“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” James Baldwin
We’ve all heard the phrase” we are living in CHANGING TIMES” and it’s true. When I was a kid growing up, things were carefree. We had innocent fun at house parties or Darby dances. We could walk or ride the bus to every part of the city and throughout Los Angeles without encountering problems but that’s not the case these days. Times are changing quickly and the direction it appears to be going is scary. We are living in a time where it seems as if people don’t have any morals or values. We are living in a time where people have little value for their own life or the lives of others. Because despite being in the middle of a pandemic, people aren’t JUST dying from Covid-19, they are dying because they are killed as a result of domestic and gun violence. The couple that was killed while at the movie theater. The two young men killed in front of the grocery store. The young man who was killed breaking up a fight at the shoe store. Or the banker who was killed in her home by a dude she was breaking off the relationSHIP with….just to mention a few. These senseless killings are unnerving and are indicative of the CHANGING TIMES that we live in. These people had families. They were parents, children, siblings, grandchildren, and because someone didn’t value their own life, they decided to end the life of another. Although I don’t know these families, I prayed for each one of them because I recognize that we are living in CHANGING TIMES. But, how are we supposed to live in and through these CHANGING TIMES? I say prayerfully. So for this week’s blog, we are NOT going to talk SHIP, we are going to PRAY that GOD helps us navigate through these CHANGING TIMES!!!
Let’s pray: Father GOD, we come thanking YOU for the privilege of being able to take our situations, worries, and concerns to YOU in prayer. Father GOD, we come asking for YOUR protection and care during this virus and during these CHANGING TIMES. We know that this violence doesn’t surprise YOU and recognize that the solution to this violence lies with YOU. We come asking that YOU release those resolutions to each of us so we can contribute to peace. Protect our families from those who are causing havoc. Remove their hate, soften their hearts, and fill it with love. Protect this country, these cities, and this world. Father GOD, take the guns off the street and let people use their voices to settle disagreements. Father GOD, stop these killings, Be our refuge. Be our strong tower. Heal those families who have lost love ones to violence. Father GOD, let the light within us shine bright throughout our lives and in our communities. Father GOD let love lead and let peace reign throughout the world. Father GOD, these things we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen!!
I may not have the answers to stop these senseless killings, but I KNOW that prayer CAN and WILL CHANGE things, people, and situations. I know that prayer is the solution to these CHANGING TIMES. So let’s continue to pray for each other. We may never go back to those carefree days that we once experienced, but prayer can and will make living through these CHANGING TIMES less stressful!!!
SHIP TALK: Do you believe that we are living in CHANGING TIMES? Do you believe that prayer changes things?
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Thank you and Amen,
TRUTH!!!
Thank you & Amen 🙏🏾
Amen!! Yes, ma’am. Thanks, Carolyn.
I believe in the power of prayer. Our Father hears and acts. I stand in agreement. I believe there is still power in the blood. God is still on the throne.
Love this blog.
Amen. Prayer is the Solution. I am going to make a concerted effort to pray for others, the city, and the country more.
Kim. My heart is heavy for this generation. You live down the street from a beautiful park. These children have to deal with stressors we couldn’t even imagine. Parents addicted to crack, when we may have known a family with a drunk parent. I mean the freedoms we had back then are unthinkable now. We have given these streets to the youth. But, we do know that PRAYER can and will allow us to leave peacefully in these Changing Times.
So much is happening that it’s difficult to keep up. The news brings one wretched story after another. We are indeed experiencing changing time and only the return of Jesus will fix them. Prayer IS the solution.
Amen, Val. Praying is all we can do in these changing times. It saddens my heart that my grandsons can’t just walk up to Darby and play or hang out with their friends or walk down to 7/11. We walked everywhere with no fear. It has to get better and only God can change these people who make the world so fearful.