Praying for the hard things. Praying for the difficult experiences. It is not pleasant but necessary in our walk with the Lord. 

This morning as my husband and I prayed together I realized from my lips escaped a difficult prayer. Not in the words spoken but in the future ahead. For me, my husband and family. I felt a little worried after that prayer. The “oh no, what did I just ask for?” However, a peace washed over me. A peace knowing that God’s got it. He is holding me, my husband and family. The road ahead may have storms and hard times yet I know that God is with us on this journey. 

To fully live, be alive in Him it often takes the fiery trials. It often takes seasons of brokenness. After all, our Lord and Savior was broken for us. Completely broken for our hope and joy. Can we not stand a little brokenness for Him? A little giving of ourselves?

I know it is much easier to say than to live. Trust me. In the storms, I have questioned. I have doubted. I have let fear come into my heart. Faith is tested in the storms. Faith is strengthed in the dark places. 

As the Christmas season is fastly approaching. We think about the birth of Jesus Christ. We remember how He was born in a stable to a virgin. How the Wisemen were guided by a bright star. We remember the gifts brought to this baby King. While those details are valuable. I can’t help but think beyond the manger. God’s story is so incomplete in the barn at Bethlehem. 

The life Jesus lived. The death He gave. The brokenness. The spilling out for our sakes. There is much beauty in that. Hope and joy in His sacrifice. 

Every year we all have a birthday. Every year we celebrate in some form or fashion. Yet do any of us really think about our birth? About how we came to this earth? Do we remember the doctor that delivered us? Do we see all the faces that visited us in the hospital? No. Maybe our moms’ think of these details; we do not. 

Often when I send a friend a birthday card I don’t tell her I am thankful so and so came to see her in the hospital. No, I thank her for her life. For the life she is living and the impact she has on me and others. 

I challenge you this Christmas, as we celebrate the birth of Christ to send Him a sweet prayer. One that whispers a thanks for His life lived and His death given. 

And the next time you need to pray a hard thing. The next time you stand in a storm remember Jesus, your Savior has walked steps similar to yours. He has had to pray the difficult thing. (Matthew 26:42) He had to be broken and given…to have life…

Matthew 26:42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” ESV

 

Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. ESV

1 Peter 4:12-13 12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. ESV

Psalm 91:1-7 1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
    will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
    and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
    He will shelter you with his wings.
    His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
    nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
    nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
    though ten thousand are dying around you,
    these evils will not touch you. NLT