Forgiveness List and Offensive Prayer

2 blog updates in the same week!! WOW!! :)

Well I am just a few days away from the halfway mark of this semster, and God has taught me so much, but recently He has been teaching me more and more about dealing with trying circumstances.  Trust me, I still have MUCH to learn, but I read a story and a blog by Leslie Ludy a few weeks ago that have helped me tremendously in this area so I thought I would share them with all of you.

First the story: (fyi this is paraphrased so it doesn’t sound quite as eloquent, but the point is still there)

A woman and her husband were celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary and had all of their kids and grandkids over for a party.  One of the grandkids asked this woman what their secret was for such a long-lasting happy marriage.  The woman told the children that when they got married she made a list of 10 things that she would overlook in her husband’s personality and actions.  One of the kids asked if they could see the list.  The woman’s response was “well, I never actually wrote the list down.  Whenever he would do something that could have upset me I would just think ‘well he’s lucky that’s one of the 10 things on my list.’”

-          Applying this concept to each of my relationships has been so helpful for me.  Everytime someone does something that could be hurtful or could upset me, I think “they’re just lucky that is one of the 10 things I already decided to forgive them for.”  This has given me so much peace!  I am able to love those around me so much more because I’m not constantly judging their actions based on how it affects me.  Deciding ahead of time that I will forgive those around me for the things they do that could hurt me has actually lifted a weight off of my shoulders.

Now about the blog by Leslie Ludy:

I posted a link to this blog on Facebook a while back, so some of you may have read it already.  The gist of the blog was that rather than being defensive with our prayer life, when satan is attacking, we should be praying powerfully offensive prayers.  There is nothing satan hates more than people committing to follow Christ.  So, this blog gave the idea that when satan is attacking, rather than praying for God to help us through that particular situation (which is not necessarily a wrong prayer), maybe we should be praying for the salvation of a non-Christian we know.  … Here is a segment of the blog to explain better:

“…we are not defenseless against [satan’s] tactics. Our heroic Prince is on our side, and He is always victorious over our enemy. Our Prince has provided us with many weapons to use against our enemy, and one of the most effective of these weapons is prayer. I’m not talking about just praying defensively, asking our Prince to give us strength to flee from temptation. I’m also talking about praying offensively, asking that our Prince, in His amazing, heroic strength and power, would wreak havoc on the enemy of our souls. There is nothing Satan hates more than seeing a lost sinner come to know Jesus Christ. When our enemy is attacking us, one of the very best ways to hit him below the belt is to pray specifically for unsaved people in our lives to discover Jesus Christ.

…Identify the areas of your life where you are most vulnerable to temptation. Do you struggle with depression? Do you have a weakness in the area of sexual temptation? Whenever Satan tries to pounce on our vulnerable areas, we can use those opportunities to fight back by praying for the salvation of someone we know who is in need of Jesus Christ. It is important that we develop this technique as a habit in our lives rather than just as a one-time attempt. When our enemy sees the consistency with which we use this tactic, he will back off in a hurry, and we just might get to see another life eternally changed in the process! “

-          What a powerful thought this has been for me!  I have been trying to put this into practice daily.  Everytime I begin to feel discouraged or some problem arises (whether big or small) or something someone does begins to get on my nerves more than it should, I am trying to recognized that as an attack from the enemy and fight back by praying for the salvation of a few of the people I’ve met here.  It has been absolutely amazing how quickly my attitude will change in the midst of these circumstances.  Often, I instantly feel peace about the situation and my mood lightens.  And at the same time, I know my God is working on the hearts of several of my close friends.  This has really helped me put my circumstances in the proper perspective! 

P.S. Coming Soon:  a blog about what God is showing me about changing my thinking patterns to better see His heart for the nations!