#200 - Prayer Warrior

Good morning! I'm enjoying a nice, cool, Indiana morning. Birds chirping, the sound of cars going by, and there's the sound of a trickling water fountain near by as I sit by the pool at my parents house. It's a nice day. Definitely more cool than our South Carolina mornings where the temperatures quickly soar into the 90's. If I were to guess, it may only be in the 70's yet this morning.... such a different experience than "home." 

Anyways... let's go ahead and get into the Word this morning...

Proverbs 31:27 - She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat.

James 5:16 (NKJV) - Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 

James 5:16b (AMP) - The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. 

The Hebrew breaks down "looks well" to the following: look out or about, spy, keep watch, observe, watch closely. "Household" has one description as this: family of descendants. At the passing of my grandmother just a few days ago, Sunday evening at 9:00, my perspective has most definitely been changed, shaped.... rocked would even be a term. I watched as a woman of God went to meet Jesus. In the last hours of her life I sat there in the room with her, my mom & my cousin looking through a spiral ring notecard holder. As I flipped through this spiral notecard holder, I was immediately confronted with the fact that a prayer warrior was getting ready to go be with Jesus. 

Even Tyler Jr made her prayer list. :) 

Who would pick up the slack of the prayers that were sent up. There in my grandmother's binder was a prayer list of her family. 95 in all. As the grandkids got married, she added to the number of "in-laws" on her prayer list. As children continued to be added to her lineage, their names were added to her prayer list. 95 names in all... with I believe, at least 3 on the waiting list. (Trinity who will be arriving in October, and 2 other cousins are pregnant.) Quite a legacy. 

I just think about how easy it is to say, "Hey, I'm praying for you." But there were truly people like my grandma who really were. They didn't have to make a public acknowledgement of it, they just prayed. They just went to the throne with your name. James reminds us of how the prayer of the righteous availeth much. The prayer of the righteous brings great power. My grandma's greatest desire was to know that everyone on her prayer list knew Jesus. In her last days, she addressed some of her children, making sure they would do everything they could to ensure their children and grandchildren knew Jesus.  What an example. She was leaving, and wanted to KNOW that people who were left here on earth would pick up where she left off and pray. 

I believe that part of what the Proverbs 31 woman did was pray. She looked well to her household. The greatest thing that could occur in her household would be that everyone in her household would accept Jesus into their lives. I believe Proverbs 31:27, is also addressing that. She is not only looking to the every day details of her household, but also the spiritual atmosphere, the spiritual thermometer. Who needs Jesus? Who needs salvation? The Proverbs 31 woman makes it her business and mission to see that, people's eternal life, "goes well." Last I checked, it would not be "well" to die and live an eternity in Hell. As a Proverbs 31 woman, and as a Christian in general, our mission should be to see and know that ALL GOES WELL with our household. All goes well with those we know and love. 

I don't know about you, but as I looked over the list of 95 people, I was convicted. Is my prayer life what it could be? What it should be? Praise the Lord for a generation of people who knew how to pray, who have led by example. I don't want that to end with my grandma's generation. I want to ensure all my loved ones are saved and walking in God's blessing. 

How is your prayer life? Could you pick it up a little bit?