times we have been hurt and how broken our hearts have become?  Only imagine when Jesus tells His Father of how hard to try to live godly lives, tells God of our dreams and to give us the courage and faith to pursue the dreams and desires of our hearts.

Jesus loves us so much that we have been given a model of prayer for our own lives and He prays for us speaking our name before God. That just about takes my breath away.  Praying for us is important to Jesus. It is so important that the Holy Spirit was sent into our lives so that Jesus could continue living in us and praying for us. So let us pray to Jesus for what is on our hearts and further our relationship in love with our Lord and Savior.

“He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them.”

Hebrews 7: 25

“After [Jesus) had sent them away: he went by himself up in to the hills to pray. It was late, and Jesus was there alone.”

Matthew 14: 23

Take joy in the journey praying as you go and remember that Jesus prays for us too. Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep.  Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene