We Go...for the power of prayer

On behalf of our guest writer Hester Jane Burnside...

Thursday, May 16th

We are each His beautiful and unique vessel called to pour out the Light and Love of Christ, therefore WE GO...

Mark 11:22-25: “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

We Go . . . for the power of prayer!

It was December 2015, and my dear friend, Missy Washam, reached out to me about a new online bible study she was doing, “40 Days of Prayer.” Missy had completed this study two times before, and she told me she really thought I would LOVE doing it. I will admit that I was reluctant to do the study. Missy and many of my close friends did not know this about me from the year before, but after starting a new job and a change in my life I was overcome with a deep depression . . . the kind of depression that makes you stay in bed for a few days at a time; the kind that makes you cry behind closed doors at school; the kind that causes you to lose interest in your family and daily activities. So when Missy reached out to me I knew it was God’s way of saying, “I want you to do this.” The format was simple: Write your IMPOSSIBLE PRAYER list, visualize it, pray for it, and speak it into existence with God. This was to be done along with a daily devotional and reflection. My dad was immediately one of my IMPOSSIBLE PRAYERS. He had not been in good health for a long time, and I had asked God so many times to give him the will to want to go to the doctor. I had completed the 40 days of prayer in mid February, and one day in March I got a call that mom was on her way to the hospital with dad because we thought he was having a heart attack. A triple by-pass surgery revealed lung cancer that did not originate in the lungs. He was not a good surgical candidate to begin with, and having major surgery like that was not an easy recovery. The day of his surgery I remember looking for a verse to help me, and Proverbs 3:5-6 was that verse, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” So, it was no surprise to me on the first night in CCU when we could go in to see him that this was written on his board: The name of the nurse for the night and the bible verse that will ALWAYS guide me in how I live my life, Proverbs 3:5-6! Talk about a God Wink! I remember praying OUT LOUD TO GOD EACH DAY my impossible prayer to help my dad get better, to show dad mercy and peace, and for God to show me his intentions. I would pray this in the bathroom in the hospital, in the parking garage in my car, driving home to get a change of clothes, and praying before I went to bed. I knew that if dad needed to die, I wanted God to show dad mercy and not let him suffer. After 3 weeks in the hospital dad passed away, and as I look back I know exactly why God allowed me to go through such a dark period the previous year; he was preparing me for what was ahead. He knew I needed to be at my lowest point in order to be strong and deal with what was to come. “40 Days of Prayer,” changed my life. It allowed my raw and exposed self to reflect, pray about what was important, and build myself back up. SOUL SISTERS WAS BORN, and our book studies continued with so many different formats! Somewhere during one of the studies I found myself looking up all the daily scriptures and finding pictures to go with them. Associating a picture with a verse was very therapeutic for me, and once I began doing the pictures I found myself wanting to do them all the time. It has made me so aware of the bible like never before! I have God to thank for all of this! So to me no prayer is impossible if you give it to God and ask him to answer it. It may not be in the format you had hoped for, but God always has a way of showing you WHY!

Dear God,

Thank you for your unfailing love for us, your blessings, and goodness. Thank you for your faithfulness to guide us and see us through times of uncertainty, for lifting us up, and setting us on high. Thank you for scripture that comforts and reminds us of your promises, plan, and provision. Thank you for taking away our fears and worries, and reminding us that our help comes from you. Thank you for showing us your daily love and mercy. You are the one who is always there and never changes. Amen

Additional Verses:

Proverbs 18:10, Nehemiah 8:10, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 28:7, 46:10, Hebrews 13:8, Romans 15:13, Joshua 1:9