Tag: Prayer

My help comes from You

by Innermost Being, posted in Prayer

The sermon at my church on Sunday was about anxiety, which also happens to be the topic of a self-help book I am reading. I get anxious sometimes, but I have learned where to get help.

When I am anxious, one of my favorite Bible verses comes to mind.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

My pastor said that we should not be ashamed of being anxious. It’s not that we should never be anxious, but that we shouldn’t continuously be anxious.

This verse tells me to give my worries to God. He is with me in my struggles. He will help me get through the storms of life.

The words of the King and Country song, Shoulders, remind me that God is pulling me through the hard times:

When I’m caught deep in the valley
With chaos for my company
I’ll find my comfort here
‘Cause I know that You are near

My help comes from You
You’re right here, pulling me through
You carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness
All on Your shoulders
Your shoulders

This song was on the radio a lot several years ago when I was stressed about work. I would wake up worrying and then sing this song in my head.

This verse also tells me to give thanks. I thank God because I remember when He pulled me through my struggles.

Setting Expectations for Healing Prayers

by Innermost Being, posted in Prayer

This summer, a mile and a half into a trail race, I suddenly fell forward and landed on my right shoulder, dislocating it. Another runner made a sling out of her jacket and walked me back to the trail head. She then drove me to the nearest ER, 45 miles away.

The ER doctors had to put me under twice to get my shoulder back in place. When I followed up with an orthopedic doctor, I learned that I fractured the bone. The doctor didn’t think surgery would be successful at my age, so he had me wear a sling for a couple of weeks to see if the bone would stay in the right position. If the bones were displaced, I would have to have surgery, possibly even a shoulder replacement.

I rarely ask anyone to pray for me, but I added my name to my church’s weekly prayer list.

Two weeks later, x-rays showed that my bone fragment had moved. The physician’s assistant recommended that I have surgery two days later. The physician was out of town, so the PA referred me to a doctor at a different practice. That doctor had no concerns about my age. Post surgery, I am well on my way to recovery.

Although God didn’t intervene by keeping my bone from moving, I still believe He worked things out for my good, putting me in the hands of a well-respected surgeon.

In my experience, the overwhelming majority of prayer requests are related to physical health issues. Philip Yancey made a similar observation in his book, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

Do prayers for healing make any difference? I believe they do, but I believe we should keep our expectations realistic.

Yancey has heard from many people who question why God did not answer prayers for healing. He wrote that although there have been accounts of miracles, miracles are rare.

Natural laws make our world predictable. For miracles to happen, natural laws must be reversed or suspended. God rarely intervenes in the physical world that way. We learn to adapt to natural laws like gravity, and if we don’t also adapt our prayers, we will surely be disappointed.

Prayer doesn’t stop the aging process. It doesn’t eliminate death, and it doesn’t reverse genetic defects. (In my case, it also didn’t keep bone fragments from moving.)

Prayer can help you deal with stress. It can give you comfort, hope, and peace. These positive feelings can impact your physical health “because the mind regulates the body’s natural healing systems.”

God created our bodies with amazing self-healing powers. He gave humans the intelligence to discover treatments for physical ailments. He gave doctors, nurses, and other professionals the skills to diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate us.

How can we pray for people with health issues?

  • Praise God for the healing agents of the human body.
  • Pray for wisdom and guidance for medical professionals.
  • Pray for other caregivers.
  • Pray that the person will fully use the resources of their body, mind, and spirit.
  • Pray for relief from pain.
  • Pray for peace for those near the end of life and for their loved ones.

My heart goes out to those who suffer from chronic health issues. God loves you and hears your prayers. He will be with you in your suffering.

Boldly bringing good news

by Innermost Being, posted in Testify to the Truth

Faith comes from hearing the good news. But how can they hear if no one speaks?

Lord, may I be strong and courageous in sharing the good news, knowing that You are with me. Fill me with your Spirit and give me the words to speak.

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

Lord Jesus, enable your humble servant to speak your word with great boldness. May I fearlessly proclaim the truths You whisper in my ear. What you tell me in the dark, may I speak with confidence in the daylight.

Lord, may I not be concerned about what others think of me. I know who I am. I am your beloved. You redeemed me. Your truth has set me free.

Lord God Almighty, in all my ways and with all my words, may I acknowledge you before others. You are good. You are God. You are worthy of all my praise.

Prayer Corrects Myopia

by Innermost Being, posted in Prayer

Why pray if God already knows what is on your mind? Does prayer change God, or does prayer change you? Philip Yancey addressed these questions and many more in Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

As Yancey noted, we often act as if we expect God to serve us. We tell God what we want him to do for us. We are disappointed in God when God does not answer our prayers.

Prayer helps correct myopia.

Philip Yancey

I close my eyes and talk to the invisible God. My mind is incapable of grasping his magnificense, though I see glimpses in the beauty of creation. I hear glimpses of his glory in the sounds of music and birds singing. I consider all of his works, and I am awed by his Almighty power and intelligence.

I see life from my own limited point of view. When I pray to the Creator of the universe, I realize how small and insignificant I am in the grand scheme of things. I am one of countless creatures on his planet, and there is so much I can not see and do not know.

I am humbled.

I am relatively old in human terms, but my life is just a blip on God’s timeline. I live in the moment. I can’t see the future. I can’t see how things will work out. Prayer teaches me to trust God’s plans and his timing.

I trust God to work things out for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

2 Peter 3:8

And yet, I still pray as if God needs me to bring the world’s problems to his attention. Like David, the psalmist, I complain to God about evil people who seem to get away with cruelty, lies, and other wrongdoing. I pray about injustice and ask him to intervene and to make things right.

I talk to God about issues in my own life. The stresses of work. The heartache of rejection. Concerns that seem trivial when compared to the problems others have. And yet, I know God cares about everything that affects me.

With other prayer warriors, I pray for people in need of healing, comfort, or protection. The needs are never-ending. Broken bodies, broken hearts.

Prayer corrects my near-sightedness. Prayer gives me the right perspective. Prayer helps me see other people as souls made in the image of God. Prayer aligns my heart with the heart of God.

Philip Yancey wrote that we are God’s agents on earth. Instead of just asking God to do something, ask what you can do for God.

Anxiety Dreams

by Innermost Being, posted in Random

Last month, I dreamed I was working in downtown Denver. (I worked there about ten years.) I was hurrying down the 16th Street Mall to catch a bus to take me home to the south suburbs. I got on the bus and tried to find a schedule, but there wasn’t one. The bus flew (like a plane) over Coors Field. It flew west of I-25, then headed south. I didn’t recognize the route. Eventually, the flying bus headed east, and I recognized a high school. The bus finally stopped at an office complex. I got off the bus, but I could still see the passengers who stayed on the bus and where they were going. The whole time, I was worried because I had to let my husband know where I was so he could pick me up.

The next night, I dreamed I was in school taking a history test. The teacher warned us to watch our time to make sure we were on track to finish the test. We were given a stack of paper with quotes or statements, and we had to answer whether each statement was true or false. Each page had a one-word clue. When done answering the questions, we were supposed to arrange the clues from the right answers into one long sentence. I was shaking with fear that I wouldn’t finish the test on time. (History is not my best subject.) As I struggled to answer the questions, a few of the other kids were going up to the chalkboard to assemble their words. I couldn’t even tell how much time I had left because every time I looked at my watch, it said the same thing.

I know why I was having stressful dreams. I am an accountant. January is the start of my busy season. I get stressed by the deadlines. My dreams reflect my anxiety.

I have always been fascinated by dreams. I am amazed at how active the brain is when we sleep. Having a couple of stressful dreams in a row got me to wondering about anxiety dreams. In an article about How to Prevent Anxiety Dreams, I learned that when you are stressed, you spend more time in REM sleep, which is when we dream. When you are stressed, your body produces more cortisol.

The article suggested writing anxiety dreams down to help make sense of your thoughts and emotions. Take some deep breaths. Talk to someone. Make a plan. I wrote my dreams down. I told myself, this is temporary. This too, will pass. You’ve been through stressful times at work before and everything got done. Even when things went wrong, you got through them. And I reminded myself that if I needed to, I could put in extra hours on the weekend.

An article about common stress dreams says that stressful dreams can be beneficial. If you dream that you’ve lost something or you’re late or you can’t finish the test, your brain may be rehearsing things that might go wrong. This helps you deal with stress in real life. In a study, students who had stressful dreams did better than those who didn’t.

Writing my dreams down helped process my anxiety. Having a plan and knowing that I have some control over my situation helped me cope with my stress. Having a trusted friend to talk to, even in the middle of the night – that’s even better! Prayer brings a peace that transcends all understanding.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7