PRAY: Times to Treasure (a prayer for women)
Father, I read about a young woman this morning. A young woman whose life intersected with yours as no one else’s. A woman who became the mother of a baby born to die, sent to save.
I’ve noticed these words about Mary before, Father. Twice you tell us she “treasured these things in her heart” (Luke 2:19, 51). Isn’t that just like a woman? We tend to hold things close. We watch. We ponder. And we remember. We take few things at face value. We want to find the deeper meaning whether it’s there or not. Sometimes, this frees us. Other times, this traps us as we review painful events and conversations.
Father, today I lift up my fellow women to you. I lift up those faraway and those near, those I know and those I don’t know. I ask You to redeem this treasuring quality of ours. Help us to hold fast to that which is good and to repel anything evil or dark. Help us cling to you more than to our memories. Help us not be bound by our thoughts, wishes, and dreams but to find freedom in the ones you give. Help us, oh Father, to seek you first. To find you in the stillness as Mary did so that when you come to us (as you promised), we’re ready to receive your words and your truth.
Whether our calling is amazing or expected, typical or radical, Lord, allow us to demonstrate Mary’s willingness to follow. Let us have her heart, her spirit to drop our own activities and enter into yours. And Father? I ask you to allow us to experience your breath, your touch, your holiness that transforms each day, each moment into something to treasure.
Allow us, dear Jesus, to treasure you. In Your holy and gracious and worthy name I pray—AMEN.
How do you cling to the good and eliminate the less-than-best? How do you maintain purity in those things you “treasure in your heart”? Share with us!
Wow…amen and amen and amen.
What He has given me the grace (ability) to do:
To let my mind be occupied only with assurance (belief) of His goodness and His love for me. Once I am there, I never want to move from that place!
He becomes the lens through which I view everything that happens — instead of trying to see Him through circumstances. I love that He is that near!
“Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith as you trust in Him…” Ephesians 3:17
It helps, when remembering, to worship Him as the Creator of all good things. To go deeper than, “Wow, that was beautiful,” but instead letting the soul say, “Wow, that was beautiful — how much more beautiful is He to have created such a thing and how gracious He must be to let me experience such joy!”
This is something that I struggled with daily after this summer — which was absolutely incredible. It became difficult to believe that “greater things are still to come.” So I held on to my memories and let them be my food, instead of trusting Him to be my manna each day. I forgot that the mystery of the ages is Christ IN ME. I forgot that abundant life is not dependent on my circumstances, but His presence, which is constant. I forgot and I still need more of His grace here, which is always readily available.
“Help us cling to You more than to our memories.”
Yes! Please, Jesus!
Thank you, Marti!
Brittany, thanks for your beautiful understanding and more. Your words remind me of our leanings to worship the creation rather than the Creator. And those can only lead to places we don’t want to go. Prayers for many more beautiful memories and moments of His-life-in-you ahead.