Word for Today, Wed, 6 Dec 2000: Advent - a Time of Prayer and Preparation
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>
In Christian circles, this is the season of Advent - a time of
preparation. What are we preparing for? I believe that this is
a time to prepare our hearts, to allow ourselves to be moved
and changed by the Spirit of God.
Please allow me, once again, to share some prayer requests from
around the world. These requests come from a prayer newsletter
that my friend Larry Davies shares. If you look at the places
these requests come from, they are international in scope.
Doesn't that indicate that the struggles people face are common
ones, regardless of where in the world they happen to live?
Doesn't it also indicate that as individuals, we cannot take on
such needs all alone?
13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy?
Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick? He
should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint
him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered
in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him
up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess
your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may
be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and
effective. (James 5:13-16 NIV from
bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible)
Dear Lord, I want to give You thanks today for the things that
You do each day. You have formed the land and the sea and
everything in it, yet we, Your creation, seem intent on
forgetting, ignoring, or even denying Your Hand that is upon all
things. Forgive my own negligence for failing to seek You at all
times. Hear my humble cry for forgiveness. Restore to me a
willing, clean, and pure heart, one that is willing and eager to
be obedient to You throughout the day every day.
Please hear the prayers of those who cry out to You throughout
our world. There are those facing death, there are those
surviving who grieve the loss of loved ones, there are those who
grieve their own failures. Lord, I identify with their pain, but
only You really understand their deepest needs. Help me to be
faithful to pray for those in need, and touch each soul that
calls upon You. I pray that You would continue to draw people to
You, and that the hardened hearts would become softened so that
You can replace stony hearts with hearts of flesh, broken, so
that they can be healed by the love which You have intended from
the very beginning.
May we learn to respond to You, because of the great love that
You have first demonstrated to us, consistently, continually, and
unchangingly. I praise You for who You are, and I am humbled
that You allow me to approach You to pray for people who I do not
know, that You would share Your kindness with them, and grant
those who seek You the wonderful honor of knowing that You hear
and answer prayer. What a wonderful God You are! Amen.
Brother Brian
From: "Sowing Seeds Ministry" <sowseeds@nesbeonline.com>
To: <sowseeds@nesbeonline.com>
Subject: Sowing Seeds Prayer Needs from Around the World -- December 6, 2000
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 04:29:46 -0800
Again we have many needs to pray about. To help us begin for this
important task, I've included an excellent article on failure. I
hope you find it helpful. For just a moment stop your busy day...
slow down your computer work and take the time to read the eleven
prayer needs included in today's email. Say a prayer to God for
each one. Respond with a little encouragement to one or two of
them. During the day remember them. Thank you for being such a
faithful prayer partner. God bless. Larry
----------------------------------------------------
L I V E I T: Today's best advice from Christian books.
liveit.crosswalk.com/
FAILURE IS NEVER FINAL
December 1 - or any other day - may have been the final day of
your divorce, the day you were rejected, or the day you lost or
buried a loved one; but remember that December 2 was the first
day of the rest of your life. It was a day of new beginnings. If
you haven't done your grieving, do it now. Face, accept, and
resolve your pain; get up even if you have to drag yourself up,
and go on. To do this effectively, there are several valuable
qualities you need to have.
* Have the right attitude. Attitude is what makes the
difference between a painful experience becoming a failure or
a success. You can let the failure leave you timid and afraid
to step out again for fear of being hurt or you can determine
that your failure will be your teacher.
You can allow your failures to hurt you or help you. True,
you need mountaintop experiences from time to time to give
you encouragement, but you don't grow through these. It is in
the valley of your disappointments and through your failures
that you are given the opportunity to take stock of your life
and move toward a greater level of growth and maturity.
* Know what your purpose in life is. The more clearly defined
that purpose is - and the more deeply it is embedded in your
conscious and unconscious mind - the less failure will set
you back.
A spacecraft en route to the moon is off course 90 percent of
the time. It's pulled back by the earth's gravity. It's
continually drawn to one side or the other by other forces.
But it has a built-in computer that has a singleness of
purpose that homes in on the moon. The computer is making
continual corrections to keep the spacecraft on target with
its purpose and goal.
Lives are like that. If your eye is on your goal, if you have
a singleness of purpose, nothing will stop you getting to
where you are going.
* Remember that failure is an event, not a person. Because you
may have failed in your marriage or job, in another
relationship, or other situation, doesn't mean that you are a
failure as a person. Not at all. Realize that the only real
failure is not to try, or not to keep on trying, or not to
get up one more time. The important thing is to learn from
your past, to use it as an opportunity to grow, and to move
ahead.
* Give God a chance. If you feel like you have failed or
believe you've done wrong, ask Him to forgive you - and be
sure to forgive yourself. Then turn your failure into a
stepping stone toward a better you.
Where a bone is broken and heals, it becomes the strongest
part of the bone. The same is true of your broken places -
where you have been hurt, have fallen and failed, or are
afraid. When you bring these to God for His healing, His
strength is made perfect through your weakness.
Dick Innes is founder of ACTS International, a teaching and
communications organization that produces literature and runs
seminars to help hurting people. He was born in Queensland,
Australia, and has made California his home for 19 years. He is
the author of I Hate Witnessing.
-----Original Message------------------------------------------------
From: Laurie Bauck [mailto:fairviewgal@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2000 12:02 PM
To: sowseeds@nesbeonline.com
Subject: Re: Sowing Seeds Ministry Prayer Needs from Around the World
December 1, 2000
Larry, thank you for this wonderful ministry of yours! I read
all the prayer requests and I realize how good God has been to
me! My troubles are nothing compared to the things some of these
people are dealing with! God bless you! 🙂
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Rick H in Bradenton Florida - His wife had an affair and left
him. Angry, hurt and confused.
Dr. Stuart Tuggle, a prominant physician in Keysville, Virginia
passed away.
****************************************************************************
***
Name: Tina
Address: Nebraska
PrayerTeam: yes
Email: walx11720@gtmc.net
Please Include My Prayer Request in Weekly Mailings: ON
Include My Email Address in Prayer Request Mailings: ON
Option_Subscribe: ON
Option_Already Subscribed:
Remote Name: router52-d34.gtmc.net
Comments: My prayer request is a long story so I just ask that
prayers be said in regards to my 17 yr. old daughter and her 9
mo. old son , and ask God to guide me to be the person I know I
need to be. I just can't seem to "get it". I know what is needed
and I sure feel the pressure to grow in the spirit but ..... How
do you turn a problem over to God and then leave it alone? I want
to so badly but I see the mess and self destruction my daughter
is going through and it hurts SO MUCH because she won't let me
help her,I see her making ALOT of the mistakes that I did and
she just doesn't want my help or think it is needed. Thank You!!!
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***
Name: lazarus
Address: India
PrayerTeam: yes
Please Include My Prayer Request in Weekly Mailings: ON
Include My Email Address in Prayer Request Mailings:
Option_Subscribe: ON
Option_Already Subscribed:
Remote Name: 203.197.20.70
Comments: please pray for my exams
****************************************************************************
***
Name: Rose
Address: B.C. Canada
PrayerTeam: Not yet
Email: beangoose@kermode.net
Please Include My Prayer Request in Weekly Mailings: ON
Include My Email Address in Prayer Request Mailings: ON
Option_Subscribe: ON
Option_Already Subscribed:
Remote Name: dials6.kermode.net
Comments: My name is Rose. I lost my husband to colon cancer one
year ago after 46 years of marrage. I cannot shake the
depression or find a purpose to my life. I am 65 and have a
serious weight problem which is really out of control now. He
was an Anglican priest and since his death I have taken over the
church services (as a lic- enced Lay Reader in a tiny community)
so have never felt abandoned by Jesus through this ordeal. I
have a wonderful family, warm home,good friends, enough money to
share a little. But I am empty. and trying to fill that hole with
food. Please pray for me to regain my sanity and find a reason
to live.
****************************************************************************
***
Name: Paula
Address: Massachusetts
Comments: Please pray that I will have the strength to do the
things that will become necessary in the near future to follow
God's plan for me.....which is uncertain at this time.
****************************************************************************
***
Name: yolanda akigbogun
Address: va
PrayerTeam:
Email: ladys360@yahoo.com
Please Include My Prayer Request in Weekly Mailings: ON
Include My Email Address in Prayer Request Mailings: ON
Option_Subscribe: ON
Option_Already Subscribed:
Remote Name: saintpauls.edu
Comments: My name is Yolanda Akigbogun and I attend St Pauls
College. I am a full time student. I have no parents and I am
truly in need of prayer that the lord will bless me with
finances. I really need an instant blessing because my car is in
the shop and i have no type of income to get the car out. I
really need 600 dollars in order to pay for the work that has
been done to my car. I do appreciate your prayers.
****************************************************************************
***
Name: Rita McCormick
Address: Columbus In
PrayerTeam: Yes
Email: rmccorm@seidata.com
Please Include My Prayer Request in Weekly Mailings: ON
Include My Email Address in Prayer Request Mailings: ON
Option_Subscribe: ON
Option_Already Subscribed:
Remote Name:
as53-dial153.seidata.com
Comments: I am already a suscriber, I run a small fellowship in
my home and it has been mostly teen friends of my two boys who
somehow fell into corruption and malice. Stealing and no respect
for anyone. I have told many about the Lord in our fellowship
and even though they listened many have not returned, rummor has
it that they are afraid of having to give up all fun and have to
live a dull life. They are into rap and refuse to cut out the
lucrtive language and this is one thing they don't want to give
up. They say this is what other children will adhear to. My
teens are truly the ones no one else wants to bother with. I
feel I need a miricle to have at least one or two of them just
totally surender to the Lord and get fired up, and then the rest
will follow. My son left home last year and I prayed continually
for the Lord to whistle for him that he would come back home and
he was home in 2 weeks and has been every since. God told m e to
not push his word down their throats but that they will come in
time. I am now continually praying God will return my son back
to him and it appears several others are following but sometimes
I get lost because I just don't see the fruit. God brings me
back several times and reminds me how dificulte it was for me to
fully understand. It took years, but paitent believers were
always there for me. This is what I am trying to do. I continue
to Love them but my heart says I want to see some praising and I
am tempted sometimes to wonder if I am harboring rebellion
attitudes or am I really being patient since I can't really find
anyting in the written word on how we are to nurse those along.
Can you pray for me and for me to receive some answers that will
confort me. Thank You and God Bless You in Jesus Name
Rita/Mom/Wife/business owner/and fellowship leader.
****************************************************************************
***
Name: Nellie Shirley
Address: Philcampbell Alabama
PrayerTeam: Yes
Email: happy@adalink.net
Please Include My Prayer Request in Weekly Mailings: ON
Include My Email Address in Prayer Request Mailings: ON
Option_Subscribe: ON
Option_Already Subscribed:
Remote Name: 12.37.170.158
Comments: Thank You for sharing your stories to the world. I'm a
divorced mother of 3 and have done well raising these children
on my own with the help of Jesus Christ. I lost my job in June
wrecked my car in August and have just went back to work with a
job I prayed for but I'm so far behind,they are gonna shut my
power off and gas, my car is fixed and I don't have the
deductable money.Please pray for me and my family. We have a
christian home and are blessed with so much. I got up this
morning couldn't sleep as usual and got on praayer.com and ended
up here please pray for me and my problems I know god will
answer. Thank You Nellie Shirley Philcampbell Alabama
-----Original Message----------------------------------------------------------
From: DAYCARECOOK421@aol.com [mailto:DAYCARECOOK421@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2000 1:07 PM
To: sowseeds@nesbeonline.com
My child is going to have here ear worked on. On the 21 of this
mouth please pray that it is OK and she will be OK she is just 8
years old thanks Sandra Winston salem
-----Original
Message-----------------------------------------------------------
From: Bancroft.Juliet@ic.gc.ca [mailto:Bancroft.Juliet@ic.gc.ca]
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2000 4:48 AM
To: sowseeds@nesbeonline.com
Subject: RE: Sowing Seeds Ministry Prayer Needs from Around the World
December 1, 2000
Thanks for praying with me for everyone. This is the greatest
web site. May all our be answered, and I hope that whichever way
they are answered, all will understand that the answer is for the
best from God who loves us all. My special prayer for
Stephanie, that she will gain strength to live with whatever
decision she will make. Stephanie, please remember that the
Almighty does not see differences, all of us are evidence of his
special works and his superior talents. God be with you dear
child. We all love you.
=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/
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