Not Alone.

Trey looked mighty handsome as he left out this morning for the start of senior year. Lea took a picture of him in the same spot that she did on his first morning of Kindergarten. As Lea and I are savoring and grieving these growing up and growing moments, I keep telling Lea, "I want to be with you in this." My life doesn't always show those words, but I know they are the truth. Those words are actually birthed somewhere else first. They are words between me and God and you and God. "God, I want to be with You in this. I need you so much. I need your presence. I can't make it without You." As I'm saying (praying) these words, He's reminding me, "You're not alone."

It can be easy to say that our American lifestyle beats that kind of idea out of you. There are so many snazzy, quick, pushy options available that "I can't make it without You Jesus" subtlety becomes, "Wait, um, yes I can". But that's a trick. It's not the American lifestyle that does that. It's my heart. Straight up, my heart. Can't put that on anything else. My heart longs to say, "I CAN make it without you Jesus" all while I'm learning that I can't make it without Him. That is serious on the job training right there. That seems like battle living. Is battle living.

And so we are closing a few months of thinking about God's armor given to us for battle living. We wind our way through the Bible book of Ephesians, chapter 6 and verse 14 with the belt of truth all the way to verse 17 and the sword of the Spirit with four others in between. And then Paul punctuates in the same chapter with verse 18. "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." Maybe it's something that sounds like this today..."God, I want to be with You in this. I need you so much. I need your presence. I can't make it without You." There is always battle over us talking to God. Battle living indicates that there is a battle. Battle indicates that there is an enemy. The enemy indicates that there is opposition. Opposition to what? Among many.......

.....TALKING TO GOD AND HEARING HIS VOICE.

"You're not alone." There is always a battle over, "You're not alone." The lonely enemy hates it.

So, if there is so much battle over us talking to God, how is that battle being won? I think the Bible book of Hebrews, chapter 7 and verse 25 is a pretty good starting place of understanding how. "He (Jesus) is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf".

How? Jesus is praying for you. Ever......lives.......to.......intercede......ON YOUR BEHALF. Amazing. YOU'RE NOT ALONE, JESUS IS PRAYING FOR YOU! Reality TODAY! Thank you Jesus. Thank you.

"God, I want to be with You in this. I need you so much. I need your presence. I can't make it without You."

And that's not all. This is pretty special. Keep pushing to the end of verse 18 in Ephesians 6. "With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the Lord's people." How else are you and I not alone? Other disciples are praying for you and me. That is so humbling. There's lots to talk to God about. Those who don't know Him. Hard world circumstances. Personal circumstances. But I love that the Holy Spirit, through Paul, reminds us....to always keep praying for all the Lord's people. You're not alone! Jesus is praying for you. You're not alone. His followers are praying for you. Am I? Are we?

I'm doing a quick scan.....

Trey started his senior year today.

My family is grieving that our sweet dog Lacy is sick.

Friends are beginning a new friendship with great hope.

A friend has been sick for a while now and her primary relationships are suffering in the midst of uncertainty.

My son and his wife are moving to a new city this week, grieving and celebrating the work of God in their lives.

There is conflict at my church and it seems that the only way that reconciliation will happen is supernatural.

We await the return of college friends this month and I wonder what God has in store for us.

There is bewilderment in following Jesus for all of us.

God doesn't always make sense to us.

"God, I want to be with You in this. I need you so much. I need your presence. I can't make it without You."

That's a quick ten from me. Now you add your 10 or a hundred.

I am wading in this simple, stunning reality. We're not alone. Jesus is praying for us. And, we're praying for each other?

Am I missing that?

There's more.