Praying.....

...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. - James 5:16

I believe in the power of prayer. I know God can work wonders. We see miracles abound around us every day. Some small and some huge. I love the words James uses effectual (Producing or sufficient to produce a desired effect; fully adequate) and fervent (having or displaying a passionate intensity).

When we pray, do we pray fervently with faith believing. Do we fall down on our knees and pour our hearts out to God? Do we constantly whisper His name throughout our day asking Him for guidance? I personally believe He hears either way. I think the minute we utter His name, His arms open wide to receive our request. I have some friends who are going through some very tough situations and could use some help from my prayer warriors. I'd like to ask my blogging friends to please pray for some special prayer requests.....

I have a dear friend who suffers from severe arthritis. About a week ago, she started having some horrible pain in her hip and couldn't put any weight on her leg. Walking became impossible. They submitted her to the hospital and ran a multitude of tests. They discovered she had a broken hip. She had not fallen so they did not suspect that at first. They were doing surgery last night and I haven't heard the results yet, so please remember her and pray for a speedy recovery.

 

 One of my best friends growing up has twin sons 19 years old. One of them has a type of blood cancer. He went through a series of chemo back in the fall and winter and was doing much better. A recent scan showed that the cancer was back and had spread to the top of his lung. We did get a praise report when they found it was not in his bones as they had feared. This young man has been undergoing aggressive chemo since last Friday. Once he completes the chemo, he will be receiving a blood stem transplant from his twin brother. Please pray for both these boys. They are both good Christians. When he found out the cancer was back, his reaction was "Well, I've been fighting a battle. Now I'll just have to fight a war."

One of my cousins has a cousin on the other side of the family whose son has been in the hospital since early January. He has an extremely rare brain disease that he was born with. He is only 18 and has had over 80 some surgeries. He has to have constant monitor on the shunts in his brain. They have had to externalize them and let him heal and then go back in and internalize them. He has been going through this now for 5 months where they will do the surgery, the shunts will start to leak and they have to go in and externalize them again so his brain can heal and then put them back in internally. He has kept a very blessed positive attitude all through this and is an extremely strong Christian. Please remember him in your prayers.

When I sit back and look at the illness, sickness, financial situations that we all face, it is amazing to me that we let the "little things" get to us sometimes. We have so much to be thankful for and I for one give God the glory for the all the good He has blessed me with. Thank you for your prayers.