Grateful

My wife and I just returned from our small group meeting tonight. And I have to say, it was a great time of looking into prayer and our need to be constantly connected to Christ through it. It's our lifeblood. But another thing happened. We took our openness and honesty in our struggles to a new level of trust. We shared our fears and struggles and prayed for one another. We prayed for God's strength and peace amidst the storm and for God to show us what He wants us to do in our given circumstances.

I for one am grateful for a group that cares about me and for a group which I can care about and pray for. I believe we are close to God's heart and original intentions on which he established the church when we are intentionally in a community that cares for us, encourages us, exhorts us and never condemns us, but gently challenges us to persevere in living our lives with God's purpose in mind.

Thank you Lord for my brothers and sisters in our group. For their willingness to be honest about their struggles and having the courage to seek your will despite their fears and apprehension their frustrations with their situations. Lord, nothing encourages me more than to know I am not alone - that you have placed people in my life to keep me keeping on.

I pray that you would vanquish Satan from darkening our thoughts and attitudes as we all deal with our struggles and remind us all that we can have joy in You and experience freedom in your love for us. I lift your name up on behalf of our group and hold you up as the reason we continue on in our relationships with each other and You, for your glory and for your kingdom. I pray you would draw those you want us to influence and lead us to help them find you through our group. Thank you Lord that you are ultimately in control of all of our lives and we worship you for that fact. In your Son's name we pray to you, Amen.