Pray for Oklahoma

Galatians 5:13 (NLT)
13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

In this verse the apostle tells Christians they are to stand fast in the liberty from sin that Jesus Christ provided through His death.  For in liberty we are free to choose and it would be so easy to fall back into bad habits of choice instead of standing fast.  One must see that while they are free from the penalty of death created by the law they still have an obligation to satisfy the original intent of the law, which is to create love and respect for one another. The apostle confirms this by saying we should use our liberty to help others as we can and therefore do what Jesus commanded when Jesus said, “you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

 

 

According to Topsy.com as of 5/11/2013 at 11am there were over 64,000 mentions of the hastag #PrayForOklahoma on Social Media, such as Twitter and Facebook after the tornados hit Oklahoma. There were critics of the #PrayForOklahoma hastag, who discounted prayer, who said quit praying and start doing. However this nation, The United States of America, needed to unite in prayer for the victims of the Oklahoma tornados. Christians all over the world needed to also join in prayer as Christians so often do when devastating events occur in the world. There were people hurting, suffering, helpless and when we can’t immediately do something - we can pray.

Throughout The Bible prayer is used in mighty ways to change events, to heal, to rescue, to bring change and to bring comfort and calmness. Yes, the people of Oklahoma needed to feel the prayers of God’s people. They needed to feel God close to them as we prayed for them.

Now I can agree with the critics on one thing, don’t stop with prayer. Galatians 5:13 tells us that we are to take the freedoms we have in life and serve one another in love. Charitable organizations need donations to help with the care of the people left homeless. The Red Cross often needs blood and money donations after a tragic event. There are many ways to help even if it is raising awareness for others to contribute or donate what they can.

So this morning let us continue to be in prayer for the people of Oklahoma and for so many others around the world who are facing hardships. Let consider what we can do to help and help as we know how to do.