What is There to Worry About?

"I believe God is managing affairs and the He doesn't need any advice from me. With God in charge, I believe that everything will work out for the best in the end. So what is there to worry about?" -Henry Ford

Love Languages of a Single Parent - Words of Affirmation

“While the world is crumbling and fear has paralyzed many hearts, let not fashion, materialism and superficial activity give false hope or take the place of that which is important, but let passionate prayers of repentance and intercession be uttered. It is imperative that people pray heaven-directed, earth-shaking prayers, so that we might be granted divine mercy and be delivered from the stagnation of apathy, while our generation trudges blindly into the blackness of violence and hell.” – Joy Haney

You might be wondering how this quotation and the love language of words of affirmation have a connection. Trust me, this was not what I had intended to write. I got stuck and couldn’t figure out what to say. When I read this in her book “Healing Power of Prayer” I immediately knew what I wanted to say in this blog.

Prayer is the most priceless gift and affirmation of love you can give. Words are spoken and delivered to the Almighty One who in turn works His ways. We need to hear the words I love you, but there is no greater affirmation than to hear the words, I am praying for you. You ask how does prayer say I love you? Simple.

• Can you pray about someone you dislike? Yes, but would it be genuine. And even then, would you tell them I am praying for you or would you simply ignore them as you probably have already been doing.
• Prayer shapes the heart: As I stated above, you can’t genuinely pray for someone you dislike. Even if you disliked them at one point, if you continue to pray for them, the insincerity turns into genuine compassion and concern. What use to be out of routine begins to happen out of love and caring.
• Your fervent prayers allows God to enter onto the scene: Prayer is the channel of connectivity from God to you and you to God. If you are fervently praying, you have opened up the gate for God to come in, and created the opportunity for you to live Christ-like. When your life mirrors the will of God, then you are able to forgive when its hard to forget, to give even if you don’t receive, to love when you don’t feel loved and much more. You learn to love unconditionally.
• Prayer helps you to be positive: If you pray shallow prayers, your words will likewise be shallow. The matters of the heart will reveal themselves through prayer. Praying for miracles, praying for blessings, and praying for the miraculous requires faith. Faith is the offspring of positive thinking, believing it can happen. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1).
• Prayer helps you to see the strengths and not the weaknesses of an individual: We want to pray for the strengthening of a person’s weakness, but you wouldn’t be praying for them if you didn’t see their strengths. When you focus on a person’s weaknesses, you begin to develop sinful thoughts. You nit-pick at this and that while neglecting to see what they bring in your life. Prayer helps you to focus on the blessing they have become instead of the nuisance you thought they were. It helps you to see what they can become instead of what they were.

Prayer is the first step and the most important. The second is to live with thankfulness in your heart. When you are thankful and “prayed up” it is easier for you to give without demeaning. What do I mean by that? Too often we conditionally love people. “I love you but…” you fill in the blank. “That was great but…” If you were to sit and think about how often we hear and say such things, you’d be surprised. The recipient of such love would begin to wonder if they ever do anything right, it they are ever good enough, or if they are even loved. Stop! Stop! Stop! No more “buts” when you dish out an “I love you” or a compliment. Just do it. Just give the compliment. Just say I love you and no more. Constant correction equates to conditional love.

As a single parent, how does this affect us? We heavily rely on our friends and family to fill in the gaps that may not be filled to often. Additionally, we heavily reply on God to keep us balanced. When we lay down at might and begin to reflect on the day, He is our companion. When our feelings get hurt, He is the objective thinker when we take things out of proportion. When we feel ugly He’s the one showing us that we are beautiful. And just think about it, He might have used you to show it. Thank you for that compliment on how I looked today. Thank you for saying I love you. It’s okay to say, I’m praying for you. Thank you, we need it.