Written by Holly Madden, LeadHer Local Director. Connect with Holly on Facebook, Instagramor Twitter.
I am so incredibly blessed.
I have been told my entire life how blessed I am to have been raised in a society that promotes education and leadership, and where housing, food and clothing are not luxury items reserved for the very rich but are consistent in the lives of everyday citizens. As I type this, I am sitting in front of bookshelves lined with knowledge, a space heater nearby to keep my warm and my open Bible that I can carry with me everywhere unashamed and unafraid.
I am blessed.
Yet, there are still days when I find myself asking God for more. More time, more opportunities, more money, more friendships, more favor…and then I am reminded that somewhere across the world, a girl my age is thanking God for just enough.
How can so much joy be found in countries where the people have so little? How can gratitude come from the hungry, hurting, uneducated, captive, broken and homeless? Maybe it’s not really about how little they have or how much they need, maybe it’s that their need has taught them that God is enough.
It is not that we should feel guilty for our abundance, or that we should not pursue our goals, dreams or success. But what if we learned to pray not from a place of wanting but from a place of need? What if instead of giving God the detailed items on our wish list, we asked God to keep us in a place of full dependence on Him? And what if instead of asking God for more, we asked for more of Him?
As we pray for the needs around the world, we also pray for humility in our actions, vision to see people the way God does, provision to be able to give more and serve more, opportunities to use our talents and spiritual gifts to advance the kingdom, and discipline to be good stewards of the resources, time and blessings we do have.
We are qualified as blessed not by the dollar figure in our savings account, the number of bedrooms in our house, or the number of meals we eat a day, we are blessed when we learn to need God and to praise Him for our just enough.
Our LeadHer chapters have spent the month of January focused on learning to pray detailed prayers. As I was reflecting on this in my own life, I realized how important it is that we take time to evaluate a critical detail– the condition of our heart when we pray. Often we overlook this important detail of prayer as we seek out God in the details of our life. As we get ready to change gears in our LeadHer Local chapters in February to talk about the Foundation of Prayer- I encourage you to take time this week to take a detailed look at your heart and your attitudes as you pray.