Trusting God

"Trust God." "He knows your needs and will provide." "Read Psalm such and such..." "Read and claim his promises." I have said these words to many friends going through financial difficulties over the years. Some even in the last few months. I have told them that God will provide when it is in His timing. I have even told them I will be praying for you and I do. For the first time in my life I am now the one hearing those words aimed at me. For the first time in my Christ-following life, I am having to rely on God more than ever.

This week my husband and I received word that we had bounced checks and creditors calling for this months payment and there is little we can do about it. Neither of us have a job right now. What little money we do have is used to buy food, and only what we absolutely need.

Prayers and bible verses are great when you aren't in the "we are about to lose everything" mode. They don't buy food, pay bills, or put gas in the car. I sent emails to friends who let us know that they were about to lose their job filled with trust God and we are praying for you. And for them a job came through before they faced financial disaster. Thanks to twitter I have many people I have never met face to face praying for David & I. Pray that God will provide a job for us. Family and friends are praying and repeating the words that I said to them many times.

Now that we are facing financial difficulties, I feel my spirit facing difficulties to remaining faithful. I want to yell "Psalm such & such or any other verse won't buy bread." I find myself bargaining with God and yet another day goes by without a job. One dear friend said on twitter "If only we could get good news tomorrow and not have to sweat out the weekend." I replied back "Amen. David & I are learning to rely on God more that we ever have." Then another dear friend replied "And with 'that' tweet God gets the glory."

This is also teaching me that when you are facing financial difficulties or any other problems it is ok to say "I'll pray for you" and make sure you do, but what the person also needs is something more concrete. Asking them "what can I do for you" does not help sometimes because they may not know what it is they really need or may be too embarrassed to ask. So far in this storm I have learned that not only do I need to pray for that person but I need to ask God what He wants me to do FOR that person. God reminded me that so far we have not had to pay for food on some days because great friends have taken us out to dinner or through the bible studies we are involved in.

When we had the means to help a friend out, all I did was say "I'll pray for you" and I did. I now realize that more is needed besides a prayer or an encouraging word. So one lesson learned and will be glad when I can put it into practice. What's next.............................

To be continued as God continues to teach me through this storm................................................

How do I Pray for Healing?

This week I have 2 dear friends facing medical crisis with a parent. The first, Mary, her mom was found unconscious and went into a coma. After about a week Mary and her family needed to make the decision to take her off the ventilator and let her go to her eternal home. The second, Elaine, her dad under went colon surgery to remove more cancer. The day after surgery he was fine, up and walked in the room and was even doing his breathing exercises. The next morning Elaine and her family receives a call that her dad was critical, going to ICU and being put on a ventilator. My heart grieves from afar for my dear friends and I wish I could be with them to provide comfort.

So how do I pray for healing? I know there are two types of healing, healing back to life and healing to our eternal home. For Mary, my prayers have been for our Merciful God to take her mom home quickly when the ventilator is removed and that she has no suffering. For Elaine, my pray is that God will send an answer that to let the family know that all is going to be okay and this is just a bump in the road. I sometimes feel guilty praying for one's healing to be death and the other to be life. I feel I am cheating my friend of her mother. I also feel an overwhelming sense of peace that both of my prayers are the right ones. Both of my friends are friends of each other too. So do I talk about Elaine's dad stabilizing and getting better to Mary, knowing that her mom is dying? This is where I feel life is unfair! This is also where I get on my knees and pray that God speaks through me and I don't. I had a long talk last night with Mary. I pray that my words were of comfort.

I know for Elaine's dad my prayer for healing to life is right, that if at any point God says not this time, my prayer was answered. It may not have been the answer I wanted or Elaine wanted, but it was the answer God gave us. I also know that God is sovereign and will see us through this difficult time no matter how He answers our prayers of healing.

Praying Backwards

Please follow the above link to learn about Praying Backwards and join me and others as we pray for the Presidential canidates, their families, and our country tomorrow night. No matter who will be our next President we are commanded by God to pray for our leaders. Whoever becomes our President after Nov. 4th, God has a reason for him to be our leader. Let us always remember to pray for him each day.