A friend challenged me last week. I’d posted a prayer thought (“Marti Pieper is praying for. . .”) and he commented, “How are you praying?” Great question. And since my friend’s a longtime journalist, it came as no surprise. But I did have to think for a while before I wrote a brief prayer summary to add to my Facebook page. That event reminded me of something I’ve thought about for a few weeks now: My brand and blog state my passion to READ.WRITE. PRAY. But for the past few months, I’ve focused so much on regular blogs for the READ and WRITE sections that I’ve neglected to write much about prayer. Today, I want to apply my friend’s question to another prayer. Throughout the day today, I’m praying for those who feel trapped. So how am I praying?  No written prayer can express all the communication that take place in prayer. But here’s a hint, an idea, a sampling. And if you have more to add, I’d love to read it—and pray alongside you. Father God, today I lift before You those who feel trapped. I know traps can occur for many reasons and I know they all bring pain and fear.  God, please come to these dear ones. Let them know You are in the trap with them, caring for them as no one else. Lord, I ask You to show your power here. Because You have all authority, You can break the trap and free the captive or You can change the trap into a treasure. You can use men, angels, time, and circumstances to carry out your desires. Your kingdom come, Your will be done in and through these traps this day. You tell us in Your Word that all things work together for good to those who love You and are called according to Your purpose. I pray those who feel trapped would love You—that You would use the trap to draw them near. I pray they would see good in and through this situation they hate and that others would see it as well. May the trap cause many to point to You.  Our Savior, where the enemy is involved, I ask You to trap him. Bring your power and might to bear on these situations.  Into a trap of illness, bring healing. Into a trap of hatred, bring love. Into a trap of misunderstanding , bring clarity. Into a trap of doubt, bring faith. And into a trap of deceit, please come in your power as the Truth that sets free.  Thank You for knowing the hearts, circumstances, needs, and desires of any who feel trapped today. Thank You for covering any...

 I’ll post the promised WRITE blog featuring an interview with Susan Meissner next week. I appreciate her willingness to fit my questions into her busy writing and ministry schedule! In the meantime, I’m praying today for those with hidden hurts (yes, that means all of us) and want to share my heart and my words. Father God, I come to you today weeping with those who weep and aching with those who hurt. So many times we smile on the outside as we mourn on the inside. And so often we believe the enemy’s lie that we’re alone in our pain.  Lord Jesus, one of your promises is that you will not leave us alone, that you will come to us. I ask you to come to these dear ones now and bind up their wounds. I ask you to touch them with your Spirit, to bring healing and hope to their hearts. Father, I praise you for your mercy that surrounds and flows over all your works. Would you pour that mercy out in these specific situations today? Where people need to talk, let the words drop like gentle rain. Where they need to grant space and time, let them do so with a large measure of your peace. And where words remain unspoken and conflicts unresolved, I ask you to pour out your grace. Lighten burdens. Remove the sting from each wound so its poison spreads no further. Thank you that you understand each moment, each measure of our pain. Thank you that you endured much worse at much greater cost. Thank you for your love. Please pour it on those who are hurting and hiding this day. In Jesus’ holy name I pray–AMEN.  Do you have thoughts or prayers to add to mine, or a way this prayer has touched you? Feel free to share. I’ll keep...

I see the resignation in their eyes. It hasn’t changed. It won’t change. Nothing I do can change it. They feel trapped—cornered in a marriage they think should never have been. They feel angry—bitter and frustrated about things they can’t control. They feel alone. I see it because I remember. I remember the days when I allowed hurt and anger to overshadow love. I remember the days when the outlook seemed hopeless, the future a dull gray. But I pray because I know the One who redeems relationships. I hope because I’ve experienced the power of his touch. If this is you, know that someone understands, and Someone is listening. Let’s run to Him together. Father and Friend, today I come to you on behalf of those who need their love renewed. Their relationships hang by a stretched-out thread, ready to snap at the next point of stress. Or they’ve resigned themselves to a life without true intimacy, the soul-nearness you intend marriage to be. God, I lift up my friends to your care. None of them, Father, has the power to stay married. All, like me, are selfish and want their own way. None has the strength to listen to you or to do what is right. Left to themselves, they’ll say unkind words, do ugly things, and continue to hurt each other in ways that hurt you more.  Grace, our Savior, is what they need. I ask for your poured-out grace to flow its sweetness in, around, and through those relationships. Lend your mercy, Lord. Give each one not only the power but the inner desire to do what is right. Reach through the pain and help them remember. Take them back to the first date, the first kiss, the first moments they realized love’s calling.  And God—take them back to their first love for you as well. If they don’t know you, break through their soul-hardness. Keep pursuing, keep speaking until they listen. If they do know you, God, I ask that you use time and circumstances to draw them close, knowing this first love will guard and guide the rest. Keep them from evil. Keep them from wrong. Help my friends. Come to them in power and victory. Giver of life, breathe your life into their marriages. Let each one become a bright reflection of your love for your children. And Jesus? Help me be the wife and love-giver you made me today. Don’t let me be comfortable. Keep me seeking your best. In your precious and powerful name I...

When I posted the subject of my prayer yesterday morning, I didn’t have a particular situation in mind. The day’s reading in my newest devotional favorite, Jesus Calling, exhorted me to remember God’s power in my weakness. As author Sarah Young says, “The more extreme your circumstances, the more likely you are to see My [God’s] Power and Glory at work in the situation.”  That statement drew me backward—to the times when I’ve faced extreme circumstances. It also propelled me forward—to those who face situations that seem impossible today. As the hours passed, God kept revealing these points of powerlessness: a neighbor’s stroke and resulting paralysis, a friend’s looming job loss, a teenager’s suicide attempt. Impossible? Only from our side of heaven. And maybe (with a God-shaped perspective) not even then. Father, today I want to lift before you all those situations we think are impossible. They surround us, they block us, they threaten to choke out our lives and our hope. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. You tell us your power comes into its own in our weakness, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Amen, our wise Counselor, let it be so. May your kingdom come with victory, your hand reach down with might into each of these situations. May your glory explode through them to shape both people and circumstances according to your will. May those who see the end and know the beginning recognize your hand and realize your truth. Dear Savior, make all things new. Grant the ones who stare up at the cold lights of the operating room your peace beyond understanding. Blaze forth your light to those who live where darkness abounds. Give the ones trapped in debt and depression a hope and a future. Feed the ones who hunger, give those who mourn abiding joy.  Thank you, mighty King, that we can trust your sovereign, loving hand. And when we encounter those situations where we feel more powerful and less dependent, would you please show that without you, all these are impossible, too? In your holy name I ask—AMEN....

As 2010 takes its final bows, 2011 waits on tiptoe. We often think of the New Year as a time of beginnings. But for every fresh start, something stops.  As we begin a New Year together, join me in praying for the endings, too. Dear Father, today I come to you with gratitude on my heart for  the amazing things you’ve done. You’ve picked me out of the dirt and set me on the mountain. You’ve replaced my sobs with songs of joy. You’ve brought calm where confusions reigned and peace where anger flared. And you’ve loved me. Oh, how you’ve loved me. I’m so grateful. God, as I look down the short hours to the New Year, the pathway looks foggy. I don’t see what you see. I don’t know what you know. But I do know you. And so I ask you—as I’ve learned to ask every day—to help me let go. To uncurl my clenched fist and place my hand in yours. To bend my knee and bow my heart. To willingly receive what you freely give. To accept—no, to embrace—the things, people, experiences, and changes you bring into my life. To seek your glory above what I think is my good. Oh Jesus, I know I’ll forget sometimes. I’ll call “Three-Second Rule” and pick it back up. I’ll bite my lip, grit my teeth, and try my best to do it myself. Forgive me, dear Father, for I know not what I do. Remind me, gentle Shepherd, and let me hear your sure voice. And guide me, wise Counselor, that I may walk in your truth. Direct and unite my heart to fear and to honor only your name. As my strength fails, yours rises. As I wait on you, I mount on eagles’ wings. As I surrender, you gain the victory. And somehow, Lord Jesus, when I give up my life, you take it and replace it with yours—the one already given for all. In this New Year, please help me let go. In the Name above all names I pray with joy—AMEN. How may I pray for you in 2011? Comment here, on Facebook, email or message me. I’ll consider it my joy to join my prayers with...

Father, I pray this with understanding today because, well, it’s me. I thought I was following but it didn’t work out. I thought I was listening but it hasn’t happened. I thought I was serving but your answer sounds—for the moment, anyway—like a resounding “no.” I can tell you’re using this to teach me, Jesus, and for this, I thank you. I’ve realized I don’t trust you as much as I should. I’ve recognized my excitement has blasted ahead of my faith. My ambition has blinded me to a true vision of you. And my ears have become tuned to man’s voice instead of your still, small, ever-seeking one. I need you, my Savior, because I don’t always get it right. Forgive me my lack of trust. Yes, you sympathize with my weakness, but God, you also desire to keep me from sin. I recognize my hurt as a reflection of my lack of true union with you. Today, my Counselor, give me joy. Today, my Healer, bathe my spirit. May your poured-out presence be the only balm I seek. And, oh Jesus? You’re right. It’s not all about me after all. Others have much deeper and more painful hurts. Some are facing years of discouragement. For them, the sting of disappointment has become the gaping wound of destruction. Some have waited years without realizing their need to see you, to hear your voice and know your touch.  In this season of presence, please come to them, my Emmanuel. Come to them. Become bigger in their lives, in my life, so we and our problems become less. We love you. We serve you. We lay our weakness and woundedness before you and seek your redemption. And we are so thankful you will never turn us away. Come to us, Lord Jesus. Please come—and let us know you are here. In the name of the One who knows all hurt I pray—AMEN. Do you identify? Do you have more to add? It’s my joy to pray alongside...