Prayer Bytes
Welcome to the series Prayer Bytes.
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This series affords you a small devotional that you can consider in a short span of time.
I came up with the name Prayer Bytes while I was thinking about the term sound bite which refers to a very short piece of news information. (In addition to the computer term byte which is also a small bit of information). Unfortunately it is usually disparaged as information that may be manipulated and meaningless.
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My Prayer Bytes are short, but not meaningless :)
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In each Prayer Byte you'll see the following: a title, an explanation related to the title, a scripture passage related to the topic, and a 'pray that'. Enjoy!
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Love, Diana
Get out from under it
Sometimes you get so overpowered by your burdens in your daily life. It feels crushing to you. How can you get out from under it all?
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Jesus is always watching you, always near you, and always inviting you to lay down ways, methods, or habits that you shouldn't be walking in. Accept His invitation and lay down what He reveals to you is not for you to bear.
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Do you ever feel overtaxed, perhaps by your workload, your circumstances, persecution, illness, or even your feelings?
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The Bible is full of evidence that life can be too much sometimes, that you will face adversity from the outside or from the inside. But with that proof comes the assurance that God is bigger than any of your trials or difficulties, and that He cares very much about you. God stands at the ready to guide you, comfort you, heal you when you face challenges of life.
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“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
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Pray that God would reveal to you which things are a yoke you bear on your own that are different from the yoke that Jesus intends for you.
Gossip
Do you know a person in your family, workplace, or church who gossips? And do you know that you do not have to cooperate with perpetuating the gossip?
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Sometimes family members start gossip about other family members, particularly adult family members, often expressing disapproval of their choices. You do not have to join in the conversation just because of the familiarity of the relationship. Instead, you could support the person who is being gossiped about whether in or out of the person's presence.
Sometimes coworkers gossip and spread misinformation in order to gain an advantage in the workplace dynamic. You don't have to participate with the gossip and the rumor mill. You might even contradict the information with a compliment about your maligned coworker.
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A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends.— Proverbs 16:28
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And perhaps worst of all is church gossip. Very often church members use prayer requests as an opportunity to show what they know about a situation in someone's life. Perhaps the gossip does not even care about the person who is the object of the prayer request. If you are in that situation you might want to be sure to communicate to the group that you give your full support to the person in need. When you do pray, you can steer the focus of the prayer to compassionate intercession for the needy person’s benefit.
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Pray for discernment to identify gossip in a situation, and then use wisdom to defuse the gossip. And you can always help protect someone’s privacy by silently refusing to participate.
Tempted or Sinning
Are you being tempted or are you sinning? Which is it?
The devil tempts all of us. But sometimes while he is tempting us, he is accusing us that we have already done the thing when actually we haven't. So we feel guilty about what we “did” and we feel stuck. But temptation is not the same as sin. You can say, ”No, I haven't done that and I'm not going to accept this as true about me.” Then we can run to Jesus to strengthen us and move us past the temptation and its effects.
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For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:15-16
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Pray that God would reveal to you the difference between being tempted and sinning, and to reveal to you ways that you can practically use that insight.
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Supposed to
Are you doing something only because you think you're supposed to, through another person's social pressure on you due to that person's preferences or from someone's desire to control you?
If so, you need to ensure that there is an actual, legitimate reason to do it, because you may be responding to habitual feelings of societal obligation or expectation. Jesus, too, faced pressure from influential people in His society, and had to refuse to give in to what people thought he was supposed to do.
We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn. —Matthew 11:17
Pray for discernment about whether someone's request is reasonable, or is intended to make you do something they want you to do. Ask God for the wisdom and courage to make the right choice and stick with it.
Overwhelmed
Do you ever feel overwhelmed, perhaps by your workload, your circumstances, persecution, illness, or even your feelings?
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The Bible is full of evidence that life can be too much sometimes, that you will face adversity from the outside or from the inside. But with that proof comes the assurance that God is bigger than any of your trials or difficulties, and that He cares very much about you. God stands at the ready to guide you, comfort you, heal you when you face challenges of life.
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When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. Psalm 142:3a
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Pray that God would reveal to you the way you should turn when you are overwhelmed.