Today is my mother-in-law's birthday, number 78, and my husband/her son is visiting her overnight at her home in New Hampshire. Dear Heavenly Father, please bless her today and for the rest of her life. You know that we have been concerned about her salvation. She has raised four very responsible, mature children. She has stability, property, friendships, and the devotion of her children. She does not appear to have a relationship with You, or at least a positive one that we can see. Her ideas about You are, to say the least, idiosyncratic and not well supported by Your word. I often find it tiresome to converse with her, and even now, I find it hard to concentrate on praying for her. I am ashamed to admit that, but there it is. One of the very reasons that I started this exercise of blogging/journaling was permission to be as brutally honest as I need to be, and to be accountable about it.
So I suppose my first prayer should, and will, be this: Dear Lord, change my heart. Give me a deep love for and appreciation of my mother in law. Happy Birthday to her, dear Savior, and please let this year be the year that You break through to her heart and touch her with saving love. It would be wonderful if her younger son could be the one to talk to her about You and maybe even pray with her.... :) I do ask this in Your precious and powerful name, Jesus! Amen.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
My Oldest Nephew
Lord, I am becoming attached to writing my prayers. I tell people that I will pray for them, and sometimes I remember and sometimes.... Yesterday, when my mother called with concern for my oldest nephew, I recommended prayer. Then, when I called her two hours later, she was convinced that I had prayed because 1) she had a "coincidental" phone conversation with him in his role as police/fire dispatcher (they were burning brush) and 2) she felt so much better. I suspect that she prayed, but even if she did not, You are not limited by our praying...or not praying. This is not to say that praying is unnecessary! Rather, it is to say that Your interventions--thank You!--do not get turned on by our setting aside time to pray.
Joe
That being said, I still want to ask for Your intervention in my oldest nephew's life. He may, indeed, have a mood disorder. He almost certainly has some emotional issues related to his parents' behaviors in his life. God, You are his perfect Father. Please step in and do something to cause him to consider what he is doing and how he is acting. He has a lovely wife and two great boys. He also doesn't have great examples of parenting, and especially fathering. Bless him, if with a gentle kick in the pants, please? In Your name and for the sake of Your work in his life, AMEN.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Busted Halo's Challenge
FAST from trying to control everything today.
PRAY for the willingness to let the Spirit of God lead your life.
GIVE some of the time you normally would have used trying to figure out how to control things (at least a half hour), to a task that is helpful to others.
Hi, God. It's me again. I am having a hard time concentrating at the moment, and to combat this, I decided to take just a few minutes to "pray" here.
I like the challenge today! Spirit of God, I am willing to let You lead my life. I just digressed over to The Shack and Sarayu, and was sadly again reminded of too many divisions and arguments. I choose, however, to see the truths--that the Holy Spirit is hard to--no, impossible to--capture in mere human words, that the Holy Spirit's work in my messy garden of life is at the same time beautiful, that the Holy Spirit defies my understanding. So, I am willing, Holy Spirit, to let You do what You want to and need to do in my life.
PRAY for the willingness to let the Spirit of God lead your life.
GIVE some of the time you normally would have used trying to figure out how to control things (at least a half hour), to a task that is helpful to others.
Hi, God. It's me again. I am having a hard time concentrating at the moment, and to combat this, I decided to take just a few minutes to "pray" here.
I like the challenge today! Spirit of God, I am willing to let You lead my life. I just digressed over to The Shack and Sarayu, and was sadly again reminded of too many divisions and arguments. I choose, however, to see the truths--that the Holy Spirit is hard to--no, impossible to--capture in mere human words, that the Holy Spirit's work in my messy garden of life is at the same time beautiful, that the Holy Spirit defies my understanding. So, I am willing, Holy Spirit, to let You do what You want to and need to do in my life.
Prayer for a Mother
Dear Heavenly Father, this is a quick prayer requested by my co-worker Peter on behalf of another co-worker Linda. Her heart is broken because custody of her grandson has been taken away from the boy's mother--Linda's daughter--and given to the father. The reason is (reportedly) drug use/abuse by the little guy's mom.
So, what do I pray? What do we need to ask You to do in this situation? Father, You are the perfect parent. We are not perfect parents. First, then, I suppose we want protection for Nathan, the grandson. He's young and vulnerable and is being bounced around from one place and one parent to the other. Father, give him a sense of security and a shield of resilience. No matter where he is, let his little heart know that he is loved deeply.
Then I imagine that we need to pray for Nicky and her drug use. It is costing her! Father, You discipline those whom You love, and discipline is by definition painful enough to deter us from undesirable sins. Father, speak to Nicky's heart. Please be loud enough that she will hear You through her hurt and dismay. Her response is up to her.
Finally, comfort Linda. She is very likely torn by her loyalty to her own daughter and her love for her grandson. Comfort her. Reveal to her that You are still in control, that You are protecting Nathan and disciplining Nicky. Speak to her heart, too, and encourage her to trust You.
In Jesus' name and for the sake of the work of the Holy Spirit in this situation...Amen.
So, what do I pray? What do we need to ask You to do in this situation? Father, You are the perfect parent. We are not perfect parents. First, then, I suppose we want protection for Nathan, the grandson. He's young and vulnerable and is being bounced around from one place and one parent to the other. Father, give him a sense of security and a shield of resilience. No matter where he is, let his little heart know that he is loved deeply.
Then I imagine that we need to pray for Nicky and her drug use. It is costing her! Father, You discipline those whom You love, and discipline is by definition painful enough to deter us from undesirable sins. Father, speak to Nicky's heart. Please be loud enough that she will hear You through her hurt and dismay. Her response is up to her.
Finally, comfort Linda. She is very likely torn by her loyalty to her own daughter and her love for her grandson. Comfort her. Reveal to her that You are still in control, that You are protecting Nathan and disciplining Nicky. Speak to her heart, too, and encourage her to trust You.
In Jesus' name and for the sake of the work of the Holy Spirit in this situation...Amen.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Pestering God
Lord, it's 8:07 p.m. There is a mess in the basement that requires my attention since we are having a guest of Amy's down there tomorrow. However----
Luke 11, which I read this morning (very early this morning, like midnight to 1 a.m.), gives the example of the pestering neighbor who gets a response by being a pest. But how much more is our good and loving Father willing to give us what we ask!! So I ask for my Maine relatives. Please, please, dear heavenly God, bless them and specifically may I ask for a job for Tom? It would help Tom, of course, and it would also help Donna, whose blood pressure is too high. Of course it would help Becca, their daughter, whom they are sending to a Christian school (which means tuition). Please?
I await Your response, Lord.
(And thank You that Julie is on her way home for Easter!!!!!)
End 8:11 p.m.
Luke 11, which I read this morning (very early this morning, like midnight to 1 a.m.), gives the example of the pestering neighbor who gets a response by being a pest. But how much more is our good and loving Father willing to give us what we ask!! So I ask for my Maine relatives. Please, please, dear heavenly God, bless them and specifically may I ask for a job for Tom? It would help Tom, of course, and it would also help Donna, whose blood pressure is too high. Of course it would help Becca, their daughter, whom they are sending to a Christian school (which means tuition). Please?
I await Your response, Lord.
(And thank You that Julie is on her way home for Easter!!!!!)
End 8:11 p.m.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
My Buddy Holland
Quick prayer for the financial support for my buddy Holland's Habitat for Humanity trip this summer: Lord, it seems that he is NOT getting the money that he needs to take this adventure. Is there a reason that You are withholding the money? Has Holland heard Your direction correctly? I guess, dear Heavenly Savior, that I am asking for clarification for him. Please either release the flow of financial generosity from Your people and the other sources of money for him OR make louder Your voice of direction in his life. Of course, if he is choosing to listen to other things, he may still have trouble hearing You. In that event, take away all the distractions so that he catches Your still, small voice. For Jesus's sake, amen!
My Maine Family
Lord Father, I'm home this Sunday morning at 10:22 a.m. because I have a HUGE stye on my left eye. This is the other eye from the one with a stye the week of March (college) break, and it's sorer and more swollen. Should I ask for healing for it? I am slightly glad of it since I get to spend some additional time with You.
I promised Donna that I would pray, and this is one good way to ensure that I deep my promise. Father, You promise to provide for all our needs. You command fathers to provide for their families. 1 Timothy 5:8 says, "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." God, one could argue that Tom and Donna are "providing" for Uncle Tom and Connie by being in Maine. Now, please, give Tom a responsible and respectable job so that he can provide for his own household. He is willing to work. He does have some limitations (is he a high-school dropout?), but his strengths and his industriousness more than compensate for them. Lord Father, Donna is trying hard (that's a topic all by itself--trying!) to be faithful and obedient and submissive. Please bless them majorly in this next week with good news about a job for Tom. Even more than that, please bless them with the good news that You are listening and responding. Build their faith! Reward them for their attempts to do what they believe You have led them to do. For the sake of Jesus's name, AMEN.
I promised Donna that I would pray, and this is one good way to ensure that I deep my promise. Father, You promise to provide for all our needs. You command fathers to provide for their families. 1 Timothy 5:8 says, "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." God, one could argue that Tom and Donna are "providing" for Uncle Tom and Connie by being in Maine. Now, please, give Tom a responsible and respectable job so that he can provide for his own household. He is willing to work. He does have some limitations (is he a high-school dropout?), but his strengths and his industriousness more than compensate for them. Lord Father, Donna is trying hard (that's a topic all by itself--trying!) to be faithful and obedient and submissive. Please bless them majorly in this next week with good news about a job for Tom. Even more than that, please bless them with the good news that You are listening and responding. Build their faith! Reward them for their attempts to do what they believe You have led them to do. For the sake of Jesus's name, AMEN.
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