August 10, 2007

• WE PRAYED YOU HERE!!!

  Welcome!  Blessings!

   

  Thursday night is the night that I facilitate bible study with the women at the Allegheny County Jail. & Yesterday (Thursday), we had terrible storms in Pittsburgh.  The streets were flooded & blocked; trees, utility poles & power lines were down; homes were damaged & flooded, you name it!  One man saw a funnel cloud coming from the direction of one of the rivers and then he witnessed a possum flying through the air!

   

  Just as I was about to leave work to go to the jail, another bad storm hit.  The skies were angry with blackness.  Instead of afternoon, it appeared to be midnight.  The thunder and lightning were so fierce that at one crack, a man wailed, “Man…Jesus got shotguns!!!”  I almost wanted to respond, “How merciful He must be to have perfect aim & always miss us!”   Anyway, my mother called and told me that a tornado watch was in effect and a state of emergency had been declared.  Everyone was strongly advised stay wherever they were.  I prayed in my heart, “Lord, I’m going.  I can’t miss bible study.  I need to be there.  Please clear the weather up.”

   

  When I left a few minutes later, the rain had stopped completely and the skies were baby blue.  Except for the wet ground & the traffic lights being out, I would not be able to tell that there was a storm at all.  Traffic was crowded & to a crawl, yet the Lord allowed me to immediately catch the bus that I needed in order to get out of town.

   

  I went home and gathered my lessons & things and started back out again.  I remembered a co-worker saying that her husband was driving on the same boulevard that I take to get to the prison & it was bumper-to-bumper because the traffic lights were out.  I could only thank the Lord as I drove that same road minutes later and there was no traffic at all.

   

  I encountered only one detour and the Lord just helped me to think outside of the box.  The road was flooded and all of the vehicles seemed to be taking the way that the policeman was waving & turning right.  I turned left and that street took me directly to town without any congested traffic.  Instead of missing the bible study completely, I was only a few minutes late!  Thank You, Jesus!!!

   

  When I got to the unit, the women were waiting with a jubilant welcome.  One woman exclaimed, “We prayed you here!  We prayed that the Lord would bring you safely.  We know how scared you are of storms and that it was really bad out.  So, we really prayed for you!”  Another woman said, “I didn’t think you were going to be able to come but you made it!”  It is customary that we open our bible study with each one thanking God for something and them putting in her prayer request.  One woman said, “I want to thank God for sending someone who cares about us enough to come through the storm to be here with us.”

   

  You know, those women have mountains of problems.  There is so many things that they could be praying about and yet they prayed for me.  They are tremendously precious.  When I share my prayer request, few Christians follow up like those women do.  They’ll ask me about requests that I’ve forgotten about.  They don’t ask questions to get more information, they just want to know that it’s okay now.

   

  When I heard their rejoicing of how God brought me, I thought of you—yes YOU!!!  I thought of all of my Christian siblings that must be going through some type of storm.  I began to pray for your strength and courage, that your faith fails not.  I see you standing, I see you safely arriving to your goals, to your divine destiny as I greet you with jubilant expectation and say, “I prayed you here!  I knew the storms could make you afraid. You shouldn’t have been able to come, but you made it!  Hallelujah!”  But until then, know that Jesus said, “I have prayed for you.”  Every step that you make, hear Him saying, “I prayed you here!”  Don’t be discouraged; He rejoices your progress; He celebrates your stamina.  He enjoys walking with you.  He’s watching over & orchestrating your every move.

   

  Like I’ve recently mentioned, the Lord will not only direct you, but He will direct your paths.  He will cause the path that you're on to go in the direction that He has planned.  Be encouraged!!!  The Lord is praying you there!!!  I’m praying you there!  Others are praying you there!!!  Are you with us?

   

  Isaiah 43:

  1 – But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.

  2 – When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

  3 – For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour…

  5 – Fear not: for I am with thee…

   

  In devastating winds known to blow strong trees to the ground;

  Through earthquakes and tornadoes where no safe place can be found,

   

  Through rushing of floodwaters that has taken cities under;

  Or booming threats that ring out from the roaring voice of thunder,

   

  To darkness of the skies that none can penetrate but lightning;

  Each strike illuminates but makes the atmosphere more frightening,

   

  From hailstones that hit hard and heavy everywhere they land,

  To desert storms that blast and sting unmercifully with sand,

   

  Or many hidden dangers that await in fallen snow,

  Life has some type of storm through which someone must dare to go.

   

  No doubt another’s storm is vastly different from mine,

  It may even appear that some walk only in sunshine.

   

  Yet there’s inclement weather that can’t always be discerned,

  And we may not be privy, but we can’t be unconcerned.

   

  We must pray for each other, helping all along the way—

  Until our journey ends with Heaven’s bright and endless day.

   

  So let’s lift one another up in faith to God in prayer;

  So when we meet, we’ll tell each other, “I have prayed you here!”

   

  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.  Luke 22:32

   

  For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.  Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy.  And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment.  Colossians 1:9 & Philippians 1:4 & 9

   

  Be Infinitely Encouraged!

   

  Pam

  • 10:32 pm
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