Foot work

Heavenly Father, please let me win the lottery! This is the prayer that this man says every morning for a week. The man passes away and is in the presents of God. He asks God why he wouldn’t let him win the lottery, and God replies, “son, you need to buy the ticket to win!” There is a lot that God can and will do for us but we need to remember that we have to do some foot work as well. If a boxer just stood in the middle of the ring do you think the outcome would be the same as if he were to step aside and dodge? Lately this is how I’ve been feeling. I’ve been praying to God for a number of years for the homeless that really want to get off the streets, that they would find a place to rest. All the time the answer was right under my nose. Our God is all powerful and huge but He wants to see us in action and using His guidance. We don’t learn anything by standing still. A song that I heard on the radio had really impacted my heart. It tells of a man questioning God on why God hasn’t helped these unfortunate people, and God replies,” I did help them, I created you!” If that doesn’t encourage us to do more then I don’t know what would. Go out and do some footwork today. Step outside of your box and ask God what you can do to help someone. God bless you all!

PRAYERS ANSWERED!!!!

Last night my family and I went to a praise and prayer meeting. We had a discussion on prayer that had me intrigued. We all have our different ways of praying. Some pray long while others pray short. Some are very in depth and some are sweet. Almost all my friends are on the board of the rescue mission helping the homeless. It has been an awesome 5 years but we haven’t reached our goal of having a place for our homeless friends to sleep. I know that this will happen because I trust in God to answer these prayers. Last night however I got a little upset! One of our homeless friends that attended the prayer and praise group had laid down next to the building to sleep. We had to tell her that she could not sleep there and she got really upset. This particular woman was homeless with a boyfriend that protected her and took care of all her needs. He past away due to congestive heart failure which crushed her. Her daughter had taken her in in a different town far from her friends but because of her mental instability her daughter couldn’t care for her and work at the same time. She was brought back here and dropped off. She has had an extremely difficult time adjusting to being homeless again. Sleeping on the streets through the winter without someone protecting her. She threw a little bit of a fit but got in my friend’s car to be taken elsewhere to sleep. On the way home I started feeling so sad for her situation and that frustration was filling my mind. I had stopped at a stop light and started praying before my anger took over. I prayed to God asking Him to watch over her tonight and to comfort and calm her, keeping her safe. Then I asked Him why we haven’t had an opportunity to get a homeless shelter going so that we can sleep these unfortunate souls. I told Him to please tell me how we can help to fix this situation, whatever it is I will follow His instructions to the T. When I had opened my eyes the light was already green. I started to accelerate and a car sped trough the light going the other direction blowing through his red light. Luckily I was still in prayer when the light had first turned green and I was late to accelerate or this sheriff without his lights on would have killed my wife and child! God told me in that moment that He always answers all of our prayers and that He is taking care of our homeless friend just the same as He just took care of my family and I. The moral of this story is to keep on praying without fail, no matter how you do it! Sometimes it can feel as though your prayers aren’t being answered, but just because they aren’t being answered the way you want them to, doesn’t mean that they aren’t being answered. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Heavenly Father, thank you for yet another beautiful day. Thank you for the opportunity to be better Christians then we were the day before. Please forgive us for all our sins and trespasses known and unknown. Thank you with all our hearts for ALWAYS answering our prayers even if we don’t see the answer right away. We know that you are always there and listening. In Jesus name we pray, Amen!

John 13

John 13 talks about Simon Peter denying Crist Jesus 3 times. I don’t know about you all but I have denied what Christ has asked of me on multiple occasions. Not because I don’t want to, it’s that I don’t feel worthy or strong enough. What I have realized over the years however is that our God will build you up slowly over time. Take my patience for instance. I used to blow up when I had to wait for something. I hadn’t any patience what so ever and if I didn’t get what I wanted I would force it to happen. Having God in my heart makes me slower to anger. I’m not saying that my anger is totally gone but I don’t instantly grab that anger anymore. Instead of getting mad that minute I’m able to hold off for months at a time with the Holy Spirits lead. Just like anything in life we need to be trained and there is a time for everything. God is working on me every second of every day and with that I grow into the man He wants me to be. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t feel as though you can do something God Asks. I do ask that you keep in mind that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Philippians 4:13. Dear, kind Heavenly Father, we have a chance today to be better Christians than we were the day before. We are not worthy to loosen the straps of your sandals and yet you have chosen us to be your disciples. Help us by giving us the strength to do what we think is impossible, making us stronger Christians. We thank you for this strength and ask for your forgiveness in our failures. In Jesus name we pray Amen.