An Hour of Prayer

My shower tonight was super cold, like take-your-breath-away cold. But as soon as I started to feel sorry for myself I remembered the headline on CNN I read minutes before, “The Confirmed Dead and Missing Hits 13,000.” I don’t mean to state the obvious and focus on the terrible news going on in our world and this may seem like a very weird blog post but I feel like this blog doesn’t always have to be about Uganda or what I’m doing here and it probably shouldn’t. All too often my time is spent thinking about myself. Even when I am doing my work here, it is in the context of my time, when I’ll get it done, my schedule, etc. And I am embarrassed at the little time I spend praying and thinking about other people, especially people in other parts of the world.

It is hard to ignore the recent onslaught of horrific news in the past few weeks and while I have spent a bit of time reading the news online, I can’t say I’ve spent time praying for these dear people. I know that God calls us to intercede for people all over the world and tonight as I worried about my cold shower, God reminded me of His dear children in other parts of the world. The pastor of the church I attend in Chicago shared on Romans 12:15 several years ago and this verse comes to mind when I think about God’s people in Japan, Libya, New Zealand. It states, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” This verse is among the many in Romans 12 about how to love others well. And at a time like this I am reminded that we need to get on our knees and mourn and pray for those who are going through terrible times.

When I think about the people in Japan, in the snow looking for their loved ones, my heart feels heavy. In Tunisia last week 2000 people an hour were crossing the boarder in hopes of finding refuge. I can’t even fathom what that looks like. And these are people running for their lives, running to a new country with the stuff on their backs, running to no home, no job, no security or guarantee of food, water, anything. And I was worried about my cold shower. Yuck.

But, rather than dwell on the horrible events and feel overwhelmed and helpless, I am turning to the only One who is capable of providing what these dear people need, my Father.

I believe that it is our privilege to be able to intercede for God’s people all over the world. Tomorrow I am going to commit to spending one hour in prayer for the people of Libya, Japan, New Zealand and the many other places that are experiencing hard times. I ask that you (whoever is reading this) would consider doing the same. I believe in prayer and I know that when God’s people come together in His name things happen. I am going to spend from 5 – 6 pm Uganda time praying for these people and ask that you join in at that time if possible. I think Chicago is either 8 or 9 hours behind Uganda but I’m not really sure. I realize many people have jobs that don’t allow an hour break but if your schedule does permit, I ask that you pray with me.

Thanks for reading and praying.