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Watching God Answer Prayer

God is so good.

God is so faithful.

I started feeling puny yesterday but pushed on to work today, determined not to let my body get the best of me.  I seriously considered skipping Bible Study tonight.

I’m glad I didn’t.

I was privileged to watch God work tonight.

One of the ladies in my group will be departing for Guam…joining her husband who is in the military and has been there for several months already.  She’ll be gone through most of the summer before returning home again.

She brought Mochi.

That, in and of itself, was worth getting off the couch and going to church.

But it’s not God’s work that I’m referring to.

Another of our members came in and took a seat.  She’s a young gal and a single mom.  She’s had some life-changing events occur recently but has kept the faith and attended church as regularly as possible.

Someone asked her how she’s been doing, and she shared some of the struggles she’s currently dealing with.  One of her current needs is for housing.

The gal who will be leaving for Guam looked over at her and quietly said, “I’ve got a house.”

Simple and to the point.

The rest of us sat with jaws dropped open as the other young lady fought to control her emotions.

The first lady continued…”The electric bill is paid through the summer.  So is the cable and the water.  The grass will be taken care of as well.”  All preparations had been made.  The young lady will not have the added stress of paying extra bills.  The house is completely furnished…another blessing.

We were witnessing a prayer being answered.

It wasn’t only one prayer but two.  The first lady…the one leaving for Guam…had sought confirmation that making this trip was God’s will for her.  She had worried about leaving her house for several months.

God had answered in a very clear way.

When it was time to begin our study, the first girl was asked to read the Bible passages we would be discussing:

Luke 12:22-34 (New International Version)

Do Not Worry

22Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]? 26Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

27“Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

32“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

She almost broke down while reading these verses, and someone picked up where she stopped…unable to continue without crying.

God had provided…in a very timely manner…as He always does.

I think we learned more from this episode than the discussion that followed.

Never, ever doubt that God doesn’t see you where you are.  He will provide…not necessarily that new SUV you might be wanting…but the basics that you need.  The most important thing is that we grow in our relationship with Him.  Trusting Him to provide for our needs is the ultimate application of the above verses.

Disappointment, and God’s Answer To It

As y’all know, I recently started subbing as a way to try to get my face known at the schools so when a teaching position becomes available, hopefully I will have an advantage.

Well, I got my paycheck for my first subbing job, and oh boy…what a shock!

My district pays $55 per day for subs with bachelor’s degrees. At 7.5 hours of work, that breaks down to $7.33 per hour.

Very sad.

I do not mind that I will not make much money teaching, but this…for subs who are responsible for 30 kids each class period, is sad. I made more money when I was a paraprofessional at the schools a couple of years ago, and I wasn’t even allowed to be in a classroom on my own…without a teacher! That’s standard policy for all para’s.

I LOVE subbing, and I’m hoping that I can find a teaching position really soon. But it’s not economically feasible for me to sub more than one day a week (I have another part-time job that pays a lot more but is not in the education field).
So, I got my pay check yesterday and stressed a bit (ok…a lot) over it the rest of the evening and today.

Until this afternoon.

Today, I had an appointment with a gal to measure a few of my windows for blinds.  I am trying to reduce my electric bill, so I’ve decided to finally cover the rest of my windows.  I’m sure the neighbors will be happy.  I believe that putting up some money up front will save me $$ in the long-run.  After sucking in my breath at the final quote, I pulled out my credit card.  The gal and I started chit-chatting, and I mentioned that I am a computer tech/teacher-wanna-be.

“Oh really?” she said.

Yes, ma’am.

“Do you teach people how to use the computer?” she asked.

Yes, ma’am.

“Would you teach me if I pay you?” she continued?

Yes, ma’am (happy dance in my head).

My eyes began to fill with tears, although I did control myself.  She is an answer to prayer.  I’ve spent the last two days concerned about bringing home less money and not being able to pay my bills, and I might just be getting a bit of extra work, for good pay, which will bridge gap.

The kicker?

My devotion with the kids this morning was about taking your disappointments to God and turning to Him for help.

I am awed, once again, that God would hear me…small, insignificant AuburnChick.

For those who think that God doesn’t care about them or the small things in their lives, I can say with confidence that He does care…very much so.

A Wonderful Sermon

I’m on my own this weekend. Missing church was a tempting thought. I had stayed up late watching the Olympics.

Before I went to sleep, I asked the Lord to wake me up in time to get ready. Sure, I could have set the alarm, but I was feeling lazy and was still iffy about going.

The Lord is faithful. He woke me up at 6:45. Come on, Lord, you know I don’t need that long to beautify myself. I turned over and went back to sleep. I woke up again at 7:30. Ugh. Thirty more minutes please. This time, I didn’t fall asleep hard but kind of tossed and turned. The next time I looked at the clock it was 8:15.

Ok, ok. I’ll get up. God was gracious, even in the beautifying. My hair cooperated, and my eyeliner went on straight. Off I went.

Let me tell you…boy am I glad! The music was AMAZING this morning! There are some songs that really get me, and we sang one of them today. The song is I Stand Amazed (How Wonderful).

If you’ve never heard it, please give it a listen…

I have never really understood why I can be smiling one second and be brought to tears the next. Something about these songs opens up my heart, and my soul is laid bare. It goes beyond comprehending with your mind. I can’t really put this feeling into words. I guess it’s like the outpouring of love I felt for my children the moment I laid eyes on them. The love seems to ooze from deep within, and you’re powerless to stop it.

In this mindset, I sat down to listen to the sermon. This morning, our pastor spoke about prayer. He talked about pagan and religious prayer. The focus of pagan prayer is the prayer itself, as if some magic can be performed if the right words are spoken. Uh oh…I’ve been guilty of this more times than I can count.

Religious prayer is prayer that focuses on the person. This kind of prayer seeks God’s answer by attempting to call attention to itself by its grandiose nature.

Compare this to Paul’s prayers. Paul prayed that people would grow in their knowledge of the Lord and the depth and height of His love. Everything about Paul’s prayers pointed to Lord and away from self. Prayer is about honesty…seeing ourselves as God sees us and acknowledging our need for Him.

What was striking to me is that there is nothing we can do to make God answer our prayers. He alone gets the glory for answered prayer.

I heard the challenge that was put out today. I need to set aside dedicated time to pray each day. My pastor suggested this, as well as journaling. Journaling can entail writing a brief synopsis of spiritual highs and lows from the day before, prayers for the current day, and what we hear or even thoughts that hit our mind during that time, regardless of how unrelated they might be. He also suggested reading the Word and praying the Word. Often, God leads us to passages that are relevant to what needs to be prayed that day.

I’m sorry if I sound preachy. It’s just that I think that the world’s idea of prayer is vastly different from God’s idea. It’s another reminder that there’s still much to do.

I added a new page, at the top, to my blog. This is something that’s been on my heart for a while. If you have anything you would like me to pray for, please go to that page and leave a comment.