This is going to be a really long blog entry. So if you don't have a couple of minutes...just a warning....
I've got some prayer requests and some things to talk about when it comes to answered prayers. First of all, Brad has a cold with a sore throat. He has been sick for the last few days. Please pray for him to get better fast and that he could start on the path back to better health by adding exercise to our current healthy diet. We both signed up for a weight loss challenge through the local dietician and physical fitness program. So far we are both losing weight and eating healthy (for the most part).
Next is our granddaughter. She just had a birthday, but was unable to have her party because she had strep throat. Please pray that God would strengthen her immune system and that she would be able to fight off the allergies and infections that continue to attack her. We did get to call and sing Happy Birthday and she chattered away on the phone for quite some time. It was so wonderful to hear her sweet little voice. We are hoping for some pictures of her opening presents in the near future...
I've got some prayer requests and some things to talk about when it comes to answered prayers. First of all, Brad has a cold with a sore throat. He has been sick for the last few days. Please pray for him to get better fast and that he could start on the path back to better health by adding exercise to our current healthy diet. We both signed up for a weight loss challenge through the local dietician and physical fitness program. So far we are both losing weight and eating healthy (for the most part).
Next is our granddaughter. She just had a birthday, but was unable to have her party because she had strep throat. Please pray that God would strengthen her immune system and that she would be able to fight off the allergies and infections that continue to attack her. We did get to call and sing Happy Birthday and she chattered away on the phone for quite some time. It was so wonderful to hear her sweet little voice. We are hoping for some pictures of her opening presents in the near future...
And lastly, tomorrow is Zelda's big day - she has multiple large bladder stones and they must come out. She is scheduled for surgery at 8am.
In the Gospel of John 16:24, Jesus said "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."
In the Gospel of John 16:24, Jesus said "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."
Matthew Henry, a clergyman from England (October 18, 1662 - June 22, 1714), wrote one of the most respected complete commentaries of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. In his commentary on this Chapter he says this: "Asking of the Father shows a sense of spiritual wants, and a desire of spiritual blessings, with conviction that they are to be had from God only."
Matthew 21:22 says "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive."
But of course, just taking those verses out of the Bible without the context, could make it seem like you should expect God to give you anything you ask for. I believe God wants us to live fulfilling lives - Jesus said He came so we could have life and have it to the fullest. However, if we are asking for our own gain and out of selfish desires, then of course we should not expect those types of prayers to be answered. It is not like you just send God a list of your wants and he checks them off as they are provided to you!!
For all of the healing prayers that I am asking, including Zelda's extra large bladder stones, I pray it because I know that God can heal - He has healed me in many ways. Physically He has provided me strength to accomplish things I thought impossible - He has provided relief from the RA symptoms and continues to show me new and different ways to safely deal with this chronic illness. Including the fact that I am now back to doing my aerobic workouts with light weights.
Spiritually He provided me with His Holy Spirit to teach me about His ways, and who intercedes on my behalf (sometimes God provides me with things that I haven't even fully been able to ask for properly and I will give an example in a second of that), and mentally because incident by incident He is slowly healing my mind from everything that ever happened in my life that gave me a twisted and distorted view of His love, the world and life itself. It is beautiful to experience.
So my prayer for Zelda is that after they give her the anesthesia and shave her little belly (where she loves to have belly rubs...) that they will do the ultra sound. And there will not be anything there but the bladder. Not a single stone.
Now I know that God answers prayers, but He doesn't always automatically just give us what we want. He sees the big picture and we don't. He's not there to just answer our demands. He loves us all and has a very complicated universe to sustain...'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.' (Isaiah 55:8-9)
So no matter what happens, I will still praise His name and tell of His awesome works in my life. Here is an example. When the dogs and I were getting ready to fly from Atlanta (a very busy airport if you haven't been there before!), I had to check Ringo in to the cargo terminal. Meanwhile, I still had 2 other dogs, with crates, my luggage to be checked and my carry-on luggage in a rental van. I did not know what to do, so I prayed something like this, 'God, I don't know what is going to happen or what to do, so I am just going to drive to the terminal and I know you will take care of things for me.' I had not even stopped the minivan when a sky cap passenger assistant was waving me in. He said, "I'm going to help you" and I said, 'but I have this rental van and these dogs and all these bags!' and he said, don't worry about it, I'll take care of it. And he did!!!!
They let me actually leave the minivan out front where you are NEVER supposed to leave your vehicle. He took me to a special counter where the lady started processing my ticket and the dogs right away. He helped me take them to get weighed and checked in, got my luggage checked and had me back out in the van in about 10-15 minutes. I turned in the van, got on the shuttle and rode the long way back to the airport with nothing but a carryon and my tickets. Now THAT is the way God does things.
After everything else in addition to the above that happened during this moving process, I could never imagine doubting His love for me and how He cares about each one of us in every detail of our lives. He loves Brad and our granddaughter, they are so very precious to Him - even more so than they are to anyone else.
And he even loves little Zelda too because He created her and He gave her to me as a gift. She has been a comfort to me so many times and I know He made her just for me...
Anyway, I pray that if you are reading this blog, that you will join me in lifting up these prayers to our Father, believing that God can heal and that He does miracles every day!!
thank you!!
Matthew 21:22 says "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive."
But of course, just taking those verses out of the Bible without the context, could make it seem like you should expect God to give you anything you ask for. I believe God wants us to live fulfilling lives - Jesus said He came so we could have life and have it to the fullest. However, if we are asking for our own gain and out of selfish desires, then of course we should not expect those types of prayers to be answered. It is not like you just send God a list of your wants and he checks them off as they are provided to you!!
For all of the healing prayers that I am asking, including Zelda's extra large bladder stones, I pray it because I know that God can heal - He has healed me in many ways. Physically He has provided me strength to accomplish things I thought impossible - He has provided relief from the RA symptoms and continues to show me new and different ways to safely deal with this chronic illness. Including the fact that I am now back to doing my aerobic workouts with light weights.
Spiritually He provided me with His Holy Spirit to teach me about His ways, and who intercedes on my behalf (sometimes God provides me with things that I haven't even fully been able to ask for properly and I will give an example in a second of that), and mentally because incident by incident He is slowly healing my mind from everything that ever happened in my life that gave me a twisted and distorted view of His love, the world and life itself. It is beautiful to experience.
So my prayer for Zelda is that after they give her the anesthesia and shave her little belly (where she loves to have belly rubs...) that they will do the ultra sound. And there will not be anything there but the bladder. Not a single stone.
Now I know that God answers prayers, but He doesn't always automatically just give us what we want. He sees the big picture and we don't. He's not there to just answer our demands. He loves us all and has a very complicated universe to sustain...'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.' (Isaiah 55:8-9)
So no matter what happens, I will still praise His name and tell of His awesome works in my life. Here is an example. When the dogs and I were getting ready to fly from Atlanta (a very busy airport if you haven't been there before!), I had to check Ringo in to the cargo terminal. Meanwhile, I still had 2 other dogs, with crates, my luggage to be checked and my carry-on luggage in a rental van. I did not know what to do, so I prayed something like this, 'God, I don't know what is going to happen or what to do, so I am just going to drive to the terminal and I know you will take care of things for me.' I had not even stopped the minivan when a sky cap passenger assistant was waving me in. He said, "I'm going to help you" and I said, 'but I have this rental van and these dogs and all these bags!' and he said, don't worry about it, I'll take care of it. And he did!!!!
They let me actually leave the minivan out front where you are NEVER supposed to leave your vehicle. He took me to a special counter where the lady started processing my ticket and the dogs right away. He helped me take them to get weighed and checked in, got my luggage checked and had me back out in the van in about 10-15 minutes. I turned in the van, got on the shuttle and rode the long way back to the airport with nothing but a carryon and my tickets. Now THAT is the way God does things.
After everything else in addition to the above that happened during this moving process, I could never imagine doubting His love for me and how He cares about each one of us in every detail of our lives. He loves Brad and our granddaughter, they are so very precious to Him - even more so than they are to anyone else.
And he even loves little Zelda too because He created her and He gave her to me as a gift. She has been a comfort to me so many times and I know He made her just for me...
Anyway, I pray that if you are reading this blog, that you will join me in lifting up these prayers to our Father, believing that God can heal and that He does miracles every day!!
thank you!!
No comments:
Post a Comment