Praising God is not a feeling. Praising God is a conscious activity. We praise Him by thoughtfully extolling His goodness, His greatness, His majesty, His love, His grace, His mighty deeds on our behalf, etc.
Today, I would like to share with you some wonderful answers to prayer and how God is working in my life and in the lives around me through heart-burdened and tear-filled prayers. I better type fast, or else I might just burst with all the praise bubbling up inside me!
First off, let me mention something - if you haven't already started a prayer book - I'd HIGHLY encourage you to make yourself your own prayer journal. It's great fun to write down, read though, and pray for all the requests, but the best thing about having it all on paper is that days, weeks, months, and years later you are able to fill in an answer to the prayer! God IS SO GOOD!!!!
Beginning in January of this year, I began to pray more and more fervently for several specific requests. Below is the request with a little snippet of how God is answering prayer....
#1- That God might save an older gentleman named Mr. B. Sadly, this man really wants nothing to do with Christianity and of course he as some type of excuse for visiting church. His wife passed away last year and the first time she and I met at church she asked me to pray for her husband's salvation. I began praying that day and will not stop. I care so much for him and want to see him saved. I'm thankful that we have continued to have contact with each other throughout the year. I was surprised to receive a note in the mail from him a few months ago, as I had decided that he didn't want anything more to do with me, God, church, etc. I personally think it is very important that a Christian stay in contact with the family of a deceased person. The family members may not have had anything to do with the church, but telling them that you're praying for them and letting them know you are there to help them is sometimes one of the very best ways to witness and that through it all they may see Christ in our lives.
#2- There is an older couple whom I have grown to love and I care deeply about that need salvation and not just a "religion." I'm rejoicing to see God answering my prayers. They have attended several church services and I'm continuing to pray daily for them.
#3- I'm deeply burdened for several families that I know who are not saved. It hurts to know that they don't want to know about the Lord, nor do they want their children to hear the truth. Yet, God is working in amazing ways and is able to conquer the foe!
Several weeks ago, I could not fall asleep as I felt so burdened to pray for those unsaved people that I was literally crying with tears pouring down my cheeks at 2am one night for these people who are living a life without hope. Love is so painful! My heart literally breaks when I see the hopelessness that these people have and it really does hurt.
We Christians have such a joy that we want to: Sing it, shout it, and let the whole world know what Christ has done for us and what He can do for them!
#4- I'm currently taking a course through an online school. I began the class in June of last year and plan on graduating within the next couple of months. I prayed long and hard about taking a class online. It was such a hard decision because I'm such a "people person" and love being able to commute with others. I asked the Lord for His will to be done. I enrolled in the school thinking, "God, what are you doing?! I'm not going to be a witness for you on here - there are no people to talk with!" I sit back and laugh now, but I was very concerned about having an opportunity to witness and wondered how I'd be able to witness to a computer, books, and myself. Well, thankfully the school had a forum........
Yes, religion topics are considered "hot topics" on the forum, but that's OK. I decided that the forum would be a great place to reach out to all my fellow students who live all over the country and the world! I decided that I was going to post a "hot topic" and if they told me that I was no longer allowed on the forum, then that was OK with me, but I was going to post something even if it cost me my forum membership! If you remember from a previous post, I mentioned that I posted the "Are You A Good Person" test from Way of the Master. Click here to read previous post to see what happened and the comments I received from the students on the forum for posting the test.
Well, after that thread was locked by the moderator (thankfully I wasn't kicked off the forum!) I continued to pray and to seek out other ways of which I could share Christ with the thousands of students and graduates.
I began a prayer thread where students could share prayer requests/praises and there was such an overwhelming response to that thread post, which allowed me to continue to share deeper and deeper things about the Lord. It's been truly amazing and cannot stop giving thanks and praise to God!
In March I was contacted by the school and asked if I wouldn't mind writing an article for the "Student in the Spotlight" for their upcoming newsletter which goes out to over 17,000 former graduates and current students as well as various MT companies. I was told that I could write anything I wanted. I was in total shock and wondered why out of the thousands of other students I was chosen as the student for the spotlight section of the newsletter.
All I have to say is that God works in AMAZING ways!!!! I prayed for ways to witness and God gave me an opportunity within weeks! The newsletter will not only go out to all those 17,000 people, BUT also to several different countries! I continually stand in awe of the way God works through the power of prayer!
I really wanted to share all the neat specific ways God has answered each request, but as this is a public blog, I do not want to post all the details on here, so I'll have to settle with sharing the "specific general info." I've posted.
PRAISE HIM! PRAISE HIM!
1 comment:
Amen! Amen! In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God,in Christ Jesus, concerning you!
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