"Handle With Prayer"

Roy and I are enjoying time with our small group on Wednesday evenings watching Rick's series on prayer, titled appropriately "Handle With Prayer". There are 10 or so of us and the videos are amazing, but the questions that follow provoke among us deep thoughts, great discussions, sweet memories, and a bonding that might not have happened in another setting. Our group is what some call "eclectic"...so many different personalities, lifestyles...we are not a group that came together by friendship, necessarily, but we are definitely growing into a sweet circle of friends. Don't get me wrong...I think that the small groups that have evolved out of friendship are amazing and wonderful. It's just that I think friendship can definitely be the result of a small group. Through our prayers for each other, we are learning so much about our group. We have a sweet little 14 month old girl, Lauren, in our group (she brings her parents, too!). Lauren has a hole in her heart and may require surgery in the future for that. We are praying that God will seal up that hole and bring peace to her sweet parents. At first, her daddy was concerned she might "disturb" our time together. No way! She reminds us who have grown children what joy a little one in the room can bring. We also have a wonderful soon-to-be 4th grader, Maurice, in our group. He comes with his grandma. He watches the videos with us, and even adds to our discussions in a way that sometimes seem way beyond his years. Last night, one of the questions was something like this..."how do you praise God in dark times?" In our sharing, there were tears...sick children, grown children struggling with difficult pregnancies, dealing with loss in our lives, some untold struggles that you knew were on hearts because of the tears that were flowing. And in the middle of our sharing, Maurice said, "I have something to say"...and this is what he said..."You know, in the movie "Facing the Giants", they said, if we win...we'll praise God; if we lose...we'll praise God. I just think that's how it should be." Aren't children a blessing!


We have so many things to ask of God each week...but we also have so many reasons to praise Him. What a wonderful gift to be able to share these times with "the small group".


I am in the middle of writing a curriculum for our elementary kids for Wednesday nights based on Rick's series. It has been so much fun doing this, because it is something I absolutely LOVE to do. As I have been writing this, God has called me to prayer so many times. I know He wants for our ministry to help parents teach children how to pray, how to understand why we pray, how to watch for God's answers, and help them to understand the difficult concept of why bad things sometime happen to good people. We also want the kids to feel the utter joy of praying for others. I think it is going to be a great series and such a great opportunity for kids to get to share their prayers with their peers. Will you pray about this?


I also want to ask a very special prayer for Katie and Stephen. Katie is Patty & Wade's daughter and is coming near to the end of her pregnancy. This has been a very difficult pregnancy and Katie has toxemia and has had it for a while now. This Monday, she will be 38 weeks and that is the absolute last day she will have to go. She has been in and out of the hospital many times over the last few months. Their fear runs deep...they have suffered loss in the past. But, Patty shared something with us last night that has stuck with me. Katie told her that she had committed the passage in Daniel to her heart...that just as Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego were faced with a fearful situation, they kept God in their hearts and that they never lost their joy in serving Him. She and Stephen trust God and are joyful that sweet, baby Mitchell has come this far on the inside. Now, they need our prayers more than ever. Will you join me and our small group and many others in storming the throne of God, once again, with prayer? Please pray for Katie, that God will keep the effects of the toxemia to a minimum, that her pulse will go down (it was 160 today), that she will have the strength to bring Mitchell into this world. She is ready to be a mommy to baby Mitchell. Please pray for Stephen as he is so ready to be a daddy. He loves Katie and is devoted to her and it is so hard when a husband has to watch his wife endure so much. Please pray that Mitchell will stay strong and healthy. Pray for the medical team...that they will be given wisdom by God and that they will use all their human skills in such a way that Mitchell will come into this world with as little intervention as possible. Pray for Wade and Patty and for Stephen's parents...it is so difficult when our child is suffering. This is not a situation that I would have chosen to "share" with Patty, but we have been able to lean hard on each other over the last months, through Christine's and Katie's pregnancies. Pray that Katie can go until Monday, but if she can't, that God will ease her stress and anxiety and that she will be able to enjoy the birth of her much awaited angel.


I love that the "blog" venue has allowed me to learn to share so much so openly. I also love watching the POSITIVE power of the internet...I know that before this night is over, there will be multitudes praying for this sweet family.

I love reading from The Message, a version of God's word that blesses me. Reading James 5:16 from this version puts this verse in a very powerful light..."The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with..." Please pray hard!

Be blessed this day....