 As I was flipping through an old book a few days ago, a paper bookmark fell out and skidded across the floor. I strolled over to its landing place and picked it up. Instantly, I noticed the title of the writing inscribed across the paper placeholder, “Prayer for Local and National Elections.” It was a prayer from Derek Prince Ministries that dated back to October of 1980. While it was written forty-four years ago during the Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter presidential race, it couldn’t have been more timely for us today.
Rather than me try to reach for words, I think God wanted us to find this paper so we can again borrow this prayer as we head into election week 2024:
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 A gracious friend offered me their old desk. It’s a beautiful, white set up complete with a bookcase. Excitedly, I began to pull my Bible study books I had been keeping in our family bookshelf into my own work desk. Next I reached for my old Bibles and devotional books, anything really I knew I’d be pulling from for writing projects in the future. Out of all my nerdy treasures, I stumbled across a devotional book I had read through in college and tumbling out from the worn pages were some old prayer cards. Unable to resist combing back over the over-a-decade-old cries of my heart, I scanned the lists. There were names and specifics for what I was asking God for. There were sins I was struggling with. Tears began to pool up in my eyes as I realized that so much of what I had prayed for then, God had answered. It was wild!
There were requests like to “bless my future husband and family” while I now am married with three beautiful girls. I saw where I asked that God would allow me to “write a book someday for young girls” and to “let my music and writing reach many ears and eyes for the Gospel” while I simultaneously stared at copies of my books, have my next ghostwriting project in the works, and am planning worship sets and packing up my guitar for a women’s retreat this weekend. I don’t tell you this so you think, “Wow, good for you Kaley.” I’m sharing because I am ashamed that I had forgotten. As the years have passed so also has it slipped from my mind that God has fulfilled so much. I am walking everyday present day on the foundations of a past answered prayer. Instead of living in gratitude for that, I have been grumbling to God about my recent anxiety and insomnia flareups. My mind has been consumed with worry instead of praise. Do you ever find yourself in a state of grumbling instead of gratitude too? Aren’t we all prone to forget what the Lord has done? This is probably why the word “remember” is one of the most frequently used words in the Bible. And why there are verses like Ephesians 5:20 that command us to “always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We as humans are naturally bent toward negativity and, if we aren’t intentional about reconfiguring our mind to dwell on the goodness of God, we will find ourselves missing our blessings for our burdens. 1 Samuel 12:14 instructs us to “be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.” Here are two quick ways we can shift from grumbling to gratitude…  If You Find Yourself Struggling with Anxiety or Depression Today…
First and foremost, you are not alone. I’ve had several bad nights of sleep and have felt on the verge of a panic attack for over a week now. I can’t put my finger on why, but for years I’ve battled through cycles of this. Even while covering it in prayer, going to counseling, taking medication at times, and doing “all the right things.” So, I want you to know that you are never alone to your very core. There is a God who loves you just are you are. There are churches, communities, and people at arms length who will surround you in your season of struggle and hold you up when you are weak. I sent my husband a text this morning that said, “Sorry I suck.” Because it’s so tempting to buy into the lie that needing help or confessing your struggle with anxiety or depression makes you weak. Here was his reply in case you need this reminder too- “You don’t suck.” You are not a burden. By keeping this inside, you’re not only eating away at your sanity, you’re robbing someone, possibly even an entire community from the opportunity to bless and carry you. "But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.” -Ephesians 5:13 If this season feels exceptionally dark to you, bring it to the light. It may feel like only a glimmer at first, but the night will give way to morning. Here are some practical ways to start...  Just last week, I watched my college town and the Blue Ridge Mountains that have served as my second home be decimated by Hurricane Helene. Even as I type this, another hurricane, category 4 storm Milton, is just hours away from slamming into Florida’s shoreline and is expected to bring catastrophic devastation. We are a matter of weeks away from one of the most polarizing and (dare I say) exhausting elections in America’s history. Wars are escalating in the Middle East. My heart is pulled in one thousand directions and breaking for a handful of reasons and this doesn’t even include any personal problems, like the new roof and AC unit our house needs or the fact that my eldest daughter has outgrown her pants and needs a winter coat.
You have your own version of this top paragraph don’t you? Together, we are reading the news headlines and scrolling on social media and our souls are shattering. People need help. Maybe even we ourselves need help. We want to pray but this is all so overwhelming. So, where do we start? This isn’t like we’re asking Jesus for a nice car. None of those shiny things have any significance at all right now. These are matters of life or death. This is survival. How do we find words to wrap up our devastating and divisive moment in order to bring it all to the feet of Jesus? What do we say when we don’t know what to pray anymore?  “I was recently invited to speak at a women’s event titled “Glory to Glory.” As the first speaker, I was asked to unpack the meaning of the word “glory” and I was honestly stunned during my research by the complexity of it. Mainly because I had gotten so used to hearing it.
“Glory” is one of those words we use so often in Christiandom that we can forget what it means. “God we give you glory…” At Christmas in all the Church plays we quote the angel saying, “Glory to God in the highest.” “All glory and honor and power…” We’ve all heard some iteration of this, right? But what are we really talking about when we use the word “glory?” |
