God has been leading me on a journey of faith and trust. This past week my last phone battery died. (I have a Samsung Galaxy S5, and it has rechargeable REMOVABLE batteries, so when the charge dies I just pop them in the charger and put in a fresh one that has already been charged). These batteries do eventually die out and new ones need to be bought. Well, I went on Amazon to find new batteries and I did, so I ordered them--however they ranged from a half a week to two weeks away for delivery, which meant I would be without a phone for that long. My husband had persuaded me to get rid of our landline which mean that I would be stuck for about a week without a phone. I looked into expedited shipping but it was not only expensive, it did not promise to arrive any sooner than the regular shipping.
So I debated. Should I fork over almost $40 for the expedited option? My mouse hovered over the "place order" button. I prayed before clicking it. "Lord, what should I do? Should I hand over this money?
Clearly I heard Him say, "Do you trust me?"
"Yes, Lord, you know I trust you." So I backed out of the order. I had one battery left that was at all functional....but it was weak and would barely hold a charge. Would it last until the new ones arrived?
Well, I'm sure you know how the story ends. My new batteries arrived the day my phone died for good. Two days earlier than the earliest promised date. And not only did the three batteries come, the vendor sent me an extra one for free!
Then, yesterday, my dad called to tell me he was waiting for an ambulance to take him to the ER. His heart rate was dangerously high, and he suspected that he had A Fib, the arrhythmia that contributed to my mom's death less than two years ago. At the hospital, his self-diagnosis was proven correct. When the cardiologist arrived, he told my dad he was going to be cardioverted the next morning. A cardioversion is when they use the "paddles" and administer electric shocks to the heart to try to shock it back into a normal sinus rhythm. The procedure is not without risk. My mom had undergone countless cardioversions and I just feared to see my dad walking down that road as well.
I posted our need for prayer on my Facebook page and very soon, comment after comment poured in: "Praying"--maybe some people put that down as a courtesy...not really being familiar with prayer or having a relationship to the God to whom they were praying, but they wanted to help. But for others, "Praying" meant war. And it was on these warriors, that I was putting out the call. I called my pastor Sunday morning before church and told him of our need. He prayed with me on the phone and then promised to have the church join in prayer as well, as he intended to announce our situation.
And several things happened then. God led me to read Psalm 34 which is a psalm that I had memorized a year or two ago. And about five times through out the psalm, the psalmist said, "I cried unto the Lord and He delivered me from all my fears." I clearly heard, once again, the voice of God saying quietly, "Do you trust me?" I wiped the tears from my eyes and said "yes, Lord. You know I do."
I thought about my prayer journey.... I went from tearful pleading, to a quiet-hearted trust. It occurred to me, that you never read in Scripture about some one begging for God's help. While the foreign woman pleaded for Jesus' healing on her daughter and at first he put her off, saying his mission was to the Jews---She argued her case, and as a result of her faith, her daughter was healed. Presenting your case before God--asking him to live up to his promises--and pleading for him to honor them, is different than the panicked, repetitive fearful kind of prayer that I at first found myself doing.
I have to amend what I said above about people in the Bible not begging in prayer. Here are some verses I read in this morning's devotions from Psalm 88.
9 My eyes are blinded by my tears.
Each day I beg for your help, O LORD;
I lift my hands to you for mercy...
13 O LORD, I cry out to you.
I will keep on pleading day by day.
In this passage David was beside himself. His perceptions were a bit blurred. In his frenzy of prayer, all he could do was beg. He is lost in his despair. Suicidal in fact. This is one of only a handful of Psalms where by the end of the psalm, the writer was not praising God. This is one without that quick transformation from despair to hope. Did God reject David? no. David thought God had rejected him because of the hardship he was facing---if "only" his depression--and he was begging once again for a view of God. For the reassurance of God's love for him. So I guess, Yes, there is a time for begging...not that it is optimal, but that it will not be condemned by God. Begging is sometimes tolerated by God....but a prayer of faith is honored by Him.
In Scripture we are promised that, if we pray in Jesus' name, in accordance with his will, he will hear and will answer. We are promised that if we pray, believing,he will answer. If we bring our requests to the Father as a child, presenting to him our need and then rest, in faith, knowing in our heart that he has heard and will answer--he will do that. We are not called to beg. We are called to believe.
So I decided I would do just that. I rested in relief and joy at the knowledge that God would respond. When I went to bed last night, dad's heart was still in A Fib and he was scheduled this morning for the procedure. But I thanked God last night for the answer I knew was coming. And tonight as I turned on my computer at 2:00 AM, I saw his message. "Heart has returned to normal rhythm, PTL (praise the Lord)"
I serve a loving, healing, responsive, and tenderhearted God who is moved to reply to our need when we come to him in faith, believing that he will answer.
Praise the Lord! And if you prayed for Dad yesterday--whether as a warrior or as a good-intentioned friend, THANK YOU!
So I debated. Should I fork over almost $40 for the expedited option? My mouse hovered over the "place order" button. I prayed before clicking it. "Lord, what should I do? Should I hand over this money?
Clearly I heard Him say, "Do you trust me?"
"Yes, Lord, you know I trust you." So I backed out of the order. I had one battery left that was at all functional....but it was weak and would barely hold a charge. Would it last until the new ones arrived?
Well, I'm sure you know how the story ends. My new batteries arrived the day my phone died for good. Two days earlier than the earliest promised date. And not only did the three batteries come, the vendor sent me an extra one for free!
I posted our need for prayer on my Facebook page and very soon, comment after comment poured in: "Praying"--maybe some people put that down as a courtesy...not really being familiar with prayer or having a relationship to the God to whom they were praying, but they wanted to help. But for others, "Praying" meant war. And it was on these warriors, that I was putting out the call. I called my pastor Sunday morning before church and told him of our need. He prayed with me on the phone and then promised to have the church join in prayer as well, as he intended to announce our situation.
And several things happened then. God led me to read Psalm 34 which is a psalm that I had memorized a year or two ago. And about five times through out the psalm, the psalmist said, "I cried unto the Lord and He delivered me from all my fears." I clearly heard, once again, the voice of God saying quietly, "Do you trust me?" I wiped the tears from my eyes and said "yes, Lord. You know I do."
I thought about my prayer journey.... I went from tearful pleading, to a quiet-hearted trust. It occurred to me, that you never read in Scripture about some one begging for God's help. While the foreign woman pleaded for Jesus' healing on her daughter and at first he put her off, saying his mission was to the Jews---She argued her case, and as a result of her faith, her daughter was healed. Presenting your case before God--asking him to live up to his promises--and pleading for him to honor them, is different than the panicked, repetitive fearful kind of prayer that I at first found myself doing.
I have to amend what I said above about people in the Bible not begging in prayer. Here are some verses I read in this morning's devotions from Psalm 88.
9 My eyes are blinded by my tears.
Each day I beg for your help, O LORD;
I lift my hands to you for mercy...
13 O LORD, I cry out to you.
I will keep on pleading day by day.
In this passage David was beside himself. His perceptions were a bit blurred. In his frenzy of prayer, all he could do was beg. He is lost in his despair. Suicidal in fact. This is one of only a handful of Psalms where by the end of the psalm, the writer was not praising God. This is one without that quick transformation from despair to hope. Did God reject David? no. David thought God had rejected him because of the hardship he was facing---if "only" his depression--and he was begging once again for a view of God. For the reassurance of God's love for him. So I guess, Yes, there is a time for begging...not that it is optimal, but that it will not be condemned by God. Begging is sometimes tolerated by God....but a prayer of faith is honored by Him.
In Scripture we are promised that, if we pray in Jesus' name, in accordance with his will, he will hear and will answer. We are promised that if we pray, believing,he will answer. If we bring our requests to the Father as a child, presenting to him our need and then rest, in faith, knowing in our heart that he has heard and will answer--he will do that. We are not called to beg. We are called to believe.
So I decided I would do just that. I rested in relief and joy at the knowledge that God would respond. When I went to bed last night, dad's heart was still in A Fib and he was scheduled this morning for the procedure. But I thanked God last night for the answer I knew was coming. And tonight as I turned on my computer at 2:00 AM, I saw his message. "Heart has returned to normal rhythm, PTL (praise the Lord)"
I serve a loving, healing, responsive, and tenderhearted God who is moved to reply to our need when we come to him in faith, believing that he will answer.
Praise the Lord! And if you prayed for Dad yesterday--whether as a warrior or as a good-intentioned friend, THANK YOU!
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