365 Days of Prayer - 4 - I will undo all that afflict thee

Nothing major yesterday. I was extremely tired, which is common after such a bad headache. They're a little out of control right now -- I get them probably five days a week. I hate the word "headache". I hate to be defined by it. I hate how they slow me down... and, unfortunately, I think that's what they're there for, to slow me down to prevent a more serious underlying condition (dissected carotid arteries) from doing some damage. I've been told in a blessing that the Lord will not remove them at this time... which I take to mean that they serve a purpose. I hate that it makes me "not strong", but with a vulnerability.

So I take great hope in today's scripture: "I will undo all that afflict thee" (Zephaniah 3:19). It has a much broader meaning but it occurs to me that I didn't list one of the things I frequently pray for, to have some relief from blistering, frequent migraines. Well, these little "afflictions" won't last forever, they're going to get "undone" someday. Hurray!

I was greatly and sweetly influenced yesterday by the story of a man I knew nothing about. Cresimir Cosic. He was a basketball player from Croatia who went to BYU in Utah (in the 60's or 70's). He was already an Olympian, he was not a nobody, he was well-renowned. In fact, he has been known as the "Michael Jordan" of Europe.

He was also not a Mormon when he arrived at BYU. He was an avowed atheist, he drank, he smoked, he had wordly morals. But it all made for a beautiful conversion story -- he was touched by his Mormon friends, read the Book of Mormon and prayed about it and knew it was true, and he repented and turned his life over to God on the spot. He wound up getting baptized and when he was done with BYU, he played, I think, on three different American NBA teams. He said becoming a member of the church even changed the way he played basketball -- he was kinder, less cocky and boastful. But he felt like God wanted him to help establish the church in Croatia so he turned down multi-million dollar contracts and returned to Croatia. He was the ONLY member of the church there.

There's much more to the story. In short, he worked tirelessly to introduce people to God's plan of happiness and to let them know that His true church was on the earth today. He was in a position to influence leaders of his country to permit the church to function there. He went on to play basketball throughout Europe, became a coach, and then, with so much war in his country, he went into politics and became the Croatian deputy ambassador to the United States, where he sought to keep people aware of what was happening in his country and to try to bring peace to his beautiful homeland.

I found a connection with him in that he got non-Hodgkins lymphoma and he died from that. I do marathons for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help fight those diseases. His friends reported that, in his final days, he was very concerned that people who'd been fasting and praying for him to recover might lose their faith when he wasn't healed, so he prayed that the Lord would help them. He thought of others clear til the end.

I think I want to find a book or something about him, but I just googled and you pretty much just get foreign language sites when you plug his name in. I'll keep looking.

Anyway, very special experiences in prayer yesterday. The Lord is showing me what He wants me to pray for, and He is most definitely listening. Of course, He knows how my heart and prayers are drawn to others, but there is something sanctifying about putting such a special effort into it. It's all about "His will be done", but He kind of whispers to you what to pray for with these people and these situations.

I have done prayer experiments before, but they are usually the "four days of 20 minute prayer" and "30 days of 20 minute prayer". This time, I'm shooting for "365 days of prayer for OTHERS". And I'm keeping track of what I pray for and what happens to those people and in those situations. I read a scripture to see what the Lord wants me to know about what I'm praying for and I'm journaling it.

Today, I'm adding prayers that Joran van der Sloot is found and arrested after the murder of a lovely young woman in Peru. Just so you know, I read the news all the time and as you can tell from reading my very first posts, I often seek God's intervention in reducing the victimization of women and children and to catch those who prey on them. I am praying for the safety of a young LDS woman who is in Thailand to help make a documentary to expose and stop human trafficking (that is the nice term for what is really happening). I believe in prayer and I often wonder how long we would have these evils in our midst if we all prayed consistently to get rid of them. (And you realize it's not that simply, it's about praying for law enforcement and for good parenting and for good influence to spread and triumph over people who are inclined to do bad).

I really have two scriptures for today.

One comes from the story of Hannah. She went every year to the temple with her husband and she prayed for the Lord to let her have a child, a son. She was persecuted for not having children, although her husband loved her dearly and spoke to her most tenderly. 1 Samuel says "she was in ^abitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore" (1 Samuel 1:10).

She made a covenant with God -- which we know she kept -- and it would involved a great sacrifice, giving up this son that she was praying for.

The priest, Eli, saw her quietly praying, assumed she was drunk, and went to speak with her, whereupon she let him know that she had a "sorrowful spirit" and was pouring out her soul to God. Eli told her, "Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him" (Samuel 1:17).

The second is from Zephaniah. I opened at random and had these notes in the margins:

8/12/2007 - 2nd set of 30 day prayer experiment. All problems not gone but after 2 months of intense, consistent prayer and change of heart, I feel like God is telling me he is pleased [with me] and that He will undo all that afflict me. What a great shot in the arm today.

3/11/2010 - No coincidence as I'm going another prayer experiment and have [these] trials that I find this -- "undo all that afflict me".

Here it is:

Sing, O daughter of Ziom [that's me]; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thous shalt not see evil any more...

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing...

I will undo all that afflict thee.

Zephaniah 3:14-19

P.S. I saw the other missing kitty in the crawl space, Tigger, and he's eating and drinking. I should be able to catch him or coax him to me soon and get him out of there.

365 Days of Prayer - 3 - I will grant unto thee according to thy desires

Endured my own "thorn in the flesh" yesterday. Bad, bad headache, meds not entirely removing it and making me very tired. Felt very sick. Left office early, bought a new pillow that will supposedly alleviate headaches, and went to bed.

Different kind of prayer tonight. These headaches make me feel very dismal, it's a natural by-product. I realize that so I just roll with it, try to avoid conversations and situations where it might come out and affect someone else. But I expressed it to Heavenly Father and He is so kind.

Then I sang my prayer list! Just laid in bed because I felt so sick and softly sang it! I'd been listening to a prayer song on an old Maranatha Music tape and kind of got the tune in my head -- it was slow and repetitive -- and I sang my prayer list :-) It was very interesting how what I should pray for about these people and situations came into my simple little verses.

I'm lifting up my little brother's family in earnest. The passages in Enos, which I opened to at random, have a whole new meaning. "I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments." (Enos 1:10). Yet Enos continued to pray earnestly and the Lord told him, "I will grant unto thee thy desires because of thy faith" and "whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it".

And then he records that, despite how vicious and hateful the Lamanites were, "the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God."

I found myself wondering how to diligently help people understand that there is a true and living Christ, that we need a redeemer and He is ours, that He loves us more than we can comprehend. I thought about some very dear friends at the office who want nothing to do with God and religion, and yet they love their families and are good people. I think my prayers need to be a little more along the lines of "how can I help in the mighty work God is doing"... Yes, continue to pray for all these people and needs, but turn ever so slightly to see if there is anything ELSE He would like me to pray for and to act on.

Blessings yesterday for J., who, despite having already taken a job, received a call from another employer who desperately wants to interview her, and THEY have benefits, vacation time, insurance, and 401k.

Scriptures today come from the Book of Enos in the Book of Mormon.

Any my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

And there came a voice unto me, saying: enos, thy sins are forgiven thee and thou shalt be blessed.

Enos 1:4-5

365 Days of Prayer - 2 - Without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day

I'm giving praise and thanks to Heavenly Father for blessings on my prayer list:

J - 89-year-old - Found her purse and all is well. No need for crisis replacement of her door lock.
J - friend with lymphoma - She has been out of work and had lost her insurance so had no place to turn for meds for a possible bladder infection. She dug through old meds in her house and found an antibiotic, went to the pharmacy and spoke with the pharmacist who told her that med was okay. She was still feeling very sick so she went to a Planned Parenthood clinic -- where, I didn't know this, they treat all kinds of women's problems for low-cost, including bladder infections. She saw a doctor and got meds, whole visit was $26... But she was STILL feeling very very sick, sick enough to call me Sunday night to find out what ER she could go to on no insurance. She wound up getting a priesthood blessing from the father and brother of a friend, went home, felt dramatically better and slept well for the first time in weeks. No sign of having been sick today, although she plans to keep her oncology appointment this week and will finish out the meds.
Gabby - She clearly doesn't feel great but she is more active than when I first found her and she is nibbling on a little food and taking in some water. When kitties stop eating, it's very hard to get them to start back up. I will continue to give her canned food and kitty supplements until she is better.
Tigger -- I haven't seen him and the dry food I left for him has barely been touched but the water was gone. If he's like Gabby was, he was mostly thirsty. I've left canned food for him -- don't want to try to trap him if he is not attracted to food at this point. I need him to eat so I'll leave food out until it looks like he's eating and I see some sign of him, then I'll try to trap him or coax him to me.

I realized I forgot some things on my prayer list and need to add one new one...
For our ward choir and choir director -- Choir is off for the summer but the choir director is discouraged because a) nobody wants to sing in the choir, everyone is too busy, and b) there is no money for any music. We had a meeting with the ward music committee last week -- the first I can ever remember! It was a fabulous meeting (I am the organist) and it felt like instead of each of us being alone in our callings, we had come together. I suggested that we make this a concerted effort of prayer so several of us are praying for the choir and choir director.
Kirby - Took her to the vet last week and she has a bladder infection and a bacterial infection in her intestines. Giving her pills is VERY difficult. Need divine intervention!
DY - And a very dear friend of mine is working on an assignment in a different state and he lost his wallet. To replace the drivers license, he has to go back to his home state. Lots of consequences and risks and fears -- no sign yet that anyone is using the credit cards. So I am earnestly praying for DY to safely make it through this crisis.

See 365 Days of Prayer - 1 for my main prayer list.

Giving special thanks today that I was able to help two people in the ward drill buckets for their bucket gardens, and I gave each many plants -- tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers. Total, I have given plants to three people at the office, two of my Team in Training marathon coaches, I sent a boatload of plants to a friend's office where she gave them to many grateful co-workers, and to about half a dozen people in the ward, maybe more. I still have one person that I'm setting up with a bucket system. She is a working mom with several kids, husband is disabled, and it's from a conversation with her that I set this whole project up.

Scripture for today:

I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure ^aconscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 2 Timothy 1:3

Since I open to these scriptures at random, asking what Heavenly Father has for me today, I consider it a confirmation that the Lord knows I am embarking on a special prayer journey and He is mindful of who and what I'm praying about, and how (night and day, my morning and evening prayer).