Power of Prayer

Have you ever felt yourself being blanketed by peace and comfort, the heavy burdens of your heart being lightened and later learn of others praying for you? If you have never experienced this, I challenge you to share with others your burdens. Let your pride drop like muddy boots and let the prayers of others warm you.
Today was a tough day. And even the revelation of the post below this one didn't keep my head above today's grief wave. It hit hard and fast. I ran to my Heavenly Father and poured out my hurts and frustrations and disappointments in myself. Most often I feel His strength surrounding me and comforting me once I have wept like Hannah. But today that was not to be. I remained weary, weepy, and functioned on auto pilot. Experience has taught me that at times like these I need to call for reinforcements. I have several trusted prayer warriors who I turn to. And I did. As the day went on, I could feel the prayers surrounding me like a huge warm towel after a dunk in the frigid ocean. I felt the heaviness within gently be lifted. Towards evening, the Lord prompted a friend to call before she even got my message. That by itself touched my aching heart let alone the words of understanding and encouragement. A little later another friend called to set up a time for my boys to have Guy Time with her husband. She knew nothing of my difficult day or my conversation with the Lord about spending time just sitting at His feet. Now later this week the boys get a testosterone tune-up and I get a date with God. And I also had a contact from another about beginning a correspondence with a godly woman on this same journey. As I was able to look back on replies to my call for needing prayer, it was neat to look at the time various people responded. And how that corresponded with the hours I felt my heavy burden being lifted and lifted yet again. Just one of these would have been a reminder prayer is powerful. But all of them together just makes me stand amazed. So folks, don't let your pride hinder you from asking for prayer. Then prepare to be amazed. And on the flip side, know that your own prayers make a huge difference.

For Such a Time As This

You ever had one of those moments that you realize that the Lord has been weaving various elements into your life for the very purpose of the thing in front of you? I am a stong believer in Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." And I can see how many things, including my husband's death and joining a church in another town, have shaped me to be exactly who I am today, where I am today, to be the tool in my Sovereign Lord's hand for the task at hand. And as strangely as it sounds, I even whispered a thank you for the death of my beloved so I could reach out in complete understand to another whose heart is bleed so for their loved one. And I can just see my honey smiling and singing, "Viewing here the works of God I sink in contemplation, Hearing now His blessed voice I see the way He planned"

A Shelter in the Time of Storm

June has been such a whirlwind month, and now it soon will be over. But not without a couple testimonies of God's touch on our lives. We had very bad weather much too often this month. And the path of it seemed to always go over our home. The first time we received calls from family and friends who know we are not TV watchers, and alerted us to the approaching severe weather. So we camped out in the basement and read Charlotte's Web. The next time we were away from home and felt we should stop at my in-law's to check the weather before heading home. Praise the Lord because if I had just gone home I would have had tornado producing clouds over our heads. Later that night we debated whether we should head home, but ended up staying with family. Once again, glad we did! Flash flooding had occurred and I wouldn't had seen all that I needed to see. Less than a week later, after a visit with my folks, I felt we were to head into town instead of home. I got a phone call shortly there after from my sister-in-law that another severe cell with rotation was headed toward the roads I would have been on if I was going home. I knew before that God protects. But now I know that I know that I KNOW GOD protects. And I am thankful I listened to His promptings. And I wonder how many "storms" I could have avoided if I had listened better in the past.

Clinging to the Promises

Father's Day is coming. It is billboarded all over the place. I love to honor dads though it also brings a sting with it as my post shares. We were sitting in the evening church service listening to the announcements the visiting preacher read from the bulletin. He reminded us of Father's Day approaching and to invite your father to church with you on that special day. Snapp loudly whispered, "I don't have a dad!" He didn't say it with emotion, just matter-of-fact.
But the blow to me was swift and deep. Everything within me wanted to crumble. Yet God's Word is a blessing to have engrained on one's heart. Quickly, I replied. "Yes you do! You have two. Your earthly father is up in Heaven with Jesus. And your Heavenly Father is with you where ever you go!"
"Oh, yea, that's right. I forgot." Later I did crumble and the tears overflowed and once again I grieved for my wonderful husband and the father he was to the boys. Yet my young Snapp's words resounded in my head tonight. "Oh, yea, that's right. I forgot."
God's promises are sure and right and true and worthy to cling to. And I am so glad my Heavenly Father gave me the right words to correct a wrong thought. And that I have HIS WORD to back it up in Psalm 68:5. "A father to the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation."

Know a Manasseh?

I had this in the "Words of Life to me this week" section but felt the Lord saying to make it a post:

I challenge you to read 2 Chronicles 33 about Manasseh.He was a very tough king who was in deep deep sin and seemed not to be bothered by it at all. But the Lord got a hold of his heart and the turning point in his life came. He humbled himself and prayed unto the Lord. And then watch out people, he was on fire for God. Turning from his wicked ways, cleaning up the kingdom, knocking down idols, etc. It was a good reminder to me that the hardest of hearts is not impossible for God to touch. Keep praying for that seemingly hellbent, impossible soul--it just might be another Manasseh who will end up reviving the nation.

Tsunami

“Just look me in the eye,” Snipp said when I asked how to help him do his best when his Sunday School class sang in front of church. “Okay!” Snipp has always been anxious about people looking at him, so I knew this would be tough. But we’d been practicing and his teacher had song sheets to look at.

The day arrived and as he nervously went up on the platform with his small class, I smiled big and tried to catch his eye. About one line into the first song, Snipp looked up at me and the look in his eyes said, “There is a tsunami coming and I can’t stop it!!!” And in 3.5 seconds the grief wave hit. Snipp held his song sheet up in front of his face, but his shoulders shook with his sobs and we all knew of his tears. He tried to subdue them to no avail. My heart just broke and I cried with him when everything within me wanted to run to my firstborn and take his pain and fear away. I stayed in my seat and cried and prayed. It took a lot of courage for him to not run off the platform and hid. He just held the song sheet in front of his face as the grief wave tossed his emotions about. Toward the end of the last song, he clenched his fist to his side as a sign of his determination to squelch the tears and sing. Finally, it was over and as they came down, I met him at the back of church and guided him outside to hug and talk.
What had brought on this grief wave??? Was it that Daddy wasn’t here to be smiling at him from his seat? Was it because Grandpa didn’t make it because he was in the hospital? Was it because his uncle he had invited had to work instead? Was it due to nervousness that overwhelmed him?
According to Snipp, it was EVERYTHING! All the above, plus the absence of his mother praying with him ahead of time. I just held him and apologized for not doing so, and told him how sorry I was all the people he wanted to be there couldn’t. And I cried some more silently and prayed for the Lord to heal the hurts I couldn't. Finally, we were both calmed down and I walked him downstairs to Jr. Church then returned to my seat. More tears silently slid from my eyes. "Oh, Lord, I just hurt for him."

A couple hours later we were home again and as he changed into play clothes, I heard Snipp singing. Mind you, he wasn't timidly singing or just humming, but belt-it-out-with-gusto singing "HE'S ABLE! HE'S ABLE! I KNOW HE IS ABLE! I KNOW MY LORD IS ABLE TO CARRY ME THROUGH! " Now just to clarify this wasn't one of his songs he was to have sung earlier at church. But to me it was as if the Holy Spirit was rallying Snipp to remember that He will carry him through anything he faces no matter how heartbreaking or scary. And as I listened I was reminded of the rest of the song, "He heals the broken hearted, and He sets the captives free, He made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see." Oh, thank You, Jesus, You are able to carry us through.