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Faith.  Perhaps the most powerful word to be found in the Bible.  When it comes to Christians, what it all comes down to, in the end, is Faith.  Perhaps the greatest statements of Faith come from the 11th Chapter of Hebrews.  Throughout the entire chapter are examples of the kind of faith that God’s children had for Him; the belief that they had that God would not let them down — and He didn’t.  Read the entire chapter — you won’t be sorry if you take the time to do so — but for today, I’m going to share three verses with you.  Here is Hebrews 11:1-3:

1Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for. 3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

In my mind, the verse that catches my eye most is verse 2 — “This is what the ancients were commended for.”  It is unfortunate, isn’t it, that the world has fallen as hard as it has, and so many people go through life without that faith that the ancients had.  Faith, like Abraham had with his son Isaac, knowing that God would spare him and not sacrifice him.  That kind of faith is almost non-existent today.  It is time for us all to find a stronger measure of our faith.  If you have some faith, that is good, work on making it stronger.  If you have a lot of faith, take it to the next step.  If you have no faith — tell us, and we’ll share with you all the ways that God will help you find your faith.  Now, let’s take our faith and pray over these requests.

Prayer Requests

• You may remember this prayer request from my friend Carol last week: My friend Carol passed along this prayer request for her friend Cindy. Please read it and pray for them:My mom just called crying to say that my sister, Melissa, was diagnosed today with melanoma of the eye. They will be testing her to see if it has spread to her liver. I feel numb with disbelief. She will have a few radiation treatments as well as needing the eye removed. PLEASE everyone PRAY for her and ask everyone you know to pray for her. I and our family would appreciate it so very much. Cindy

• I have an update from Carol, and it’s good news!  Here is what she wrote: God’s Grace is sufficient – and your prayers are appreciated.Cindy reported to me last night that Melissa found out yesterday that the melanoma has not spread and they will only have to remove the tumor and not the eye!!!!!  She will still need radiation treatment.  We do not know how her sight will be affected – but our prayers have been answered.  Cindy asked me to thank all of you for your loving prayers.

  In Christ,
  Carol

• Please continue the prayers for Uncle Ted and Uncle Bob.  Uncle Bob has Stage 4 Lung Cancer, and a partially deflated lung.  Uncle Ted went for a second opinion.  In neither case do we have an additional update, and both are very serious. Your prayers mean the world to us — and we work on the Faith that we know that God will take care of his servants Ted and Bob in the way that is best for them and best for His Glory and Will.
• Please also pray for Cindy’s family as her cousins Kathy, Earline, and Sandra lost their Aunt Joyce this week.  We all know that she is in a better place, but death is always hardest on the living, so please lift them up in your prayers and pray for God to send His Peace, Comfort, and Strength to them in their time of need.  Please also pray for Mr. Jack, Joyce’s husband, and their children Mike, Tammy and their families.
• Please continue to pray for Sheila — she hasn’t heard back from her job interview, but she has Faith and should hear back from them in a couple of days.
• Please pray for my friend Melissa — her dog Liam is really sick — not eating, having other difficulties, and the vet is having trouble figuring it out. Please pray for Liam, and for Melissa, because any of you with dogs or other pets in your lives know that when your pet is sick it is like your child is sick.  Please pray for healing and for comfort and Peace for Melissa.  Thanks!
• Please also pray for Cindy’s co-worker Dee and her Mom, who has some health issues that she is dealing with.  Please pray for their healing and comfort and strength as needed, thanks!
• Please, please, please pray for the prayer requests that we don’t know about.  Pray that God would lift up everyone that is hurting, and pray that they would turn to Him so that they may be helped by Him!

While there are a lot of prayer requests, there are also some incredible praises to lift up to God and thank Him for, so please read along!

Praises!

• The single biggest praise I have this week is that my niece Stephanie is re-united with her husband Shane!  Shane was at basic training and AIT, and they have been apart for 5 months!  However, that is now over, and they are back together!  It was so great talking with them on Thursday night, and I am so proud of both of them.  Shane recently celebrated a birthday, and I know that being back home with his wife and their dog Zazzy is all the present he needs!
• I also want to give praise to all the other graduates from the latest class of military training!  My friend Jessi saw her husband graduate, so congratulations to them and their son also, and thank you to all of you that serve our country!
• Praises also go out to the Men’s Study bible study, which is now in full swing.  Please pray for our study to continue as strong as it has started, we have a great group of men this year!
• Lastly, please give thanks for our great buddy Regan, who has really settled in nicely in his forever home.  We love having him in our lives, and he loves being a part of our family too!  Special praises continue to go out to our friends Bettie and Hannah and their family for fostering him before we adopted him.  They are really sweet people and we are truly grateful for the loving care that they gave him.  Here’s a picture of Sophie and Regan from yesterday in the car.  Thanks everyone!

My friends, I hope that this week finds you well, and that you are able to pray and lift up these requests and praises.  Thank you for helping to bring good to the evil that the Internet is full of — it’s my honor to write these up each week, and if all works out, starting next week perhaps we’ll have a partner site that will also start lifting up their prayer requests and we’ll share our link with them and they’ll share their link with us.  The more of us that pray, the better we will be.  God Bless each and every one of you, and in closing, remember this verse from Philippians chapter 4, verse 13:

13I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

May God strengthen you this week, and remind you of the Faith that is stored within you, just waiting to be shown the light again.  Amen.