My Dreams of Disney

Exploring Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and beyond!

Prayers for the Week – Why I’m a Christian

by Leave a Comment

Christian

11For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. ~ Jeremiah 29:11-14 (ESV)

Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s prayers for the week post.  Today I’m taking a moment to talk to you about why I’m a Christian.  It’s something that I feel strongly about, and pray that it may lead you to examine your own reasons for why you are a Christian — or if you aren’t one, to reach out to us and ask any questions you have about how you become one.

When I was a child, my family really didn’t go to church very often.  Most of the times we did go to church were for weddings or funerals, so not very often at all.  I don’t write that as a way of judging why my parents didn’t take us to church.  I write it because to me it shows all the more the plans God has for me, and how He is going to see them through to fulfillment regardless of me.

One of the reasons I’m a Christian is because God’s Word speaks to us today just as it did to others thousands of years ago. Jeremiah recorded the words of God to His people, the Israelites, when they were exiled to Babylon. Although those words were spoken thousands of years ago to a people that was disobedient and ended up in exile, still God tells His people that He hasn’t given up on them, that He will restore them, and it will be because they turned back to Him.

In the same vein, those words are written for us in today’s day. We are often just as disobedient as the Israelites were, and with the state of the world today, you can certainly make an argument that God has turned His back on us. But despite that, God’s promise from yesteryear is very much in evidence today.

When I lost my job at UNC-TV because management decided to outsource to an out of state company two years ago, I really had a sense of fear. How was I going to support my family? How were we going to be able to keep our home? What was going to happen with Sophie’s plans for school? Well, what I know is that the plans I had to accomplish those things really weren’t my plans at all, they were God’s plans. God knew and God knows what we need in our lives.

The short answer to this long-winded discussion is that the reason I’m a Christian is that God provides me and my family with the hope we need each and every day. God knows — and we have learned — that our time on this fallen world is short, and that our real home is Heaven. The hope we have in Jesus is a hope like none other, and it is in that hope that I am a Christian.

Now, please put your hope in Jesus as well, and please pray with me these prayer requests and praises.

Prayer Requests and Praises

  • Mikel starts us off with a prayer request: I would ask for your prayers for my husband Bruce. He has some difficult decisions to make at work that not only affect him, but the people that he manages.
  • Dennis needs immediate prayers for a family member. Please lift up Dennis and his family today. Thanks!
  • Amanda has a prayer request for her husband’s aunt, Diane is her name: My husband’s aunt needs prayers. They have found a mass on her liver and are concerned it is advanced pancreatic cancer. They are currently awaiting a biopsy and further scans.
  • Hiro has a prayer request for her father-in-law: Please pray for my Father-in-Law. He is getting surgery on his eyes tomorrow morning. He is worried about losing his sight.
  • Lastly, Jo has a prayer request for financial blessings for her family.

Now, please close with us by praying the prayer that Jesus taught His Disciples and 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 that trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom, and Power, and Glory
Forever and ever. Amen.

Prayers for the Week – A Season for everything

by Leave a Comment

season

 

1For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace. ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV)

Hello everyone, and thank you for joining with us on our weekly prayers for the week post.  As we learn in the book of Ecclesiastes, there is a season for all things in God’s plan.  We know that there is a time to live, and a time to die.  There is a time to break down, and a time to build up. There is a time for everything.

This week has been an extremely hard one for so many of us, and you will hear all about them in our prayer requests and praises that we will lift up further down.  Starting us off, though, I want to take a moment and talk about Daniel, the young man that we have been lifting up in prayer for over four years.  This past Tuesday, though, the Lord called Daniel home.  We remember Daniel with love, even though we have never met him, and we celebrate the life he lived despite being afflicted with such a hard illness.  He met that illness head on, and never wavered in his love of the Lord because of it.  He leaves behind his wife Amanda and daughter Cate, and we lift them up every day for God’s Strength, Peace, Comfort, and Love to surround them.

The prayers for Amanda and Cate are just the beginning, so please continue reading with us as we carry on our Prayer Requests and Praises below.

Prayer Requests & Praises

  • Please pray for all of those in the path of Hurricane Irma, Jose, and Katia, and for all of those that have already faced the wrath of these storms.  Please pray as well for all of those that had to leave their homes, and for any affected in any way from the storms.
    • Paul has a prayer request: My daughter, Patricia, is in the West Palm Beach area and is staying to ride out the storm. There is no gas and roads are packed. Please keep her and her friends in your prayers.
    • Please pray for Jodi, who is in the path, and my cousin James over in Tampa.
    • Please pray for all of my friends who live in Florida who had to stay.
    • Please keep “Jeff in Cape Coral, FL” in your Prayers….for whatever reason, he is not willing to share more than that. His sister, Diane, is a good friend of mine in MN….her brother is going to “ride this out” – he is on the west side of the point of FL!
  • Please continue praying for my cousin Barb and her husband Tim for healing for his cancer.
  • Please continue praying for my cousin Deb and her husband Donnie for healing from his stomach issues.
  • Hayden has a prayer request for his Mom: I’d appreciate prayers for my mom. She is having her second cornea replacement surgery this am due to the fact her body didn’t accept the first one about 5 weeks ago. She’s needing the surgery due to her chemo and the chemo is what kept the first one from working. She’s in remission from her bone cancer but now is dealing with side effects from the chemo. Please remember her and pray that this transplant works. Thank you all.
  • Please pray for all of the wildfires — in Montana, Oregon, California, and anywhere I’ve missed.  Please pray that the fires would be put out quickly and that no loss of life or additional damage would be inflicted.
  • Hey everyone, please include my friend Donna in your prayers. She suffers from vertigo and is having a hard time right now. Thanks!
  • Please continue to pray for Karen’s sister-in-law.  She didn’t get the job she was hoping to get, so please keep praying for the right job for her to arrive. Thank you!
  • Jodi has a prayer request: My friend Kim’s best friend Shanna passed away last night. Thank you for praying for her during her illness. Please continue prayers for her family!
  • Sheila has a prayer request: Please pray for all of the people affected by the earthquake in Guatemala and Mexico.
  • As always, pray for those that don’t know what to pray for, and pray for those that are lost.  Pray for those that don’t know the words to speak, but don’t worry — because God knows what we need even when we can’t put it to words.

Now, please close with us by praying the prayer that Jesus taught His Disciples and 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 that trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom, and Power, and Glory
Forever and ever. Amen.

 

Prayers for the Week: A Reminder from God

by Leave a Comment

God

Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s prayers for the week post.  We have concluded our series on the Fruits of the Spirit, I hope you enjoyed digging into them a little more closely, and today, I felt led to talk with you about a reminder that God has put on me this week. The image is, of course, of the eclipse we experienced last week.  I’m sharing this image because of the reminder that God is in charge of all of this, and that He made the sun, the moon, and all the stars, and that He caused it to line up like it did for His Glory.

For many of us, often it feels like nothing can go right; either the business is to slow, or perhaps someone is sick and has been, or maybe it isn’t anything specific at all, just a feeling like you are never going to get ahead of this game we call life. Whatever your situation is, I want to share with you some words of comfort directly from God Himself:

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them. ~ Psalm 139:14-16 (ESV)

For Cindy and I, the first verse has so much meaning.  Our daughter, Sophie, is on the Autism Spectrum, although if you were to talk with her I suggest you may not have ever known it.  She has Aspergers Syndrome, and has learned over the years how to overcome that social awkwardness to the point that she is an incredible young woman. When Cindy and I first learned of her Aspergers, I’ve got to tell you, it felt like a punch in the gut.  But as we learned more, and as we cried a bit, and came to grips with it, God reminded us of these verses, especially verse 14, and over time, we saw the positives of what that means.  The world often looks down on kids like Sophie, thinking that they are to be exploited, taken advantage of, or something along those lines.  Heck, in Iceland they see abortion as a means to end Downs Syndrome in their children, rather than seeing the pure joy and unconditional love a child with Downs Syndrome has for everyone they encounter. So, as parents, at first we saw Sophie’s diagnosis as a negative because that is what the world expected us to see. Over time, though, we have realized just how wrong we were. Cindy and I believe that one of Sophie’s best, most enduring qualities is her empathy towards other people.  Sophie is in tune with how others are feeling, often far more quickly than anyone around her, and has a knack for knowing exactly what to say to make that person feel immediately better. Both Cindy and I believe that her empathy is a direct result of her Aspergers.

That is just one example how fearfully and wonderfully made Sophie is.  My prayer for all of you is that regardless of what you are going through, regardless of how small you feel yourself to be, that you would read those verses and remember that God made you exactly the way you were meant to be made: fearfully and wonderfully made. Now, please continue reading and join in our prayer requests and praises.  We have some very heavy prayer requests, my friends, and they need all the prayers they can receive.  Thank you for praying for them.

Prayer Requests & Praises

  • Please pray for two close friends of mine who are facing medical issues. God knows all the details, thanks everyone!
  • Please continue praying for Shannan’s friend Darleen: Darleen had to go back to the ER this week. She’s now on antibiotics for a wound infection. She just can’t seem to get a leg up on healing. Please continue your prayers for her. I also found out she’s had no insurance through this entire ordeal. That’s one reason she was unable to go to a rehab facility following the the surgeries.
  • Jodi reminds us to keep praying for those in the path of Hurricane Harvey: Also, keep everyone in the path of Hurricane Harvey in prayer!
  • Please pray for the families of those affected by the hurricane, and for the family of the ones that have lost their lives because of the storm.
  • We continue our prayers for Daniel.  Here’s the latest update from his wife Amanda: UPDATED: We went to the oncologist today. Daniel’s bilirubin went from 24 to 26 which is basically no change. His other labs are good or slightly high but nothing to be alarmed about. He gained 10 pounds – probably from the hydration – and his potassium is out of the critical range. We didn’t move forward but we didn’t move back and we cleared the potassium hurdle for now. So we succeeded in keeping his liver functioning to give the Herceptin another week to work. We go for a second dose on 9/8 and will hopefully start to see some slight improvement.
    Thank you for your prayers and please keep them coming! They are working – I know they are!
  • Please pray for my Aunt Rita. This is from my dad: Talked to my kid sister Rita today. Her spirit is good, she has a fractured lumbar vertebra and kidney stones to deal with. “I won’t give up!” she assured me. She’s with loving daughter and other family members.
  • My friend Kerry has a prayer request for her dog: I usually don’t post or ask for prayers on FB but at this time we need all of the prayers possible. Yesterday my beloved Buddy was diagnosed with a “mass cell” which the vet upon initial biopsy feels is a cancer. It does not look promising. He is scheduled for surgery next week to remove the mass and to further biopsy the mass. Hopefully things will go well and he will be back to making us laugh and snuggling with us. Buddy has been part of our family for over ten years and the joy and happiness he has given us is beyond what can be put into words. I am sure all of you who know me understand how heartbreaking this news was to receive. We are very optimistic and are hoping and praying for the best possible outcome. For those of you who know our little guy personally… Say a little prayer for him. I can’t imagine life without him.
  • Please pray for Sarah F. No details, God knows all we need to know. Thanks everyone!
  • Please pray for my cousin Barb’s husband Tim: Tomorrow I take Tim for screening tests to see if he is eligible for a clinical trial (ABBV-085). He’ll have a CT, an EKG, a physical and blood work. Please pray that every thing comes back good, and that he can start treatment ASAP! If he’s cleared for the trial, I’ll be back for prayers that it works to hold his cancer at bay. #CancerSucks
  • Jodi has a prayer request for her husband Richard: Please pray for my husband, Richard, this morning. One of his crowns fell out the other day, and it looks like the peg it attaches to broke. Has 9:00 dentist appt. Please pray it’s an inexpensive and easy fix (or is totally covered by insurance), as our finances are very limited right now. He also has severe anxiety disorder, and this has jacked up his anxiety level as well, because he’s worried it’s going to be a major procedure like it was when he first got it. Thanks!
    UPDATE: It is going to require a whole procedure to remove & replace post & put in new crown. He is very disheartened about it, and even though insurance helps, it’s still a big hit to the wallet.
    Triple to quadruple cost estimate we were given yesterday, and that’s what Richard’s dental procedure is going to cost (after insurance). OUCH. Have to remove existing post and reinforce bone it’s attached to.
    Getting him started right now & will take 2-3 hours. Will have temp crown for about 3 months. Please continue prayers! Thank you!
  • Please pray for my friend Amy, who is about to undertake a move soon.  Please pray that everything goes perfectly for her and her family!
  • Lastly, we remember to pray for those that are lost, those that don’t know what to pray, those that don’t know how to pray, and those that in authority.

Now, please close with us by praying the prayer that Jesus taught His Disciples and 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 that trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom, and Power, and Glory
Forever and ever. Amen.

Prayers for the Week: Fruit of the Spirit – Self-Control

by Leave a Comment

self-control

Hello everyone, and welcome to today’s Prayers for the Week post. Last week we looked at gentleness, the eighth word that was mentioned as a fruit of the Spirit by the Apostle Paul.  Today, we conclude our series by looking at self-control.  But first, let’s look at our Bible verses again to refresh them in our minds:

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ~ Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)

The past week has shown a definite lack of self-control among the peoples of this world.  Charlottesville, Barcelona, Florida, and countless other locals all have shown that there is a definite lack of self-control in this world.  What is self-control, though, and why is it a fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians?

To me, the concept of self-control is to make sure you exercise patience, and ask God for guidance in decisions you need to make.  Self-control is, to me, about disciplining ones self so that it is in tune with what God desires of me, rather than what the world expects of me.  Unfortunately, the events of the past week or so have shown a definite lack of self-control exists among the people of the world.  I think the examples are obvious, and we don’t need to recap them yet one more time.  The ultimate question to me is how are we going to get beyond all of this?

15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ ~ Matthew 13:15 (ESV)

My friends, I’m worried that the words of Jesus, which He quoted from the book of Isaiah some 2,700 years ago, are being played out right before our eyes in the present day and time.  In my eyes, the sad reality is that the majority of the people in this world are marching to the beat of their own drum, or rather, Satan’s drum, and as a result, most of the people’s hearts have hardened.

To me, the only way that the people of this world will be redeemed is if they start praying to God, asking Him to guide them, and putting their complete trust in Him.  Fortunately, I see examples of that every single day.  I see Godly men and women looking to God for guidance.  I see them praying to God, evangelizing to others, I see them asking God’s direction for their lives, for their daily encounters, and I see God responding to our pleas. If you continue reading, and read our prayer requests and praises and pray over them, you will see God’s answer in some of them as well.

Prayer Requests & Praises

  • Amanda starts us off with a desperate plea for prayer for her husband Daniel.  We first started praying for Daniel way back in May of 2013.  But, it’s life threatening serious, people.  Please shower him with all the prayers you can. Here’s what Amanda wrote: We need prayers badly. The biliary drain for my husband is working but not bringing his bilirubin down enough. The doctor says that means the cancer is starting to interfere with the liver function. He suggested my husband go home and be made comfortable but also offered us to try Herceptin (a breast cancer drug) to see if we can beat back the cancer enough to get the liver to function well. My husband is fighting until the last possible moment and is getting Herceptin, fluids and potassium as we speak. Please pray that his body get strong and the Herceptin, & God, get that cancer out of his liver and the rest of his body. I have trouble believing God would have brought him thru all of this to take him now!
  • Stefan wrote for a prayer request for his friend Rob on Wednesday.  Here’s the original request as well as updates: Hey folks, my friend Rob suffered a heart attack Monday and again last night. He’s in surgery right now. Please pray from him!
    • Here’s an update: Update on Rob from his sister:
      We just saw Rob and talked to his doctor and nurses. He is still asleep and intubated (with breathing tube) but the surgery went very well.
      Praise God. Keep praying folks.
    • Another update on Rob — he’s getting better and was transferred from ICU to a regular room! Keep praying, but he’s getting better, thanks everyone!
  • Stephanie has an update on baby Wesley: UPDATE: “After 17 days Wesley opened his eyes!! And he is now 2 pounds!! A long road ahead but, we will take all steps in the right direction.” This is in regards to the post I made a week or so ago.
  • Jodi needs continued prayers for her work situation: OK, a few weeks ago, y’all were so faithful in praying over me as I applied to teach with VIPKid, and I thank you! I did get hired; however, I have still not gotten a single booking! I’m doing everything they say to do to get their attention, but I’m at 23 days now, and still have not taught a single class. I really need to start earning an income, so please continue to pray over this with me. Thank you!
  • Please keep praying for my cousin Barb’s husband, Tim.  Tim’s been fighting cancer for a long time too, about as long as Daniel, and he needs God’s hand on him too.  Please lift up that family, shower them all with as much prayer as you can muster.
  • Please pray for all of the families of those affected in Charlottesville and Barcelona and Florida.
  • Please pray for the upcoming Men’s Study bible study, that it would see phenomenal attendance and that all of us would be brought closer to God, and that we would share that love for God with those we meet in our daily encounters.
  • Lastly, we pray for all of those unspoken prayer requests.  We pray for all of those that are lost and have no direction, and we pray that they would learn who God is and that we would witness it change their lives.

Now, please close with us by praying the prayer that Jesus taught His Disciples and 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 that trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom, and Power, and Glory
Forever and ever. Amen.

Prayers for the Week: Fruit of the Spirit – Faithfulness

by Leave a Comment

faithfulness

Hello everyone, and welcome to today’s Prayers for the Week post. Last week we looked at goodness, the sixth word that was mentioned as a fruit of the Spirit by the Apostle Paul.  Today, we look at faithfulness.  But first, let’s look at our Bible verses again to refresh them in our minds:

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ~ Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)

The concept of faithfulness to many people is a hard thing to have.  Basically, to exhibit the traits of faithfulness is to have your complete and total belief in knowing that God is looking out for you, and that He will take care of those problems that come up in our lives.  It’s so very easy in this fallen world we live in to be jaded by the events that surround us, whether they be political, economical, or whatever, that to exude that feeling of faithfulness can be kind of hard.

For me, being more faithful to God has become easier the older I’ve gotten.  This time in my life is by no means an easy road to hoe, we’re still battling with me losing my job nearly two years ago, trying to make my businesses work and thrive, and so forth — and the stress is not easily laid aside.  But throughout it all, in fact, because of it all, I think my relationship with God has grown in leaps and bounds beyond what I could ever imagine, and each day I see myself praying to God more and more each day, not just about big things, but about small, often what I would call “mundane” things.  Such as, Lord, help me get the weight loss I want this week, and so forth.

My latest challenge spiritually is that I have started the OWNit365 Whole Bible Plan on August 1st.  The challenge is to read through the entire Bible in one year, and this is something I’ve attempted before, but have never succeeded at.  So this is a big deal for me.  Please pray for me to continue to develop and maintain the discipline needed to read each day, and to complete this challenge.

Now, please join us as we pray over our prayer requests and praises.

Prayer Requests & Praises

  • Shannan starts us off with a praise and continued prayers for her friend Darleen: Hey guys, I heard from Darleen today!!! She’s doing so much better. The plan, as of now is for her to go home sometime this coming week. She’s in good spirits but is still in some pain and can’t stand for long periods of time. Also, due to the length of time that she has been off, she also lost her job. I am in the process of researching restaurants nearby her address that deliver because she can’t drive right now either. I’m going to send a few gift cards to help with expenses when she gets home.
  • Amanda asks for continued prayers for her husband Daniel.  Here’s the latest update from his tests: We had our appointment yesterday to see about a clinical trial. It was good and bad news. Over the past week, Daniel has become jaundice and had all the signs of liver issues. They are doing a scan on Monday at 3 to see if it is something simple like a blocked bile duct or if the cancer is causing it. Please pray that this is something simple that we can take care of quickly and get back on the path to getting him in remission. Also, please pray he doesn’t spike a fever – that is really bad. The good news is he isn’t a candidate for an immunotherapy clinical trial but instead off label use of a drug already very successful at treating breast cancer. We just need to get there!
  • Jodi has a heartbreaking prayer request for a friend’s nephew: My friend’s 17-yr-old nephew unexpectedly passed away in his sleep. Don’t know cause. Please pray for the Dokken family!
  • We have an update from Robin on this prayer request from earlier: Little man is back in the hospital his heart rate keeps going too low so he will be at the hospital for a while. This is from my high school classmate Carla regarding her grandson Dyrell. He has many medical needs and this baby needs prayer. His mama is Hilary and needs prayer as well as daddy.
    • Please keep praying: DJ is still in pediatric ICU. Carla appreciates our prayers.
  • Robin also had a prayer request for Macie: Please add Macie to the list. She had her tonsils removed but wasn’t healing. They had to go in and cauterize the surgical site and her pain is needing to be managed. Macie is early teens so this is more difficult as children get older. Thanks
    • The good news, we’ve been praying for her in our Facebook prayer group and she is much better! From Robin: Macie is recovering beautifully. She can start volleyball practice Wednesday!
  • Shannan also has a prayer request for Joshua: Please pray for my son’s girlfriend’s little brother, Joshua. He’s 12 and weighs 60lbs. They have done a ton of blood work and finally found he was anemic. He was admitted to the hospital after going to the ER this weekend and they have diagnosed him with Crohn’s disease. They did an endoscopy today but don’t have the results of the severity yet. We have a friend (same age as my son) that’s had the majority of her intestines removed already and is on humera injections for probably the rest of her life, but right now in remission. It’s a long and scary road for this little guy and his family.
  • Tabitha has a prayer request for a friend: To my prayer warriors……I have a friend whose father can use some prayers right now. Please pray for him. God knows what he needs.
  • Jodi also has a prayer request for Shannah: Please pray for a friend’s best friend named Shannah. She was hospitalized on the 21st with sepsis, liver failure, and kidney failure, in critical condition. Idk if she had prior problems or if this was a sudden onset. She’s still in the hospital, and they finally were able to start dialysis today. She’s only in her early 30s & has a 3-yr-old son.
  • Stephanie has a prayer request for baby Wesley and his family: My stomach just dropped… two people I knew fairly well from college just posted this: “On Wednesday Riley Judy and Wesley Ellis were delivered. They were 14 weeks early. Last night our Riley girl passed and is no longer in any pain. Wesley is still fighting he has a long way to go. Please pray for Wesley.” I can only imagine what the new mommy and daddy are feeling so pray hard guys for them. God has a plan and I’m sure for them that plan seems so unclear….
  • Lori has a prayer request for her friend Barb: God surely puts more on some people’s plates than others. Please add my friend Barb & her family, from MN to your prayers this week. Barb & her husband (who has cystic fibrosis himself) many years ago adopted and have cared for 3 special-needs boys – their oldest (wheel chair bound) is now just one badge away from Eagle Scout!Oh, yes. When Barb had difficulty finding a Scout Troop willing to take up the challenge of accommodating her boys, by gosh, she stepped up and started a new Troop! None who want to be a Scout are left out of her Troop!Barb is a full-time nurse supporting their family and is now tasked with caring for her quite elderly father with esophageal cancer as well.Please hold their family in your prayers – God has given my friend amazing Strength over the years!
  • Please pray for the sign up dinner for the Men’s Study in Raleigh, NC that is happening this Tuesday, August 8th. If there are any men in the Raleigh/Durham area that want to come for a free BBQ dinner, and to hear my mentor Russ Andrews talk about the bible study, please come to Edenton Street UMC, 228 W. Edenton Street, Raleigh, NC, at 5:45PM on Tuesday the 8th.  If you sign up for this study and put your whole heart into it, it literally will change your life.
  • Please pray for those that have no faith, for those that don’t know Jesus, for the lost, for those that are out to hurt others, for all that don’t know Jesus but desperately need to meet Him and know Him.
  • Please pray for the world, for the leaders on all sides of government, and pray for those that are in need and not getting the help they need.

The prayers listed on this page each week do work — the answered prayers we have been a witness to over the years speak to how God hears us, hears our prayers, and answers our petitions. The strangers that pray for all of these prayer requests each and every week — most of whom I have never met before — speak to how faithful they are in their belief, their expectation, and their confidence that God will and does hear our prayers.  There is a peace that comes from prayer, my friends.  Do you know that Peace, that Peace that surpasses all understanding, yet brings a calmness to you like nothing else can? That Peace, my friends, is among the greatest of gifts that I will ever receive, and that Peace can only come from God.

Now, please close with us by praying the prayer that Jesus taught His Disciples and 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 that trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom, and Power, and Glory
Forever and ever. Amen.

Prayers for the Week: Fruit of the Spirit – Kindness

by Leave a Comment

kindness

Image ©Life-Giving Water

Hello everyone, and thank you for joining us today as we continue our exploration of the Fruits of the Spirit.  This is week five in our series, and for this week, we are focusing on kindness.  But first, let’s look at our Bible verses and remind us of the complete list of the fruits:

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ~ Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)

The concept of kindness is one that we all should strive to attain for, not simply because God expects it of us, but rather, because being kind to someone will often lead to situations where they are kind back to you, or others, and by spreading the kindness around, it helps to combat some of the hate that exists in the world.

In many ways, being kind to someone is more helpful to you than it is to them.  Let’s look at an example.  If you are kind to someone, but they don’t show the same kindness back to you, many times it could lead you to not be kind to the next person you meet.  But if you look at those that are always kind to others, then despite someone not being kind to them, it doesn’t affect them.  That is what I am trying to illustrate when I say that it is sometimes more helpful to you than them.

The sad reality from my eyes is that attitudes are infectious, and far too often the wrong attitude is what is on display, which then leads to more people having that wrong attitude.  Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone was more positive, simply put, more kind, and that kindness spread just like the wrong attitudes do?  It all starts with you.  It all starts with me.  If we each go out of our way to foster that incredible sense of kindness towards others — even if it is just in small ways — then maybe the infection of kindness will spread, and this world will be better off.

Now, please join me in praying with us our prayer requests and praises.

Prayer Requests & Praises

  • Sheila starts us off with a health worry: Went for a checkup on my eye today, because it was bothering me. As it turns out I have a small tear in my retina. So I will be having laser surgery a week from today. Please pray for me.
    • Her surgery is on Friday, July 28, please keep her in prayer that day especially, but also pray for God’s Peace to comfort her.
  • Early has a prayer request for a friend’s baby: Calling all prayer warriors!! Please stop what you are doing and pray for a few seconds for complete healing of a friends baby. Please pray for a miraculous healing that only our Lord & Savior can provide. Amen
  • Stephanie shares with us a reminder that God is in control: I’m not the kind to be public about my prayers and the like but felt led to share this experience. Last week I had the opportunity to interview for my dream job. I called today to get a status and lo and behold, the position had been filled…. wow. Hit me like a sack of bricks because I felt confident. Felt like it was where I was suppose to be. But, I didn’t get the job. The plus side is I get to be with my daughter. But that’s not the point to this. I began to question God… he gave me this opportunity why let me down? Why didn’t I get the job…?? Well, I’ve been doing a thing called scripture writing. I’ve been way behind this month so am playing catch up. Tuesday I got to July 4 and had every intent of finishing a few more but never got around to it. Tonight, at 11:30pm I made myself do a few. I did tonight’s writing and July 5… the one I was going to get to on Tuesday and never did. The one I should have done on July 5 but never did. The passage was John 13:1-7. It goes on to say how Jesus washed people’s feet and got to Simeon Peter… Simeon Peter asked Jesus if he would wash his feet in which Jesus replied… “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Stephanie, you don’t realize now why someone else got that job, but later you will understand. If this wasn’t a God moment I don’t know what is. Granted the two situations are different I feel like the message is the same. We don’t always know Gods plan. We don’t. But. We serve a mighty God who is in control, who does know the plan… I may not have gotten the piece of mind with a job offer but I did get a reminder that God has this situation in his hands.
  • Julia has a prayer request: Next week, my son, my sister, and I are going to New Orleans for our first vacation in three years. We made the plans back in April. I was afraid we would have to reschedule, because I have a foot wound that is healing very slowly. I prayed about it and tried to decide what would be the best decision. Just yesterday, I was browsing on Amazon for something else, and this page appeared — a marvelous device that will allow us to go with no mobility issues (see the link below). Here’s praying that we’ll have safe travels and a wonderful time.
  • Jodi has a Praise to celebrate: Praise! Thanks for the prayers! I passed the whole application process for VIPKID! I now need to do the administrative stuff (turn in tax form, send copy of diploma/transcript, get profile set up, etc.). I’m excited to start this new adventure!
  • Hiro has a praise to report on a prayer request for her daughter from last week: The doctor said everything is okay. Her eye colour is the same size (it didn’t grow and has been stable for many years) and her eye pressure is normal. I’m very thankful she is okay.Thanks to everyone for your prayers
  • Shannan has a praise report on her friend Darleen and her surgery: We have a praise report on Darleen! Though she did have to have a pacemaker placed today, she has been seen laughing a bit today and moved out of the ICU to a cardiac unit! She isn’t out of the woods so keep the prayers coming.
    • Keep the prayers coming please!
  • On August 8th, at Edenton Street UMC, the Men’s Study Bible Study has it’s annual invitation dinner and sign up for the next study.  Please be in prayer for the study, for it’s leader Russ Andrews, for all of the men local to Raleigh and Durham, NC, that they would be led to come to the dinner, and most importantly, that they would be led to dig into God’s Word.  If you are reading this from the Raleigh, NC area and want more information, reach out to me and I’ll be in touch.
  • Lastly, we lift up all the anonymous prayer requests for all of those that are afraid to ask, for those that don’t know the words to say, and for those that just don’t have faith.

Lastly, please pray with us 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 that trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom, and Power, and Glory
Forever and ever. Amen.

 

Prayers for the Week: Fruit of the Spirit – Peace

by Leave a Comment

Peace

Hello my friends, and welcome to this week’s Prayers for the Week Post.  This week we continue our look at the Fruits of the Spirit.  Today we have landed on the third listed in the book of Galatians — Peace!

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ~ Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)

What is Peace?

So much has been written across the ages about the concept of peace.  There is peace between nations, peace that is broken when one is an aggressor against another.  There is lack of peace the likes of which we have seldom seen in this world as what we see today.  But what is peace?

For each of us, the concept of what peace is can be entirely different for each of us.  For my daughter Sophie, she described peace as the end result when things are taken care of.  She told us that she finds the summer vacation time to be a time of great peace for her because she doesn’t have school things to hassle over.  For my wife Cindy, to her, the concept of having peace is knowing that things are taken care of, that they are resolved, and you don’t need to worry about them anymore.

To me, the concept of peace isn’t so much about what I achieve within the world system.  To me, Peace is a capitalized word because it truly represents the Peace that only my God, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, can provide to me.

27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. ~ John 14:27 (ESV)

The day that Sophie was born was among the most stressful of my life.  Cindy was sick, life-threatening sick; Sophie had to be born 7 weeks early, and the doctors were preparing us for the realization that her lungs may not be developed enough, that she might be really tiny, and really really sick herself.  As for me, I was a 32 year old never before been a dad before, know idea of what was going to happen, or anything.  Yet despite my lack of knowledge, despite the uncertainty, despite the simple fact that I didn’t know what was going to end up happening, despite all of that, I felt an inner Peace inside of me that would not be vanquished, and I knew that Sophie and Cindy were going to be okay.  Better than okay, they were going to be great!

My brothers and sisters, while the world was preparing us for the worst, God was lifting us up, and preparing us for the best!  He had my back then, and He’s had my back every day ever since.  That, my friends, is what Peace really is.  Peace is knowing that despite all that the world throws at you, loss of job, loss of home, loss of family, loss of everything — despite all that, God’s Peace, the peace that passes all understanding by our finite brains — Peace will prevail if we let it in to our hearts.

Now, please continue reading and pray with us our prayer requests and praises.

Prayer Requests & Praises

  • Jodi starts us off with a prayer request: I have another prayer request, please. I’ve applied to teach ESL online. My interview/demo teaching lesson is this Thursday at 9:00AM (Eastern US time). If I pass that, I’ll have to do 1 or possibly 2 mock teaching sessions before being offered a contract. Please pray all goes smoothly! Thanks!
    • UPDATE: OMGosh, that was soooo stressful I cried! LOL! I felt it went horribly, as the interviewer kept stopping me to advise me how to do it better (how to do it right), but in the end, she offered me a very good pay rate and passed me on to the Mock 1 phase. I have a ton of practicing and improving to do before that, which will probably be in a couple days, so please keep praying! Thank you so much!!!
  • Lori has a prayer request: Please keep Congressman Steve Scalise and his family & friends in your prayers. He is back in ICU after more surgery.
  • Jodi has a prayer request regarding her sister-in-law Sue: My sister-in-law, Sue, passed away last fall. Today (July 3rd) would have been her birthday. Please keep her daughter Cami, son Cody, and my brother Ken (and their families) in prayer today, as this is a hard day on all of them. Thank you!
  • Continued prayers for the following:
    • Genny and her family — her brother Mark’s service was this past Wednesday.
    • My cousins Janet and Susan and all of their family as they see how life is different without my Great Aunt Genette.
    • Continued prayers for Alan’s mom Phyllis and her treatment from Crohn’s Disease.
    • Continued prayers for my cousin Barb and her husband Tim in their cancer battle – specifically for the genetic testing for a clinical trial.
    • Continued prayers for my friend Amanda and her husband Daniel and daughter Cate as they fight the battle for Daniel against his own cancer.
    • Continued prayers for Clint, Christine, and all of their family.
    • Continued prayers for Karen’s brother Ben.
    • Continued prayers for Candice — she lost her Mom last week.

As always, if you have any prayer requests, please share them with us in the comment below!  We’ll add them to our list and pray with you and for you.

Now, please pray with us 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 that trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom, and Power, and Glory
Forever and ever. Amen.

Prayers for the Week: Fruit of the Spirit – Love

by Leave a Comment

Love

Image ©SincerelySaraD.com

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ~ Galatians 5:22 (ESV)

Hello my friends, and welcome to this week’s Prayers for the Week post.  Today I’m starting a small series on the fruits of the Spirit that we find in Galatians 5.  Over the next nine weeks starting today I will be focusing on one of those fruits.  Today we focus on love.

Love

The concept of love is discussed throughout the Bible, and there are many examples of love that we can draw on in our quest to understand what it means.  There is the concept of being “in love” with someone, such as how a husband loves his wife and vice versa. We find a very powerful set of verses pertaining to love of a couple found in 1 Corinthians 13:

4Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-13 (ESV)

Those verses are often quoted in wedding ceremonies.

Other ways love can be found in the Bible exist throughout — even in situations where God disciplined His children because they didn’t listen to Him and commit to Him.  Just look at all of the times that the Israelites were exiled because they turned away from God.  But then, of course, God sent us Jesus — the greatest act of love that has ever been known in this world.  God sent His Son to us so that we might believe in Him, and in doing so, gain eternal life and forgiveness for all of the unpardonable sins that we have committed.  God sent Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice for all of our sin — and Jesus loves us so much that He died on that cross for me.  And for you.  And for all of us.  All He asks of us is that we would turn to Him, that we would believe in Him and His sacrifice, that we would pray to Him, telling Him that we have realized that we are sinners, and ask Him for forgiveness and to create in us a new spirit, a new life.  That salvation that we speak of is open to each and every one of us, from the meekest, most gentle person to the killer on death row that has shown no remorse for their actions.  That, my friends, is what Love is.  Love is dying on the Cross for each and every one of us when you didn’t deserve that fate.  If you don’t have John 3:16 memorized, go look it up, and memorize it, and do me a favor and leave it in the Facebook comments below.

Love — it is the first of the fruits of the Spirit, and it is an outward sign that you are one with Christ.  Do you show love?  Do people know it? That is the question.

Now, please continue reading with our Prayer Requests and Praises below.

Prayer Requests & Praises

  • Please pray for all of those that are having struggles with anxiety and panic.  Please pray for all of those, that God would send his Peaceful, Calming, Comforting touch to them, that they would know true Peace, and that their anxiety and panic would drift away.
  • Amanda has a prayer request: I need more prayers! My husband’s oncologist is requesting a test on his already removed tumor tissue to see if he might be a candidate for immunotherapy. This is huge because that’s where all of the research is. If it comes back as no, we only have one more drug after the one we are on to use. Not many clinical trials exist that don’t involve immunotherapy. Please pray it comes back that he is a candidate. We will be scheduling another scan in the next week or so. I’ll be requesting more prayers for that – better than last time with no new cancer, none of the resolved tumors active again and the active tumors less active, resolved or gone. But I’ll bother you with those later!
    Also, our friend Jaime has been put on hospice care. She has a husband and 2 small children. Please pray for them as well. Thanks, guys!
  • Please keep praying for my cousin Barb and her husband Tim. The results were not what we had hoped. The chemo is not working anymore, and the doctor is looking for clinical trials for him. Need prayers now, more than ever.
  • Carol has a prayer request: Pray for my son Jeff. He is having Very difficult time.
  • Please pray for my friend Clint and his family.
  • Please pray for Paul and his broken toe.

Thank you all for praying, and please don’t forget to send us your own prayer requests!  Now, please pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray together:

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 that trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom, and Power, and Glory
Forever and ever. Amen.

 

Our posts

May 2018
S M T W T F S
« Dec    
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  

Disclaimer

My Dreams of Disney is a Disney Fan Blog, and is not in any way affiliated with Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney, or the Walt Disney Company. In it's purest form, My Dreams of Disney is a site showcasing the love I and my family have for Walt Disney's creative genius and the legacy he has left behind. If it weren't for Walt Disney, Disneyland, Walt Disney World, the other Disney parks spread across the world, and this site would not exist. Click to view our Privacy Policy.

Archives