When you hear the word “just,” what do you think of?
You might think of the common description of God.
You would be right, but it seems even more evident now. With thousands of people rallying for justice in Ferguson, Missouri, it proves again that the only just thing in the world is God Himself. I am not here though to express my feelings on that subject. I am writing about what I think of when I hear the word “just.”
I think of prayer.
I do not think of how God is just in our prayer requests, or how we pray for the just. I think simply of the word.
Just: Only, simply, merely. By a narrow margin, precisely, directly. Just.
It might be confusing to explain why I think of that, so instead I’ll give an example.
Dear God,
We just thank you for this day, and may it be a blessing to us. We just ask that you hear us today and just please pour your grace out for us. Just please be with me tomorrow and Bobby and his decisions and Mary JoAnne and her move. Just be with us today and just tonight and just forever. We just thank you.
Amen.
I am not making fun of how anyone prays, so please do not feel self-conscious when praying aloud. I am simply trying to point out how we work our selfishness into our prayers. I know that sounds harsh, but maybe we are subliminally convincing ourselves that we are only asking for a few things. It is not an entire prayer devoted to all twenty of our requests. It is a prayer with five requests and one more and one more and wait one more and just one more. It becomes a string of prayers attached to one because we fail to focus on something other than ourselves.
Praise to God. Pray for people. Praise to God. Pray for us.
Before you add in your next “just,” think about it. Who is the focus of this prayer? Your service of prayer should be an intimate moment between you and the Lord. Obviously, it is okay to ask God for things. He understands, but we need to be careful and watchful if we are praying to God or praying to ourselves. Prayer should put the focus on God, and it should make others more important than ourselves.
Are you just praying?
Watchmysign 
After reading your article titled, “Just What!”, it made me think of how people treat their relationship with GOD as going through the “drive-thru” of a restaurant, and just pick up what THEY need, such as peace, strength, courage, provision, etc. All the while, they reject HIS invitation of “abiding IN Him (the restaurant of His Word)”, and “dining WITH Him” (enjoying quiet communion between them and their Lord in an intimate way, just like you said.) I’ve been guilty of this before. This article was a good reminder.
Awesome job on the new video you did for your grandma! Was that Instagram picture of your grandma taken when she first saw that video? That’s the first time I’ve heard that song by “MercyMe”. Those words made my spirit dance! Praise HIS Name!
Michael and I continue to enjoy reading the posts you share. 🙂
In Him,
Angie
You are so right, and I am glad that it was a friendly reminder for you!
The picture you saw was actually a video of her reaction! She loved the song, and I am glad that you also enjoyed it. As of now, it’s one of my fastest growing videos, and I am very well pleased with it. 🙂
Thanks for keeping up with me, and may God bless you both!