Quote from Forum Archives on January 7, 2005, 6:01 pm

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional

(Over 13,000 subscribers in 75 countries)

01.07.05

Refocus - Prayer

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things,
which you do not know. - Jeremiah 33:3.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. -
Ephesians 3:20-21.

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:16.

In August 1998 Michael Giovanetti (39 years old) was heading for home.
Michael is married with a son and twin girls. He had been unemployed since
April and was searching for work as an avionics technician. He lost control
of his car on some gravel trying to get onto a turnpike. He shot across the
highway, over a guard rail and his car flew into the air and finally landed
100 feet down a steep hill strewn with boulders. The accident tore the front
off Giovanetti's car, which came to rest on its crushed roof. The passenger
side of the car was buried in dirt and rocks. He regained consciousness
upside down, his face mashed against the broken windshield. He unlatched his
seat belt and fell against the steering wheel.

Michael was injured with a head wound and broken ribs but knew help was only
100 feet away from him. However, he was stuck in the twisted wreckage at the
bottom of the steep hill. He had to endure four days with humid high
temperatures before he was able to crawl out of the wreck and drag himself
up the hill. Michael says that he PRAYED MIGHTILY when he first woke up
after the wreck and gave thanks whenever a cool breeze blew through his car.
Michael shared, "Everybody tells me I'm really lucky. I felt somebody else
was helping me - like it was a team. Someone had a reason to let me go. I
was in a bad way. Someone had to pull me out of there. I don't remember it
hurting. I remember it was very hot. It was very difficult uprighting
myself."

Michael spent his first day yelling and banging a piece of metal from the
wreck against the body of the car. Nobody noticed. He spent the second day
in a failed effort to wiggle out of the mangled wreck. On the third day, he
dragged himself halfway out of the wreckage, where he rigged a rubber mat to
direct rainwater into plastic water bottles. By the morning of the fourth
day, Giovanetti realized no one would come for him. Weakened, he dragged
himself backward, crablike, up the steep hillside, gripping rocks in his
fists to protect his hands from broken glass.

When he finally made it, Giovanetti was too weak to even pull himself over
the guard rail. He lay on the side of the road waving unsuccessfully at
passing cars and trucks until finally some people did pull over to help.
Michael said about the ordeal, "It seemed mostly like a long, bad day. I
didn't know it was four days until I got to the top. I just kept trying to
get out. I wanted to see my kids."

Usually we do our best praying when we are in desperate situations. However,
what if we didn’t wait until it was a desperate situation? What if we prayed
every day as if our lives depended upon those prayers? What if we prayed for
our protection, the protection of our families, and others every day? What
if we prayed for God’s will to be done in our lives every day? What if we
prayed for God to deliver us from evil and temptation every day? What if we
committed ourselves to pray for 30 minutes to an hour or more every day for
a year? What would happen if we were to do that? Jeremiah tells us in
Jeremiah 33:3. The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:20-21. The fact is
that prayer works, there is a God and He answers prayer if we will simply
pray. Will you make that commitment? Refocus your life through prayer.

Copyright © 2005. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. On June 8, 1998 the email
version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.

FEEDBACK TO REFOCUS - The Word of God (01.06.05): Bill Hargraves
WHargr8254@aol.com shares: Your BBD today was perfectly timed for me. After
many years of intending to set out on a goal to read the Bible completely, I
came across a 365-day edition which finally started me on the right course.

I recommend this approach to everyone to has tried and failed to read the
entire Bible. It fits into your edict. It should be read: 1) fast; 2)
systematically; 3) with diligence and regularity. Since there is a daily mix
of Old and New Testaments along with Psalms and Proverbs, a day's reading is
never completely boring (major parts of the Old Testament). Since the
sections are dated, there are clear markers of where one should be in the
daily readings. This did not hold me back, though. Often, I read ahead in a
story because it was so fascinating. I urge you to promote this systematic
method of reading, using the built-in motivation that a 365-day Bible
provides. God Bless You in 2005 as you continue in God's Will.

The Crossmap Christian Search and Portal is a wonderful resource. I would
like to encourage you to visit this great site at www.crossmap.com. Crossmap
has recently added the Burning Bush Devotionals to their site. You may visit
Crossmap’s sister website, the online version of the Christian Post at
www.christianpost.com.

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