{Editor’s Note: Today’s Post is written in honor of Bobby Wayne Matthews, my wife Cindy’s Uncle, who passed away last night about 10:30PM after a struggle with lung cancer and pneumonia. Please pray for our family in our time of grief, but know this — we grieve because of the man that we lost, but we REJOICE because Jesus was there to welcome him home, saying, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”}
Hello everyone, and thank you for coming to this week’s Prayers for the Week post. Last week was an incredibly trying one because of Cindy’s Uncle Bob’s illness, and her Uncle Ted’s illness as well, so for today, I wanted to take a moment and focus on them, and on the impact that God can have on us when He has His Angels help us out. Reading this verse from Psalms 91:11-12, I am instantly calmed down, as so often happens when I put myself in the Word. Please read along with me:
[box] 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.[/box]
My friends, we don’t know what will happen in our lives — what trouble we will face, what joys we will experience. But what I have learned as I’ve gotten older is this: by putting our trust in God, He will pave the way for us, and He will take care of us. How do I know this? The Bible tells me so.
Prayer Requests
- Please pray for my friend Beth — she is a Youth Minister, and has two of her charge that are facing a horrible reality — the loss of their father due to cancer. Here is what Beth wrote, please pray for these Sisters-in-Christ and for all of their family. Also, of course please pray for their Daddy, and ask God to give him and them all the Peace, Comfort, and Strength that they need in the months ahead.Cancer SUCKS! I have 2 youth (sisters) ages 18 & 16 whose daddy is dying of brain cancer. Hospice came in last Thursday. We didn’t think he would make it through the night last night, but he’s still hanging on. I stayed over there until 10:45 last night with the girls. It’s so sad to see a child lose a parent.
- Please pray for Shane and Stephanie. Stephanie, as you know, is my niece, and Shane is her husband. Now that he is back from Boot Camp and AIT, they are getting back into their routines, and are working on getting the steady employment they need. God is in control, of course, and we all believe that it will work out to the Glory of God and His Will, but please pray for them to get things settled as quickly as possible. Thanks, everyone!
- My dear friend Beth’s nephew Dustin has been in our prayer requests before. He had kicked cancer, but unfortunately, his struggles are not over yet. We have learned that his cancer is back, and it’s in his bone marrow. Please pray for him, his family, and pray that God would use this tribulation in their lives to show how powerful He is as he heals Dustin of this illness once and for all. Thanks everyone! With God’s Love and our prayers, Dustin will be free of cancer once and for all!
- Continued prayers please for my friend Sheila, who has been looking for a job for over four months now. Please pray for one of her leads to pay off for her!
- Continued prayers also for Cindy’s Aunt Carol, who has been fighting breast cancer for a few years. The treatment continues, and it is working, but I know that she would like to kick this now for good. Thanks!
- My cousin Barb’s husband Tim is still fighting his colon cancer. The treatment is going well, but there have been some bumps in the road every now and then. His latest bump was an abscess that they had to treat, so please pray for him.
- Please continue praying for Aunt Ginny, who is battling breast cancer.
- Please pray for Dr. John Sailhamer — he is a Christian Theologian who is batting both Parkinson’s and Alzheimers.
- Please pray for the Mom and Dad of my friend Steve. His Dad needs to have surgery on October 21st, and his Mom has Alzheimer’s Syndrome. Please pray that God would bring them Peace, Comfort, and Strength in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.
- Please pray for the Open Door committee as they determine the path they should take. Please pray for me as I wrap my hands around this and look to God to see how He would lead me.
- Please pray for my friend Jaime’s work partner JD. JD’s mom has breast cancer, and his father passed away some months back. Please pray for that family as they deal with these multiple tribulations in their lives. May God grant them His Peace, comfort, and strength in the days and weeks ahead.
Praises!
- Big Praise to my cousin Kelly, who, with God’s help, has conquered breast cancer of her own! Yay Kelly!
- Praise to God for my friend Elisha, who’s neck x-rays were negative and is feeling much better!
- Big Praise to Cindy’s Uncle Sam and Aunt Saundra and cousin Jeannie, who have all arrived in town safely after long drives from Montana and New York City!
- Lastly, the biggest praise I have today is for Jesus, and for Uncle Bob, who has been embraced in Heaven by family, friends, and most importantly of all — by Jesus!
As I have told Sophie many times this week, what we are going through with Uncle Bob serves to remind us how important our relationships with loved ones are. In the end, I told Sophie, the things that we cling most closely to are the memories we have with our family, friends, and other loved ones. Because of that, in my opinion we should work hard to have good, meaningful memories — and not ones that are ones we would like to forget. Of course, that isn’t possible all the time, but when a loved one is sick and moving on to Heaven soon, now is the time to make good memories, not bad ones.
In closing, since we were talking about Angels, I would like to remind you all that I believe that Angels can be found anywhere, at any time. Heaven has a new Angel, and one day it may be Uncle Bob that helps out when we need one. To that end, please enjoy this YouTube video of a great band — Alabama — singing their song “Angels Among Us”. May the Lord Bless you and keep you safe this week.
Thank you so much for including Dustin! As I pray for him to beat cancer once and for all, I will be praying for everyone who is facing difficulties. I am so sorry to read about Cindy’s uncle. We are sending prayers and hugs for all of you!
Thanks, Beth, it means a lot to me, and we are praying hard for your little guy and all of you too!
Hugs and prayers to you and Cindy and all the family. You are so loved by people all over the country and that is such a blessing. We are blessed with a little time with those we love and then, thankfully, with an eternity with them once again. You will see him again in God’s time and what a wonderful reunion that will be. Love you all.
Thanks Brenda. Yesterday was harder on Cindy, but we’ll be okay — we have Jesus to lift us up and carry us on the days we struggle! Love you too!
Great song choice Mike. I always liked the Scripture about entertaining angels, basically treating everyone well since we may be entertaining angels and not know it. Hebrews 13:2 is the verse. Love to all and thanks for this weekly encouragement. Even though we have trouble in this world we can take heart since Christ has overcome it all!
Thanks, Robin! Love you, hope you are doing well!
I just love that you have all these prayer requsts!!! We would get no where in the world (no even back to Disney) without God!!!
Thank you Dana! It is just a small thing I do — that I was led to do — but it means a lot to many people, including me. It is my most important post of the week. Thank you for reading, praying, and don’t forget to include your prayer requests when you need to!
So sorry to hear of your family’s loss. You are all in our prayers.
Thanks Heather!
Please pray for my friend Heather. Her job is being halted because of the government shutdown effective October 25th — despite the deal signed Thursday morning. The true sadness is that Heather works with kids that are abused — but those types of programs are considered “non-essential” — despite how many people they benefit, yet the salaries of our “elected” representatives continue to be paid. It will be at least 6 weeks before funding is restored and the program she works with can be started back up. What nobody in Washington realizes is that things like this are just playing right into the Dark One’s hand. Satan is taking on marriage, he’s taking on government, and he’s battling for those that have not found the Light that is Jesus. It is more critical than ever that we all pray fervently to Jesus for our nation, our world, and for all the lost souls.
I am glad that the shutdown is over — I have family and friends that are now able to get back to work — but the way things are is not the way they should stay. They need to focus on the country, not on themselves, and do the job that they are elected to do. There is too much at stake, and I hope that they will see that and start acting like the representatives to our country that they are.
I am sorry to turn that into a political rant. Please pray for Heather, for her ability to find a temporary job until her real job is back and she can keep helping the kids she loves so much. Please pray for those kids, who may not understand why this is happening, and pray for the Lighthouse, which is able to keep it’s shelter running, but has to halt all of it’s other services until they start getting funding again. It is the little people who are hurt in times like this. Thank you my friends!
Please pray for my friend Jodi and her family. They are making the journey from Texas to Florida, and are looking for housing, putting their house on the market, and doing all that is needed to make this transition. Please pray for their sanity during this stressful time, and that God would lead them in the way He would have them go, and that they would get the house that works for them, and lastly, that their house would sell quickly, and also that their journey would be safe. Thanks everyone!
My friend Doug needs prayers. Here is what he wrote on Facebook:
“Prayers for Millie Carman, who remains on the hospital for at least a few more days. They were successful today with the procedure to install a drain to relieve a blockage in the bile duct. Another procedure on Friday to finish that with an internal drain.”
Please continue the prayers for baby Ryan, who had to have heart surgery at 2 days old. He is still having problems, after they thought it was a success, so urgent prayers are needed for him and his family. Please pray to the Lord to keep a close eye on that little one, to heal him of his trauma, make him whole, and for his doctors to take great care as they are led by God’s guidance. Also please pray for the family, for their peace, and comfort, and strength as they face the unknown. Thanks, everyone.
Adding all to my prayers!!!