I know I've posted this picture before, but it is a reminder for a call to prayer. Whether you know how to, Him who is the One listening, or whether you believe it works or not, there are a lot of people who need encouragement through prayer TODAY, right now, many of them YESTERDAY, and all of us TOMORROW! God knows our hearts before we approach Him humbly. There is no such thing as a secret. Your prayer does not need eloquence, nor need it be memorized or rehearsed. He's got a 1-800 line that never rings busy. And remember, when you're driving down the street and someones face pops into your head or their name in your mind, that's a call to pray. That's God talking, laying that person or situation on your heart. At that moment, pray. Face it, when you get home, busyness will set in and you'll forget. Here are some, but the list is endless...

• The Coble family in California whose 3 children entered the kingdom of heaven last week...
• Marriages of your friends and family, or your own, that God would bring healing and restoration, along with a newness grounded in Him alone...
• Missionaries' wives around the world, but namely in Turkey who are facing today and the future without their husbands due to a horrendous torture and slaughter that occurred last week...
• A family that lost their 34 year old daddy to a pulmonary embolism just last week...
• Your neighbors, your in-laws, your parents, your siblings, your boss and co-workers, the guy that just cut you off on the highway...
• Children around the world who are thrown into parental roles because theirs just died of: overdose, AIDS, a tragedy, natural disaster...
• A teenager's family here in Denver that is grieving the suicide death of their son who just returned from a missions trip...

I know it all seems overwhelming and horrific! It is, especially when we try to comprehend the whole of it. I encourage all of us to lay it down at His feet, trusting in faith that His MUCH BIGGER PLAN is in His control. Then, after all of that is laid at the cross, I encourage you (and myself) to thank the Lord for all that is good, all of the blessings...the fact that you might have running water, electricity, food in the refrigerator, a roof over your head, your health today, oxygen to breathe...

I know it sounds cheesy, but I used to 'practice' my thankful ABC's every morning in the shower, along with putting on my armor (Ephesians 6). I would sometimes and still do (I say that because it was part of a discipline at the time, now it comes more naturally throughout the day...) go through the alphabet and thank God for something that started with that letter. Also, I would praise God, blessing His name with a letter in the alphabet. 'X' is a little hard, but this isn't legalism here, folks:) I'd usually call Him, "Excellent" when it came to that letter. It is more about where my heart lies, and if it's too focused on me, or the reality of the world around me, then my eyes aren't on Him, and then, yes, the world in which we live is too overwhelming to bear.

He bears our burdens...