I Heard the Bells ...

I used this prayer blog in May 2007 as a way of getting myself back into the spirit of prayer, back into trusting God. Oh... how I wander! The blog did what it needed to do, I had a lovely, intense three month prayer experiment, got myself back spiritually to where I thought I could continue, got called to teach Sunday School for the adults in my ward... and then backslid!

Now, by "backslid", I don't mean I did anything horrible! I just got so discouraged by family and financial battles that I quit staying close to God through my prayers and scripture study. You'd think I'd hold fast to knowing that He cares, but...

I knew that music would start to soften my heart again. Look at my post on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Christmas hymn, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", and you'll see how God continues to reach out to me.

So I guess I'm going to have to rev up this prayer blog, again. Life is hard. It's hard for believers and non-believers, alike. It's hard even if you have good health and a good job. If you care about people, then you get pulled into their troubles.

For my sake, the Lord keeps me close to trouble, so I won't get all proud on Him and wander..l because that's what I'm prone to do!

The New Life and YWAM Shootings

I woke up to news of the first Colorado shooting in Arvada. It was close to home, so to speak, since I live in the Denver metro area. As I taught Sunday School later in the day at my own church, I asked the person who said the prayer to remember the victims and their families of the Youth with a Mission shooting. Later, of course, we learned that there was a second shooting in Colorado Springs.

I haven't posted in this prayer blog for several months. Life. I've been through some of my own intensities and pressures and trials, and the blog did what it needed to do for me... get me back into prayer and trusting God again. So I quit posting in it.

But this morning, with a delayed start at work and new snow falling, I felt like taking the time to include the people involved in these tragedies in my prayers, and of writing about it. I guess it's sort of a response to what was just on the news that this young man, Matthew Murray, had posted hateful and violent posts on an anti-Christian forum. He was so full of hate.

He is not the only one. As I have read news articles on forums where reader comments are allowed, it's clear that there are immature and hateful people everywhere. Their comments are so snide, even to one another, even about the heroic security guard who shot the young man, even about the victims.

If I could step back and look at all of this, I feel like I would see Satan laughing in glee at the mayhem that he causes, even delighting that he has such influence that people quickly become mean and spiteful and petty and judgmental as they talk about it. There were people bitterly asking, where was God for all those people who were killed? What do they think about God now? And, I guess the Christians at New Life don't believe God will protect them because they clearly believed more in guns and had armed guards there.

They reminded me so much of the centurions who mocked the Savior as He hung on the cross.

There is so little understanding of God in the world, and of the nature of this life, and how hard it is and how much there is to overcome. This earthly existence is like a war zone. If you think of it that way, you realize that we have come into it at soldiers, and as such, we expect to get bloodied and bruised throughout our mortal journey. We don't make it through life on our own, we help and lift others and hope that, when we are too weak, someone will help and lift us.

People wonder if there even is a God and why He doesn't intervene. Well, we see what life is like with people who do not allow God to influence them. There MUST be a God because we are not left in that kind of misery and hell. He DOES intervene, as seen with the female security guard who was in the right place at the right time. And instead of leaping gleefully about taking out a bad guy, she genuinely expresses her compassion for his family. THAT is how I am reminded that God lives and that there are people who allow Him to touch their lives.

Very few people ever see my little posts on this blog, it's more for my personal journey and to occasionally share with a friend or with my sister. But I did want to write something filled with testimony and love, this morning.

I don't doubt that this young shooter, Matthew Murray, was mentally ill and I feel so bad for his family. Yes, I feel for his victims and for all those caught up in the fearful events and they will continue in my prayers for a long time. But let me pray first for this young man.

My brother works as a therapist in a men's prison and also works with troubled young sex offenders in a different facility. He is an amazing brother, by the way, a wonderful father, himself. A devoted son and a very caring brother. I visited with him Sunday evening, not necessarily about these shootings but about his work, his safety, and how he was doing, and of course, about his own young family. He had called to see how I was doing, which really touched me. You just realize that not everyone gets this kind of love and acceptance and support. Our society is collecting huge, huge problems and you wonder how it will ever end, what could ever be done? I told him I was proud of him, of the work that he is doing to give these young boys a chance to heal and grow before it's too late. What a difficult task but what a Godly mission.

It's all about the family, but it seems to me that it goes even beyond that. To where, I do not know.

My own childhood was full of despair. My mother was mentally ill but no one recognized it. My parents divorced when I was 16 and by the time I was 19, my mother was a homeless person. I raised my younger brothers off and on for 10 years, looked for our mother, looked after her when we would find her. Somehow, we all turned out all right, even to getting my mother off the street and having her with us for seven years before she died.

My brothers and sister are wonderful people, not without crushing burdens and challenges but with a certain compassion and strength and integrity and a witness of God's love. Two of my brothers and my sister served full-time missions for my church. Three of us have advanced college degrees or post-graduate work. We are not all "active" in our faith and church involvement but we are all believers. We look after each other and serve in our communities. It's only by the grace of God that we overcame some of our challenges and maintained our faith.

I don't know how one would deal with a mental illness that is full of violence and hatred such as what Matthew Murray must have suffered, and there is much that we will never know about this family. So much has happened to me in my own life, I simply would not want to judge. Who knows the burdens they have carried?

The pastor at New Life Church said something that struck me. I won't quote it directly, I'll paraphrase it with my own understanding. He said that oftentimes, when this happens in a church family, people outside think that it's because they are doing something WRONG. The opposite is true. Whenever people are laboring effectively for God, they come under attack spiritually.

All of those beautiful people who were shot or who were killed... they were full of joy and service to God. To any who wonder why this was allowed to happen, you must understand that we live in a fallen world. We know that we are engaged in battle with enemy. Ephesians 6 beginning at verse 11 says that we put on the whole armor of God and that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness. It calls us, among other things, to let our feet be shod with the gospel of peace.

I pray for the family of this young man who was so sick and so lost, that they will be as surrounded by love and support as the families of the victims.

I pray for the families of those who died, that they will enjoy the companionship of the Comforter that the Savior said He would leave with us. May they be lifted and comforted and nurtured and cherished through their journey of sorrow.

I pray for those who were caught up in the mayhem, who are shaken and frightened, that they, too, will not be forgotten by their families and friends and church brothers and sisters.

I pray for the young woman who shot Matthew Murray. She has great faith but I am sure sorrow will sink in as she thinks of what happened. She knows that God was with her and that she did what was the only thing that could be done, but I pray for her, as well, in the coming days. She will need much strength and much love and much insight. What a wonderful testimony she shared in her news conferences. She was clearly following the Holy Spirit on that day to "stand in the gap" and be what the Lord needed her to be.

And I pray for our society, for all of those lost and angry people who post on the forums their messages of criticism and violence and hate. I pray that their hearts and minds will be prepared for the message of the gospel of peace.

I am not the greatest Christian. I struggle all the time. I was given an assignment to teach the New Testament to our adult class and that assignment is not for them, it is for me. It's for my benefit, so that I can keep myself in the Lord's word and hear what He has for me. The message that I just taught, this last Sunday, was from Revelation 2 and 3. It is all the blessings that come to those who overcome the world.

It reminded me that there is much to overcome and we are not left to do it alone. We are children of a wondrous Father in Heaven and His plan is to have us return and sit on His throne. We don't do that without having learned to be compassionate, patient, kind, loving, charitable, and valiant, firm in the faith, dependable even during our own personal hard times, always willing to seek His will, no matter how difficult it might be.

Peace to you.

Cambodian woman rescues children from sex trade

I've had an amazing month which I will have to journal about, but this post is me getting back to my prayer blog.

Somaly Mam is a former child sex slave who has dedicated her life to helping women and girls get out of the sex trade in Cambodia. Prostitution is illegal in Cambodia, however, corrupted officials turn a blind eye and even threaten her.

Her story is told in the Heros section of CNN
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/specials/2007/06/29/heroes.somaly.man.pt1.cnn

I mentioned in earlier posts that I felt like my prayers should expand a bit. For the last two weeks, I have been praying for great intervention against those who exploit and abuse and kidnap and enslave children... that they would be found and stopped and that the children would be rescued and saved.

And so when I read about courageous people like Somaly Mam, I lift them up in prayer and praise God and ask Him to bless and protect their efforts.

I've really had the most amazing journey for the last month. One tiny piece of it is a growing awareness of intercessory prayer. I happened to hear a lecture a few weeks ago about those prayer experiments on behalf of heart patients. Well, even in double and triple blind studies, science is documenting incredible results when one group of people prays for another.

I am just one person. My prayers are not all day long prayers, they are my prayers in the morning and in the evening. But I am making a very special effort to pray on behalf of a handful of global problems and child exploitation is Number One on my list. Because my prayer journey is really all about me trying to get back on the same page with God, I think that child exploitation is Number One on His list, too.

And He is surely guiding other people to pray and to act.

So my prayers are not alone. As I lift my voice to pray on behalf of abused and kidnapped children everywhere, others are praying and still more are effectively working, like Somaly Mam.

Father, how wonderful to read about Somaly Mam. Thank you so much for blessing her efforts to save the children and women of Cambodia. I just lift my voice heavenward for the same cause, to free women and children from cruelty and sexual slavery in Cambodia, and indeed, wherever in the world it is found.

May the criminals who conduct and tolerate this behavior be brought to light and their sins shouted from the rooftops. May they be exposed and crushed.

May law enforcement fight swiftly and effectively to find and stop these criminals and put them away for the rest of their lives so that they may never harm another woman or child... or even men, for that matter, because I'm sure they find all sorts of way to exploit.

Wilt thou help us to stop pornography and the ills that lead to exploiting children.

And wilt thou lift and bless and strengthen Somaly Mam and send her all the resources that she needs. If I could help her in real life or through my pocketbook, I would.

Praise God, in Jesus Name.

Police Smash Global Pedophile Ring

My prayers have been expanding... Why should I pray for one lost child when hundreds disappear every day? So I have been praying for children all over the world to be found and for their abusers to be stopped cold.

This answer to prayer, of course, has *nothing* to do with my little prayers, but I was gratified to see this story in the Washington Post today: Police Smash Global Pedophile Ring, Nab 700.

At least 31 children were rescued and this operation continues all over the world and is ongoing within the United States.

Some of my friends at work, a few weeks ago, asked me where is God, why does He permit children to suffer? They were speaking of devastating illnesses but we can include child exploitation and abuse in it.

My answer is the same. God is wondering why WE permit it. I asked my friends... How much of your time in the last year did you dedicate to a child's welfare cause? (Zero) Did you volunteer in a hospital or with a church youth group? (No) How about your money, did you make a donation that could make a difference? (Hmmm)

Something I've learned about God. He gave us this world, told us to take care of it. He doesn't very often intervene if WE don't care enough to intervene.

Look at child sexual exploitation. Are we willing to take a stand against pornography of any kind, of all kinds? Naw. Too many of our society want to have the "right" to view pornography and to engage in all kinds of selfish sexual behaviors. Well, you can't promote and build and sustain one type of bad thing without promoting and sustaining its bedfellows.

The very first time a child was abused, millenia ago, I wonder how people reacted when they found out. And the next time, and the next. You see, it didn't just begin in our generation or in our country.

Somewhere, we turned a blind eye to it, got used to it, tolerated it. We got sold a pack of lies about things that weren't quite so bad as child abuse, or that come along with it quite innocently, and we got to embracing some of THOSE things.

Take Thailand, for example. Gorgeous country, beautiful culture and people. Horrific exploitation of children by a few. Law enforcement and government officials reportedly taking bribes to look the other way.

I have friends who visit Thailand on vacation. Why? Because it's so beautiful. But they say that business travelers are a huge reason why child prostitution continues. You go to a public bathroom and people try to sell you a few minutes with a child. So... as travelers, as a world community, can't we make our influence felt and insist that child prostitution and child sex slavery stop in Thailand, or we will never purchase there again, never visit there again?

Here's a simple one. Would we be willing to pray every day for the Lord to expose evil, expose the pedophiles, take down the porn sites, and help us find and rescue these poor children? Whether or not you believed in God, on the CHANCE that it might save one child, would you be willing to pray every day for a month for God to shake His mighty arm at these abusers and stop them dead in their tracks?

Do you see? We apparently don't REALLY care that children are suffering like this. We put the whole burden on God and wonder why HE doesn't do something.

I think He is wondering where OUR priorities are.

The cares I am casting today...

These are personal...

My niece Alex, who wants to move back in with her aunt and dad and try to get away from trouble at home and at school.

• Praise God. She was, indeed, able to move in with her aunt (my sister) and dad (my brother). She is doing well in school since another brother lives in the town and his kids are good kids and quite popular.

My brother, for his employment and his need to succeed over his legal and financial troubles

• Praise God. He has been on the same contract assignment for several months and he was able to get insurance. He was also about to get a workout deal on his mortgage so his home is no longer in foreclosure. There are still vast health concerns for his wife so I continue to pray mightily for them.

My team, especially for Matt, that they will be lifted and encouraged and willing to "fight the good fight", and for Mark, that he might be aware of his flaws and work to fix them before they cost him his job, and for our new manager, Vicki, that she might immediately see her role as a leader.

• Praise God. We are doing all right. We won our new contract. It is now January 2008 and we are enjoying the camaraderie of a team "fat off" (diet contest). We resumed our happy hours together at a Chili's restaurant yesterday, after a few weeks "off" due to the holidays. On this new contract, we are moving into a new building and that will take place in early February. Work is still very tough, we are very stressed. As the technical manager, I am trying to manage workflow and help prevent problems and I always ask God to help me in that. But a change is as good as a rest and I'm grateful.

For my sister, always, that she will be protected and lifted and able overcome. Oh, she is faithful!

For my middle brother, that he will have joy in his life

For my little brother, that he will be protected in his travels and in his job, especially, especially in his job, and that his family will be cared for

For my friend Patti, that her husband will continue to get well and to be able to help more with financial and household responsibilities, and that she will have many opportunities to take photographs and earn enough to support her seven children. What a great heart she has, how I love her and pray for her!

• Praise God. Her husband is quite ill, more bad days than good, but there are major changes in the family dynamic, more of the kids helping. Patti has her own studio and gets frequent photography jobs. I have enjoyed a monthly breakfast with her, early on an occasional Saturday morning, before the family is up and about. It makes me feel good that a friend with seven kids has time for me, someone who is single! And she enjoys visiting with me -- we used to work together in Relief Society.

For Starla, for continued healing of her cancer and relief of her pain, and praise for giving her hope. Please help her to continue to earn a little extra money so that she has enough for co-pays.

For myself, for success and protection and victory on this tough, tough day [court]. It's a big care and it's a problem of my own doing. Please forgive me and help me to come to a workable conclusion.

• Praise God. It has been too long since I updated. Court was no big deal at all and yes, I found the documents I needed, much worry about nothing. I made a reasonable payment arrangement and as of this writing, that debt is entirely paid off. My finances are still overcommitted but after a while, you outlast all the debtors and come out the victor. No foreclosure, no bankruptcy. It's all getting done. House is out of mortgage trouble, IRS has a workout deal. It will yet be several months (after eight years) of tight finances but the end is in sight.

And thank you for a neighbor who cut my fallen tree limb and bundled them, and for showing me how to use plumbers tape and work with my washing machine line. Please help me to get it working and to fix the bathtub and the kitchen sink, too, and to find a good way to repay my neighbor.

• Praise God for this neighbor. I have been shoveling their walks for them during snow season by way of repayment for helping with my fallen tree limbs and then the fall leaves.

For Sheila, help her to find security and happiness in her employment.

• See my later prayer experiment. She has turned in notice at her job and things are changing, hopefully for the better.

For Corrie, for her protection. Help me to be alert to her needs.

And just help me to find the documents I need this morning.

Thank you!

Casting All Your Cares

Casing all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7

From Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God Day By Day Devotional.

As you've no doubt discovered, becoming a Christian does no make your problems go away. But it does give you an Advocate to whom you can take every concern... God does not differentiate between problems we can handle on our own and God-sized needs. He asks us to turn them all over to Him.

God Bless America

I was down a few days ago because of the sad endings to some of the situations over which I had been praying.  I am on a parallel spiritual journey of my own, and praying for others is helping me to find my own way through my personal concerns.

 

I haven't been so good at prayer... or reading my scriptures...

 

But I have frequently used Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God Day by Day devotional journal to sort of get me back on track.  Many times, I have tape recorded the devotional reading and then added whatever my journal for that day would have been.  Then I can listen to it during those times when I don't feel like reading.

 

I pulled it out last night and this morning to see if I could find something that would "breathe on me".  I bought some AAA batteries and reloaded my digital voice recorder.  It contained my journal entries from June and July of last year, and November and December. 

 

What a blessing it was to listen to those entries again.  They told of the story of the Children of Israel wandering in the desert for 40 years.  God wanted to create in them a heart willing to listen to Him, ready to act on His word and to do His bidding.  He wanted to help cleanse them of rebellion and criticism and hard-heartedness and help them become, truly, His own children, his Chosen people.

 

And that seems to be what hardship can do for us, IF we seek God's hand to shelter and lift and guide us through it.

 

At the end of their wandering, the Children of Israel had to defeat giants before they could rest in the Promised Land.  They were so mighty and victorious that their enemies KNEW that God was with them.

 

I think that is what God would like to create in me... a heart that no longer struggles and resists, one that is pure and devoted and doesn't rebel or doubt. 

 

I searched online today to see if there was a Blackaby journal online, and I stumbled across a marvelous website where they give these daily devotionals to military members for free. 

 

http://www.ndptf.org/military/

 

We believe when people are placing their lives daily in the face of danger that we need to do all we can to bring them assurance that God is watching over them and that they can have courage and peace in their difficult circumstances.

Blackaby Ministries International is proud to stand with the National Day of Prayer in support of the brave men and women serving our nation at home and overseas. Join us as we pray for America's armed forces and the families who stand behind them.
 

So this is one little thing that I can continue to do, to lift my voice in prayer for the protection and encouragement and support of our troops all over the world, but especially for those who are directly in harm's way.  I know that they serve with honor and try to do their best to protect the innocent and the victims and to serve our country.

 

Father, thank you for reminding me that my small, solitary voice is still heard.  Thank you for bringing so much of beauty and peace into the hearts of those who serve in battle.  Thank you for making spiritual readings like Bibles and devotionals available to them.  For many, this is their first chance to know Thee. 

 

We do not fight earthly battles.  We fight "spiritual darkness in high places" and the battle is much bigger than just for Iraq or Afghanistan or any of the other places of war.  Our prayers serve not only to lift our soldiers but to put our own hearts and minds in tune with Thy will, and to bring us into Thy presence.

 

Thank you for leading me to pray for others.  It is helping me to overcome my own wounds and defenses and become one with Thee again.  I praise Thy holy name, in the name of Thy Beloved Son.  Amen.

 

 

Amazing Grace...

Sometimes, we just need to be reminded...

The story of Amazing Grace



An interview with Ioan Gruffud, the actor who portrayed William Wilberforce in the film, Amazing Grace



Music Video to the movie
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Kelsey has been found but it's a sad ending

I'm very sad to report that Kelsey has been found. Police tracked her cell phone signal and found her body across the state line about 15 miles from where she was abducted. My guess is that she was killed within a short time after she was taken.

I am grateful that this discovery puts an end to one part of the nightmare, and I will now pray that her abductor be found quickly. I was surprised at the video trail and the cell phone trail. It was a blessing that so many people tried to reach her so that her phone could be tracked. I hope that in the future, the police can jump on that technology quickly... although she was likely already dead by the time she was reported missing.

Father, I'm sad beyond words. In the past, I have kept a prayer journal as I have prayed for people within my stewardship or my family or my friends or co-workers. That prayer journal was so full of hope and prayers answered in the most amazing ways.

This journal shows what a wicked and decaying world we live in, how much evil is out there. I believe -- I believe in Jesus Christ -- I believe He is the Savior of the world. Perhaps with these sad, sad circumstances, my prayers will expand to plead for evil to be exposed and eradicated and for the Savior to hasten His return...

Please be with Kelsey's grieving friends and family and lift them up, carry them through, help them never to lose faith. Thank you for letting her be found today. May there yet be some good to come out of this.

Please find the person who did this, quickly, and let him be brought to justice. Let someone step forward who recognizes him, knows the truck, and let there be enough evidence to quickly convict him. Please teach us, Father, as law-abiding communities, how to contain and punish sex offenders so that our children and our daughters and our sisters and mothers and our little boys and young men and fathers and all others may live in peace and safety.

I know Your mighty heart is broken, too. I love you and thank you for the blessings of this day,

Teresa

6/7/07 Just noting that the suspect has been arrested. He is being held on a $5 million dollar bond. The blessing is that he was found quickly. I hope that law enforcement agencies continue to share the techniques that enabled them to find her so quickly and to capture her assailant. Perhaps in malls and parking lots, someone needs to actually be looking at those cameras so they can intervene.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/07/missing.teen/index.html

For someone special that I know

Father, I'm so grateful for Thy tender mercies towards those I love.  So many have struggled with job loss and illness and the heavy financial burdens that come with them.  Thank you for teaching me not to judge but to lift and encourage and have compassion.  The lessons are very difficult for all.  I pray for someone You and I know and love well.  He has terrible, terrible bondage from debt resulting from the many trials in his life.  He is faithful.  He serves Thee whenever he is asked.  He has cared tenderly for his ailing wife.  I know the burdens he carries, they are merciless.  Thou who art the God of all Comfort, the Redeemer of Israel, the Father of us all, please make his burdens light.  Please remind him of his improvements in employment and in his wife's health.  I praise Thy name for having carried him through many dark places in the last five years, I see Thine hand in it all.  Just please help him to peacefully maneuver through this most recent crisis and to consider his legal options like medical bankruptcy, if it be Thy will.  We all want to pay our debts but in this fallen world, sometimes you cannot escape the chokehold.  Thank you for blessing him, for blessing us all, so much.  I love Thee!  In the sweet and precious name of Thy Son.  Amen.

For Kelsey Smith

Father, I just lift my voice heavenward for Kelsey Smith, the teenager who was forced into a car by an assailant in Overland Park, Kansas.  Let the police work swiftly to enhance and identify suspects on surveillance videos.  Let them get a picture ready to put on the news so that someone can step forward and identify the person who took her.  Let her be found alive and well.  Keep her strong and resourceful and able to cope.  Bind her kidnapper so that he cannot harm her further.  Let her be found today, please, father.  Just as video helped to swiftly capture the assailant at the Catholic church a few weeks ago, let it prove useful, now.  Bless all of those who are searching for her to be insightful and effective and tireless.  I praise Thy name that we know so much already.  Please send Thine angels swiftly to her aid.  In Jesus' name. Amen.

Continuing in prayer for our three kidnapped soldiers

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want
He leadeth me in the paths of green pastures
He leadeth me by the still waters
He restoreth my soul
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil
For Thou art with me
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me

Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of mine enemies
Thou anointest my head with oil
My cup runneth over

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell in the House of the Lord, forever.

There is no word yet on our boys so I will continue to praise God and to seek their safe return. Please keep them safe, bring them home, bring them home.

We assume they're still alive

CNN says the military assumes all three are alive but have intelligence that one may have died after capture.  They are continuing to search. 

I had breakfast with a friend this morning and our prayer over the meal included a prayer for "our boys".

Father, we are grateful that there is still hope to find them alive.  Many leads are pouring and some individuals have been captured who participated in the attack.  So I just continue to praise Thy name for this progress and to plead for Thine angels to continue to guide the searchers and to protect the captives.  Stop the captors from doing any more harm.  Let them just plain give up and walk away, leaving our soldiers to escape or to be quickly and safely found unharmed.  This is on my heart continually and I just add my faith to that of many others all around the world who are praying for their safe return.  This is not how war should be conducted.  Please just bring these boys home safely.  In Jesus' name.

Sparrows and Whales

Father, Thou who knows every hair of our heads, who knows when a sparrow falls, surely knows of a mother and her calf trapped and injured at the Port of Sacramento. Please heal them and send them nature's help to show them the way back out to sea and to food and safety. The momma loves her baby and will not leave him. She is more intelligent than we know. Please speak to her in her language and show her the way to safety. Thank you for giving us these beautiful creatures. We are not so good, as a world, at caring for them, forgive us, but Thou knowest that I will do what I can do for wounded animals. Please work Thy mighty ways for this beautiful mother and her child. In Jesus' name.

I'm lifting them up, Father

Father in Heaven, our boys haven't been found so I'm praising Thy name, assuming they are alive. Let Thine angels continue to lift them and protect them and comfort them and give them courage. Let their captors' hearts fail them and open their eyes to releasing them. Let those who know anything come forward and give good information. Let the soldiers and all others who may be seeking to release them be careful and vigilant and tireless. Strengthen their spirits, make them bold before the enemy. Let all who know us know that God is with us, that we are powerful and merciful as He is. Bring them home, Father, bring our sons and our brothers home, safe and sound. We love Thee for supporting us in this continuing battle of good and evil. In Jesus' name.

Soldiers Comb Triangle of Death for Comrades

These dedicated young soldiers searching for their friends remind me of the Mighty Men of David... They will not stop until they find the fellow soldiers. All I can do is pray. These young men are giving up safety and sleep to comb through the most dangerous zones. My heart and my mind are continually drawn out in prayer that they will be found safe and alive and SOON.

NEAR YUSUFIYA, Iraq (CNN) -- Exhausted soldiers tread carefully through the dirt looking and hoping for signs of their missing comrades being alive.

Battling 100-degree heat in full body armor, they also have to think of themselves -- aware that one wrong step could lead to an explosion in Iraq's "Triangle of Death."

They are among thousands of U.S. soldiers who have been on around-the-clock searches since three soldiers went missing Saturday and four others, plus a translator, were killed.

They have trudged across miles of fields and farmland and navigated the harsh terrain to avoid roads, possibly laced with roadside bombs. They even drained a canal parallel to where Saturday's ambush took place, slowly searching it for signs of bodies or anything else that could shed light on what happened.

The desperation etched on the faces of the soldiers looking for their own is palpable, but so is the determination. ( Watch soldiers push themselves to the limit as they search for their missing comrades )

"We are not going to stop searching," Col. Mike Kershaw, the commander of the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, told CNN. "We are not going to stop until we find them."

He then added, "We will find them."

The intense search comes nearly a year after other U.S. soldiers were captured, then killed in a checkpoint ambush in the same area.

Every single part of the terrain is slightly different in the region, but it is equally dangerous.

There are interlocking canals and reed lines next to the canals that provide cover for insurgents. The troops do not use the roads unless they absolutely have to.

When soldiers are on foot patrol, they have to watch every step. Things like a piece of cardboard in the middle of a dirt path could be hiding a pressure-plate bomb. A heap of straw could be hiding a bomb.

They try to stay on pavement as much as possible. When they get to open farmland, they're moving on the run -- to avoid bombs detonated remotely.

Around the attack site, the vegetation is extremely dense, with a couple of farmhouses nearby. Sometimes, the brush is so thick you can't see in front of you. That makes it dangerous on two fronts: Insurgents can easily carry out an attack like they did on Saturday or lay roadside bombs. ( Watch soldiers pick through undergrowth to look for clues )

And every single soldier in Delta company has a story of a roadside bomb. One young medic wears a bracelet in memory of one of his first friends who fell in Iraq. He said he had put it on last winter. But he said if he were to put it on now for everyone that's been lost, "I wouldn't have enough room on both my arms."

The search is a 24-hour nonstop rotation. Soldiers only get a couple hours of sleep, before going back out.

Military: Somebody knows something

All males 12-years-old or older in the region were detained and questioned. Most have been released.

About 40 percent of the homes in the area have been vacated. When people are home, it's often just women. The troops have begun returning to many of the homes -- two, three, four times -- to see if anything has changed or if they might have missed something.

The military believes somebody in the area knows something.

"We know that everybody is not the enemy, but there are people that have information that we need," Kershaw said.

He said the area, south of Baghdad, has a determined enemy. "They are very capable, they are very lethal," he said. "This sector historically has been one of the most lethal in Iraq. ... We do not underestimate them."

At the same time, Kershaw said his soldiers are determined to find the missing soldiers.

"To the families back home, we are not going to stop what we are doing," he said.

The U.S. military is offering a $200,000 reward for information about the location of the three soldiers or persons involved in their disappearance. The military is also dropping about 150,000 leaflets from helicopters near where the soldiers disappeared. ( Watch how the U.S. military is trying to encourage Iraqis to help the hunt )

The leaflets -- in Arabic and English -- inform Iraqis of the reward money and urge them to call a tip line with information. The soldiers helping in the hunt don't need extra motivation -- they're fully aware of the serious situation their missing comrades face.

'We talk about the soldiers'

On Wednesday, soldiers searched around the Yusufiya power station, the same area where last year three U.S. soldiers were slaughtered. In that attack last June, one soldier was found dead at the scene and two others were abducted, their bodies found three days later -- mutilated and booby-trapped with bombs.

As the soldiers searched around the power station, the killings from last year were heavy on their minds. They were all aware of what happened, and what could be happening to those currently missing.

"All the motivation they need is what they are going after. We talk about the soldiers and, you know, they know who they are looking for. They know their names," said Capt. Daniel Hurd of the U.S. Army.

"That's as much motivation as they need. Every time they get tired they think of that, and they get going."

The troops have been battling temperatures in the 100- to 110-degree range for much of the week. But Thursday brought rain and slightly cooler temperatures.

The slain and missing U.S. soldiers are based at Fort Drum in New York, and all seven have been identified as members of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division's Second Brigade Combat Team. All of the soldiers are men.

The three killed are Pfc. Christopher E. Murphy, 21, of Gladys, Virginia; Pfc. Daniel W. Courneya, 19, of Vermontville, Michigan; and Sgt. 1st Class James D. Connell Jr., 40, of Lake City, Tennessee.

Four others -- three missing and one of the dead -- remain listed as "duty status whereabouts unknown."

The Department of Defense identified the four as Sgt. Anthony J. Schober, 23, of Reno, Nevada; Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts; Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, California; and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Michigan.

Because one body was badly burned, the military was performing a DNA test to determine which of the four is the dead soldier.

Kershaw said the search must go on until everyone is found.

"This unit in particular takes a great deal of pride in its soldiers. We all have a responsibility for each other."

Bring Them Home

From the musical, "Les Miserables", adapted for all three soldiers:



VALJEAN
God on high
Hear my prayer
In my need
You have always been there

[They are] young
[They're] afraid
Let [them] rest
Heaven blessed.
Bring [them] home
Bring [them] home
Bring [them] home.

[They're] like the [sons] I might have known
If God had granted me a son.
The summers die
One by one
How soon they fly
On and on
And I am old
And will be gone.

Bring [them] peace
Bring [them] joy

[They are] young
[They are] only [young boys]

You can take
You can give
Let them be
Let them live
If I die, let me die
Let them live
Bring [them] home
Bring [them] home
Bring [them] home.

Thank you for my beautiful mother

I've been thinking about Mom a lot. She went home to her father and mother and sisters and brother on December 15, 2001. I tell a lot of stories about Mom. They're supposed to show about love and acceptance and growth, but I wondered this morning if Mom minds being known as someone who had mental illness and who lived for many years on the street. I know she's with God but I've prayed that she be happy and that she know how much we love her and cherish her. I like to think that she is holding lots of kitties in her arms and loving them because that's what she loved to do here. She loved the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She wept at her grandson's baptism. She wept over having made lots of mistakes in her life. I pray that she know that we don't hold anything against her and would give anything just to be sure that she is healthy and happy and knows of our devotion to her.

Father, the next time you see Mom, would you just please scoop her up in Your arms and give her the biggest hug, and tell her that her kids love her? And that Val and Teresa miss her more than anyone could ever know? And just give her this message -- Mom, I love you 38 million times.

Today's prayer

I woke up this morning seeking Heavenly Father's protection and intervention for the three missing American soldiers.  I just laid in bed and said a quiet prayer for them, hoping that there would be good news this morning.

And then I walked outside to take out my trash and praised God for my safety because my back fence had been kicked in but not enough for anyone to get through.  I live in an inner city neighborhood and have been considering moving due to high crime.  I love my house and have been here for seven years, love my beautiful, amazing garden.  Most of my neighbors are lovely.  My house is 100 years old and I spent $10,000 last year replacing the sewer system.  With the drop in the market and the increase in crime, I would have to short-sell my house so I opted to stay another year to see if the crime levels dropped any.

Probably about a dozen slats in my wooden privacy fence along the back alley were kicked in, some were broken in half.  It's not like a car backed into the fence.  It looks like someone stood there and kicked it.  Drunks or kids, probably.  There was no spray-painting on my garage (a big problem in the past).  So I said, Thank you, Father! and hammered the fence back together.

And then a friend of mine called.  We do a networking business together and had to deal with a problem.  She is lovely and is having problems with her baby dog, Joey, which have been very upsetting.  So I am praying for Joey this morning.

My friend who owns a veterinary clinic asked if I have any kitties who would be good indoor/outdoor kitties and mousers.  I have two or three partially tamed ferals, all male, who could be good.  I don't mind giving them up but I want them to go to homes where they will be fed and sheltered.  I don't want this woman to give them dollar food and expect them to live on mice.  So I will ask Peggy a little more about this person and the living situation and I will also pray about it. 

Did you ever meet someone who prays for and about their animals?  I do. All the time.  I rescue feral kitties and I committed long ago not even to have a sick cat euthanized without praying about it to see if it was the right thing, if we'd done all that we could, and if the cat was ready.

Father, my first prayer this morning is for our three boys in Iraq.  Shelter them, protect them, send legions of David's Mighty Men to rescue them and to fight for them.  Protect those who are searching for them.  Guide them.  Touch the hearts of those who can tell where these young men are, help them to have the courage to step forward and tell what they know.  Save their lives and let them come home to their families, please, according to Thy will.

And I praise Thy name.  Thank you for keeping me safe in my house and in my neighborhood.

Please bless Joey, Judy's little dog.  Bless him with healing and comfort and help him to feel loved and happy.  Comfort Judy and help her to know Thy love and Thy mercy.

I have a chance to find a new home for maybe Junior and Elliott and one of the two brothers.  Junior is completely tame but the other two boys are barely tame to me.  Elliott may be the least likely to adapt.  But all three love to be outdoors, all the time if they could, and they are good mousers.  Help me to learn what I need to about this new home and if this woman will take good care of them.  I don't want them to be there for two days and run off and try to come back here.  And I don't want them to starve or to eat bad food.  But Father, I have too many kitties and if I can find really good homes for them, I'd like to.  *Really good*.  Please guide me in this because every one of Thy creations is special and these little guys each have a story and needs to be well cared for.  I love each one of them.  I will give them up to a good home.  Help me to go the next step to finding out and help me to let the kitties know if it would be a good home.

And I pray for this situation in my business.  Please calm this woman and gentle and quiet her heart.  Let her find meaning and shelter and love in some activity of her life so that anger doesn't have to pour out her fingertips through her keyboard and out into the Internet.  Let her find Thee and be nursed and cared for by Thine angels.

Thank you for healing my sister-in-law's leg.  Please help her to manage the pain control and to have what she will need in terms of addiction freedom.  Bless her heart and her mind to be strong and at peace.  Please lift my brother and help him to find a  good job.  He is a wonderful man, it is so discouraging to continually be out of work.  Please help him to meet his righteous desires to take care of his wife and his household and to support himself.  Thank you for keeping him going all these years.

I love Thee and am so grateful to have Thy presence in prayer.  In Jesus' name. 

Three U.S. Soldiers and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

As I've prayed for the missing soldiers, I keep thinking of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego as they faced the fiery furnace because of their obedience to God. They expressed true faith when they assured king Nebuchadnezzar:

Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. but if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up (Daniel 3:17-18).

I love this story, I often think of it in a crisis. I say, I believe that God will deliver me, but if not, I still believe.

Father, Thou art able to deliver those three young soldiers out of the hands of vicious and vengeful men. Thou art able to touch the hearts of the captors and of people around them to intervene so that the young men may be saved. Thou art able to give those young men courage in the face of great adversity. One of them is surely a believer, perhaps all three. They are seeking Thy peace and Thy deliverance even now. Their families and friends and their entire unit are praying for them, and special soldiers are searching for them.

Father, deliver them. I believe Thou wilt deliver them. But if not, I still believe. We will never believe that the cruelties and prejudices and exploitation of some few people in Iraq are the right way.

We love Thee, Father. We don't come before Thee because of our great righteousness, but only because of Thy mercy. Please be merciful. Please send Thy mighty angels to swiftly fly to their aid and release them from prison.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much

James tells us that "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16).

This passage in Henry Blackaby's "Experiencing God Day by Day" just fell open in my book. Well, I opened the book at random and this is what I found. Funny that it's yet another passage on prayer, when here I am this week trying to bring myself into the presence of God through prayer.

Blackaby says that if it seems like our prayers are not being answered, it's because we don't hold ourselves accountable to the Scripture. He says we should examine ourselves to see if we meet the conditions of the scripture.

Fervent - Do I quit easily? Do I spend sufficient time in intercession? Do I cry out to Father, sometimes in tears, with my heart and soul? If we are fervent, the Holy Spirit itself assists us.

Righteous - God's standard is different from ours. He goes right to our hearts. How is my heart? Am I right with God? Is my heart forgiving? Am I holding grudges? Amd I hiding secret sins? Do I "fly, like the angels, to do God's bidding, immediately, without reservation?"

Well, this is the point, isn't it? On my spiritual journey of the last two years, I sort of lost faith. Not over any big thing, just over little gripey things. And then it was so easy to quit immersing myself in the scriptures, which I used to love -- to quit journalling, which used to bring me so much insight --- and to even quit praying. And, of course, to quit being responsive to requests to serve.

I'm on the way back. God has never held it against me that I struggled. He knew that I would give my heart and soul for two years as a Relief Society President and that it would wound me to have people be who they are... some were takers and complainers and criticizers and gossipers. He knew that I was not prepared for that. He showed me some tremendous strengths, and he needed to show me my weaknesses. It will only make me stronger, less able to be moved from a position of faith and power and witness. And it will make me humble because I no longer take faith and obedience for granted.

Here I thought I was going to do this great prayer blog to pray for people in the world who needed deliverance. And it very quickly turns out to be a blog about my journey through my own deliverance.

Praying for the difficult people in your life

There is a difficult person who crossed into my life for a couple of weeks because of a home business. She is homebound and disabled, very needy, quick to cause trouble and discord and to play the victim, claiming that her words were misunderstood and she only meant them as a question, not a rebuke. I am a patient person and worked with her beyond where anyone else would have worked with her, yet even I, tonight, cut the ties and told her to work with someone else.

I wasted time this morning and this evening composing a letter and fussing over the situation. It's time I could have spent sending thank you cards for my business, or writing for my prayer blog, or reading my own scriptures, or even being on time to work.

So after a one paragraph email tonight, I realize I need to stop and pray for her.

Father, forgive me. I am flawed. There were few, if any, good ways through this situation given that this woman had sent a sharply worded email to my company, and given that she has expected everyone to response immediately to her and to buy her product and to send business to her.

What I humbly ask for is that she receive some comfort and some meaning in her own life. She is terribly lonely and angry. She is married, please bless her husband to have the capacity to help with her emotional needs. Perhaps she will never be able to comprehend how she comes across and drives business away. That is of no concern. What I'm sure Thou would love to have happen is to have this woman feel loved, feel appreciated, feel worthwhile. Please send those people and circumstances into her life where she will develop friends and nurture and be nurtured.

Fill my heart, please, with forgiveness for what she brought into my life. And please forgive me for not handling the situation better.

Thou are mighty to save, thank you for guiding me into prayer for her instead of stewing about it all night.

Later...

You know what? Heavenly Father is showing me how I could have handled that situation better.

First, the woman sent a letter to my company. It was forwarded to me, not directly addressed to me.

So the first thing I could have done is send it to her, state that it seems that she has some concerns, and ask if she would be willing to speak with me about them. Period. Then let her re-state them to me.

And I could have prayed before ever beginning to deal with her. I have plenty of pressures going on in my own life and so I just dove in to handle this rather than softening my heart and asking the Lord to show me the way through it.

There is no problem that He cannot solve if we will take it to him, first.

Let angels fly speedily to the three kidnapped soldiers in Iraq

I am heartened by the news this morning on USAToday - the captors are pinned down and cannot move the soldiers. Leaflets are being dropped seeking help from the people.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-05-15-iraq-tuesday_N.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502298.html?hpid%3Dtopnews⊂=new

So I will pray with faith until we know the outcome. I know that God would like nothing better than to have all war and all violence and all hatred across the world cease, and he would like nothing better than to rescue three young men. I know part of the official reason for their capture was revenge, and God is the one who handles vengeance, that is not our department. I hope that all soldiers everywhere will take a lesson from this and NOT assault civilians. War is bad, all around, it brings badness to the surface in sick people. But so few are sick. This was just an excuse for more violence.

Father, I pray that the captors hearts will be touched in some way by Thy Spirit of mercy. I pray that the people who may know something will step forward to the Americans and say what they know. Just as that Iraqi came forward to tell what he knew about Jessica Lynch, and how there was an entire village who sheltered the wounded Navy seal on the mountain, there are good people in Iraq who will want to step forward. I pray for their courage and their safety.

Let Thy powerful angels fly at thy bidding to protect and shelter and lift these young men. May their freedom be secured in miraculous ways. May all those U.S. soldiers who are looking for them be guided and protected and drawn to seek Thine aid. May Thy will be done. In Jesus name.

As you seek the Lord's will, He will guide your praying

I have been on a spiritual journey for the last two years. I served as a Mormon Relief Society President in a very troubled area -- that's the women's and welfare minister -- and sort of ricocheted after I was released. It wasn't the release that caused it -- I asked for the release because my spirit was wounded and my commitment was waning.

It's been a long journey and I am ready for it to be over. I am just a shadow of what I was back then. I have been begging and pleading with the Lord to forgive me for all my sins and especially for my pride, to help me to heal and forgive, and seek forgiveness, and to get back where I used to be, full of faith and humility.

I used to have a solid habit of prayer and journalling and scripture study. I've all but lost it. But as I have been drawn to create this prayer blog, I thought I would open up a little daily devotional book that I used to love and see if it held any special thought for today.

My book fell open to the date of August 17, May God Rule In Our Midst (Blackaby, Henry. Experiencing God Day By Day). And the theme was, of all things, prayer.

In heaven, God's will is the only priority. A word from God brings angels to do His bidding, immediately and without question. Jesus instructed us to pray that God would accomplish His will in our world in the same way. This means that God's purposes would be preeminent in our homes, our businesses, our schools, our churches, and our governments.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray that God's purposes be carried out in the world around them. In modeling how they should pray, Jesus was teaching His disciples how to share God's heart. ... We become collaborators with God by praying faithfully in agreement with His desires.

As you seek the Lord's will, He will guide your praying. He will invite you not only to pray, but also to become involved in His activity as He answers your prayer. If He places a burden upon you to pray for an individual's salvation, that burden is also His invitation to join His activity in that person's life. Prayer will prepare you to be a servant through whom God can bring about His will on earth. Pray that the Lord's absolute rule on earth will begin in your life. Then watch to see how God uses you to extend His Lordship to others.

For a nurse with a secret wound

Father, I just want to lift up a new friend who is pained by a secret wound. Thou knowest her well, she helps to heal little children with dreadful problems like brain tumors and weak hearts.

She is merciful and kind and above all, dedicated. She travels to Africa to help with surgeries on needy children and spends 18 hours in surgery, then sleeps and does it again the next day.

Her heart is broken into little pieces. Please grant her the peace that she seeks. Help her to grieve and to mourn and to feel the anger and the bitterness... and to do it in a way that causes it to dissolve rather than to fester. Help her to find joy in her marriage, in her kitty, in the children, in her music, in her garden. Help her to lose herself in the joy of Thine embrace.

Thank you, Father, for putting us all together in ways that we can lift one another.

er.

Roland

I go to church with a young father of seven children who had his colon removed last year. He hasn't done well and had surgery again two weeks ago. His pain and weakness are frightening.

His wife is a dear, dear friend of mine. She is working to support the family the best she can and there is never enough time or money.

Father, thank you for walking with Roland and for holding his hand. Thank you for the surgeons and doctors who, despite many obstacles, were able to see what he needed. Thank you for the strength and courage of his adoring wife. They have already lost a child and Roland's mother. Yet they continue on in faith.

Bless him, please, and heal his tortured body. Keep the scar tissue from forming again. Help him to be able to eat and to go to the bathroom and to regain his strength. Help his children to play as quietly as they can in the house. Help them all to find ways to make life easier for their mom by doing housework and helping each other with homework and chores.

And help ME to see the ways that I can help. Above all, let Roland and Patti feel of Thy tender mercies.

For Starla

I have a friend who has gone through the longest chemotherapy treatment I've ever heard of... Two years. She had breast cancer years ago, it spread to her lungs and bones. She has lost of ton of weight but she is still alive. The chemotherapy is over. She is on "adjunct therapy". The pain is tolerable and she is taking online university classes and beginning to enjoy her life again. Praise God!

She has a new little work-at-home business that I am helping her with. The idea is just to earn enough to feed her kitties a safer pet food after this pet food recall. She is doing well and I will just continue to lift her up so that every area of her life will improve.

Father, I know Thou knowest Starla. She has been under the shelter of thy wing her whole life. Her beautiful kitties are the reason I got to know her -- Thank you for helping me to find people who would give them free veterinary care and adopt out the babies over the years. Thank you for the clinic that spayed and neutered them.

Thank you for helping her enjoy earning just enough to pay for her healthy cat food. What a treasure she is! And what a blessing for both of us that we can email and call each other and visit during the week.

Please continue to heal her body and spirit. Take her to the rock that is higher than Thou art. Help her journey include a closer walk with Thee. I just continue to Praise Thy Name for the marvelous work and a wonder that Thou are performing in her life.

4-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared from Portuguese resort 11 days ago

I never had children of my own. Maybe that's why I plead for these abducted children.

I remember a child who was abducted and murdered 25 years ago in Sunset, Utah, a few years after I graduated from high school. I still remember her name.

When Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped, I prayed for every day for months. Long after the media forgot her, I prayed for her. I didn't know Elizabeth or her family but I grew up in Utah and it just seemed that prayer was something I could do. I loved hearing the news that she was found alive and that she has continued to heal and get on with her life.

This little four year old girl, Madeleine, disappeared in Portugal when her parents, who were there vacationing with the family, went out to dinner. Millions of dollars (US) have been pledged to help in whatever way it can help. Perhaps greed will cause someone to step forward. Perhaps humanity. Perhaps guilt. But someone knows what happened to her.

Father, Thou who lovest all children, keep a watchful eye over little Madeleine McCann. Keep her safe. Touch her captor's heart. Let her be found alive and well. Let people be especially vigilant. May the police, who have called off the search, continue to work through good leads to find her. May her parents be comforted and may friends step forward from all around the world to lift them up.

And father, there are little children taken every day in every country. What a terrible, terrible plague! I sometimes think that Thou art watching to see if we will rise up and put a stop to pornograpy, to child prostitution, to the selling of children all over the world, to cruelty and neglect and exploitation. What is the point of Thine intervention minute by minute when we continue to look the other way?

May my teeny bit of faith be joined with hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of others who pray and seek for the safety of children all over the world. Keep our eyes open so that on each of our individual watches, not another child is exploited.

How Emmanuel Praises God Even On the Day He Loses His Job

Perhaps the reason for Emmanuel being at that particular place of employment for such a short time was simply to lift my friend and I to a higher place. His sweet faith surely will have a lasting impact on my own spiritual journey.

God is in charge, promotion is coming, [this job] is not
our source, God is our source, he is on the throne,
the war is his, the victory is for us.
I just finish speaking to my wife about it, we praise
God together and we are ready to move on, and continue
to seek God will and direction.
Stay strong, and firm, lift up your eyes to the maker
of heaven and earth, he knows your name.
I thank God for taking care of me and my family the
last five months, and the future is his, I will
continue to seek him with all earth, my soul, and all
my strength. Please do the same, focus on his
goodness, don't let the job situation carry away your
peace.

My prayer today is this:

Heavenly Father, thank you for Emmanuel. He is like the itinerant disciple 2,000 years ago, traveling without purse or scrip. Please continue to lift him and take care of him, help him to provide for his family. I know You have him under Your watchful eye. Thank you for sending his tender testimony to rework and nurture my own.

http://theprayerblog.blogspot.com

Imagine what would happen if an entire neighborhood or an entire city or an entire nation got on the same page with God through prayer

An Emmanuel Moment

A little more from this sweet and humble man from the Congo who is teaching some of us sophisticated American Christians how to live with a little more faith.

Everyone need to stay in the river of God and let the
river lead your life, hold you up, keep you forward
moving steady,instead of finding yourself in the
flood, submerge, moving all around. If you in flood,
no same direction, no plan for your life. Drifting
back and forward, side to side, up down. Finally you
don't know what direction to take. You free but you
lost. Stay in the river, move with the word of God.
Hold on to family, neighbors, house of God. Stay in
the house. Everyone keep in the river.

http://theprayerblog.blogspot.com

Imagine what would happen if an entire neighborhood or an entire city or an entire nation got on the same page with God through prayer

Emmanuel from the Congo

A friend of mine worked for a few months with a tall young man from the Congo. Emmanuel.

Emmanuel knows violence and hardship and his faith is not complicated, like ours is. We who have lived with education and some degree of privilege oftentimes really have no idea what it means to seek God and to rely on Him.

Emmanuel loves God in the unconditional way that God loves him. He doesn't expect God to grant every prayer or to lift all burdens.

Here is what Emmanuel wrote to her about church one day:

Church was great Sunday, God always speak to me every
time someone preach. I know there is not something
new under the sun but the word always come on time,
when I want it, and I like to hear by putting myself
in receiving mode. Every time the word come, I hear
it like the first time, I enjoy it, and let the word
talk to me.

Ever since I first heard my friend speak of this man, my spiritual journey changed. I just want to ask God to work the mighty changes in my heart that He is working in Emmanuel's, just replace the doubting and questioning and being proud and self-sufficient with something that is more... sweet and faithful.

Father, create in me a clean heart and pure hands, with ears ready to listen and a soul ready to obey, like Emmanuel.

http://theprayerblog.blogspot.com

Imagine what would happen if an entire neighborhood or an entire city or an entire nation got on the same page with God through prayer

Three U.S. Soldiers Missing in an Ambush South of Baghdad in Iraq

The Washington Post is carrying further information on the ambush that left four U.S soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter dead and three others missing. I read the online news every day and often quietly petition God for His mercy. In my own life, I sporadically keep a prayer journal and make note of how my Father in Heaven responded.

It just occurred to me to do it in a blog and perhaps by so doing, others will silently send a prayer along, as well. Maybe it will just be a record of my own faith journey.

For those who do not walk with God, you may wonder what it means when God does not seem to intervene. In the story in Daniel about Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego, when they were about to be cast into the flames, they said to the king something like, We believe that God will deliver us. But if He does not, we still won't worship as you have commanded. We still believe in our God. The truth is, we live in a wicked, fallen word with the enemy on all sides. There is no safety in the world, the only safe place is God Himself. When storm clouds gather and calamities loom, we run into His presence and stay there (Psalm 57:1).

George MacDonald said, "That man is perfect in faith who can come to God in the utter dearth of his feelings and desires, without a glow or an aspiration, with the weight of low thoughts, failures, neglects, and wandering forgetfulness, and say to Him, 'Thou art my refuge.'"

Father, a day has passed since these young soldiers were taken by a ruthless enemy. I just plead for mercy on their behalf and lift them up to Thee. Please give them courage, please make their burdens and pain light, surely they were injured in the attack. Please grant special insight to all of those who are searching for them, make them astoundingly successful.

Please choose one captor and touch his heart, help him to be merciful to these young men. Help our soldiers to know Thee, to know of Thy concern and tender care for them, even in the face of such cruel capture. Bring their friends and families together in faith to pray for them.

We don't understand it all but know that this war in Iraq is part of a much bigger battle for men's souls. We love Thee and seek to be and do all that would make us Thine, in Jesus' name. Amen.

http://theprayerblog.blogspot.com

Imagine what would happen if an entire neighborhood or an entire city or an entire nation got on the same page with God through prayer

What is The Prayer Blog all about?

I wonder what would happen if one person prayed persistently for some good thing? What if an entire family prayed? How about a neighborhood, a city, a nation? What if we put aside whatever it is we believe in and came together in prayer to whatever Being we choose? I am a Christian, and my prayer is to my Father in Heaven through the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. But what if everyone -- Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, agnostics, atheists, people of all faiths and of no faith at all -- just joined this little experiment to see if we could make a difference?