Thursday, September 6, 2007

Prayer Time

This day started earlier than normal. 4:42 to be exact. I woke up way before my alarm with butterflies in my stomach. I needed God to show off for me today, to hold me up like never before. I knew there was NO way I could go through my normal day without Him. Desperation was knocking on the door of my heart. My God says to cast my cares on Him and I took full advantage of that invitation and began to cast away.

This morning my grandfather had major surgery. Just how serious we wouldn't know until they got started. What was supposed to be surgery on one aneurysm,(I'm probably misspelling this...) turned out to be surgery to correct 5,yes FIVE. Pretty serious stuff. He's 89 years young and loves life. We were tickled pink to have he and my grandmother here a few weekends ago. They don't travel much, but they sure did enjoy their visit! I still can't believe they came and spent the night. Wonders never cease. :)

So when I woke up that early, I took that as a sign to start praying. So I did. How I longed to be in Chattanooga at that hospital with my Dad. But that just couldn't happen so I prayed. (Probably harder than I would have had I been there.)

UPDATE: We just got a call that he came through surgery okay and is in recovery. He will be in the hospital until Monday. Praise the Lord. We continue to be amazed by Him.

This morning, my heart was just as heavy for my sister-in-love Lindsay. She has been so sick for about 7 weeks. Yesterday, she wound up in the ER. We all began to pray that she wouldn't leave without an answer as to what was/is going on in her stomach. Well, an ultrasound showed that she has multiple gallstones! (3 that are 13mm in size and several others that were a little smaller.) Praise the Lord we know what is wrong! She meets with a surgeon today and hopefully that baby will be out of there soon.

There were other situations that I prayed about, each one so important. Each person important, I found myself hitting snooze without pausing in my prayers. Eventually, I had said all the words I could and I still felt like I was missing something so I just claimed that scripture that says that when we don't what to say or how to say it, Jesus does. I rested in that and peace overwhelmed me. He was singing over me again.

I got up with a quiet confidence that whatever happened today, God was in control. Good or bad, He was in control. Looking back over the last few weeks, I wish that I had morning prayer times like this more often. There have been so many days that I have reacted/acted as if the world was ending over the smallest little things. My emotions taking control and setting a tone that encouraged chaos! I regret that, had I immediately gone to my knees, I would have experienced peace during those times.

Today could have been a very stressful, emotional roller coaster. But as hard as it has been, I have felt His presence a little stronger than usual. He is making it known to me that He is here, just like always. I just made more of an effort to look for him today. I got out of the way and allowed HIM to be GOD!

Note to self, GET OUT OF GOD'S WAY!!!! Let the Almighty do His thing... EVERYDAY!

"...Oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry. Everything to God in prayer..."

5 comments:

Carol said...

Wow! This was great! It's amazing how powerful prayer is. I'm so glad things are going well for your grandfather and sister-in-love. I will pray for them too. I THINK everyone is feeling good today! Thanks for your prayers.
Carol

Amy Wyatt said...

I love it when God shows up and "shows off". As Beth Moore says we need to allow Him to "Be Big" in our lives more often than we do. I'm proud of you for getting up to pray. More often than not, I tend to hit the snooze button or go back to sleep and I'm sure I miss out on a blessing b/c I said no to God instead of yes. Your grandmother and sister-in-law will be in my prayers. Thanks for the encouragement on my site!

Mrs. J said...

Just dropped by. God is always here. My prayers w/ u

BethAnne said...

Good Word!! There are so many times that I leave God out of my morning and push Him to the side until I "have time". It is easy to forget that our relationship with Him is a 2 way street.

Anonymous said...

Hey Stephanie! It's Jennifer from Florida! This post was so encouraging and a wonderful reminder to me how important prayer is. Sometimes I get so busy doing good things but I forget the most important part of it all, being still and talking with my Daddy!
Thanks for the reminder.