Good Shepherds

Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the

Holy Spirit has made you overseers. 

Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood.

Acts 20:28-29

 I praise God for all the people in my life who have shared the gospel with me and helped me to grow in the gospel and people who showed me how to put my faith into practice.  My word of wisdom for today is shepherd.

Before I met Janet, prayer was perfunctory.  Something you did in church or before you ate or during the holidays.  When I started hanging out with Janet, the two of us would walk around the city, and would pray for the city while we walked around; or as we talked, we would stop our conversation & pray about the different things we were talking about.  For her birthday & for other special events, she invited people to her house for prayer.  She was a good role model, showing me that prayer was something you could do all the time, and it was an activity worthy enough to invite people over to do together.  She and Angela taught me the importance of praying to God rather than complaining to people.  They taught me how to be committed to prayer.  The two of them were committed to showing up to our weekly prayer group, even as others’ attendance was uneven.  They were dedicated.  Neither of them are pastors or hold official titles in the church, but God has been using them in my life, and I’m sure in other people’s lives.

Now, when I’m walking around the city (and I walk a lot), I pray.  I notice that praying lifts my mood & helps me start my day on a positive note.  Prayer is also a good way for me to get my mind off the negative.  I’m also at a point in my life where I’m learning how to take my problems directly to God, instead of looking to other people to talk to.

I wish I knew that before. __________________________________________________________________________________

The purpose of If I Knew Then What I Know Now is to share some insights that I wish someone had told me about when I was younger.  There’s a fuller explanation on my first post, written on May 14, 2012.