James 1:12 (Endurance through Prayer)

* Welcome God every morning before work by taking ~5 min to read this Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group devotion (life-devotions.blogspot.com), which has snippets from Living Faith (livingfaith.com).

Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation… James 1:12

Living Faith snippets: “Trials are an expected part of the training of any athlete. They build a competitive spirit and a stamina that helps the athlete endure. A life of faithful loving has many trials of its own. There will be times when the routines of ordinary love feel very unrewarding and lacking a goal. A life of daily prayer goes a long way in helping us remember that God has a goal in mind for us. Prayer is the daily breath of God that we need to keep our hearts open and toned, wise and loving.” Fr. James Stephen Behrens, O.C.S.O.

Rich’s comments: Today’s devotion reminded me of the book about Mother Theresa called Simple Path. The book speaks about how Mother Theresa and the sisters working at the hospice would care for the dying. It was so emotionally exhausting for them to experience the death of the people that they were taking caring of that they needed to go and pray to God throughout the day in order to refuel spiritually. When I first read this, I made the connection between their praying and the refueling stations along a marathon course. Being a Christian is a life-long training process. I can’t imagine now, going a day without praying to God; without getting a daily pep talk from the “Coach of Life.”

Through Christ Our Lord,

Rich

Romans 12:12

Our Prayers: All (thanksgiving prayers), Pat Castle (abortion, soldiers, enemies), Kay Castle (crimes against children), Vicki Miller (cancer treatment), Pam McGushin (mom’s depression, Cindy’s cancer treatment), Tom Tenpenny (Anna’s cancer treatment), Dale Sundermann (strength for his Mom), Jenny Senour (ProLife job interview), Liz Curry (Christian’s back surgery), Cyclone in Myanmar (suffering), Kevin Connolly (repose of his Mom’s soul)

Feast Day: Our Lady of Fatima (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Fatima)

* Today’s Bible readings at www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml.
* Prayer: If you have a prayer request, simply send it to our distribution list at life-group-distro@googlegroups.com. Prayer connects us with God’s will & His miracles, thereby changing us & helping others. Wayne Watson, “When God’s people pray, there is hope reborn, there is sin forgiven, and miracles you can’t explain await!” “If you pray that God will move a mountain and He doesn’t, assume Christ wants you to climb it instead & see Him.”
* Defend the unborn: ProLife websites at life-devotions.blogspot.com. ‘Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die’ (Prov 24:11). ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you’ (Jer 1:5). ‘It is a great poverty that a child must die that you might live as you wish’ Blessed Mother Teresa. Click for Prayer to End Abortion.
* Share the Good News: Let’s joyfully live out the Good News and gladly tell others about it (Mark 16:15)! Let’s make room to share with non-believers (be a friend, make a friend, lead your friend to Christ)…and work on perpetual re-evangelization of ourselves and those close to us (Western culture), drawing closer to God’s will by way of daily prayer (real relationship) and following Christ’s example of selfless love, mercy, and service…