The book, Giving Ourselves to Prayer, was published in 2008 by America's National Prayer Committee to begin filling a void in our seminaries, the absence of courses on prayer with a comprehensive text on prayer. Written by 80 separate authors from across the theological spectrum, Giving Ourselves to Prayer is designed to help seminary students, pastors, chaplains, and others better understand the importance of prayer in their personal lives, and the life of the church. It offers both practical help and food for thought in four key areas: The Theological Foundations for Prayer; the Personal Passion for Prayer; The Corporate Expression of Prayer; and The Global Impact of Prayer. Giving Ourselves to Prayer is available from Prayer Shop Publishing at www.prayershop.org and is also sold on Amazon.
As we consider these aspects of prayer in the context of praying for Military Families, several thoughts come to mind:
- Prayer is not about us getting God to change His mind, but rather about changing us to become more closely aligned with God's mind;
- God does not always answer prayer in the ways we desire or expect, but rather uses our prayers to do more than we could hope for or expect.
- Our prayers need to be constant, specific, and in God's name, i.e., in accordance with His will as we understand it.
Prayer for Military Families can incorporate these precepts when organized according to the three phases of the deployment cycle:
- In preparation for deployment, pray for the development of spiritual resiliency, and strong bonds of faith and familial love that will withstand the stresses ahead. Ask the Lord to show you how you can help Military Families make spiritual preparations for the trials to come.
- During a deployment, pray for safety, particularly for soldiers during their first few days in country as they adjust to the combat environment. Pray for endurance, both for the deployed troops, and for their families as the deployment wears on. As a deployment winds down, pray for the troops to avoid complacency as they start to focus on rejoining their families, and pray for families to begin preparing wisely for the possible effects of combat trauma.
- Following a deployment, pray for the family to be filled with grace and wisdom as they reintegrate, and for family members to be able to recognize, understand, and accept the changes that have occurred in each other during their prolonged separation.
|
