Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving

When I visited my parents this weekend, I got to talk to my dad about his thoughts and wishes. I tried to absorb as much as I could. There is one thing he said which I took particularly to heart. He impressed upon me the importance of making my prayers to God (on his behalf) with thanksgiving. 

Now, any Christian who's been in the Bible or a church for any length of time can quote this verse: 

It struck me that, even at this painful stage in his life, my dad would still be exercising his skill sets both as pastor and parent. 

He knows me very well, this man. He knows that I have struggled with the effects of PTSD and anxiety for a long time now. He also knows that these things cause me no small amount of fear. Even my prayers can become fear-based. 

It was important for him to remind me that we can cast *all* of our cares on the Lord, even the scary life-threatening things. We can come to God in confidence:

He wants my prayers to the Lord to be made with confidence from a thankful heart. He doesn't want me to be drowning in sorrow to the extent that I cannot see God's love, mercy, and grace during this trying time. I *do* exercise faith but it is true that my fear can sometimes overwhelm that.

This morning, when I sat down with my girls to read the Bible and to pray for my dad, his words echoed through my heart: 

"Just be sure that you are praying with thankfulness. 

I want us to be thankful in all things through this. Our God is so good."

Our devotion today was in James chapter five, which was a timely blessing. Several verses, in particular, especially reached into my soul.

11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

1313 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

1414 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

1515 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

1616 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

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Just about everything I was reading and thinking about this morning before we started the day was pointing to fine-tuning my prayer efforts. It was a good and timely reminder for me. I was able to go into my prayers today with calm and peace, knowing that God can answer them in His own way and His own time. We call that special feeling 'the peace that passes all understanding'. It is when unnatural peace and calm flood through your body, heart, and mind.

I am also reminded that I have seen prayer work. This is why nobody can tell me that faith is just misunderstood chance or the hopeless delusion of a week mind. 

For example, when I was carrying Giraffe, toward the end of the pregnancy I would wake up in the middle of the night positive that she was going to die at birth and I would never meet or get to know her. I mean, I would wake out of the clear blue, deeply convicted of this and sobbing my eyes out. 

Every single time this happened, I woke Chris and begged him to pray that she would survive her birth. He never once failed to wrap me in his arms, praying there in the dark that our child would survive her birth and live a happy life. When the day of her birth arrived, we endured trauma which caused her heart to stop beating within me. Her delivery was horrific. It is an experience I would never wish on any mother and child. Even our doctor admitted to Chris later in the year that he was supposed to go home alone that night, leaving behind two body bags. 

Miraculously, she was revived! By the grace and mercy of God, Giraffe and I both survived. My beautiful baby lived. You cannot tell me that prayer does not work. I *know* that prayer works. I have seen it. That is only one time out of many. When God tells you to pray, friends, you'd better do it!

Now, it would be narcissistic of me to think that God will answer all of my prayers in the affirmative. We know that the earth has been given over to the will of man. People are governed by what they want to do. Evil abounds by our hands and by our choices. Additionally, God has His own reasons for answering prayers in His own way. There are too many reasons for the outcomes of our myriad of situations to know exactly why any given thing happens. I will not always get the answer I want. I *can* be okay with that. :)

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My dad asks that the Lord be given the glory, no matter how God chooses to handle his life. That is one more way he has been consistent since I was a child. I can hear him praying over the pulpit of that first small church he pastored, "May everything we do be for Your glory."

This season of my dad's life is painful. It doesn't have to be ugly, though. It doesn't have to be depressing or despairing. Dad knows that his life is in God's hands. He trusts that whatever God decides is for his own glory. My dad may be in his recliner, it is true. He is not to be counted out, though. Even from his chair, my dad is serving the Lord and bearing witness of His goodness. 

May my prayers from now on be filled with confidence that God hears and cares. May my deepest wishes float to God's ears and be responded to in His infinite wisdom. May I never forget to thank Him that - even in this hard time - my dad can still be used. His life bears witness daily of the grace and mercy of God. I find that I truly *am* thankful for our present situation. I am thankful that this trial can be used to teach me even more about God's love and tender mercies. 

God *is* good. I so thank and praise Him for allowing me the dad that I have. I love that preacher man more than words. I am so truly and deeply blessed. <3 <3 <3

We have started a GoFundMe Campaign on behalf of my parents. Please consider sharing it on social media.