All credit to go to Lee for the title

1 Thessalonians 5.16-18 – Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

The Lord knows our deepest desires. He knows what we need, and how to meet our needs individually. He blesses us when we least expect it.  There was a time in my life when I did not understand the power of prayer. But over the years on and off as the Lord has been refining me, I have discovered the need for prayer, discovered that the closer I am to the Lord, the more at peace I feel.  The one thing I am sure of is this: God is faithful, He never leaves us nor forsakes us. He doesn’t give us anything that we cannot cope with.

Sometimes people can be negative towards us. Sometimes people hurt us unintentionally when we least expect it. Sometimes people think they know us. But do they really know us? I often wonder why people want to meddle with other people’s lives when they should be meddling with their own. It makes me feel wary. I won’t place my trust in people easily. I will trust the Lord in all things. Not people. I will not place my trust in people because I feel like they have broken my trust countless times.  And the ones that have really broken it, I need the Lord to give me the grace to forgive them for they know not what they do. But how do I extend that grace? I have to ask myself often What would Jesus do? Let me thaw out. Give me time to process the events and with time I will start to thaw out and be able to let go of that hurt.

My partner and I love to pray in the mornings.  My partner prays in his room, and I in my room.  And he calls it the Pillow Prayers. Before getting out of bed. Just laying respectively each in our own bed still with our heads lying on the pillows praying for God’s grace to reign over us. Praying for God’s grace to guide us throughout the day. Praying in different rooms, praying to the Lord to answer our deepest desire. Somehow we are connected by prayer. Somehow we are connected by faith, with the Lord at the centre of all that we do.  My pillow prayers are special to me because I know that I am speaking to the Lord and asking Him to show me a way where there seems to be no way. I also know that my partner is praying, and the Lord guides us sometimes to pray for the same thing and sometimes not.

I have learned that prayer is important. That keeping the Lord at the centre of our relationship is important. I am learning to extend grace to those that have hurt me. Give me time to let go of that hurt, to forgive. Give me time to reflect. I do not want to hold onto resentment. I do not want to hold onto bitter disappointments or onto what has been said but cannot be undone. All I know is that God can give me the grace to let go of everything as I talk to Him in the morning lying on my pillow.  As I talk to God at night. God is with me. Holding me. Never letting me go. God is real. He is moving and knows our deepest desire. 

So, today I am so very thankful to the Lord for all that He has done for me this week. I feel overwhelmed by His goodness. I feel overwhelmed for His faithfulness and so thankful that the Lord heard my pillow prayers.  So grateful, that He did not forsake me, that He kept me close to His heart during the last week. So, very thankful to the Lord for keeping my relationship with Himself and my partner intact and that we can move forward one day at a time. Step by step knowing truly in our hearts that the Lord of Lords, King of Kings and God of Gods is in control of all that we do. Hallelujah.

One important thing I learned this week is this: release everything to the Lord. For nothing is yours to keep and He will perfect everything in your lives and restore what He has promised. God gives us the boldness to fight for what we believe is rightfully ours.  What we believe that the Lord has promised us. Ask God for boldness and you shall receive it.