Tag Archives: Good Friday

God of Hope

Prayers for the Week: All about Hope

Hope

13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. ~ Romans 15:13 (ESV)

Hello my friends, and welcome to today’s Prayers for the Week post, written on remote location from Stephens City, VA.  Yesterday my wife and I, our daughter, my niece and her husband (and our grand-niece), his Mom, and my sister and my Mom participated in the 10th Annual Step Sisters 5K.  The Step Sisters is an organization that helps out breast cancer survivors by helping them around their home when they get home from the hospital, cleaning, cooking, that sort of thing.  The Step Sisters helped out my mom when she had breast cancer, and yesterday, we were helping them out by participating in the annual 5K.

I asked Cindy for a verse that was speaking to her, and she came up with Romans 15:13.  The reason, she said, was simple — today was all about hope.  As soon as she said that, I knew exactly that Romans 15:13 was the verse to use.

I don’t have a long commentary today, so let’s go right into the real meat of the post, our prayer requests and praises.

Prayer Requests & Praises

  • Shannon starts us off this week, with a prayer request for healing.  Here is what she wrote: I had been having some bad headaches and nothing was working. Monday I had some trigger point injections in my lower head, neck and shoulders. The past 2 days I’ve been in more pain that I was with the actual headache. Please pray that the pain and soreness goes away soon and the injections work for the headaches. Thanks
  • The other day I left this word of encouragement on the impact and power of prayer: So part of my morning routine as I’m walking our Golden Retriever River is to pray while we walk. It’s a great start to the day for me, and I lift up the group and all of the prayer requests we see while we’re walking. For me personally, I pray for Cindy, and I pray for our daughter Sophie — for the stresses that they see in their work/school life, and for Sophie to have the focus she needs to handle the tasks of the day. Additionally, I always pray for God to provide me with the wisdom needed to take care of my clients. For a while I wondered if remaining in the IT Industry was meant to be after my layoff, but through Bible study, I came to the realization that one of my gifts from God is the way I can tackle the challenges of IT work.Last week I spent the week wiring a new office space for one of my clients, and today I was there all day until about 4PM resolving the issues that came up from their move yesterday. While it was challenging, demanding work tackling the myriad of issues that they had (most self induced, I might add), we made it through, and I know it is in part because of the wisdom that God gave me that day.In the end, the thing I think I’m trying to say here is that prayer works, we have been witness to that in our lives, and even if the answered prayer isn’t forthcoming just yet, Believe and Expect God to handle it for you — because He will. I leave you with this verse as a reminder:

    For 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. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

  • We’ve got a big praise for Hayden’s Mom: Answered prayers for Hayden — his mom has been fighting cancer for a year now and is now in remission! Praise to God, the Great Physician!
  • Prayers for my friend Rebekah who is fighting cancer and has a treatment today. Rebekah, this is a prayer group we have, so anytime you need any prayers, please feel free to list them here and the prayer warriors will pray with you and for you!
  • Praise for my Dad’s cataract surgery, he had a great procedure and is doing great!  Thank you all for the prayers you lifted up for him!

Now, please join us in praying 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.

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Prayers for the Week – Easter 2015

Jesus_Resurrection_by_highigh

He Is Risen!  He Is Risen, Indeed!  My friends, on this Easter 2015, with those words, today we acknowledge that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has conquered death, even death on a cross, and has paid the penalty for our sin, for our selfishness, for our misdeeds.  Put bluntly, Jesus has saved those of us that love Him and Believe in Him, Jesus has saved us from ourselves!

Here the words given to  us in the Bible in the Book of Luke, the 24th chapter:

1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8And they remembered his words, 9and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. ~ Luke 24:1-11 (ESV)

My friends, because of these words, and because God is who He is, and Jesus is who He is, because of that, we have hope — hope that, despite all that is happening to us in this day and this age, we have hope that we have a wonderful future, and when we pass on from this life, we will be reunited with Jesus, and with all of our loved ones, our friends, our families, but most importantly, with Our Lord and Savior.

On this beautiful Easter morning, please take a moment, pray with us, pray for us, and let us pray for you.  Please pray along to these words:

Our Heavenly Father, on this Glorious day, we remember that Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, conquered death.  We remember that He gave himself up for us, to save us from our sin, from our sinful natures, and in doing so, he gave every one of us Hope for the future.  Father, please be with us all, whether we have chosen You or not, show us Your love, show us Your kindness, and reach those that don’t know You, that they would choose to follow You, to love you as You love us.  It is in the precious name of Your Son Jesus that we pray, each and every day, with wonderful Thanksgiving. Amen.

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

Prayer Requests and Praises…

  • Prayers please for Cindy’s Uncle Ted. We have prayed for him — he is battling cancer. We have found out that Uncle Ted was in the hospital — his cancer has spread to his liver — and while he is now home, they are calling in Hospice. Please pray for Uncle Ted, for his wife Connie, and for all of the family and friends that love them. Please pray for Healing, for Peace, for Comfort, and for Strength in the days, weeks, and months ahead. Thank you.
    • UPDATE:Please keep praying for Uncle Ted, his wife Aunt Connie, and the rest of the family. Uncle Ted was taken into Hospice in Newport, NC yesterday. Please lift them up in prayers for Peace, Comfort, and Strength. Thank you.
    • UPDATE:Uncle Ted told us that he won’t go back home, that he will be in Hospice until the Lord calls him home, whenever that is.  Uncle Ted is a strong Christian, and we have no concerns as to where he will be — at this point, we are worried about Aunt Connie and all of the family.  Please keep praying with us.
  • Please pray for my Uncle Donnie. He is the husband of my dad’s sister, my Aunt Ti, and he has been sick. We learned today that he has been sick, and is now in ICU. This story doesn’t get better, though, because Uncle Donnie’s organs are shutting down, and they are going to disconnect him from life support tomorrow. Please pray for Aunt Ti, for her Peace, for her Comfort, for her Strength, and for all of the family and friends that love them.

    Thank you.

    • An update on Uncle Donnie, from his wife, my Aunt Ti:

      For those of you who don’t know yet, my husband Don Trent passed away on Wed. April 1. After looking like he was kicking butt with the pneumonia for days his heart, then his kidneys were just too stressed. He went downhill pretty quickly and by last weekend we were realizing he was too sick and weak to heal. Letting him go was very hard but thinking of months of ICU care, then heart surgery and rehab,and finally coming home to be in as much pain as he’s been in this past year was just more than we could bear. He is resting now, finally, after so many years of working himself to the bone. Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts.

  • Please pray for the family and friends of Lillie Grissom. She was our neighbor across the street, and she had a series of strokes. She was at Peace, though, and was getting better, but we learned that she went downhill, and passed away on Friday the 27th. Her funeral was on the 31st. Please pray for her family and friends, for those that knew her best and will miss her gentle spirit.

    Thank you.

  • Lastly, on a wonderful moment, please give God Praise for the twin children of our friend Becca and her husband!  Their twins came home from the hospital yesterday after 16 days in the NICU!

Now, please pray with us that prayer that Jesus taught his Disciples 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.

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Prayers for the Week – Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday

Hello everyone, and welcome to our Palm Sunday edition of the Prayers for the Week Post.  Palm Sunday celebrates the triumphant entry by Jesus into the city of Jerusalem all those years ago.  It represents the best that we had to offer our Lord and Savior, because by the end of the week, we would be showing our absolute worst side to Him.  Today is one of the most important days in the Christian calendar.  The video I’ve got here shares some words about Palm Sunday — please have a look.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about today.  The world today, by and large, does not know what this day is about.  If they worship Jesus, that is great, but so many don’t, so for them, today is just one last Sunday before Easter comes next week, when they will eat candy and get presents and have friends and family over or go visit them.  Last year, on Palm Sunday, there was a marathon going on in Raleigh, where we live, and it really disrupted access to the downtown churches that day.  Fortunately, this year the marathon is going on the weekend after Easter, so hopefully it will not be a big issue.

My friends, my brothers and sisters, my prayer for you today is that you are closer to Jesus today than you were yesterday.  My prayer is that you have given your life into His loving hands, and that you worship Him, Praise Him, Pray to Him, and that you see how much better life is with Jesus in your life than without Him.  Now, please read our prayer requests and praises this week, there are a lot of them, and a lot of sad and hurting people that need our prayers, comfort, support, and love.

Prayer Requests and Praises…

  • Please pray for my Aunt Ti and Uncle Don. Here is what Aunt Ti wrote on Facebook:
    What a week…again. Don is now in U Va Hospital in Charlottesville. They finally had to intubate and sedate him because he was so exhausted from trying to breath. They still have him on 4 different antibiotics and haven’t seen much progress. His blood gases are showing better but his kidneys and lungs aren’t yet. Monday am he was flown down to Cville because they thought he was having a heart attack but then they said no. There is a slight problem with his heart but Dr. said the muscle itself is pumping good. All we can do is wait for them to find a more specific bacteria and antibiotic so please pray that they do that soon. I was relieved when they put him ‘under’ because of how exhausted he was. Rest peacefully my love. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts, please keep it up cause we still need His help.
    Please pray for Uncle Don’s healing, for their Peace, Comfort, and Strength, and for the medical team as they work to get him mended quickly. Thank you everyone!
  • My friend Kelly has a prayer request. Here is what she wrote on Facebook:
    Could you add a young couple that my daughter babysits for. They just turned 30. 4 Children. Amazing Christian family. He may be facing cancer for the 6th time. Waiting for reports right now. Thank you.
    Please pray for his healing, and for Peace, Comfort, and Strength for the whole family. Also please pray for the skill of the medical team that is treating him. Thank you!
  • Please pray for my friend Jennifer’s grandchild! Here is what she wrote:
    Please say a prayer for my grand daughter. She is in emergency surgery now due to her shunt malfunctioning. She’s a tough little girl but she can use all of your prayers. Thank you.
    Please pray with me:
    Heavenly Father, please be with your servant Jennifer and her family and especially her granddaughter as she battles this serious medical problem. If it is Your Will, please grant her Healing, Your Healing Touch on her life, and guide the hands and eyes of the medical team so that they may perform Your Miracle. Please grant Your Peace, Comfort, and Strength to all of the family and friends, and hear our prayers, please. It is in the wonderful name of Your Son Jesus that we pray. Amen!
  • My wife’s co-worker Dee has had a loss in her family.  She and her husband Robert have lost their cat, Pickles.  For people like Dee and Robert, who don’t have children, their pets become their children, and Dee is heartbroken over the loss of Pickles.  Please pray for them, that they remember the good times and good memories they have with Pickles, and that they remember that Pickles isn’t hurting anymore, and that they remember the long life that Pickles had.  Thank you for remembering them in their time of need.
  • For all of those out there that are coming up against tax issues, please pray for them.  I know that taxes are a thing we all have to deal with, but please pray that taxes would not be something that burdens us too much, that we would be able to put it all in perspective, and that we would all pay our fair share.
  • Next, I have a prayer request and a praise to share, all in the same event.  I would like to give God Glorious Praise for the marriage of Torri and Michael!  They were married yesterday in a beautiful ceremony, and now begin their life as husband and wife.  Please pray that God would Bless their marriage, that He would guide them in all of their steps, and that they would call on Him each day as they walk their walk together.
  • Lastly, please give Praise to God today for Sophie and her dance partners at Church, under the wonderful leadership of Ms. Sarah and Ms. Brook.  They are dancing a very complex dance for Palm Sunday today, so please give Praise to God for them and their worship in dance, and please pray for their nerves (if they have any!) and that it would be a wonderful display of their Love for God!

Now, please pray with me the prayer that Jesus taught His Disciples 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.

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