The POWER of prayer

This morning at church as we were singing an old hymn and I was hit hard by some very powerful lyrics. I wanted to share them with you. Most of you, I'm sure, have heard this song, but please try and read it with fresh eyes. From "What a Friend We Have in Jesus":

"Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!"

Look at that, sounds as if we choose to have excess chaos and pain in our life. God calls on us to pray to Him for anything and everything. He is always there for us. One of my favorite verses in the bible is Matthew 18:18 when Jesus says "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." How incredibly powerful and healing is that statement?! If we hold onto it here on earth, in our hearts, in our minds, we are the ones that have to deal with the strife, the anger, the pain, the hurt. But if we just turn our hearts and mind upwards, if we just let it go, let it all to go to God, then HE is the one that deals with it, He takes our hurts. Talk about FREEDOM! So my prayer for you, for all of us today, is that whatever you are holding onto, give it away. Give it to God. Let it loosed in heaven. Unbind yourself. Don't forfeit your peace, don't hold the needless pain. EVERYTHING TO GOD IN PRAYER! After all, who couldn't use more peace in their life. God Bless!!!