Did We Get The Answer We Wanted?

We all have prayed for many things in our lifetime. Some of those prayers have been what we call urgent, or an emergency. Some of those prayers are for direction in our lives. Some of those prayers are in desperation for finances. And so often some of those prayers are in desperation for a loved one's life, or for our own life.
This past week in the tiny village I live in we have seen the desperate prayers lifted up.  We saw a family lose their mother and sister in a horrific house fire. The family lost their loved ones and every possession they had. Of course the possessions mean nothing in comparison to the lives lost.
Also a very dear friend of ours lost his wife to cancer on Thanksgiving Day. This friend is like a brother to my husband and myself. They have two beautiful children.
These are two very different scenarios of what we call desperation for life. Does this mean our prayers were not answered?
The awful fire that broke out in the home of the family mentioned above was a raging fire within minutes. It broke out so quickly during mid morning that the mother and daughter could not escape.
There was an adult child and 2 small children that were rescued. Several other children were in school and the husband was at work.  So how do we pray in a situation like that?
Even though lives were lost, which is a horrible tragedy, the family was left with every need we could even imagine. Clothing, a home, food, financial needs, and the list goes on. Prayers were being lifted up for this family. And within 24 hours the majority of the needs of this family had been met. More clothing than you could imagine. A temporary place to stay with a permanent residence in the works. Enough food to feed this entire family, hoping to feed this family for a year. And funds raised to cover funeral expenses and financial needs for this family for sometime.
Were the prayers answered? Absolutely! This tiny village came together to help this family. Prayers for provision were answered.
Sure we'd hope this situation had never occurred, but it did. And our Lord Jesus heard the prayers being said and answered them.
Then we saw a loving wife and mother pass on into a life of eternity with our Lord Jesus. Cancer had robbed this lady of quality of life for months. There were so many praying for the Lord to heal her. We must remember, healing takes place in many different ways. While we prayed for healing, which we had hoped meant the cancer would be removed forever and she would live on here with her family, we also had to remember the Lord would perform her miracle in a way that would bring Him glory. And even though she has passed on, she lives in eternity with our Lord Jesus, no more pain, no more sorrow. Her husband is a strong believer in our Lord Jesus, and has been a great witness for God's glory.
We have two very different scenarios of someone passing away. The prayers for these families are and will continue to be totally different. And the answers we see will also be totally different in many ways. This is a very vivid reminder, we must not lose hope, we must continue to pray, and we must be open for an answer that we do not expect.
I am totally confident our Lord Jesus will take care of these families, from the youngest to the eldest. You may be thinking why did these things have to happen?  If there is is one thing I have learned over my years of praying for myself, for my loved ones, is to never ask why. That is something that can drag us down and pollute our attitudes and our faith. So I do not ask why anymore. Instead I ask for the Lord to fill me with peace, comfort, wisdom, and understanding. And that I always remain hopeful knowing Jesus will always take care of me, and my loved ones.
I ask you faithful readers as you go about your week, and especially this Christmas season, to please say a prayer for these families. Pray for peace and comfort to fill their lives. And most of all pray that they become closer to Jesus than they ever have before, and that they will be filled with faith once again.
We may not get the answer to our prayers that we want or expect, but we will get the answer that our Lord Jesus has declared the best for us.

Psalm 50:15Amplified Bible (AMP)

Call on Me in the day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you shall honor and glorify Me.”

Cast Your Cares

Does it ever seem to you there are so many needs that crop up all at once? Not only in your own life, but in others as well?  Perhaps there are many needing a miracle in their life. A physical healing, financial needs, emotional healing, and so on. 
During this season of Thanksgiving I feel so much more aware of the miracles I have seen in my own life, and also the needs that many have currently. But what we do with that awareness is the key.
The Bible tells us how we can better deal with some of these issues.  
Philippians 4:6-7- Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (HCSB)
During this season of Thanksgiving is the perfect time to get into the habit of turning our worries into prayer.  Can you imagine the miracles we would see and the lives that would be changed if we were persistent with this?  Actually it is quite exciting to think about how God would move in our lives when we put our trust in Him more. 
There is another verse that tells us this also.
1 Peter  5:7 casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]. (AMP)
Wow, what a statement!  All of our concerns! All of our worries! 
Then the Scripture tells us how much He loves us. With deepest affection!
And He watches over us.  Oh my goodness, those words alone encourage me so very much. Those words make me want to leap for joy at the thought of how much Jesus loves me. 
So faithful readers, I want to encourage you, no matter what your circumstance, what miracle you need, no matter what your worries are, our Lord Jesus wants to carry those burdens for you. He lovingly wants to lift that weight off of your shoulders. We do not have to endure our trials alone. Jesus is right here with me, and with you.
Lift those burdens off of your shoulders and hand them over to Jesus. I promise you, you will feel the relief. It is hard to do sometimes, but put your trust in Jesus, turn those worries into prayer. And watch the miraculous occur. 
I have a song to share with you this week to encourage you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKuAMmTqUbs

Happy Thanksgiving!

Is Prayer a priority to us?

Yes, I am still on the prayer topic. Do you ever get stuck on a specific topic or subject for awhile? As you can tell, I do. I think what I love so much about prayer is the intimacy it gives us with our Lord Jesus. It is a personal time with just you and Jesus. It is a private time between you and Jesus. You do not have to speak in front of anyone, or feel awkward in front of anyone because your words do not flow as smoothly as others. It is just you and Jesus. That's what I love about my time in prayer.
So I have that point explained. Now how about how often do we pray, how much time do we allow ourselves to pray, and are we rushed? That brings me to this weeks point about prayer and what I've learned in my study time. 
We need to have a scheduled prayer time. Did I just say scheduled? Yes I did.
Face it, unless we have a schedule for our daily tasks or events, most of the time we will forget something. Or we will be too busy, making us rushed in our prayer time. That is how we are these days. We have so many things to do in our given 24 hours that often we put prayer on the bottom of the list.
Think about it, prayer is that given time that we can spend alone with our Savior. It is the time we can talk to Jesus about anything that is on our hearts. And it is the time we can sit and listen to Jesus talk to us. Oh my goodness, there is no greater "scheduled event" in my book.  This is my time with Jesus.
OK, you get my idea here, how important our prayer time is. So if it is that important why do we have it at the bottom of our list? Because we are too busy. We need to learn to say no at times to different things.
In Psalm 55:17 David tells us he calls on the Lord morning, noon, and evening.  Daniel prayed routinely 3 times a day, even when it was dangerous for him to do so.
And in the books of Mark and Luke we read how Jesus rose early in the morning to spend time in prayer.
These were scheduled prayer times. They all knew it was important to set aside a specific time of their day to pray. Otherwise the business of the day would probably get in the way.
I can almost hear your thoughts now, how in the world can I fit prayer into my day 3 times when I can hardly do 1 time. This day and age I'd dare say most of us cannot. But we can set aside time in the morning, or time during the day, or time in the evening before bedtime. I realize not all of us may have an hour to sit and pray. We may not even have half an hour. But what we do have is strategy. Make your schedule work for you. Choose your time. If you need to break it up choose your 2 or 3 times a day that you can pray for a few minutes. We do not have to be rigid in our length of time.
I do not want you to feel badly about yourself if you haven't been able to figure your time out. But I want this to encourage you, use your own strategy as to what works best for you.
Most of all what I want you to realize is how much Jesus wants that "alone time" with you. He loves to have those conversations with you. He loves to hear your voice.
The Lord Jesus Christ wants to spend time with us. How awesome is this?!!
Be encouraged faithful readers, I am confident you will find your time, you will work it out for your schedule. Treasure your time with Jesus.