Broken bread and poured out wine...

I realized this morning that while my quiet times have been moving in a good direction lately, i.e. that I am actually having them on a consistent basis and that I am already seeing the results of them, the intercessory aspect of my prayer life has not been as present. While I feel that I have been faithful in lifting up the top two or three on my list on a consistent basis, I have not been diligent about including requests that are not my own in my prayer life. We spend time on Sunday mornings bringing requests to the table, again on Monday night we do the same. These are on my mind for about 15 minutes after I hear them and then they are gone. Heck, I'm even writing the ones down from Monday nights...I'm just not circling back and including them in my prayer time. A prayer time that I am more and more seeing is very selfish.

It's funny, I read 2 Cor 5&6 this morning...wrote out a prayer in my journal(more on this in a bit) where I was not particularly applicant of others issues...finished and starting thinking about that very thing. Intercession...then I read this morning My Utmost for His Highest and this is what ol' Oswalt had to say "We have to learn how to be broken bread and poured out wine on the line of
intercession more than on the line of personal contact." This is speaking directly to my heart this morning. I must learn to pour myself out before God for others... Bringing their needs, the things that they have brought to me or the Lord has brought to me before Him. I must really move away from me in my prayer life. That's a novel concept isn't it. I am hopeful that I can be more aware of this and a better steward of others requests going forward. It is important to be faithful and pray for others when asked or when you've agreed to. Maybe more important than anything as far as that relationship is concerned.

As for recording prayers...I really want to begin expanding my praying and my recording of the same. I have always admired those who could go back and review their thoughts, prayers, requests from different times in their lives. For encouragement, for an example of how God has delivered them or brought them along, it is a wonderful thing to be able to feel anew the blessing of the Lord from an earlier time in your life. I want that. Problem is, I am worried about how and where to keep such a record. I am worried that a written journal could too easily be picked up and read by someone who may not understand what is written there...and certainly this venue is on the internet, so while I am somewhat open here, it is nothing like I would like to be in a completely private setting. I have a couple of ideas on this, so I'll start experimenting and see where it leads.

Grace and Peace.