Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your daily prayer,
Speaker 1: where we help you find the words you need to
Speaker 1: connect to your Father in Heaven. No matter what's happening
Speaker 1: in your life today, you can trust that God wants
Speaker 1: to hear from you. Right after the short word from
Speaker 1: our sponsors, we'll pray to today's Prayer for the Lonely Soul.
Speaker 1: A Prayer for the Lonely Soul, written by Emily Rose Massey,
Speaker 1: read by Leah Gerard. God sets the lonely and families.
Speaker 1: He leads out the prisoners with singing for the rebellious.
Speaker 1: Live in a sun scorched land saw I'm sixty eight six.
Speaker 1: We moved our family from Missouri to Florida exactly five
Speaker 1: years ago this summer. Aside from a sweet couple of
Speaker 1: friends who had also moved from the Midwest to the
Speaker 1: Sunshine stayed a few years prior. We knew absolutely no one.
Speaker 1: It was most definitely a leap of faith, but we
Speaker 1: trusted that the Lord had a new chapter ahead for
Speaker 1: our family, whatever that looked like. It was sad to
Speaker 1: say goodbye to our family and friends. Absolutely Still, honestly,
Speaker 1: it wasn't as difficult as some may experience. Simply because
Speaker 1: we didn't quite have the deep relationships that tethered us
Speaker 1: to the places where my husband and I grew up.
Speaker 1: Despite the familiarity of home, we struggled to find a
Speaker 1: genuine community where we lived for a long time. We
Speaker 1: got married fairly young and were the only couple in
Speaker 1: our small group of friends at church to get married,
Speaker 1: so we never seemed to fit in with those our
Speaker 1: age for many years. Then, when we became parents, it
Speaker 1: seemed the loneliness became stronger, as many of our friends
Speaker 1: were either still single or busy with their own growing families.
Speaker 1: This verse in Psalm sixty eight met me one night
Speaker 1: while I was crying out to the Lord in prayer.
Speaker 1: God sets the lonely and families. He leads out the
Speaker 1: prisoners with singing, but the rebellious live in a sun's
Speaker 1: scorched land Psalm sixty eight six. While this verse in
Speaker 1: its proper context is speaking of God's relationship with the
Speaker 1: Israelites as their father and rescuer from both Egypt and Babylon,
Speaker 1: we can glean a principle of God's character. He's a
Speaker 1: faithful father who cares for his children. He longs for
Speaker 1: his own to walk in obedience to His ways and
Speaker 1: experience the joy and love of relationship, the community and family.
Speaker 1: For those of us with that beautiful family. As believers,
Speaker 1: we should seek out those who are isolated because they
Speaker 1: may be truly suffering. We enlarge our hearts and become
Speaker 1: vulnerable with each other by God's grace to enjoy meaningful
Speaker 1: and fruitful relationships that are soul quality and one sould
Speaker 1: knit closely together with one another to be able to
Speaker 1: build intimate Christian friendships. We also learn how to go
Speaker 1: beyond surface level conversations and move into a heart to
Speaker 1: heart type of conversations. It's easy in our society to
Speaker 1: be self isolated and guarded in the name of privacy.
Speaker 1: As members of the Body of Christ and brothers and
Speaker 1: sisters in the Family of God, He's called us to
Speaker 1: be joined together. The consistent pattern in our lives should
Speaker 1: be to draw near to the Lord, to then draw
Speaker 1: near to others and grow in Christ together for our
Speaker 1: good and for His glory. As my husband and I
Speaker 1: prepared for that new season in our lives, away from
Speaker 1: all that we'd ever known, we prayed specifically that the
Speaker 1: Lord would have a loving, vibrant family of believers waiting
Speaker 1: for us in our new state. Within two months of
Speaker 1: moving to Florida, he answered that cry in abundance. I
Speaker 1: look back on all those years of great despair, loneliness,
Speaker 1: and feeling misunderstood, and I'm blown away by the gift
Speaker 1: of community the Lord's given us in these last five years.
Speaker 1: How about you? Are you currently burdened with loneliness? Cry
Speaker 1: out to God. He hears your heart's desire, even if
Speaker 1: you don't have strong biological family connections. He is your faithful,
Speaker 1: heavenly Father who's an ever present help. And if a
Speaker 1: relationship with God wasn't no blessing enough, he has a
Speaker 1: family full of brothers and sisters in Christ waiting for you.
Speaker 1: Let's run to him and ask him for help to
Speaker 1: find it, grow together in Christ and treasure the gift
Speaker 1: that it truly is. Let's pray, Heavenly Father, I'm so
Speaker 1: grateful that You've rescued me from my life of sin
Speaker 1: and rebellion and given me a new heart to love
Speaker 1: you and love others. Yes, my heart is heavy and
Speaker 1: burdened with loneliness. Sometimes it feels so difficult to find
Speaker 1: others who understand me. I admit that I'm tempted to
Speaker 1: isolate when I'm hurting. Help me to become vulnerable with
Speaker 1: others and share my burdens with them. I trust that
Speaker 1: you have a special family awaiting me who love you
Speaker 1: as I do. I long to find that kind of
Speaker 1: community of believers to be knit together with. Thank you
Speaker 1: for your faithfulness and nearness in my life. I lean
Speaker 1: upon you, and I know you hear every cry of loneliness.
Speaker 1: I trust that it will be turned into a song
Speaker 1: of joy and celebration with my family in Christ in Jesus' name. Amen.
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Speaker 1: and prayer.