What a Friend we have in Jesus Archives - Growing Through God's Word

How We Continue to Learn About Prayer

by Grace Fox (reprinted with permission)

As I write this, I’m riding in the backseat of a nine-passenger van between Timisoara (Romania) and Budapest (Hungary). Fields of corn, wheat, and sunflowers border the road. A cloudless sky and a gentle breeze go with us.

Music fills the van. One song, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” brings tears to my eyes. I’ve known these lyrics for my lifetime, but the depth of their meaning has become clear to me only in the recent past.

I’m especially comforted by knowing
Christ invites us to bring every concern to Him in prayer. (tweet this)

If I were to sum up what I’ve learned on this year’s ministry trip so far, it would be to get more serious about prayer. Several weeks ago, I asked God to teach me to pray more effectively, and He’s been bringing mini-lessons to me ever since.

The most recent mini-lesson came on the last day of our camp.

Continue to read the entire post at A Lesson About Prayer Learned at Camp.

Here is Loretta Lynn singing “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”.

Five Minute Friday – Friend

On Fridays I link to Lisa Jo Baker and take only 5 minute to write a post. Great for making me to sit and write with total freedom. Here goes:

FRIEND

“What a friend we have in Jesus” – oh I love those words. Being a friend of Jesus means the world to me. Did you ever look at the words of this song? Here they are:

What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—
Take it to the Lord in prayer;

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there. Source:

Jesus will shield us and we can find solace. (Tweet this.)

We can’t ask for any more than that. Yes we have friends here on earth and they are probably as close as we will get to true caring.

But Jesus cares even more.

Think of it – through trials, temptations, when others let you down, worries, cares, sorrow, and of course the biggest one – taking away our sins.

I know that when I feel low, down, tired, angry and anything negative I lift all my troubles to Jesus – and He lifts me up.

I haven’t heard this song for a long while. Get Done by Audio Adrenaline … a very catchy tune – rocky, but listen to the music and watch the lyrics. The song says: He lifts me up.

Jesus – a friend of mine. When I become like a child I can approach Him with an open heart.

Time is up. What do you think of when you hear the word “friend”?

Have a great weekend,

Blessings,

Janis

Linking in with Lisa-Jo Baker and Five Minute Fridays.

Time’s up. What do you think of when you think of the word JUMP?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my blog footer}
3. Go leave some comment props for the five minute artist who linked up before you {and if you love us, consider turning off word verification for the day to make it easier for folks to say howdy}

It’s a great way to catch your breath at the end of a long week.