Monday Meditation

I continue to study prayer corporately at church and independently from the porch of our cabin. Yesterday's sermon provided a wake-up call about the breadth of my prayers. You know. Can I pray beyond my needs and the needs of my family? And do I?
Even when I had more brain cells than I do now, I had a prayer focus for days of the week to aid my memory. For example, since Monday starts with m, I pray specifically for missionaries then. Dave and I keep tabs with some particular folks serving in the US and in four foreign countries. We email and know details about their prayer needs. However, one missionary friend, now in heaven, used to tell us this simple truth: He'd say, "What are you struggling with right now? What's on your mind? We can probably use prayer for the same kinds of things." Your kids start school this month and you have concerns about their choice of friends and the teachers they will have. The same smooth transitions you pray for your kids you can pray for ours too. Whether we have the most current letter or email, we can pray meaningful prayers for missionaries.
But the pastor still has me thinking about other countries and things beyond my immediate concerns. So this morning I stopped and asked the Lord to enlarge my boundaries. I'm not thinking the prayer of Jabez that gained popularity a few years ago. Rather, what information could I gather that would make me a more intelligent pray-er? Honestly, I did some Scripture reading this morning, followed by some listening. Still working on that.
Another difference in my prayer life comes from using HOPE. H starts my prayer with an emphasis on the holiness of God and giving Him the honor due His name. O opens my heart to present my offenses to this holy God. P allows me to praise the Lord through using the Psalms, a CD or singing aloud, and finally, E leads me to present needs and concerns for God's eternal purposes, something larger than please heal my neighbor. Prayer keeps bringing a joy in this journey of life. No one likes dull or repetitive conversations, so why offer them to the Lord?