Proverbs 16:9 ~ “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
Hello my brothers and sisters in Christ, and welcome to this week’s Prayers for the Week post! Last week reminded us that, despite the sin with which we live, and our shouts of Crucify Him, despite all of that, Jesus conquered sin and death for us, and He is Risen! If there is any takeaway from last week, it should be that we all take time to remember that Our Lord loves us, and wants the best for us. The best way of doing and remembering that is by turning to God in our daily walk. Today in my YouVersion Bible App verse of the day, Proverbs 16:9 was displayed. What a great verse! It is especially valid today, because Cindy and I made the decision to trade out our old car that needed a lot of work — more than it was worth — and get a new car that will last us several years. We thought about it on our own, we talked about going this way versus that way for at least a month, we prayed about it, and in the end, we decided to make the decision to go with a new car, so that’s what we did. It was while I was in the dealership today that I saw that verse, and I immediately knew that I had taken the path that I needed to take, and that God had directed my steps appropriately.
My friends, one thing that I really need to improve on in my daily walk with the Lord is to call on Him a lot more than I do. Today was a good example of listening to what He would have me do — but I need to rely on Him every day, and for much more mundane things than purchasing a car. The more I do that, the closer I will be with God.
My prayer for you is that you would also take the time to rely on God, ask Him what is best for you in life decisions, and listen — don’t just ask and ignore the answer, like I often do — ask Him, wait, listen to what your heart is telling you, and that will lead you to what God is telling you to do. Now, please take time and read and pray for our requests, and thank you for doing so each and every week! God Bless You all!
Prayer Requests and Praises!
- My friend Kourtney has some incredibly exciting news about her nephew Ryan that we have been praying for. Here is what she told me via email:
Just wanted to let you know that he was released from the hospital on Tuesday (after 7 long months) and he’s doing great at home! Mom, Dad, brother Max and even the dog look so happy! Thank you again for all of your thoughts and prayers. Unfortunately, one of the families they met during their stay at the hospital was not so fortunate this week. Their 3 month old daughter passed away from the same heart condition. This is not the first family they have met that has suffered this tragedy. Makes us realize even more how fortunate we are to have Ryan with us. Please pass along our thanks to everyone that you have shared Ryan’s story with. I know words can never be thanks enough, but THANK YOU!
Of course, praises to God for Ryan are mingled with prayers for God’s Peace, Comfort, Strength, and Love to descend upon all of those families that were not as fortunate with their children. We know that their little ones are safe with God, that they have no more problems, but that doesn’t always help for those of us that are left behind. Please pray for these families, the nameless ones that we don’t know, as they struggle with their loss. Also, please continue to lift up Kourtney and her family in their daily challenges.
Thank you all for your dedication to prayer — it means so much to me, and to all of these people that you pray for also! - My sister Robin had this to say:
Thank you Mike, you are so eloquent and I can hear the prayers in your voice. I can only imagine the beautiful sound of the prayers of the saints being lifted continuously to God every moment of every day. Someday we shall hear it! - My friend Kristin had this incredible praise for God. Here is what she wrote:
My friend Kristin shares with us a huge praise on the anniversary of God’s Miracle for her sister Ally:This time last year, I posted this:
“How do I say enough thank you’s for today? It’s been a year since we almost lost you, Gracie, and there is so much to be thankful for. The friend that called 911 and the officer who stayed with you until EMS arrived. The crew that airlifted you to CMC and the surgeons, docs and nurses that saved your life. Our guardian angels. The prayers that got Mom and Dad through that hour long drive in the middle of the night. The fact that you awoke from surgery and spoke, after a traumatic brain injury. And 4 days later you walked. I just want to shout it…”Ally is here!” Thank you Jesus, your grace is immeasurable. There will never be enough thank you’s but I will do my imperfect best to try and you, Lord, will always be more than enough.”
And so, I will continue with this-
Two years ago Kevin and I made a long 9 hour drive from Hershey, PA to Charlotte, NC. I experienced for the first time what my husband was like as a doctor. He kept me calm, delegated what needed to happen next, and hid from me what he thought could be true…irrevocable damage to my sister’s brain. And, that whole long trip, for one of the first times in my life, I didn’t worry. I didn’t worry because GOD didn’t let me worry. HE was present the whole time. It’s now been two years, and my sister Ally is thriving! I couldn’t be more proud of her. And most of all, I can not be more thankful for Jesus, His presence, His love and His grace.
Love you more than words Gracie! Love you forever Jesus!So many praises — for her husband’s skill as a doctor, the way he was able to keep his wife calm and collected, for the safe 9 hour journey for them and the 1 hour journey for her parents, but most of all, huge praises for God for being there for them that day, and for the witness that they have become for Him. - Lastly, my friends, I want to give a huge Thank You to the men that have walked with me in the Men’s Study. The list goes on and on, but I would like to specifically thank these people by name:
- Russ, for guiding us and leading us each week.
- Jim, for being the #2 man, and keeping us all straight and organized each week.
- Hardin, my Brother-in-Christ, for leading our small group.
- James, for helping out Hardin with the weekly communications in our group.
- Mark, for praying for me each week and hearing and praying over my prayer requests.
- My good buddy Cullen, for working the door with me each week, and for ALWAYS having a smile on his face and a laugh in his heart.
- Lastly, but by no means least, the other men in my small group — it has been my absolute pleasure in getting to know each of you, to pray with you, for you, and to walk with you as we each walk our path with God.
My friends, isn’t it amazing how uplifting it is to our Spirit when we hear of how God is working on people’s lives each and every day?! Sometimes I shed tears just reading these words because it is a direct reminder to me of just how incredible God is, and that He loved me enough to send His son Jesus to die for my sins — my disgusting, selfishly motived sins! Thank you God, I love You!
Lastly my friends, let’s take the time to pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray:
Our Father, who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done,
On earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our Daily Bread,
And forgive us our Trespasses,
as we forgive those who Trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory,
Forever and ever. Amen.
My friend Joyce has a prayer request for us. Here is what she wrote:
Friends and family we need prayers for 4 year Makayla Lassiter. She needs our prayers as well as her family. Lord I ask you to lay your loving hands upon her and heal her. Lord I believe and will keep on believing that prayer helps. I have been anointed with oil and prayed for Makayla at church. I know it is Gods will not my will. Come on prayer warriors my family needs you right now.
Please pray for Makayla’s healing, and for God’s Peace, Comfort, Strength, and Love to descend upon her and all of her family. Thank you everyone!
Here is an update from my friend Joyce:
This is from Makayla’s Mom: Well Makayla update is great prayers do work. Dropping meds and lowering ventilator and basically she had fluid messing with her heart rhythm so she gets fluid out she’s great.
This is from me: Thank you all for helping me pray for good news. Family need lots of prayers. Someone broke into their home Saturday night and stole several things. Pray that they get the person or persons that are doing all the break ins in Woodland. Be safe family and friends who live there. I pray that Makayla will continue to improve. We know that none of us can make it without our Lord and Savior. Thank you.
Update from my friend Amanda on her husband Daniel’s cancer:
It’s been a while but things have been moving fast so we were waiting until we had a bigger picture to send out the update. This is going to be a long, technical one!
The CT results show the tumor is resectable but they would need to take 80% of his liver if they did the surgery today. That would not leave enough healthy liver behind if they took the margins they want to take. Fun fact – you can survive with 20% of your liver without significantly increased risk of liver failure! So, we started chemotherapy yesterday to shrink the tumor and prevent, hopefully, more from showing up. We will have 4 cycles of chemo with each cycle being 2 weeks long. The tumor was KRAS positive so we had to drop one of the chemo agents from the regimen. As for the regimen, Daniel gets 2 agents in the office and then brings the third home in a portable chemo pump that he wears for 48 hours then we go back to the office to have it removed. That way he is getting the agents continuously for 3 days.
In addition to the chemo, we will be having a bypass embolization of the portal veins – all 4 branches of the right and at least 1 of the left sometime in the next week or so. I’m oversimplifying this explanation. This will shut off the blood supply to the tumor and hopefully increase blood supply to the healthy liver. The hope is the tumor will stop growing at the very least and shrink as cells are killed off due to no blood at the best. In addition, we hope the increased blood supply to the healthy liver will grow as well. If everything works the way it is supposed to, between the shrinking of the tumor and the growing of the healthy liver, we will have more than enough liver left after they take the tumor plus a good margin.
We will reimage in 8 weeks to see if everything has worked the way we wanted. If it has, the liver resection will be scheduled. If it hasn’t, then we’ll figure out where to go next. So far, he’s had a little nausea that we are trying to regulate and we will probably end up going into the office for more fluid until we can get that fixed so he can eat and drink appropriately. Other than that, it is going well for now. They said a lot of the side effects kick in at the second cycle so we’ll see.
So, prayer requests for this round is that the tumor shrinks and healthy liver grow as we need them too, that Daniel do well with the chemotherapy so he can keep his nutrition and hydration up and that Daniel, Cate and I have the stamina, patience and perspective to get through this hard part of the road. Thanks so much for all the prayers, calls, cards, thoughts, emails, PMs, etc! Everyone’s love and support really helps keep us focused on the ultimate goal – to kick this in the butt!! We’ll be praying for each and everyone of you too!