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Prayer Requests 3-18-20

It’s Wednesday, so don’t forget Ajissun and the folks in The Gambia.

Anyone else?

Psalm 43

1 Vindicate me, my God,
    and plead my cause
    against an unfaithful nation.
   Rescue me from those who are
    deceitful and wicked.
2 You are God my stronghold.
    Why have you rejected me?
   Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?
3 Send me your light and your faithful care,
    let them lead me;
   let them bring me to your holy mountain,
    to the place where you dwell.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God, my joy and my delight.
   I will praise you with the lyre,
    O God, my God.

5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
   Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

20 thoughts on “Prayer Requests 3-18-20”

  1. Aji Suun reports that the first confirmed case has been identified in The Gambia – someone from Europe. As I have said before, they have none of the equipment to be able to deal with critical cases, and there are many people with the risk factors that make this disease worse. The government is not wasting time in responding – but no one there has the capability to isolate themselves the way we can here. They live much closer together, in far smaller houses, and food must be bought every day. They also cannot afford to stop working – there is absolutely no social safety net.

    Liked by 5 people

  3. I am doing my best to not panic. Most of you were with me through 2006-2011. Life was tough. I survived. I want to do more than just survive. Everything I am watching, seeing, hearing from my office and from corporate is slash expenses. Be brutal. I am an expense to my office. I know there will be a conversation coming my way…again, I am doing my best to see the silver lining.

    Liked by 4 people

  4. Not sure if this is the place for this discussion, but (FWIW) I was not a fan of the prayer idea you shared, Michelle. It seems to come more from Eastern meditation than biblical prayer. We are called to meditate on scripture. I suppose you can breathe as you want, but I have never seen such an idea in scripture. I prefer to take my ideas on prayer from that basis.

    Liked by 3 people

  5. K, I was not either. Breathing prayers are part of the contemplative prayer movement, which I have always found annoying more than anything else (I have endured a few sessions of it, which were very aggravating). But the real reason I find such prayer patterns off putting, is that they are strongly reminiscent of the rote spiritual words I would think to stop unwanted thoughts, in the days when my obsessive and compulsive symptoms were the strongest. They were not a healthy coping mechanism, since I would repeat them over and over, and if I didn’t think I had thought them right, my anxiety would increase, and I would feel compelled to start all over again. I pray now as if I was talking to another person (which is entirely theologically correct), and using prayer like a mantra rather than a conversation would be a step backward.

    Liked by 4 people

  6. Michelle’s prayer suggestion of the other day: I discounted it initially, for similar reasons, but I kept thinking, I have fellowshiped with Michelle for many years and know she loves the Lord and comes from a slightly different influence than me. I had better consider, prayerfully. And it occurred to me that that is a good way to keep one’s mind focused on Truth when tired and the mind is wandering too much to pray the usual way. And I realized it is actually a way I have often prayed for that reason. Short bursts as I was pedaling my bike, or milking a goat or watering the gardens or mowing the lawns. Unity in the Body People of all races and thought processes, all brought together through the Love of God and His Sacrifice.

    Liked by 2 people

  7. That is what is so wonderful about living in the US/Canada, and I assume a few other places. We have freedom OF religion.
    It bothers me when one “flavor” of Christianity feels they have the only right way. As you know, I have a past history steeped in legalism. I am going to be more lenient with other’s beliefs. Aside from “churches” that fit the description of cults, I am not going to pass judgement on how another Christian chooses to worship or pray.
    Some years back I kept making comments about the Pentacostal or Assembly of God Church because my father was raised in one and I heard his stories growing up. I know my grandfather used religion as an excuse to beat my father and his older brother.
    Kizzie, one day told me she belonged to an Assembly of God or Pentacostal Church and told me she was hurt by my comments. As far as I can remember I haven’t said anything negative about them since.
    I now belong to a “flavor” of Christianity that honors the traditions of the past and the early church. I shared some of my beliefs, got my feelings hurt, and have shut up about it. If I can stick to it I will refrain from imposing my views on anyone here again.

    I will remind you that “all God’s children got a place in the choir. Some sing low and some sing higher”.
    I don’t ever want to be under legalistic doctrine again.

    If I have offended anyone by this post, please know that it was not my intent. We are living in some tense times right now and I would prefer to extend grace and understanding.

    And in the immortal words of Forrest Gump, “That’s all I’m gonna say about that”.

    Liked by 3 people

  8. There will be no understanding if we cannot have respectful discussion. I have seen whole churches decimated by bad theology. All theology is not equal or right. Paul certainly did not think so.

    I have great respect for Michelle. However, neither she nor I are God or get it all right. That is the spirit in which I wrote the above. I think short bursts of prayer is an entirely different thing, btw. God alone knows our hearts and that is always a comfort.

    Liked by 3 people

  10. The reason I mentioned my experience is because, as couple of days ago, an article was shared on here about how the instructions to wash hands can create an unhealthy response in those with OCD. Similarly, a suggestion to do breathing prayers to reduce anxiety, could also become a binding ritual to those who are crippled by unnatural anxiety (OCD is an anxiety disorder).

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Your comments are all valid. I saw the “Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit,” an interesting way to slow down to initially pray (my mind scatters like leaves in the wind and I need to calm myself) and then move on to all the Scripture verses beneath.

    I, obviously, lean in Kim’s direction.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Prayer request: my godson’s wife is on her way to the hospital to give birth to their first child. Mom is deaf and gets by with lip reading. I can’t imagine how challenging that would be while giving birth, and Jess is certainly used to living in a hearing world, but let’s pray the delivery goes smoothly without any complications.

    Thanks.

    And, again, thanks for pointing out your concerns above. I didn’t see them.

    Liked by 5 people

  14. I have to admit that although I “liked” that comment yesterday, I also felt a bit uncomfortable about it. I think I “liked” it in the spirit of which it was intended, not for how it could be taken as an Eastern religious practice, giving Michelle the benefit of the doubt that she wouldn’t have intended it that way.

    Liked by 2 people

  15. Kim – Assembly of God churches are often quite different from one another. Sadly, there are Christians of every denomination who take things out of context to use or abuse others. I’m sure we’ve all seen or heard people reject Christianity outright because of the misbehavior of a Christian they knew who didn’t walk the walk the way they thought it should look like.

    Liked by 2 people

  16. Son’s breathing is much less labored. Granddaughter seems less congested. Husband was able to do his first twin grandson feeding and it was a success.

    Liked by 6 people

  17. My parents belonged to the Church of God. Cleveland Tenn. (There is more than one denomination with that name.) I attended a Methodist SS while a child. I was saved “the first time” in a Church of God service. I was baptized and found my wife in a Baptist church. I have been a Baptist since 1955.
    I have (rather “had”, they are all gone now.) were Lutherans and Episcopalians.

    So? I have come to the conclusion that a person’s relationship with God is a personal thing. If a person thinks that Mary can help him/her reach God, it isn’t my path, but I will not deny them.
    My relationship with God is personal with me. And we help each other grow. But ultimately, it’s my choice.
    Frankly, I have a difficult time with our music program. But I understand that the younger generation doesn’t care for music that is poetry or has melody.

    Liked by 3 people

  19. Chas, the Bible tells us clearly that there is one mediator between God and man, Jesus. Adding Mary is idolatry.

    I didn’t comment on the “breath prayer” suggestion yesterday because something (not sure what) that I said a few weeks ago rubbed a couple of people the wrong way, and I think some people assume I find joy in criticizing people or at least criticizing their beliefs. Not at all; in the earlier instance, I was trying to say that I didn’t want to debate a point of theology that I knew meant more to the other people posting about it than it did to me, and I only joined in the discussion when other people clearly wanted to talk about it. The last thing I meant to do was cause offense, and I lost sleep several nights last week over all of it.

    I agree with Kathaleena that we need to be able to have respectful discussion (not name calling, not attacking, etc.). Frankly, if we cannot talk about the faith with other believers whom we have known for 15 or 20 years (I’ve been around for 16 1/2), we’re going to have a hard time having discussions with people who aren’t believers. We need to be able to discuss our beliefs using Scripture. Some of us are going to like the “intense” discussions more than others, but all of us need to be able to handle some level of discussion, to be polite as we discuss things, and to look at it through the lens of Scripture. But obviously not every person is going to be involved in every discussion, and it’s OK for those who don’t like the intense discussions to avoid them. For me, I almost never watch the music videos. But it doesn’t bother me that other people post them, because I know a lot of people do watch them. (And if several people comment about how wonderful a specific one was, I go back and watch it.)

    Liked by 2 people

  20. Kim, I have prayed for you a lot these last few weeks. My suspicion is that you are more valuable to your office than you are aware of (you tend to underestimate yourself, I think), but I know that is partly based on harsh realities in some of your previous jobs (like my friendless childhood often gives me the default judgment that no one likes me). Right now I think it’s a complete unknown what will happen to the economy, and of course to the people in it, as a result of all of this. I have to consciously rely on God’s sovereignty, as there are a lot of aspects of this season that are really ugly–but I know that God is sovereign, that He is good, that He loves His people, and I remind myself of all those truths. And I am comforted by the love of my Christian brothers and sisters, too, because this is the kind of time when we pull together and “act” like family.

    Liked by 3 people

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