Lighting a candle…can change the whole environment of a home, or at least it does ours. It wasn’t until we added a yellow lab to our family that I needed to address the changing odor inside. LOL….
I wish I had the time to bathe Daisy everyday but I don’t. I do have the time to “light” a scented candle. I get up early in the morning and one of the first things I do after I let Daisy go outside is light a candle. Within minutes our home is filled with a “great and pleasant” fragrance. It affects everything about my morning. It sounds strange but lighting that “pumpkin spice” candle in October…and then changing and lighting the “spruce pine” in November and December…makes the whole atmosphere of our home “BETTER!” Just by what we smell!
Collins, our daughter, even commented how she looks forward to waking up to the “smell” when she is home. God did give us five senses and the ability to “smell” is a great one. It is amazing that something as simple as “lighting” a scented candle can change the environment in our home.
I feel that prayer can do the same thing. Lighting the candle of prayer is just as simple as pulling the trigger on that Bic lighter and then touch the wick with that blue flame! You have to go through those steps….to spark that smell and have the aroma invade the house….but the same can be done for your whole person….with prayer…and then it can invade your home!
Illuminating your life through “prayer” can profoundly affect every area of your life. Just weeks ago my heart leaped when our church gave out prayer guides to the congregation to encourage us to make sure prayer is a part of our lives in 2015. Prayer is the fuel that can invade our lives in such a way that it moves mountains. This may seem far-fetched to anyone reading this, but I know it to be true because I have personally experienced the power of prayer in my own life.
It is very much like lighting a candle. You cannot smell, nor enjoy, nor change the atmosphere of your life…if you don’t “light” the candle of prayer. Yes, people can pray for you and that is great. You can feel (smell) that as well. But when you commit to “pulling the trigger of that Bic lighter yourself, something very special happens.
You see, you are actively participating. It develops that intimate relationship with my/your/our Creator. There is nothing like one-on-one with Christ. Only you know…your prayers, desires…..and God knows. He knows the innermost depths of our souls and when we choose to invite Him in….something very special and unique happens. Only if you participate personally can you experience that power–the change in “atmosphere” of your life. “But God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” (Psalm 66:19-20). That time with God strengthens you, gives you courage, reminds you how much God loves you!
When I choose to “light” the candle of prayer daily….taking the most minute things to God….and the big overwhelming things…it is just stunning then to see His Hand in my life.
I have found sometimes the bigger things are NOT harder for God at all but His timeframe is about…changing me. It keeps me looking to Him while He is causing “all things to work for good!” (Romans 8:28).
The little things such as…
parking place at the grocery store,
what to cook for dinner,
who to encourage,
when to exercise……
…when I give those things to God too…I see Him daily. It is so much fun to include HIM into every area of my life–big and small. In particular, when I take the small things to Him…I really do smile and the “little girl inside” giggles all during my day as I watch God show up and show out!
I encourage you to “light” the personal candle of PRAYER in your life….include HIM in the big and the small…..His aroma…will follow you everywhere and He will illuminate your path!
2 Corinthians 2:15, “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”
Just what I needed when I needed it! Thank you Sherry!