War Room Part 3: A Compassionate Heart
Week 3: A Compassionate Heart
“You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” Luke 6:36 nlt
The word compassion is a combination of two words: Com: joined together, and Passion: to suffer. Put them together and we discover that at the root of being compassionate, it means we suffer together.
There is no doubt you and I know people who suffer under any number of reasons: poverty, abuse, racism, hunger, addictions, equality, insecurity, depression, broken relationships, and this list could go on. So here is my question: Which one breaks your heart? Which one breaks your heart enough to do something about it? This is what it means to suffer together…that we would act on behalf of those who are hurting so as to alleviate their suffering.
Often our natural instinct is to want to “save” that person, and many times we can become victims of enabling their brokenness. However, neither should we sit back and just “send them good thoughts” as if that is actually going to do anything! The Apostle James was a huge proponent of tangibly taking care of peoples needs (James 2:14-18), but James also had a nickname: Camel Knees. His earn this name for all the time he spent in prayer for the needs of his day. Being that this is a series on prayer, this is a good lesson for all of us when it comes to compassion, prayer matters. I am not advocating for only prayer as a course of action, but an essential one. So here is our heart definition…
The Compassionate Heart: The Interceding Heart
The Compassionate Hearts intercedes for the welfare of others. Time for a strategy:
Strategy 3: Intercession
Praying on the behalf of another. – Inviting God in to show you what you can do about it.