Complaining. It's one of those really ugly habits. And I indulge in it, heck I think I live in the "whining" zone more often than not. Complaining is not a beautiful sound. It's grating. Like a creaky door or nails on a chalk board. I get this picture in my head of how we are supposed to live in Christ. A beautiful pasture, quiet, peaceful....a lovely stream meandering through it, birdsong and floral scents fill the air....looking around all is crystal and serene....and then the jackhammer!! bumpbumpbumpbumpbump....complaining! All the peace and loveliness comes to a screeching halt! Ugh.
For Lent one of the things had fasted was complaining. And I think I did pretty good, thankfully. But I seem to have fallen back into the old grumbling habit once again. And the Lord has asked me to fast it. But this time He added another super aspect to the fast. I just love His great ideas!
At my church we started a prayer chart. The Bible speaks to the early church as joining together for corporate prayer, and we wanted to follow this example. Everyone is busy, some of us work, everyone is on different schedules....this makes it difficult for us to actually all get to the church at the same time. So what we did was make a chart with different times of the day....morning, afternoon and evening hours, breaking up each day of the week into these time zones. The idea was to sign up for the slots you that be your prayer time. This way, even though we aren't physically together, we are together spiritually, coming before the throne of God for specific needs (suggestions for prayer are in the time slots of the chart) of our church, our families, and our nation.
And yesterday the Lord added to this idea for me. As I said, He asked me to fast complaining (He must really get sick of hearing me....I hate that thought, it breaks my heart that I would be an irritating sound to Him) but not only that, He said anytime I wanted to complain that I was to lift up the prayer concern of my time slot that day. What an awesome idea!! God is so smart!!
What correcting and directing God visit!! Thank You Father!
Lord, help me to have complete victory over this loathsome habit of complaining. Forgive me. I don't want to be repulsive to You in my words, or my thoughts. I want to make a beautiful sound, sweet to Your ear. And thank You for the idea to pray more! What a great way to turn a negative habit into a positive blessing. I love You Lord.
Ephesians 5:19-20 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you are tempted to complain today, prayer for someone instead.
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