{"id":12770,"date":"2026-05-10T20:55:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T20:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2beencouraged.com\/blog\/?page_id=12770"},"modified":"2026-05-10T21:02:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T21:02:37","slug":"intentional-living-2-friday-may-15-2026","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/2beencouraged.com\/blog\/intentional-living-2-friday-may-15-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Intentional Living (2)\u00a0– Friday, May 15, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Likewise\u00a0the Spirit also\u00a0helpeth\u00a0our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered \u2013 Romans 8:26<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Lionel\u2019s and Nancy\u2019s ritual has been the same ever since the new neighbors\u2019 music became disturbingly loud and they refused to keep it at a respectful level. They had called the police, then said a prayer that God would remove their thorn. However, on this occasion, as the thumping sound seeped through their walls, Lionel and Nancy, who, after listening to a televised sermon \u201cChanging Hearts Through Prayer,\u201d knelt and began praying\u2014not for God to remove their thorn, but that He would work on removing the thorn in their neighbors\u2019 hearts.<\/p>\n

If some people were less annoying, then it would be easier to pray for them.\u00a0<\/em> \u00a0In other words, I was seeking conduct that was more tolerable\u2014less offensive, thereby qualifying them for inclusion in my prayers in obedience to Matthew 5:44.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve now learned the flaw in my thinking, since Jesus\u2019 instructions didn\u2019t come with stipulations. Just as there is no little or big sin, neither are there behaviors that warrant less or more consideration of prayer. Because it\u2019s the person, not the conduct, that\u2019s broken and in need of God\u2019s healing and our grace to seek it for them.<\/p>\n

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit empowers us to do\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0pleasing to God, which includes praying for our enemies. \u00a0\u00a0We need only\u00a0come with a willing\u00a0heart\u00a0to\u00a0see beyond\u00a0the wrongdoings\u00a0and see the person whose sins were included on the cross at Calvary and whose\u00a0life can be changed, as has ours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Likewise\u00a0the Spirit also\u00a0helpeth\u00a0our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered \u2013 Romans 8:26 Lionel\u2019s and Nancy\u2019s ritual has been the same ever since the new neighbors\u2019 music became disturbingly loud and they refused to keep … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Intentional Living (2)\u00a0– Friday, May 15, 2026”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12770","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/2beencouraged.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/2beencouraged.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/2beencouraged.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2beencouraged.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2beencouraged.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12770"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/2beencouraged.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12773,"href":"https:\/\/2beencouraged.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12770\/revisions\/12773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/2beencouraged.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}