One of my 20-something extended family members left yesterday for 2 months of inpatient treatment for an anxiety disorder and a host of other issues. She’s been under the care of a panoply of docs over the years and has had a rugged ride, particularly emotionally. Her father told me he was in tears as he left her at the airport, everyone is feeling like this is a last-ditch effort for her to get her life back on track.
A very smart girl, she did the research and chose this boot-camp like program; she wants to get better.
(Of course, no one is considering that perhaps a different track could be part of the answer).
She, and the rest of my family, really need Jesus but he is off all their tables. It’s hard to know what to pray other than the Holy Spirit will break through in spite of their hard hearts, and that she would regain her equilibrium. Everyone just wants her to be healthy.
Kim – That’s what I just prayed, before I saw your comment – that she would find God there even though that’s not what she’s going there for. 🙂
Lately I’ve been praying for God to overcome in my daughters (& my other loved ones) resistance to His grace & truth, & to give them willing hearts. I also pray this for all those mentioned on this blog who need to come to Jesus.
Here’s a brief post by John Piper about God overcoming resistance to His grace. . .
“Learn your doctrine from biblical texts. It stands up better that way, and feeds the soul.
“For example, learn irresistible grace from texts. In this way, you will see it does not mean grace cannot be resisted; it means that when God chooses, he can and will overcome that resistance. …”
I have a HUGE prayer request. I have a closing at 1pm central on a house I have represented the buyer in purchasing. He is a car salesman and someone who was very good to me at a very low time in my life (back in 2008 when my life fell apart). I have tried my best to represent him in the best way possible. There are some unique variables to this sale and he is a Henny Penny the sky is falling personality. I have paid for a home warranty up front and will have to pay that credit card bill out of the commission. He expects the worst in any situation and when you do that it often happens. My reputation and ultimately my license could be on the line here. I don’t think I have missed anything but he has me second guessing myself.
Please, Please, Please pray that this closing will go off without a hitch and I can get him moved into the house without any disasters happening.
(This is the down side of real estate—especially residential).
For those who have been praying for my husband upon his return to work Monday, thank you. Although he was in pain after work on Monday (as I reported here yesterday), Tuesday went better — no pain beyond the ordinary for where he’s at in recovery, and he did the right thing by resting once he got home, instead of tackling stuff here because of feeling better after work than he had the day before.
Believe me, resting is not an easy thing for him to do, especially when he’s feeling relatively well.
Emily has her exit exam tonight (starting at 5pm). She was up most of the night studying (because she got on a roll with it), but slept for several hours today, so she is feeling rested.
Please pray her mind & memory work well, & that she doesn’t get confused by any of the wording of the questions.
She & her classmates may be going out for a bite to eat afterward to celebrate, so please also pray for a safe trip home.
And of course, I am praying that in her nervousness, she will call out to God for help, & find Him there.
Interestingly, the surgeon and staff asked if they could pray for Husband before the surgery yesterday. He agreed. They ask all of the patients and apparently, they always agree. Wise decision on the patients part.
I don’t know if this is a prayer request, or just a “your thoughts, please?” request.
A friend of mine with a blog just had a baby this week. She announced it publically yesterday, and today I saw the following two comments, from people I don’t know:
From “Juliet”:
I am so excited! I also have boy named Zane. He is 2. Our son’s name in Arabic means “handsome, graceful”. We are Muslim. Your boy is beautiful. May Allah richly bless you and your beautiful uterus.
And a response from “NJ”:
Dear Juliet, I am sure that you mean well with your blessing, but I would not be showing you love if I were not to point out that we do not worship the same God. Christians do not want to be blessed by Allah. There is only one true God and he and Allah are not the same. Praying that you would know the peace and joy that comes through being reconciled to God through the life of Jesus Christ. For he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
No one has commented since then, and I don’t know that I will say anything (probably won’t), but it sure got me to thinking about how to witness to Muslims that appear on Christian sites. There isn’t that relationship-building that can take place first, like when you’re in direct contact with Muslims in your face-to-face world. (I’m thinking of Ajisuun and Roscuro right now, in particular.)
I don’t want to critique “NJ,” as I know she has good intentions in wanting to speak truth to Juliet, but I don’t think she knows Juliet, and something about her approach didn’t sit right with me. Maybe I’m just being picky — it’s primarily the “Christians do not want to be blessed by Allah” statement that strikes me as something that would have been better left unsaid, due to its negativity.
Any thoughts on witnessing when you don’t really know the person? And if you could pray for Juliet, and for wisdom for those who witness to her and other Muslims, that of course would be good.
Praying for Ajisuun in the Gambia, too, naturally.
6 Arrows – It seems that a gentler approach would have been better.
A missionary (to China, I believe) speaking at my church years ago said that it is not good to hit people with all of the truth right off the bat. He described going to visit a woman who was dying (or at least very ill), & she spoke about contacting her ancestors, or something like that. Instead of telling her that her ancestors can’t do anything for her, he spoke the truth about Jesus.
It’s been a long time since I heard the story, but I think that he spoke to her a little more about Jesus each time he saw her, & as she was ready to hear, & I think she ended up putting her faith in Jesus.
Muslims may not worship the same God as we, but they think they do, so starting from that point doesn’t sound wise. On the other hand, others say that Allah (the Arabic name for God, I’m pretty sure), the Jewish God, & the Christian God are all really the same, but the Jews & Muslims misunderstand & misrepresent Him.
The rest of what she wrote sounds gracious, so let’s hope that part eased any offense the Muslim woman may have felt.
I think the proper thing to say is , “Thank you for your well wishes”. It isn’t excepting the prayers to Allah, but it is graciously accepting that the Muslim woman thought she was doing something nice. There are other times for witnessing and a kind word goes much further than a baseball bat.
My closing went well. I am still on pins and needles. The sellers have 15 days to get out. My guy is worried they are going to damage the house. We have a letter from their insurance company and we will do another walk through when the people move out.
The sellers later to me that Mr. B didn’t have anything to worry about from them. I don’t think he does. This is a nice young couple who are moving to be close to family. They aren’t hostile in any way.
6 Arrows, there was no need for the response. We often had Muslim friends who would offer to pray for us. We never told them to not pray, though if they were offering to pray for deceased relatives (yes, they offer prayers for the dead) we might explain why that wasn’t necessary. While I do not agree with the recent Wheaton professor who put on a hijab and made some confusing comments regarding Christian and Muslims worshipping the same God, the word Muslims use for God is not the problem. Allah is simply a contraction of the Arabic phrase “al ilah”, meaning The God – I linked to an Arabic Christian song back in December, and if you listened closely you could hear them use the same phrase. The Jews rejected Christ, and Jesus told them that they were of their father the devil, but it wasn’t because they used the wrong word for God.
I was thinking about that issue today, and remembering what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-42). The Samaritans were probably the closest to what the Muslims are today in religion. They had taken of the Jews religion and mashed it in with other pagan traditions (II Kings 17:24-41) and had developed strange legends around real Biblical people in much the same way as Muslims have. Yet it wasn’t their name for God which was the problem. Christ corrected her notions about God by giving her the truth about God, not by berating her error. Similarly, Paul used the Athenian’s Unknown God to use as a springboard to teach the truth. That is how one does it with Muslims, they have heard of the names of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, Jonah, etc. and so one can take the little that they have heard and teach them the truth, how all these people led up to the birth of Christ, and why he had to be the Son of God. One need never even bring up Muhammad. If when they get to Christ, they reject His claims, that is for them to answer to God for; if they accept Him, they will figure out for themselves what to think about Muhammad.
Roscuro – The missionary I mentioned had also mentioned Paul’s reference to the Unknown God, & how he didn’t tear them down for that, but used it as a springboard to teach about Jesus.
Karen, I think that the confusion about how to witness to those who believe in a God as Supreme Being and Creator, but do not know Christ is due to the fact that few Christians really know or understand the Bible. I have been a Christian for over 25 years, but it wasn’t until my mid-twenties that I really began to see how all the Bible worked together. Sometimes, it is necessary, as Christ did on the road to Emmaus, to begin at the beginning and in order to do that, you need to understand why these stories are in the Bible in the first place.
Just to clarify, Kim, yes, “Thank you for your well wishes” is a good response, and I’m sure my friend who had the baby will say something like that if she responds to the comment. The person I quoted second (NJ), who actually responded to the Muslim woman, is someone other than my friend, so she wouldn’t say “Thank you for your well wishes,” as the Muslim woman didn’t address her.
Emily texted to say she passed her test! It was very hard, & she thought she hadn’t passed, but it turned out she scored 84%. She was told they rarely see a score that high. So proud of her!
Wandering Views 
One of my 20-something extended family members left yesterday for 2 months of inpatient treatment for an anxiety disorder and a host of other issues. She’s been under the care of a panoply of docs over the years and has had a rugged ride, particularly emotionally. Her father told me he was in tears as he left her at the airport, everyone is feeling like this is a last-ditch effort for her to get her life back on track.
A very smart girl, she did the research and chose this boot-camp like program; she wants to get better.
(Of course, no one is considering that perhaps a different track could be part of the answer).
She, and the rest of my family, really need Jesus but he is off all their tables. It’s hard to know what to pray other than the Holy Spirit will break through in spite of their hard hearts, and that she would regain her equilibrium. Everyone just wants her to be healthy.
Thanks.
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Michelle, Everyone reaches their own breaking point. She is lucky to have reached hers so young. Perhaps God will meet her there?
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Kim – That’s what I just prayed, before I saw your comment – that she would find God there even though that’s not what she’s going there for. 🙂
Lately I’ve been praying for God to overcome in my daughters (& my other loved ones) resistance to His grace & truth, & to give them willing hearts. I also pray this for all those mentioned on this blog who need to come to Jesus.
Here’s a brief post by John Piper about God overcoming resistance to His grace. . .
http://solidjoys.desiringgod.org/en/devotionals/prevailing-grace
LikeLiked by 5 people
From Piper’s post above:
“Learn your doctrine from biblical texts. It stands up better that way, and feeds the soul.
“For example, learn irresistible grace from texts. In this way, you will see it does not mean grace cannot be resisted; it means that when God chooses, he can and will overcome that resistance. …”
Amen and amen.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I have a HUGE prayer request. I have a closing at 1pm central on a house I have represented the buyer in purchasing. He is a car salesman and someone who was very good to me at a very low time in my life (back in 2008 when my life fell apart). I have tried my best to represent him in the best way possible. There are some unique variables to this sale and he is a Henny Penny the sky is falling personality. I have paid for a home warranty up front and will have to pay that credit card bill out of the commission. He expects the worst in any situation and when you do that it often happens. My reputation and ultimately my license could be on the line here. I don’t think I have missed anything but he has me second guessing myself.
Please, Please, Please pray that this closing will go off without a hitch and I can get him moved into the house without any disasters happening.
(This is the down side of real estate—especially residential).
Thank you in advance, My stomach is in knots.
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It’s 1pm in Alabama and I’m praying for Kim.
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Just saw this now and prayed, Kim.
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Praying, too, Michelle.
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For those who have been praying for my husband upon his return to work Monday, thank you. Although he was in pain after work on Monday (as I reported here yesterday), Tuesday went better — no pain beyond the ordinary for where he’s at in recovery, and he did the right thing by resting once he got home, instead of tackling stuff here because of feeling better after work than he had the day before.
Believe me, resting is not an easy thing for him to do, especially when he’s feeling relatively well.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I should have posted this earlier. . .
Emily has her exit exam tonight (starting at 5pm). She was up most of the night studying (because she got on a roll with it), but slept for several hours today, so she is feeling rested.
Please pray her mind & memory work well, & that she doesn’t get confused by any of the wording of the questions.
She & her classmates may be going out for a bite to eat afterward to celebrate, so please also pray for a safe trip home.
And of course, I am praying that in her nervousness, she will call out to God for help, & find Him there.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Interestingly, the surgeon and staff asked if they could pray for Husband before the surgery yesterday. He agreed. They ask all of the patients and apparently, they always agree. Wise decision on the patients part.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Praying for Emily, Karen.
I don’t know if this is a prayer request, or just a “your thoughts, please?” request.
A friend of mine with a blog just had a baby this week. She announced it publically yesterday, and today I saw the following two comments, from people I don’t know:
From “Juliet”:
And a response from “NJ”:
No one has commented since then, and I don’t know that I will say anything (probably won’t), but it sure got me to thinking about how to witness to Muslims that appear on Christian sites. There isn’t that relationship-building that can take place first, like when you’re in direct contact with Muslims in your face-to-face world. (I’m thinking of Ajisuun and Roscuro right now, in particular.)
I don’t want to critique “NJ,” as I know she has good intentions in wanting to speak truth to Juliet, but I don’t think she knows Juliet, and something about her approach didn’t sit right with me. Maybe I’m just being picky — it’s primarily the “Christians do not want to be blessed by Allah” statement that strikes me as something that would have been better left unsaid, due to its negativity.
Any thoughts on witnessing when you don’t really know the person? And if you could pray for Juliet, and for wisdom for those who witness to her and other Muslims, that of course would be good.
Praying for Ajisuun in the Gambia, too, naturally.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Wonderful, Mumsee.
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6 Arrows – It seems that a gentler approach would have been better.
A missionary (to China, I believe) speaking at my church years ago said that it is not good to hit people with all of the truth right off the bat. He described going to visit a woman who was dying (or at least very ill), & she spoke about contacting her ancestors, or something like that. Instead of telling her that her ancestors can’t do anything for her, he spoke the truth about Jesus.
It’s been a long time since I heard the story, but I think that he spoke to her a little more about Jesus each time he saw her, & as she was ready to hear, & I think she ended up putting her faith in Jesus.
Muslims may not worship the same God as we, but they think they do, so starting from that point doesn’t sound wise. On the other hand, others say that Allah (the Arabic name for God, I’m pretty sure), the Jewish God, & the Christian God are all really the same, but the Jews & Muslims misunderstand & misrepresent Him.
The rest of what she wrote sounds gracious, so let’s hope that part eased any offense the Muslim woman may have felt.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think the proper thing to say is , “Thank you for your well wishes”. It isn’t excepting the prayers to Allah, but it is graciously accepting that the Muslim woman thought she was doing something nice. There are other times for witnessing and a kind word goes much further than a baseball bat.
LikeLiked by 2 people
My closing went well. I am still on pins and needles. The sellers have 15 days to get out. My guy is worried they are going to damage the house. We have a letter from their insurance company and we will do another walk through when the people move out.
The sellers later to me that Mr. B didn’t have anything to worry about from them. I don’t think he does. This is a nice young couple who are moving to be close to family. They aren’t hostile in any way.
LikeLiked by 5 people
6 Arrows, there was no need for the response. We often had Muslim friends who would offer to pray for us. We never told them to not pray, though if they were offering to pray for deceased relatives (yes, they offer prayers for the dead) we might explain why that wasn’t necessary. While I do not agree with the recent Wheaton professor who put on a hijab and made some confusing comments regarding Christian and Muslims worshipping the same God, the word Muslims use for God is not the problem. Allah is simply a contraction of the Arabic phrase “al ilah”, meaning The God – I linked to an Arabic Christian song back in December, and if you listened closely you could hear them use the same phrase. The Jews rejected Christ, and Jesus told them that they were of their father the devil, but it wasn’t because they used the wrong word for God.
I was thinking about that issue today, and remembering what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-42). The Samaritans were probably the closest to what the Muslims are today in religion. They had taken of the Jews religion and mashed it in with other pagan traditions (II Kings 17:24-41) and had developed strange legends around real Biblical people in much the same way as Muslims have. Yet it wasn’t their name for God which was the problem. Christ corrected her notions about God by giving her the truth about God, not by berating her error. Similarly, Paul used the Athenian’s Unknown God to use as a springboard to teach the truth. That is how one does it with Muslims, they have heard of the names of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, Jonah, etc. and so one can take the little that they have heard and teach them the truth, how all these people led up to the birth of Christ, and why he had to be the Son of God. One need never even bring up Muhammad. If when they get to Christ, they reject His claims, that is for them to answer to God for; if they accept Him, they will figure out for themselves what to think about Muhammad.
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Roscuro – The missionary I mentioned had also mentioned Paul’s reference to the Unknown God, & how he didn’t tear them down for that, but used it as a springboard to teach about Jesus.
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Karen, I think that the confusion about how to witness to those who believe in a God as Supreme Being and Creator, but do not know Christ is due to the fact that few Christians really know or understand the Bible. I have been a Christian for over 25 years, but it wasn’t until my mid-twenties that I really began to see how all the Bible worked together. Sometimes, it is necessary, as Christ did on the road to Emmaus, to begin at the beginning and in order to do that, you need to understand why these stories are in the Bible in the first place.
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Thanks, Karen, Kim and Roscuro. Good points.
Just to clarify, Kim, yes, “Thank you for your well wishes” is a good response, and I’m sure my friend who had the baby will say something like that if she responds to the comment. The person I quoted second (NJ), who actually responded to the Muslim woman, is someone other than my friend, so she wouldn’t say “Thank you for your well wishes,” as the Muslim woman didn’t address her.
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Emily texted to say she passed her test! It was very hard, & she thought she hadn’t passed, but it turned out she scored 84%. She was told they rarely see a score that high. So proud of her!
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Excellent!
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Karen, which test is it that she took? (In layman’s terms, like the test to become an RN or whatever.)
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That was the exit exam from her LPN program. Supposedly, the licensing exam (not sure when she’ll take that) is easier than this exit exam.
She wants to get a part-time or per diem job as an LPN, & then in the fall, start taking the prerequisites she needs to go on to be an RN,
The job she dreams of eventually having (after a lot more schooling) is Nurse-Midwife.
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If Jo is around, you may appreciate this prayer,
Morning prayer – http://go.shr.lc/1nGyEib via @lisabuffaloe
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