Homebound? You CAN Still Serve The Lord!

"And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.  Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary."
1 Corinthians 12:21-22

I am mostly homebound due to my chronic illness.

Oh, how I shudder at that word.  

Homebound  

Whenever I speak that word I feel a shroud of deep loneliness fall over me.

The word drips with despair, defeat and depression.

I never thought that word would EVER become part of my life.  But then again, why would I ever think that I would be immune to such a thing?

I’m not totally homebound for which I’m very thankful. 

Brian and I are fortunate and very grateful we can still go out on our special truck dates which we have come to cherish and treasure!  

We also get to church whenever I feel up to it and even at times when I’m not really feeling too well!

If I allow the thought of being homebound fill up my mind and consume my thoughts, I will quickly fall into a very deep state of self-pity and discouragement. 

But I'm so VERY THANKFUL that the Lord provides me with plenty of opportunities to serve Him right from the comforts of my home, and today I’d like to share one of those opportunities with all of you!  

This particular opportunity is new to me and I’m SO EXCITED about it!

This is for ALL CHRISTIANS because EVERYONE who knows Christ as their personal Saviour can do this!

It takes no special training!

It does not require a Bible degree or any amount of Bible teaching!

You do not need to exert any physical activity! 

You do not need to get up in front of a bunch of people and speak a single word!

You can accomplish this task right from the comforts of your very own home.  In fact I usually do this in my jammies when I'm snuggled up comfy and cozy in my bed right before I'm ready to doze off!

What it DOES require is some of your time and your commitment!

So have I peaked your interest yet?

Have you figured out what this opportunity to serve the Lord is?

Of course it's praying!

But it's not praying for just "any old body!"

It's a great opportunity to actually pray for your neighbors BY NAME! 

I learned about this amazing website while scrolling through facebook one day! 

After I decided to check it out for myself, the first thing I did was read their statement of faith, and I was more than happy to read they believe the same things I do!  Well, let me rephrase that, they follow EXACTLY what the Bible teaches!

After roaming around the site, I decided to give it try, and I was NOT disappointed whatsoever!! 

I absolutely LOVE the website!  

After I signed up (free of charge!), they generated a prayer list for me which included, not only the people who live on the same street which I live on, but also neighbors who live on the three and four streets surrounding my house!  

The website emails me five names per day and those are the neighbors whom I pray for on that particular day.  They include names, addresses and the languages which each neighbor speaks.

The website includes a small map of my neighborhood.  Each house has a tiny red dot by it, and as I pray for a particular neighbor their dot turns green!  It's way cool!  Wait, does any one even use the word "cool" anymore???  

Anyway, seeing all the green dots is by no means a "bragging thing", it's meant to be an "encouraging thing!"  It helps me to see how the Lord is allowing me to be used for His Kingdom.  Praise God!  

And when I see the remaining red dots, it's a great encouragement to keep on praying for my neighbors!

It may seem awkward at first to pray for people whom you may not know anything about.  I remind myself that I may not know them, but God is their Creator and He so longs for His Son to be their Saviour.  He knows everything about their lives and as I pray, I ask the Lord to "fill in the gaps" which I am missing as I pray!

The website even provides prayer prompts to help "jump start" your prayers!

Written below is a testimony from off the website of a lady who has been faithfully praying for her neighbors.

"We love to hear from praying neighbors!

Kitty shares:

I have prayed through my neighborhood now six times.  After the fifth time, I followed up with a card to each household, telling them that I was praying for them and invited anyone who'd like to come by and chat.

Since then, my husband and I both had opportunities to listen to and show love to our neighbors.  Many of them shared troubles with us.  We encouraged them with friendship and scripture, and even prayed together.

I am starting my seventh round tomorrow!  And after the tenth time, I will follow-up with another card, telling my neighbors that my husband and I continue to pray for them, invite them to our home, and to worship Jesus with us at our church."

Isn't that a fabulous testimony of praying for your neighbors?

It's highly unlikely that I will see results from my prayers until I get to Heaven.  But that's okay.  I can wait!!  

“For we walk by faith, not by sight”
II Corinthians 5:7

Some may think praying for others whom you don't know is irrelevant and worthless.  A huge waste of time.  Not me!  I totally believe with all my heart that my neighbors are more than worthy of my time, my prayers, my commitment.  I truly see it as an honor.

I'm a living, breathing example of what the power of praying people whom you've never met can accomplish.

For years, I had an entire church full of believers praying for me to come to trust Christ as my Saviour.  I had no earthly idea they were praying for me, and to be honest, at that time in my life, I could have cared less!  And I certainly didn't know any of them, except for my in-laws, and that was fine with me, as well.  But praise the Lord they didn't give up praying for me until the day I prayed and asked Jesus Christ to be my Saviour!

If you are interested in signing up to pray for your neighbors or just want to check out the site, click on the link listed below and it will take you directly to the website.

http://www.pray4everyhome.com

For my foreign friends, at this time the website can only be utilized in the United States.  But maybe one day it will be available for use around the world, which would be AMAZING!

If you're like me and can't get out of your house to actually tell others about Jesus, we can be the ones who plant the seeds, and then pray as others come along and water those seeds, as we give God ALL the glory as He gives the increase!

"I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase."
I Corinthians 3:6

Like the song says,
People NEED
The Lord.
Our neighbors
NEED The Lord.
ALL people
NEED The Lord.

 

---

If you have been helped by this post and think it could be helpful to someone you know, please share this post on the social network of your choice for me.

All you have to do is click one of the buttons below.

May God Bless You,

Barb