By MAD21
If you are a parent, you have probably found yourself praying for strength every morning (perhaps every moment of the day?). Even if you aren't a parent, you have probably prayed for strength a lot in your life. Whether it's job stress, health issues, friend issues, family issues, it's never ending. But what exactly are we praying for?
You or a loved one get a cancer diagnosis and you pray for strength to get through it, but do you have a choice? It's not like you can tell the cancer to go away. You are forced to go through it whether you think you have the strength or not. The same goes for any situation you may find yourself in.
Now, don't get me wrong, I would never say that it is pointless to pray for strength, I'm just allowing you in on my thoughts regarding this week's carnival word. My own wonderings. Asking myself...
When you pray for strength, what are you really asking for?
Have you ever looked back on a trying time in your life and wondered how you ever got through it? I know when my dad was at the end of his life I found myself asking how I was going to have the strength to watch someone I loved die. How was it possible to cram all the rest of my years and my children's years into those last few moments I knew we'd be together. It wasn't going to happen.
I often think about how Jesus felt when he came to the end of his time here and he knew about what he was to endure. Praying to his Father for strength, for the courage to do what he knew was the right thing to do. He, like us, asked for the burden to be taken from him at one point (Matthew 26:39), and then realizing the necessity for him to persevere and just needing the strength.
For me, I think when I pray for God to give me strength, in some way I am asking for Him to just be with me. To fill in where I know I'm going to fall short... to not be alone. I think it's also for myself, that need to pray... to acknowledge that I do not have the strength, that I cannot do it alone, that I should not do it alone. And neither should you. Just something to think about.
There is an awesome song that says: "You are my strength when I am weak; You are the treasure that I seek; You are my all in all..." I think it fits perfectly with our topic. Thought I'd share it with you.
This post is a participant in a blog carnival over at Bridget Chumbley's One Word at a Time.
Be sure to go and check out what everyone else wrote on: Strength.