” Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,” (Matthew 6:9).
Prayers of thanksgiving, praise, & joy are hard to come by when in the midst of the battles of life like illness, divorce, death, & financial survival! Praise may filter in only on an occasional basis through the pleas for strength, deliverance, protection, & survival. Praise seems to be reserved for periods of celebration.
The Lord has led me through the Psalms to show me how the Psalmist would claim the blessings of God in praise, descend into his valley of battle, & then mount up on the wings of the Lords glory. The Psalmist embraced the dark side & light side of life to find wholeness.
To truly embrace the Easter experience, you need to give thanks & praise for noon on Friday, as well as, the sunrise of Easter morning! In the chaos of the hungry five thous&, Jesus lifted what little was available to heaven, gave thanks, praise, & created a miracle!
When you shut down part of yourself, you shut down other parts, too. Without the rain, youd have hard baked soil. To see the rainbows you need to face the storm with the Son behind you. You need to embrace all of life, giving thanks & praise to the Lord in it all.
This is another breath prayer I fought & still fight with all my might. The Lord has taught me to begin every prayer that I pray with Father God, I give You thanks & praise for my life & everything in it! At night, I list everything in my prayer journal that has occurred that day & give thanks & praise. The Lord inhabits my praise & thanksgiving & makes me over.
*Breath Prayer- Take a scriptural promise, turn it into a seven syllable affirmation give or take a few, in present tense & second person, & say it on the perfect breath (in to a count of 3 out to a count of 6) as you breathe out.
About the Author:
Kathleen S. Lewis, RN, MS, PC, MP: has lived with SLE & many other rheumatic diseases since 1978. She is the author of “Celebrate Life, New Attitudes for Living with Chronic Illness,” runs a counseling ministry by phone & internet & is a Stephen minister. She has 2 adult sons & 4 magical gr&children & resides in Atlanta, GA with LB, the best Peek-a-Poo ever. She says, “I know in my weakness is God’s strength.” Drop her a line at joyawe@earthlink.net.
