Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. ~ James 5:16 (ESV)

Hello my friends, and welcome to this week’s Prayers for the Week post.  This week I’m sharing with you a verse from the book of James that I came across this week.  In reading this verse, it struck me that this verse is very much what this prayer post is all about.  Believers praying for each other, confessing our sins, and asking for help in the battle against the evil one.  I am thankful to each and every one of you for your commitment to this ministry, and I include you all in my prayers each night.  Now, please read these requests, and pray for them.  Also, please include your own prayer requests so that we can pray for you!

Prayer Requests and Praises…

• My sister Robin has a prayer request, and also a comment regarding how many people leave the site because of my prayer posts.  Here is what she wrote:
  I wondered how many people would turn away because the “Cross is offensive to those who don’t believe.” (paraphrase mine) I can’t say I am surprised, only surprised it isn’t a higher number. That is God working through you and this ministry. You, my dear brother, are a missionary in every sense of the word and I am so proud of you.
  I will ask for prayers and guidance over the next few weeks regarding school and work, which is school too :-) and praying that God leads me to a position that He wants me in. I am also asking for the faith I need to stay in my current role if that is what He wants.
  I am going to leave you with this verse, because as you stated earlier sometimes we don’t have the words we want when we pray, but the Holy Spirit does. Hebrews 7:25 is my birth verse and it goes like this: “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
  • Here is my reply, as well as a prayer request for my brother-in-Christ Glen:
    Thank you Robin for your words. I’ll pray for you always! Also, please lift up my brother Glen, who has had a recurrance of prostrate cancer. Please pray for healing. Thanks!
• My friend Shannan lost one of her best friends yesterday. Her family is devastated, I don’t know all the details, but here is what she wrote:
  My family is heartbroken. We are in tears. My kids can’t stop crying. We will miss you so much. Tell me this is a bad dream.
  Please pray for them. Please pray for God’s Peace, Comfort, Strength, and Love to descend upon them all, and on the family of their friend. Please help them come to grips with this and to realize that they may not get the “Why?” questions ever answered, but that God is there for them. Thank you for praying for them.
• Here’s the latest update on Katy from my friend Kuleen. Here is what she wrote:
  Update from Katy’s Dad: Katy is still heavily sedated but making progress in her recovery. So far all of her organs are functioning as expected. Her transplanted heart is still very sick and may not recover. We are discussing the options that are available with her doctors. We’ll have more answers over the next few days. Please continue to pray for our little Rockstar.
  • Since this update, we have had a slew of updates on little Katy.  Please read and continue to pray:
    Update from Katy’s Mom:
    Keep praying… Still making BIG decisions … Never imagined we would ever need to be pick between option worse and worse. We need a miracle.Update on Katy from her Dad:
    Not a great update. It has been decided that Katy’s transplanted heart is too sick to recover. She needs a second transplant. The problem facing the team is to figure out a way for Katy to survive until that time without going into cardiac arrest again. There are no great options. We’ve decided that the only option that gives us the any hope is to implant a device called an LVAD in her chest. This pump would do the work of the weakened left side of her heart with the hope that the right side will continue to improve. The 12 hour surgery is scheduled for Friday. Please pray extra hard for our little girl.For anyone interested, a Go Fund Me site has been started to raise funds for little Katy’s medical expenses.

    http://www.gofundme.com/c1gx9w

    From Katy’s Mom:
    Headed to bed… Our girl has a big day tomorrow. I feel at peace knowing we are giving her the best chance possible and praying and hoping that it works. Mike and I feel so much comfort as we read through your kind words and messages. Seeing my smiling girl all over Facebook warms my heart. Thank you to all who donated to help get us over this bump and as we embark on a journey that is so different yet so familiar. Katy is tentatively scheduled for 2nd case tomorrow. Mike will update as he can… It is going to be a long, stressful day. Please do not be alarmed if the updates are few and far between… we expect that our updates from the OR will be sporadic. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Much Love, The Murphys Mike, Amiee Katy & Patrick

    Update from Katy’s Moms:
    Katy just went into the OR. Surgery should last about 12 hours.

    Update from Katy’s Mom:
    Ready to start putting in the LVAD hardware.

    Great update from Katy’s mom on surgery!
    Katy’s surgery is going great. The LVAD is in and pumping. Her right ventricle is working on its own as we hoped. She is now off of bypass and they should be finishing up within an hour or so. 4 hours ahead of schedule because they didn’t have any problems. Keep the prayers coming.

    Update from Katy’s mom:
    Katy is back in her room in the ICU. She’s stable after some post-op bleeding and very puffy from fluid.Her LVAD is working well and she will still be on the ventilater for at least a few days. Thanks for the prayers.

    Another Katy update- not as good as the last:
    Rough post surgery day for Katy. She’s very puffy from the surgery. They’re working to get all the fluid off of her over the next couple of days so they can close her chest up. Her heart rate continues to fluctuate up and down depending on the load on her heart. The next 12 to 24 hours is critical. Please keep those prayers coming.

• Lastly, please pray healing prayers for our dog Regan.  He has come down with something that is causing vomiting, and we are worried about him.  Please allow the medication to work as it should, so that he can be better very soon.  Thanks!

Thank you for praying for all of our requests — please keep little Katy in your prayers over the next several days, and thank you.  Now, please 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 do e,
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.