In the 17th century, Brother Lawrence, a weak-though-strong monk, sent an ailing friend some healthy advice on what to do with his burden. The good Brother was well-acquainted with suffering; lame in one leg and saddled with illness, the simple, experiential devotional life of this humble monastery cook became an inspiration to many.

His own discovery into the precious joy of the abiding life is found in the small volume, The Practise of the Presence of God, which I vociferously recommend to you. Brother Lawrence’s sage advice to his sick friend includes this:

• I do not pray that you may be delivered from your pains, but I pray God earnestly that He would give you strength and patience to bear them as long as he pleases…

• I wish you could convince yourself that God is often (in some sense) nearer to us, and more effectually present with us, in sickness than in health…

• He often sends diseases of the body to cure those of the soul…

• I have been often near expiring, but I never was so much satisfied as then. Accordingly, I did not pray for any relief, but I prayed for strength to suffer with courage, humility and love. Ah, how sweet it is to suffer with God!

Brother Lawrence discovered a strength that could re-cast pain as something good. ‘Such prayers,’ he admitted, ‘are a little hard to nature, but most acceptable to God and sweet to those who love Him… I beseech you; comfort yourself with Him, who is the only Physician for our maladies.’

Do you have a sick friend?

These trustworthy words might do them some bit of good in this their hour of opportunity.

I actually post this while my body is battling infection, and I look to my Rapha with joy, and praise God for my “exhaustless Savior” (just read today) who is always nigh.

Matthew 16:18-19
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Revelation 3:7-8
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut…

A long time ago I told my Dad I didn’t want to grow up because all the cars of the future looked so ugly. I was quite fine with his 1960s Catalina and our ’69 LTD, thank you very much.

So now I’ve grown up and – for the most part – every vehicle I’ve owned is not only of the used variety but usually not even in the same decade. To illustrate, the other day it was a bit rainy so I pulled on the light switch to engage my headlights. When I parked at a Barnes & Noble an hour later, I forgot to disengage them, so I went inside the two-story bookstore and meandered and browsed for awhile. Some time later a guy, who obviously had been searching for me for a time, found me and reported to me my lights were on.

“I saw you park and get out,” he said, breathing heavily, “but I assumed your lights would shut off automatically.” He said it like: ‘it’s 2012, why wouldn’t your headlights turn off like everyone else’s in the universe?’

Sorry, it’s just a cross I choose to bear.

So then yesterday I took my eldest sister to lunch for her birthday and she beat me to the restaurant. When I drove up she was standing beside her new-model Prius, so I asked for a peek. The inside looked like the cockpit of the space shuttle! It had everything, even temperature control, radio and Bluetooth – built right into in the steering wheel!

My jalopy looked sad and embarrassed even sharing the same lot with her Toyota. But, oh well. C’est la vie.

After lunch I wanted to walk her to her car and she gratefully accepted her little brother’s old-world chivalry. When she reached out and pulled her door handle, the door made a sweet unfastening sound and glided open, the aroma of new car fumes spilling out.

“What, you left your door unlocked?”

She looked at me, puzzled.

“I never saw you pull out a key…” I injected, but then it hit me: “Oh! Is it your handprint or something on the handle? It recognizes your print?”

I was grasping.

“No, no,” she explained, “I have the key with me but I don’t have to use it. There’s a sensor or something inside the key, so whenever I am close to the car, the door unlocks itself for me.”

I about fainted with disbelief. I recalled what I told my Dad all those years ago and summarily changed my mind. I wanted one of these newfangled futuristic cars!

So all this got me thinking: remember when Jesus blessed Peter for divulging his supernaturally downloaded Truth to the question of “Who am I?” and told the brash fisherman that submitting to His Kingship would give him (and by extension all followers of Messiah) unequivocal authority before all kinds of doors in the kingdom?

That we would carry KEYS inside us?

How cool to think, like my Sis’s perk with her car door, that when we come upon any closed door in the spirit realm the Lord means to be opened, that our submitted walk to His timing and will – just by our walking up to it – would release locks, disengage doors and open passages into other rooms and deeper realms!

Now that’s what I’m talking about.

Back to my old clunker (forgive me Jesus, You blessed me with it and it is special!): it does give me an incredible perk in its own right. It happens to sport a very coveted plate on its rear end that unlocks great possibilities that afford me the luxury of parking in extremely convenient slots right beside the mall and restaurants that are marked with painted blue signs with stick figure wheelchair persons on them.

Jealous?

Not far from our house is a small clutch of retail establishments with only three or four eateries. And one of those is a McDonald’s.

Sigh.

We’re not much for fast-food, but when we’re tired and hungry and don’t want to drive very far, we’ll give in and drive up the road and grab a bite. No, not at Mickey D’s – that’s pretty much never in our GPS. Except for their morning coffee. It’s pretty good, I’d have to say. Better than, even.

But I digress.

We’ll invariably choose another joint that at least has some good salad choices and better-than-average chicken plates. Anything with a pretentious ‘Z’ in its name has promise. We’d prefer to add to Truitt Cathy’s bulging wallet, but his place is way over four miles from us; plus it’s only got a drive-thru. And, we like the whimsical, warm-glow atmosphere of the primarily southern restaurant’s (could it be called that?) dining room.

Being the marvelous husband that I am, I gallantly offer to make a run up to the place and pick something up for us both. I know how Sandy likes her tea, how many yellow-pack sweeteners she likes, how she prefers her fries without its strangling seasoning, how she takes her sauce, etc.

I tell you, I’ve got this husband thing down pat.

But, invariably, my love will tell me she’d rather us go together so we can enjoy the full benefits of dining inside. Long ago she explained that you can get free refills, take the time to season or sweeten to your heart’s content, and, who knows, but being extra nice to the girl at the register might cause her to whisper “give ‘em extra fries” through the window to the food prepare’s side.

In short, the drive-thru limits you. What you drive away with, you’re stuck with. Ah, but when you sit and dine – hello – if the food’s not quite to your liking, all you have to do is walk ten feet to the counter and inform them (nicely! Extra fries or chicken pieces in your salad, remember?) that your palate, while titillated, is not yet sated.

A lot of His followers treat Jesus like a drive-thru. A quick convenience. In and out…or, up to the small impersonal window and gone, lickety-split. In a snap. A forty-second encounter. Little fuss. Little wait.

But remember…

When you drive away, you’re stuck with what you got, that is, unless you’re willing to go to inconvenient lengths to get your demands met.

When Jesus said He wanted a chance to “sup” with us (Rev 3:20), he used the word that means to sit and dine, not looking at the clock, not squeezing Him in, not ‘fast-fooding’ it. It’s the meal of the day that Martha was preparing for, bless her heart. She wanted it just right. Little did she realize, the feast was already happening in the other room.

Oh, the rich benefits of spending a lot of time over a meal with Jesus – not allotted time. It’s not “on-the-go”. The ancients had a meal-time like that – we call it lunch. This is a two to three hour meal where time is taken and life is exchanged. Five, six courses.

Conversation.

Savoring.

Embellishment.

Transformation.

Such ‘supping’ offers all the little extras. There’s the atmosphere – the ambience – of being inside, not “out there” choking on the fumes of the world. Complete with all the accessible a la cart perks!

The “better part.”

You may not get a daily time like this, I know, but carve times and seasons throughout the year – weekly, monthly – when you shut off the motor, venture inside…

…and sup at His table.

Strange that a day commemorating a courageous preacher of the Gospel of the Kingdom should be whetted down with draughts of green beer.

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Until he was 16, Patrick considered himself pagan. Some Irish marauders raided his village at that age in the British mainland, and he was sold into slavery to Ireland. During his captivity He became aware of God's presence, and became a Christian. He escaped from slavery after six years, and went to Gaul to study in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for twelve years. During this time he was called to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in Ireland. He was appointed second bishop to Ireland. In winning many souls to Christ, he made enemies, not least the Celtic Druids who imprisoned him several times, but each time, amazingly, he escaped. It is believed that he raised people from the dead, and other astonishing miracles. He established monasteries, and set up schools and churches which helped him to convert Ireland to Christianity. One time he is said to have illustrated the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God Three Persons in One, by using a shamrock leaf, or clover with its three strands. His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. Subsequently, he retired to County Down. He died on March 17th in AD 461. That day has been celebrated as St. Patrick's Day since then.

- H/T to Jesusevidence.org

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Oh, the bagpipe bit in the title stems from the interesting tidbit that the lad Patrick, while in captivity, formed a musical instrument out of a pig’s hide and hollowed out reeds. The Scots seemed to have perfected his invention.

Was there nothing this saint couldn’t do?

For a gander into what steered his heart and proffered his courage, you may want to sidle up and read this lengthy “Breastplate Prayer” which is attributed to Patrick. It’s quite stunning.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

I wait for the Lord…my whole being waits…”
Psalm 130:5

Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you.
Shakespeare, Sonnet 57

The next time God closes a door, don’t look for a window. Maybe we should just find a couch and sit for awhile.
Jason Upton

I am in a season of waiting.

I have an expectancy in this hour that God will come through for me where I most need Him to. Hope is what I am clinging to; not run-of-the-mill, common wishful thinking, but the way Paul uses it in the NT. And Peter. A settled, bankable confidence.

I fully expect to blog someday about how God came to my rescue, and that He did it in a magical, unexpected, and exceptional way. I’ve even given Him room to answer my cry way outside the lines of my asking.

He’s done it before. Lots of times. And He’ll do it again.

There’s poetry in waiting.

The word sounds like its a bad thing, but I’ve learned a thing or two about this…activity. Yes, I chose my word very carefully.

Waiting is not idleness. It is anything but passive or being in retreat. Waiting is not static. Waiting on God is the season in which our inner man advances. We’ve learned that our children do their growing while they sleep. So it is with God’s child. We do our most and best growing in our restful seasons of waiting on God.

Tell me your waiting story.

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about adding to or taking away from the words of Jesus, I serve you this piece from Perry Noble’s website. Perry is the lead pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC.

14 Things That Jesus Did Not Say…

We get things messed up from time to time…especially the words of Jesus…here is what He did NOT say…

#1 – “They will know you are my disciples by your theology, and the arrogance that accompanies it.” (John 13:35)

#2 – “Dream really small dreams and make sure you never ask for anything big!” (John 14:12-14, Psalm 2:8)

#3 – “If someone doesn’t believe just like you believe…make sure to do all you can to attack, criticize and beat them down as much as possible.” (Mark 9:38-41)

#4 – “Be tolerant of everyone…I am one of the many ways to God.” (John 14:6)

#5 – “Make sure you make the church about you…that you are served well…please, don’t do anything that might cause you any type of inconvenience. My goal is for you to be happy!” (Matthew 20:28, Luke 9:23-24)

#6 – “Please, whatever you do, DO NOT tell people the good news…keep it to yourself! The reason I died on the cross is so that you could get into really small groups of people and talk about ‘deep things’ that aren’t going to help anyone when it comes to eternity.” (Matthew 28:20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, Romans 10:14, Romans 10:17)

#7 – “Don’t EVER try anything new…don’t ever take a risk…don’t ever take a step of faith. Be AVERAGE!” (Isaiah 43:18-19, Hebrews 11:1, Hebrews 11:6)

#8 – “You can follow me and it will not impact your money at all!” (Matthew 6:19-24)

#9 – “Pray a prayer to get out of hell…and then live however you want.” (John 14:15, John 14:21)

#10 – “You can do it without me!” (John 15:5)

#11 – “I don’t expect you OR your church to be fruitful in any way.” (John 15:4)

#12 – “Isolate yourself from the world!” (John 17:15)

#13 – “Make sure there is a time when you question my word because it will one day be no longer relevant.” (Luke 21:33)

#14 – “Stop crying out to me in desperation…can’t you see I’m busy.” (Mark 10:46-52)

I suppose in the interest of making the Gospel more palatable, many have resorted to editing our Lord, making Him (in their thinking) more appealing, less demanding. How rich!

For myself, I will still choose His yoke (Matt 11:28-39) for it does not chafe, and His commands are “not burdensome” (1 John 5:3) but packed with life and freedom.

No, in this age of fugitive journalism, “we report you decide” malarkey, I trust the gospelers–Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James–for they report the Truth EXACTLY as they heard it, in all it’s eloquence, brilliance and beauty.

Is God still good to me then?

O yes, He cares!
I know He cares!
His heart is touched with my grief.
When the days are weary, and the long nights dreary
I know my Savior cares!*

It’s true. All that “bad” stuff happened to me tonight–within minutes of posting this on a couple of social media sites:

When we go through the fire, there are two blessed truths that hold us steady: (1) God is OVER it, and (2) He will bring us THROUGH it.

That status/tweet came on the heels of this little gem:

The “all things” we have in Christ for life and godliness cover and combat the “all things” that come against us. 2Pt 1:3; Rom 8:28,37

You could say that I asked for it because faith that has not been tested cannot be trusted. Hmmm, another tweet? Confessing something is not good enough. That confession may be true in principle and theory but God knows that maturity comes when our hypotheticals become incarnational. Then, it is not merely a doctrine but a living reality; it is not only learned, it is owned.

The life of disability can be the most helpless, humiliating and debilitating script to follow but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It keeps me in a constant place of dependence, a perpetual confession of utter need, and robust faith in its Author and Finisher.

So there I sat–in a dead wheelchair in a sleet storm, at night, by myself–and, by His empowering grace alone, willed myself to baffle the realm of satan’s nefarious kingdom by praising, singing, trusting, believing, praying and putting shoes on my confession. I thanked my God that He was working out His perfect plan and that whatever was going to come out of this mess was going to be breathtakingly special. And eternal.

I’m home tonight, safe and warm in my bed, as I write this. That means my Rescuer came through mightily. Once again. One of these days I’ll tell you how He did it. It’s pretty cool.

Many are the afflictions/trials/heartaches/weaknesses/hardships/foils/scares of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:19

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*Does Jesus Care? by Frank E. Graeff. Full text is here, and worth a look.

I may not know the full answer to that yet, but I do have an idea.

I just prayed with one of the nurses here in my room, asking God to give her and her husband wisdom to know how to proceed with their adopted daughter. Nine years ago, a little girl was brought into their home who had horrific baggage (later learned) and tendencies. So violent was her Type 2 bi-polar disorder (the worst classification) their own daughter had to sleep with two locks on her door, as she seems to be the burning core of Cassie’s (not her real name) hatred.

This morning, Cassie bounded down the steps of their home walked straight up to her mother, and threw her arms around my nurse friend and told her she loved her. Totally unsolicited.

It had never happened before. In nine years.

This gallant adoptive mother broke down as she shared that, in her heart, she knew Cassie is experiencing a major breakthrough and on the road to healing. I could see years of fear, hysteria, hopelessness and exhaustion just melt away with those wracking sobs and a face that suddenly lost its lines and looked young again.

On this same day she found out that a Medicare-underwritten program has finally accepted their daughter after months of waiting and wringing of hands. After months of crying out for God to heal the pain in the home and torment in their daughter.

Then, this:

“I love you  Mom.”

Can you think of four better words?

So my friend is torn. What if this is God’s witness to her that their daughter, after endless therapy and new medicine–not to mention the steady stream of prayers–is showing a monumental turnaround? What would it mean for them to put her in the program?

If they do not drive Cassie the hundred miles to a new rehabilitation center, they will receive no financial assistance for any of their daughter’s future therapy.

I didn’t have a word for my friend, but instead turned to the Word on behalf of my friend. “Dear God, you promised that if we lack wisdom, we can ask of You, and we have the assurance that You will pour out such wisdom without restraint, without guilting us or remonstrating us for lack of faith…”

With heads bowed in this room, we agreed that the Father loves Cassie and has an incredible plan for not only her but for my friend, her husband and their other daughter. We prayed with boldness knowing that God would lift whatever fog or gauzy mist shielded the Johnson’s (not their real name) eyes that they might see He who is true Wisdom, Jesus the Christ.

She wiped her eyes and hugged me and told me her dad had phoned her this morning and used the promise of James 1:5 for those who lack wisdom in their conversation also. The Word had given His word after all. Her eyes were wide with expectation, relief and settled confidence that all would be well.

As I finished that last sentence, my nurse friend just passed my room with a beaming smile. This is why Jesus has come into the world, to set captives (like Cassie—and hurting families) free.

Several years ago amidst another health crisis, I jokingly stated that our lives read like the movie titles:  “There Will Be Blood”, “There Will Be Blood, Part Two”, “Hamburger Hill”,  and now, “It’s Complicated”!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( I will be glad to elaborate on those if you need me to)

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers.  They carried the day.  What an amazing thing it is to be a part of something God is doing and watching when “man” can’t fix the problem.  I was reminded that Scott has been in the AMA’s medical journals before when he was first injured 30 years ago.  We are revisiting that again.

Today was a dual consult with Scott’s orthopaedic surgeon and plastic surgeon.  They said that (and I quote) “you are a complicated mess and we both need to meet with you and discuss options for proceeding.”  Soooo, we have been waiting since the beginning of July to get the required x-rays, CT scans, and MRI’s required to look at the problems from every angle.  We had been sent the findings on the CT scans and the MRI’s and after a vocabulary lesson from my dearest friend Karen Beard, we could begin to see this was not going to be an easy fix, but we felt God was working and we have had an extraordinary peace.  Although, there have been a few days when I got tired of waiting….my motto is find the problem, get a working plan, fix the problem. It has been neat to see the Lord rein me back in with His quiet voice and say, “Don’t you trust my timing, my plan for Scott and you?”

All of what we are facing today is a result of a continuing infection that had engulfed his entire body in 2009-10 when he spent 3 months in the hospital.  The plan then was to shoot the works at him and localize and find the original culprit.  They eventually said in the pelvic region.  He had abscesses (and still does) which ruptured and went everywhere in his body (bone, blood, muscle, tissue, organs).  Last fall, his leg began to swell and then opened up with a tunnel to the hip/pelvis area and he had surgery to clean out and totally rebuild his leg because of the destruction of the infection.  He got new blood, muscle, tissue, and a gorgeous scar.

After a month in the hospital and a month home, the leg opened again because the abscess did not get totally pulverized again (I digress here to say that they have thrown everything that they know and have available at these fellas, and they keep coming back AGAIN and AGAIN).  The problem we have is that added on top of this is Scott’s bones have been compromised.

Today, Dr. Murray said that there is chronic osteomyelitis (infection in the bone), but that the spine and sacrum have disconnected and that his spine from L-5 to S-1 is totally dissolved.  It’s weird to have him put the x-ray up and then draw where his spine should be because there’s just blankness. The abscesses are all there, the bones are NOT, and Dr. Murray has NEVER faced a situation like this before.  He has not been torturing us by making us wait, he has been trying to find a solution.  He says the problems make surgery IMPOSSIBLE.  And I again am using his words.

The surgery that he and Dr. Simon would pioneer would “kill” Scott (literally, once again, his words which he also repeated twice for emphasis).  So, he says the problem is huge and “surgically inaccessible.”  He has an idea to consult with a surgeon at Emory Hospital who does tumor re-sections.  He wants to see if he’ll take this on.  He only knows of one other case like this and that patient had to be sent to Johns Hopkins.  The only other option is to once again use radiologically placed drains (like catheters) to drain this out of him and hope they get zapped.  Right now it’s all coming out his left thigh.  I won’t gross you out on the copious amounts of gook, but it is not pretty, but they are glad it’s getting out of him.

So, we are waiting to hear from this other surgeon (maybe one week).  Continue what we are doing, which is daily irrigating, and cleaning hole in his leg, oral antibiotics, and praying he doesn’t get sick.  I asked if it was possible to be like we were in ’09 and he said definitely.  So, keeping monitor on vitals, etc. must continue.  Holding patterns stink.  But, we are at peace and marvel at the way God takes care of us.  Our doctors are some of the very best, and they are sitting there shooting options and ideas and what-ifs because they so hate it that this is happening.  I just can’t wait to see what God is going to do with this.

I would like to add a sidebar, if I may.  Scott Mitchell is my hero.  For 30 years they poke, prod, cut open, cut out, set more limitations, curtail his activities & generally say, sorry, we can’t really help you.  He just smiles & says that’s ok, you’re doing your best, no worries.  I have lived in his back pocket & have continually been humbled by his love for, and his walk with God.   I just felt like that had to be said.  You cannot imagine the last two years especially.

Keep praying for him. Our love and gratitude, Sange and Scott.

I also have it on good authority that it will happen.

Ah, I know what some of you are thinking: the you who think you know me, that is. You’re thinking I already am one of most loving people you know, but the trouble is, you don’t know me, know me. You can fool some of the people some of the time…

And those of you who do know me, well, I see that knowing little smirk on your faces! I have glommed onto your thoughts like a blind man reading braille, also. Those smiles tell me that you’ve been waiting a long time for me to see the Light—that I am like the Frost poem, “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” where the subject still has “miles to go…”

Yeah, I’m onto you.

But back to my stated position. I have it on good authority that what I seek will come to be, since I have come to understand prayer as more finding the will of God on a matter and praying that back to Him, rather than a monologue of wishes on a premeditated list. It’s clear to me that this salvation journey I am on includes His bringing me into fullness. Into glory. Or, as Paul put it to the Ephesians: ‘to grow me up to the Full Man, which is Christ’ (my paraphrase from 4:13).

That, o friends o’ mine, tells me that it is His intention that I live as He lived, walk as He walked, obey as He obeyed and love as He loved. And so, as I leeched onto His will for me, I decided to pray in expectation that He will do this thing in me. Granted, He’s got some work to do.

It’s a tall order, and I have fallen woefully short.

Granted.

But back to the premise. Er, the promise. When we “pray the prayer of the kingdom” (as Evan Roberts coined it), and learn the Father’s will, we can have the assurance that what we ask is truly from Him and our asking will lead to its doing (see Matt 6:10; Matt 18:18-20; Mark 11:22-24*).

So…I aimed for the fences with my asking.

I just said to myself: Why go little, when you can go TALL?

Here’s what my journal said just the other day:

“Father, You know what I ask for me: I desire to have all envy, jealousy, bitterness, forgiveness, vengeance and offense redeemed out of me! I desire to be the most loving person people will ever meet—whether they like me or not. Whether persecuted, I bless. Ignored, I rejoice. Overlooked or bypassed, I praise. Despised, I love. Hurt, I forgive. Treated discourteously, I return kindness. Belittled (even in attitude), I submit. Forsaken, I triumph.

“Lord Jesus, I trust You to save me from myself. Your work is finished, which is my set hope for my “finished” course. I turn to You to do the impossible. With God, all things are possible. Even these hopeless, endemic, pandemic issues in my flesh.

“You will answer this prayer of mine because I know I pray Your will. You will bring me all the way into glory, victoriously, not by the skin of my teeth…”

It occurs to me that my birthday is in four days. Hint, hint. I pretty much know what I want and I have stated it here. There is no hope it will be done by September 3rd (did I mention that was my birthday?), but I have every hope it will be done in time to see Christ Jesus, for “when I see Him, I will be like Him, for I shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2)

I just want a head start.

*These each presume the pray-er has already learned the will of God