Prayer and Holiness

I'm less than a week from leaving. I'm not sure how I feel. I'm excited about so many things, but sad to leave friends and family.

I've been blessed to attend a few prayer times set aside to pray solely for me and my 6 months in Bangladesh. It is awesome to know that friends and family believe so much in this step I'm taking that they make special time to pray over me for it. This does many things for me. It helps me see that I have friends in Christ; Christ brings together people who would otherwise have nothing to do with each other, for this He gets the glory. It lets me know others are asking the Father to do great things in and through me. It points me to the Father to ask for help and guidance and makes me more in love with my God. It keeps me accountable knowing that these friends and family members care about what God is doing in and through me and they will ask me about it. This keeps me focused and looking in the right direction.

Why is though that my friends did this for me? Is it because I have been "called" to something EXTRA holy? No. Is it because I have a special gifting? No. Is it because I am somehow different or more special than someone else? No. Is it because Asia is extra lost and I need more prayer than my friends here? Absolutely not. I think it is because they love me and are excited about the opportunity God has given me, but is this opportunity holier than the ones He gives everyone else each day? I don't think so! My opportunity to obey Him might take me a little further away and make for a neat story to read about on a blog, but it is no more special or holy or more of a calling than what He asks you, the reader, or any believer, to do each day.
He gives each of His children a gift, or a set of gifts and each is just as holy as the next when used to glorify Him.
If this is true, shouldn't we lift one another up and pray over one another? Yes. This is part of the job of "The body of Christ," to lift one another up, bear each others burdens, and encourage each other through prayer.
That may be a cool thought but what do u do about it? Pray for a friend today that he or she will be filled with the Spirit and that God will do great things in and through them; then let them know you are praying for them. Pray that God will help you to see your job, your parenting, your schooling - whatever he has given you to do - as a holy gifting, a holy calling! Pray that He will help you to see the opportunities around you to be salt and light. Live the gospel daily, and when He does great things GIVE HIM THE GLORY!