I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.

Devotion based on 2 Timothy 1:3,4

When you hear about tragedy striking family or friends, you’ll often hear both Christians and even non-Christians say, ‘You’re in my thoughts and prayers.’

Now, it’s certainly a nice gesture and people mean well when they say it, but does it actually help? If my son breaks his arm and misses out on his baseball season, the thoughts and prayers are sweet but what he’d really like is to play ball. Or if my dad goes in for what was supposed to be a simple procedure but dies on the operating table, I don’t want thoughts and prayers! I want my dad back!

But here’s the thing, there is so much in life that is out of my control, so many problems that plague my loved ones, problems that I can’t do anything about. However, God can!

The apostle Paul, who wrote the words for our devotion today to his friend, Timothy, had been separated from him. And Paul knew that the end of his life was near. He had been imprisoned for his Christian faith and was soon going to lose his life because of his faith. Paul longed to see his friend Timothy and be reunited with him. But he also knew that the situation was out of his control, so he left it all up to God with prayer. He prayed that God would bless Timothy and watch over him and keep Timothy strong in his faith. He prayed that he would be able to see Timothy again. And he prayed all those things because he knew that even though he didn’t have any control over them, God did.

There will certainly be things that are out of our control. But when we pray to God, we are demonstrating belief that nothing is beyond him. Thoughts and prayers are not just a nice sentiment. They are a beautiful act of trust!

Prayer:

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.