JourneywithJennifer's PrayList - Part I

Our latest series at church is The PrayList, Study of the Psalms. 

When I think of a PrayList, my first thought is of the e-mails, pamphlets, and cards that offer scriptures to read during times of need and times of joy.  We get to call on God when we need Him and pray specific prayers.  They're called emergency cards, devotions, prayer cards, etc.  Some of you may have them.  I actually own a few..lol what a surprise!

The 23rd Psalm has been a big part of my life.  It's the only Psalm I know by memory.  It's definitely on my PrayList.  It's also something I've taught my kid. 

Another one that's familiar is Psalm 27.  I remember a time during my college years that something bothered me.  I just couldn't shake the feelings, the worry.  It worried me so that I told my grandmother and my sweet Mother Dear looked at me and told me to read Psalm 27.  I took her advice and God's Word brought me peace!  I didn't feel like I'd been feeling and I loved that about my grandmother.  She knew what to say in all situations. 

Psalms 23 and 27 both give me a sense of peace in knowing God's taking care of me.  I can see as I move through this life how both relate to one situation and then another and so on.  It's amazing to see growth in life and how much He truly loves us and helps us overcome.

Several weeks ago, my Pastor brought a message to us from Psalm 42.  On Life Today, Wednesdays with Beth, Beth Moore shared a series - From Cast Down to Ecstatic Joy.  She covered Psalms 41 and 42.  It's great when I'm learning something new to find a message from two different sources on the very same subject.

I learned that we pant for the living waters that only Jesus can provide just as a deer pants for water when he's thirsty.  What a thought, we're panting.  I wonder how many times in life we're so down and so overwhelmed and just fall to our knees, sick for a word from Him.  We want to find Him, seek Him out.  We need God and we know if we can get to Him or hear a word from Him, all is right with the world.

I read Psalm 42 and I can honestly say, this could be me.  I can see how different seasons in life would fit here.. mourning, divorce, end of a relationship, loss of ____, etc.  Sometimes it's only the faith in our God that can pull us through.  In my reading, what I felt more than anything is that it's nothing like a feeling of sadness and how it overshadows it all. 

We need God.  We must seek Him and find Him in our everyday living.  It's not a maybe or sometimes sort of deal.  No ma'am and No sir.  It's those times when we're down that we need Him and learning and studying His word is how we find Him. 

I love how it has all come together in the PrayList!  I am learning so much and finding so much of my life, myself in scriptures.

I love how God's Word carries us through, even today! 

                               **JourneywithJennifer

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God (Psalm 42:1 NIV)