Praying for prosperity

Darlene Smith
Rainy River Ministerial

Most people’s perception of God is that He is a God who looks down on us from a far, distant Heaven. He sees our condition, our pain, our lives but He’ll only be interested in us when its time to be disciplined. Or maybe He just doesn’t care at all.
The most popular Psalm ever memorized is the 23rd Psalm. Here we see the contradiction of the perception.
Psalm 23:1-3
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
No shepherd leads his flock from a far distant place. He is always among the sheep. He is not only aware of every sheep, but is constantly involved in every one of their lives even though they are unaware of it. He watches over them, guards them, leads them to a place where they “will not want,” or in other words, a place where they will have their needs met.
The sheep just focus on eating, romping, and doing sheep things unaware that while they are just doing the “sheep thing,” He is watching, caring, and leading them to green pastures and still waters.
John 10:11-16
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will leave the sheep because they aren’t his and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he is merely hired and has no real concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
God is not a hired hand that does not care for us or this area. He has not abandoned us. Green pastures means a place of life, a future and a hope.
Rainy River is a place beside still waters where the Shepherd has led many of us to.
On Thursday, February 23, the Rainy River Ministerial met together to pray for our community. We discussed our common concerns for the Lord’s sheep in this area. We have chosen to continue to meet regularly for God to restore hope to this community. We prayed for prosperity for the businesses and that God would restore industry to the area so that our lives and our youth would have a future and hope here.
We recognize that there is really one flock (all of us He has led here) and one shepherd (Jesus, the Shepherd of our souls).
God’s blessings to all.