Dear Ones,
As it is the beginning of Memorial weekend, let us not forget to honor and remember those that have sacrificed their lives for our country!  Today it is only 36 degrees out but the sun is shining! I am writing early as we are going to take a friend to the hospital this morning for a test, then to Costco to pick up a Birthday cake and then have a Birthday Party here to celebrate the May birthdays.  
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Are there times we don’t feel like praying or cannot find the words to pray? Maybe the enemy puts obstacles in our way and tries to tell us that another time would be better as we aren’t in the mood right now etc. But if we keep putting it off, soon we seem to grow lazy and cold spiritually and no longer have a desire to pray.  When we studied about prayer in our Bible Study, we talked about barriers to prayer such as anger, pride, busyness, brokenness, disobedience etc. Those things become obstacles in our prayer lives. Maybe we have done things that we know are wrong or habits we need to give up but we are ashamed to come before Him. Praise God we have an advocate, a helper, who is the Holy Spirit and will come to our rescue. He intercedes for us as it says in Romans 8:26-28 (The Message), “God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God.” The Holy Spirit knows us and will nudge us and help us, even though we don’t have the words. How often do we pray the Lord’s prayer and call God our Father?  When we do, we can be assured that we can come to Him any time, anywhere and He will hear and answer us.  He may not always answer us in the way we would like and the enemy may whisper to us that God doesn’t care or He is punishing us etc. But let us not believe his lies and instead firmly trust the Lord, accepting whatever answer He gives us.                                                                                            
Challenge for today: Pray the Lord’s prayer slowly and with faith and meaning.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy