CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 700

“Missed Appointments”

Luke 10:29 (ESV) …he … said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii? and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

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I like a full life. I like getting up early in the morning eagerly anticipating the challenges and opportunities of a new day and I like going to bed at night with a feeling of having accomplished many worthwhile things that day.

My life can be too full. You know your life is too full when you feel overwhelmed in the morning by the numerous challenges that are ahead of you. You know it is too full when you cannot sleep at night because your mind will not stop processing what happened that day and what might happen the next day. You know your life is too full when you begin to miss appointments. I am not referring to routine appointments such as doctors, dentists, and haircuts. The appointments I am referring to here are the ‘divine appointments’ ordained of God.

Throughout our daily lives, God has orchestrated divine appointments – encounters with strangers, friends, family, and neighbors. In each of these encounters is encapsulated an opportunity to share the love of Christ. It can be as simple as a warm smile and a greeting. It can have the depth of stopping and quietly sharing their burden while listening to them pour out their heart in crying out to God in their distress.

Can we sacrifice our personal agendas in order to help meet the needs of another like the example of the Samaritan in the parable taught by Jesus? The Levite and the priest in Jesus’ parable were not bad men. It is not that they were without compassion. Their problem was that they were bound up in their own agendas so tightly that they could not be bothered to deal with the unexpected encounter with the injured man. In a modern day example of this parable a recent news video showed numerous people look and walk past a man seriously injured in a mugging on a busy street.

Can our lives be too full – even with good things? How free and flexible are you willing and able to be to respond to the divine appointments and divine encounters engineered by God? The greatest commandment is to love God with our entire being and to let His love pour through us in loving our fellow-man. Thank God for a full life. Pray and strive for a free and flexible life agenda. Pray for a discerning and willing heart to respond to His divine appointments for you. Ask God to show you how to free yourself to take the time to care … to Love and minister to others in Jesus’ power and strength, and to do it all for His glory.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & rededication of your work to the glory of God.