Wednesday Prayers June 22

Greetings prayer warriors.  Thank you so much for your continued and faithful prayers, even (and especially?) when I am not here to write anything.  Life has done some changes on me recently, pushing blogging down the priority list.  However I am figuring out how to make life fit and reorganizing priorities a little, so hopefully I can be a little more consistent with things.

I have been thinking a lot recently about being bogged down by the weight of my sin.  I can lie in bed at night and re-hash sins from 40 years ago and still cringe as I think about them.  We are taught about confession and repentance.  We are taught about the work that Jesus did to cover our sins.  Yet we often overlook an important aspect of the Christian life.  We often fail to receive that forgiveness and recognize that Jesus not only took our filthy rags of sin on Himself, He also gave us his clean, shining robe of righteousness.  The devil loves to see us bogged down in remembering our old sins.  When we give into that, we are surrendering not to Jesus but to him.  I am working this week on changing those mental habits.  When I wake up in the night and start rehearsing the old mistakes and sins, I am reminding myself that yes, those things happened and yes, they were bad.  However I have been forgiven, and those things no longer have hold of me.  If I try to do an end-run around the sin and start worrying about the people who may have been wounded or offended by my sin, I remind myself that they are in God's hands and He can handle those wounds much better than I ever could!  This I am not able to do in my own power; it is only done through the power and strength of the Spirit of God.  You know what?  He is a part of me and has freely given me HIS strength.  

I think there is a lot more that can be said about this topic, and about the shame and guilt to which we tend to surrender.  I'm working on getting those words in order.  But in the meantime, please remember that acceptance of forgiveness is an important part of living the Christian life.

In your prayers this week, please remember the following:

1. Nancy resumes chemotherapy this week.  Please pray that this goes well.  Pray for strength of body and soul for her and for her family.
2. Gingie, Ashlee, Cindy, Debbie, Maria, Tiffany, Sandy, JR, and Ben are also battling cancer.  Please pray for each of them, not only for the health of their bodies but of their souls as well.  Pray for their families.
3. Baby Ava had a heart procedure earlier this week.  Please pray for wisdom for the doctors, for her health, and for all her family.
4. Jim, Missy, Chase, Hazel, Rose, Phyllis, Chris, Rylan and baby Lucas each have some serious health concerns.
5. Please pray for the Lewis family as they adjust to life without their Baby Ava.
6. Pray for the children getting ready to go off to college (and for their parents!).  This is such a crucial time of life with so many life-altering decisions being made.  Pray that they will not be persuaded away from the Gospel of Jesus.  Pray that they will not compromise on eternal issues.  Pray that they will be instruments of God's grace and mercy and peace.  And please remember to pray for their parents!
7. Many denominations are meeting over the summer in Assembly, Convention, or whatever your church calls it.  Please pray that these men will not spend time in trivial diversions, but will focus on the work God has for them to do.  Pray for wisdom, for unity, for strength.  And please pray for the families back home, that God will continue to protect them body and soul.
8. Pray for your pastor!  Pray for your pastor!!  Pray for your pastor!!!  And please do not forget to pray for your pastor's family!!!!

 As always, thank you so much for your continued work.

God's peace to your hearts and homes.

Father's Day

Sharing because Wally asked me to.

Gentlemen, being a man, a husband, a father is not an easy task.  We ladies want you to know we recognize this and we honor you for doing it so well.  You have great responsibility placed on your shoulders.  You are called by God to lead your families, to love us as Christ loved the church (that would be the church for whom He died).  You are told to protect us both spiritually and physically.  When God tells you through the words of the Apostle Paul to love your wives, he is also telling the women to be lovable; but even when we are not very lovable (and that happens more than we would like to admit), you are still called to love us.  When Paul tells women to honor their husbands, he is also telling you men to be honorable.  He then goes on to tell the women to submit to their husbands.  That authority carries such responsibility; it means that you are to be men to whom we can submit.  Not tyrants, but loving, caring, honest ~ and at times firm in truth ~ men of God.

Your work is not easy.  Somehow you are to balance caring for the health of your own soul, caring for the souls of the wives and children God has given you, and caring for the souls of your church family.  It means you are to be a man who loves your family, often juggling the responsibilities of elderly parents and hurting siblings along with your wives and children.  You protect us, you provide for us in your daily occupation, you share the glory of God and His kingdom with your family, your church family, your work family, your neighbors.

We ladies are called to support you in our prayers and in daily encouragement.  We try, we really do, but sometimes we are not very successful.  Yet you keep on going, keep on leading, and keep on loving us, not in your strength and ability but in the strength and ability of the Holy Spirit.

You need to know that we recognize the work that you do, the responsibility that you shoulder.  We are grateful for you and for the work that you do.  We thank God for you.  We treasure and value you.  Thank you for all that you do.  Thank you for loving us.  Thank you for leading us.  Thank you for the Dads you are.

Thank you especially to these fathers who have had such influence on my life

and my family's life.

Gordon Reed and four of his five.

Alfred Akin and his beloved Dan.

Mr. Marvelous

Roy Theodore Reed

Col. Robert Newton Clark

Robert Reed

John Reed

Rev. Fred Zoeller

Clark McNutt

Rev. John Douglas McNutt

 Matthew Clark McNutt

 Jeff

Rev. Daniel Leavengood

and of course, Wally Bromberg.

Thanks Wally for the encouragement.

Wednesday Prayers June 1

Good morning and thank you for your continued prayers.  Even when I am not able to post!

In my reading this past few weeks I have been going through the book of Psalms.  Over and over King David adjures us to give thanks and praise to God.  I realized as I was reading that giving thanks and praise is not just a matter of an action on our part.  It is a description of God (you knew I was going to work that in, didn't you?). 

God is worthy of our thanks.  

He is worthy of our praise.  

That grabs me and makes me sit in wonder for a few minutes.

As you pray through our list today and this week, pray that those on our list will be reminded that God is worthy of thanks and praise.

Thank you for praying for Baby Ava.  For 178 days she was given the gift of a loving family.  She was given the gift of ministering to people around the world.  She was a picture of the precious gift of life.  On May 19th little Ava died.  Please pray for her twin brother Sam.  Please pray for her Dad and Mom and her brothers and sisters.  They chose to love her completely, knowing that the cost of that love would be great pain when she died; and they knew that pain would come sooner, rather than later.  Ava was loved by many, many people.  They will all feel that loss.  God will impress your hearts with different people for whom you may be praying.  As we work together to pray, the needs will all be covered.  If you would like, her mother wrote about the end of Ava's life here.  

In other needs this week please remember the following:

1. Denise and Caleb need particular prayers today.
2. Please pray too for Dana and her three girls.  For young widows with young children, summer can be particularly challenging.
3. Cindy is struggling with terminal cancer.  Thank God for the good days and for her reliance on Him.  Please pray for continued spiritual health as her physical health deteriorates.
4. Missy is a young woman who has been having heart problems requiring a lengthy hospital stay.  Please pray for healing for her, for wisdom for her doctors, and for strength and peace for her Dad.
5. Please remember Rachel in your prayers.  She struggles daily with intense seizure activity and a host of other physical problems.  Pray too for her parents.
6. Wally had a heart attack last week.  He is recovering, but please pray for strength and grace for him and for his family.
7. Gingie is undergoing chemo.
8. Pray for those struggling with addiction.  Pray for those who are suffering but not yet struggling.  Pray for their families.
9. When you are out today and this week and see police officers around you, please remember to pray for them and for their families.  Be bold and stop right there and, if the situation permits, pray over them.
10. Pray for your pastor!  Pray for your pastor!!  Pray for your pastor!!!  And pray for his family.  Remember to pray for your pastor's parents, grandparents, and other loved ones.  Often we forget that spiritual attack is sometimes centered in their extended family.  Those attacks can be a heart-ache and a distraction for your pastor.  Pray!

Thank you again for your continued work of prayer.  It matters!

God's peace to your hearts and homes.