All Glory To You, Father

I would have liked very much to follow developments in Iraq this weekend, LORD, but you and I were busy working in a different vineyard.

It is so good to wake up to good news. Neil Cavuto places great perspective to the successful Election Day in Iraq in what he wrote today.

Indeed, the little guy triumphed. Indeed, our men and women and many Iraqi men and women deserve to be called brave. Their sacrifices COUNT for the good.

I pray, Father, that the estimate of Falah al-Naqib, Iraq's Interior Minister, that in 18 months our troops may be able to come home will prove true.

Here in the home front, I thank you that even though Howard Dean remains a strong contender in the race for Democratic National Committee chairman, Donnie Fowler is mounting a good challenge.

This reflects, LORD, the Democratic Party members' desire to move away from the far left and move at least toward the center. I pray you prosper this desire, dear God.

Still, I pray, LORD, that you enable the American citizenry to see through the cosmetic nature of these changes in this party. They essentially represent the same immoral and ungodly agenda. They have simply sugarcoated it and attached it to popular issues like healthcare and the Constitution.

Thank you, Father, for answering the prayers of my brothers and sisters in my behalf this weekend.

Let all glory and honor and praises be yours, Father.

In Jesus' Mighty Name, I ask it, LORD. Amen.

Prayer For The Weekend

It will be a busy weekend, LORD.

Tonight is when our church gathers for its monthly Midnight Watch. We will pray from early evening until midnight.

Yes, there's worship singing, Father. How we love your presence when you visit us as we worship!

I'm asked to give the devotional. Enable me, LORD. Let me be as your mouth. Wash me of sin that might get in the way of your message.

Then, on Sunday morning, I'm asked to preach in lieu of my Pastor who is on a mission abroad. Let me be as your mind, your heart and your tongue. Cleanse me of worldliness that might hinder your Word.

Be blessed, O LORD and Savior. Be glorified. Bless your bride with your life-changing presence.

May I remember Iraq to you, Father. Please grant victory to the election, to democracy, to freedom and liberty.

I may not speak to you again here until the weekend is over. Let me find you again in all your glory when I do.

In Jesus' Mighty Name, I ask it, LORD. Amen.

Broken Things Needin' Fixin'

LORD, remember Jennie Logsdon Martin. She must be in Stanford by now. Grant her your traveling mercy. Guide the doctor who will be attending to her. Heal her, LORD. She has a wonderful testimony to your glory.

See, LORD, her January 26, 2005 posting on her website. It brims with her signature upbeat spirit and complete trust in your plan for her life.

She's funny, LORD. She nicknamed herself "Miss Marietta" for now while she is all broken up and needing mending. She didn't like to be "Jennie" in this condition, so the monicker.

So please, LORD, bring her back from Stanford as "Jennie". Write the end already to this chapter where she plays "Miss Marietta". I miss the Jennie that you've used a lot to bring inspiration to me---and I'm sure to countless others.

Also, LORD, if I may bring more fixer uppers to you today, so many lives went broken with the news of a Super Stallion helicopter that crashed in Iraq. We lost thirty Marines and one Sailor. Father, please comfort the families of each of these heroes.

Fix Iraq, dear God. Bring success to our efforts to bring democracy to this land. Honor the blood sacrificed by our soldiers to bring freedom to Iraq in defense of our homeland.

And, please, fix the eyes of those in the USA who would be so blind as not to see. Rid them of the partisan and agenda-driven cataract that clouds their vision. Warn them that in their blindness they confuse foe from friend.

Fix all these things for me, Father, so my broken heart may heal, too.

In Jesus' Mighty Name I ask it, LORD. Amen.

Heal Our Land, Father

How awesome is your work in the lives of your children, LORD! I cannot help but think back to the days when I doggedly rejected the idea that there is a God. I prided myself in being so educated and sophisticated that the idea of God and Creation became merely childish fairy tales. I wasn't going to be caught dead attributing the universe to a design and a Designer. It was all just a big bang and everything came to be by chance.

I was so foolish, LORD. I didn't realize back then that it took more faith to base my view on such an unproven theory rather than the solid evidence provided by the Bible. I thank you for revealing yourself to me. I thank you for patiently knocking at the door of my heart, never giving up inspite of my blasphemous ranting against you. I thank you for saving me from numerous instances when my life could have been snuffed out and I could have found out for myself the eternal suffering I was so proudly and self-confidently and sincerely but very wrongly pursuing.

Your Word is so true. A man could be so convinced that his point of view is impeccably right and yet be so ignorantly wrong!

Today, I enjoy the empowerment of your Holy Spirit and the advocacy of your Son, Jesus Christ. I freely enter your presence in worship and prayer. Daily I watch before my eyes difficult situations unravel, perilous battles won, as your hand powerfully responds to the requests of your saints. What a wonder it is to see you prove to me time and again how faithful you are to your teaching. I have sat back often and watched you fight and win my wars, beat what to my frail flesh seemed insurmountable odds, and continue your magnificent work just as you promised.

Forgive me, Father, if I seem to be gloating. But I cannot help but feel sorrow for those who trade eternal bliss with you for their earthly pride. I pray that you persuade them that life in this world they so love is a mere blink of an eye compared to eternity. That they have nothing to lose and everything to gain in entrusting their lives to you.

I pray again for our country, the USA. See, LORD, just how blindly we try to erase your from our public life. We wrongly interpret the Constitutional provision on the "separation of church and state" to single out your believers and deprive them of their right to be free to believe in and worship you. We strive to deprive them of their right to freedom of speech, claiming that the truth of your Word "offends" certain people. We look the other way and rationalize away the fact that asking your believers to keep their faith to themselves is an act that in and of itself OFFENDS them.

Forgive us, dear LORD. Let me be obedient to your teaching and claim your promise that if we, your believers, humble ourselves and confess our sins and pray, seek you earnestly and turn from our sins, you will hear from heaven, forgive us, and heal our land.

In Jesus' Mighty Name, I ask it, LORD. Amen.

Your Love and Grace, LORD

What a weekend this has been, LORD. The hours just sped by as I rolled with every task. Thank you for providing plenty of grace. You sustained me throughout. I didn't get a chance, though, to post anything here. I miss this special way of talking to you already, LORD, when I'm unable to do it.

My Pastor has left for a short term mission to the Philippines. That leaves the rest of us filling in for him while he's away. I tell you, LORD, it is a huge hole to fill. Grant us the anointing and the enabling of your Holy Spirit, dear LORD. Let us be found faithful when our Pastor returns.

More than ourselves, LORD, please bless our Pastor as he works to complete his assignment. He travelled with a team of ministers to set up an assessment center in the Philippines for church planters. My understanding is that they are expecting 15 church planting couples to attend the center. Our prayer is that all 15 couples will be successful. LORD, 15 successful couples represent 15 new churches. Four of these are planned to be here in the USA. Please smile upon our desire to plant churches. We want to be in your heartbeat. We want to be useful to you in your work of kingdom expansion.

Here is the latest, LORD, on Jennie Logsdon Martin. She is supposed to fly and be at this place she calls "Stanford" by Monday. Apparently, the treatment she could get there just might enable her to walk again. I continue to pray in her behalf, LORD. Please, do grant her desire to heal. Enable her to enjoy again fishing, rafting, and all the wonderful things she enjoys in your Creation. Give her more years, LORD, to inspire many of us, your children, who see in her your sustaining grace.

Also, LORD, please watch over the election in Iraq. Enable it to continue as scheduled. Embolden the Iraqi citizenry to invest in liberty and freedom by voting. Shield them and our troops with your mighty hands from harm. Frustrate the intentions of the insurgents. I am certain that from their viewpoint, their end is noble and holy. Teach them, though, LORD, that your love and grace call for compassion and persuasion---not murder---of unbelievers.

I pray, dear God, that you will enlighten those even in the free world who are strangely opposed to the Iraq election. I thank you for the viewpoint expressed by Bill O'Reilly on this. It helps to have a perspective out there that places things in their proper places. If we leave it to the liberal press to call it, they will spin things so out of shape that good becomes bad and vice-versa.

Thank you again for your grace and love, LORD. You cause the sun to rise and the rain to fall on everyone, blameless or wicked. You enable life to flow, you provide air to sustain life, whether we believe in you or not. Your longsuffering patience is enjoyed by even those that shake their fists in your face and heap insults to your Name.

Be glorified, dear Father. For your mercy endures forever.

In Jesus' Mighty Name, I ask it, LORD. Amen.

Everywhere, There And Here

Oh, my Father, how about that son of yours, George W. Bush! Leave it to him to start his second term as US President on a right footing---with a prayer! I praise you, LORD, for the testimony of this fine brother.

Thank you also for making available now in US media commentaries that tend to seek the positive for our country. Thank you for loosening somewhat the stranglehold of so-called "progressives" (or is the label "regressives" more appropriate?) on US media. Take for instance John Gibson's observation on a couple of lines in the President's inaugural address. I thank you for its candor in behalf of the President and the USA.

Bringing things a little closer to home, LORD, thank you for Neil Cavuto's article on Billy Crystal. It's good to be reminded, dear God, to be mindful of those we love. You set the example, LORD. You said in your Word that you will never leave us nor forsake us. It behooves us to to do the same to those we hold dear. Time flits by. Life is brittle. We may never have the time if we delay. Enable us to follow your lead, dear God.

Even closer to home, Father, won't you please look after this sister of mine in Christ? Her name is Jennie Logsdon Martin. She has Marfan Syndrome. She could really use your healing touch. She runs this great website called ifish.net. It's one of the most popular among sportsmen in the West Coast. In it, she posts a running account of her life with Marfan and her love of fishing, life and your Creation. She loves you and mentions her faith in you a lot.

Jennie nearly died recently, LORD, because she had an aortic dissection. It happens a lot to those with Marfan. Their heart and blood vessels could literally fall apart because their connective tissues are very fragile. Right now, she is confined to a wheel chair because the aortic dissection led to less blood flowing to her legs. She has a few medical decisions to make, Father, but she desires very much to walk again and be close to the river and her dogs and cat and nature that she loves so much. With you, dear God, no sickness is impossible to heal. Won't you please grant her desire to walk and fish again? I thank you because I can count on your faithfulness.

Now, to really bring you home. Last night, Father, my wife told me that she received the earnest money paid in advance by the person buying our store. Tears welled in her eyes as she told me how she prayed to you for wisdom on this decision and how the buyer arrived just shortly after.

Please, comfort my wife, Father. We see how you are affirming your call on us to move on to the new window you are opening. Your purpose in bringing us to the store must be done. This chapter in our great adventure with you is ending.

Help me to be supportive of my wife. She, more than any of us, put in the most time and labor lovingly to the store, knowing that it was your beckoning that led us there. Quite a few came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and God through contacts made at the store. Even more came to know about our church and stayed in fellowship with us afterwards.

The store is her baby. While she understands that you give, and you take away, she will still have to work on detaching herself from something that has grown close to her heart already. Please bless her obedience to your calling.

All of these things I bring to your attention today, dear God, knowing you will work on each one as you deem best according to your purposes and for my good.

In Jesus' Mighty Name, I ask it, LORD. Amen.

A President Is Sworn In

What can I say, LORD? President George W. Bush's inaugural
address says it all.

I pray, Father, that you will bless this son of yours with greater success in the next four years.

I pray that the election in Iraq will proceed as scheduled. That it will result in the birth and continuing growth of liberty, freedom and democracy in that country and the Middle East region.

I pray, dear God, that you will prosper President George W. Bush and all that he undertakes. Please, protect him from those that would defame, slander, and lie about him. Guard him against those who would be unfairly critical and in so doing align themselves with the enemies of the USA.

Use this man mightily, LORD. Bring spritual renewal to our land. Bring revival to your Church. Flow through this land until every man praises your Name once more.

I pray in obedience to your teaching that we are to intercede in behalf of the leaders of our nation. I claim your promised faithfulness in answering the prayers of those who regard you as their portion.

In Jesus' Mighty Name, I ask it, LORD. Amen.

A Day Of Praises And Thanksgiving!

LORD, thank you!! Your Name be praised for your faithful answers to prayer!

Thank you for the US Supreme Court's ruling rejecting Michael Newdow's appeal to disallow prayer at the Presidential Inauguration. Thank you for the precedent that this sets. I continue to pray that you speak to Michael Newdow's heart. Work in his life, Father. Let him know how much you love him and that your Son, Jesus Christ, died for him, too. That your free offer of eternal life is open to him, too.

While you're at it, dear God, let Michael Newdow know that Christianity is not a "religion" but a RELATIONSHIP with you. Which is why I could call you my Dad. Through Jesus Christ, you have made all who believe in his Name your adopted sons.

Michael is renewing his efforts in getting the words "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. This time, LORD, he is including other atheists and their kids in his bid. Please, do not allow this to prosper, too. I pray that in the process, Michael and his atheist friends will come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.

Thank you also for the Louisiana Supreme Court decision reinstating the amendment to that state's constitution effectively defining marriage as between one man and one woman. I pray that this will be the case in every state constitution and the federal constitution of the USA. I pray that you will comfort those who may feel that they incurred a loss or have been left out because of this ruling. Let them know, LORD, that they are loved and prayed for by all that care for them as deeply as Christ cares for them.

I praise your Name, dear LORD, and thank you for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's confirmation of Condoleeza Rice as the country's next Secretary of State inspite of the Democratic Senators' seeming attempt to use the event to grandstand and present themselves, albeit vainly, as champions of the nation's good. I pray that you allow the full Senate's vote to result in the eventual emergence of Rice as Secretary of State, despite the Democrats' foot dragging. Forgive me, LORD, for judging but this seems to amount to nothing more than waste of time and the taxpayer's money.

I pray, Father, that you will speak to the hearts of the extemists among the Democratic Senators and Representatives. Please, dissuade them from their idealistic but misguided pursuit of socialism, whether they label it by such other names as "progressive" or "liberal". This failed system only seems attractive in the beginning because of its big brother promises to supply the needs of everyone through governmental management. LORD, we have seen what this has done to the Soviet Union and its satellite states. Welfare states only lead to social decay and the inevitable collapse of "advanced social orders" dreamed up by pie-in-the-sky intellectuals and self-worshiping thinkers.

Dear God, please do not allow us to go the way of Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. We will one day see their demise because of their bullheaded insistence on liberalism. I thank you, dear God, for the results of the 2004 Elections here in the USA. You showed up BIG TIME! You listened to your people as we cried in intercession for this nation. We were just about to be overrun by the forces of wickedness. But you, LORD, are bigger than the biggest of them. I pray that you will sustain the social system that this last election denotes.

On a personal note, I thank you, Father, for the rescue that my wife and I have been praying to you for. You have sent a buyer for the store. One with a fair offer that does not degrade our investment. You have also set up a desirable job for my wife and timed it so she may become incumbent at about the time that the store's operation should transition to the new owner. How awesome is your faithfulness!!! I pray that you will indeed make this direction concrete now and finalize everything at your discretion and timing.

Glory be to your Name, dear God! Thank you very much!! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Let your Name be praised!!!

In Jesus' Mighty Name, I ask it, LORD. Amen.

World Tsunami

What a tumultuous world we are living in, LORD.

We have hardly recovered from the devastation left behind by the South Asia tsunami. This news item will continue to fill the airwaves for many weeks to come.

Right here in our United States, we have freezing rain and storms and floodings and landslides and tornadoes.

Then there's Iraq, Afghanistan, the Sudan, Iran, North Korea. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The United Nations itself faces questions on corruption charges on the supposed Oil-For-Food scandal.

This is not to mention thorny issues everywhere that seek resolution but just never seem to go away.

Michael Newdow continues in his effort to impose his will on the overwhelming majority of Americans by seeking the aid of the US Supreme Court in preventing prayer from being included in the Presidential Inauguration. I pray that you do not allow him to prevail, Father.

Then, you do a little bit of reading and you see bits of information that are rather disturbing. You see an influential news outlet spinning its reporting on its interview with no less than the US President to suit its pro-Left agenda. You see educators embroiled in political activism instead of fostering knowledge to the academe. You see a double-talking political figure still intent on partisanship rather than honestly being a public servant looking after the good of the nation, not his party. You see a so-called clergyman who attaches the title "Reverend" to his name yet is more known for preaching the tenets of abortion rather than the Word of God.

Good news hardly make it to our consciousness because news people think they don't sell. So, in order to be considered newsworthy, they have to carry a sense of struggle in them. Take for instance Norma McCorvey, the "Jane Roe" in the Roe v Wade court decision that legalized abortion. She is now asking the high court to vacate its 1973 ruling. She is now my Christian sister, LORD. Thank you for saving her! Please, grant your favor on her quest to right what has been a long-standing wrong.

Well, dear LORD, your Word does teach that man is totally depraved and that sin rendered this once perfect world accursed. While these facts from your Word offer little comfort, they do explain the rising crescendo of disturbing occurrences around us.

Oh, for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to return already and bring order to this rebellious world!

In the meantime, I shall find refuge in the privilege of entering your throne room freely. By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, I shall make known my requests to you, Father. Philippians 4:6-7 teaches that in this way, your peace will guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus.

Here is my prayer: Dear God, please root out all the ungodly and the immoral from among our political leaders, judges and justices, educators, journalists and the media. Please replace them all with the God-ly and the morally upright. Renew our land. Bring spiritual revival to your Church and the people of this land. Thank you because I can count on your faithfulness. Flow through this land until every man praises your Name once more!

In Jesus' Mighty Name, I ask it, LORD. Amen.

A Day Of Mixed Feelings

Dear LORD, I mourn today over the news about a family in New Jersey that were brutally slain in their own home. It is still unconfirmed, LORD, what the motive might be but "religious reasons" is among those being mentioned.

I am sad, Father, because the victims carry your name in their faith. That makes them a part of your kingdom, members of our family. I grieve over their unfortunate demise, whatever the motive might have been. I pray that you cause the perpetrators, whoever they may be, to be found and brought to justice.

I also grieve, LORD, over the suffering of your people in general. You did not deny in your Word that we may not be exempt from trouble as we walk with you in this life. Still, it is difficult to understand why people could hate your Name and all that is associated with you when you teach us to love and pray for everyone---including our enemies. You send us to seek them out so that we may share with them your love. So that we might live together with you forever in heaven.

I grieve also, Father, when your own, who call themselves by your Name, would also seek revenge. In Romans, you said that it is not for us to take vengeance. That we are to leave that completely up to you.

I pray that you will bring comfort to those in grief. Extend to us, Father, the peace of Jesus Christ. The peace that is beyond human understanding. Please, shelter your children in the shadow of your mighty wings.

Still, on another note, I praise you, LORD, for how you shielded us from the treacherous weather. The chill of winter has frozen our streets. I rejoice in you even more as your worship team members braved the elements and resolved to practice just the same last Saturday in faith that we will yet gather in the morning to worship you. What a committed bunch of believers these are that you have blessed me with in this worship band! How awesome is your masterful work in each of their lives!!

I also rejoice even more as you have led my wife and I to visit afterwards this dear eighty-some sister in Christ who lives by herself. It was her birthday. She was visibly blessed.

To be precise, LORD, we came to bless her in your Name. Somehow, though, when we left, we felt as though we were all the more blessed than she. Surely, you are true to your teaching that you smile upon simple acts of kindness such as this. You did say in your Word that what we do to such as these, it is as good as we have done it to you.

How should I take this day, LORD? Grief and rejoicing. I believe you prescribed the answer in your Word: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4)

I pray you enable me to be true.

In Jesus' Mighty Name, I ask it, LORD. Amen.

The Adventure Continues

LORD, thank you for your answer to our prayers that Michael Newdow will not prevail in his suit against President Bush on preventing prayer from being included in the Presidential Inauguration.

Dear God, this is a sad, sad man who clearly denies his extreme needfulness for you. He is god to himself. I pray that you will speak mightily to his heart. You alone draw people to the heart of Jesus Christ and transform them from the walking dead to the eternally alive.

I know, because you transformed Saint Paul who was a bitter murderer and persecutor of Christians before you drew him to the heart of Christ. I know, because like Michael Newdow, I was an atheist myself. But when you drew me to Christ, I was powerfully, yet so gently, persuaded that I was a fool to deny such a loving and patient Savior. Exactly as your Word said.

I entrust Michael Newdow to you, LORD. When I see him in eternity, I hope that it will be among the heavenly throng worshiping you. I will praise your Name mightily. But if I see him hopelessly marooned among the damned, he will have no one to blame but himself. Father, have mercy on him.

LORD, our wrestling match with you continues. I continue to pray, dear God, for your rescue. Forgive when my faith ebbs and flows. Sustain me, O Holy Spirit! The Father's faithfulness is constant. His Sovereign sense of time is perfect. In due time, when it is best for my heart and for my Father's purposes, his rescue will not be denied. For now, fill me, Holy Spirit. Enable me to stand until the Father's will is done!

In Jesus' Mighty Name, I ask it, LORD. Amen.

Hello!

The focus of this blog is to track my daily interaction with the LORD. I hope to grow in my relationship with him by having a tangible means of following how things I bring to his attention develop.

I am not doing this for lack of trust in his faithfulness. On the contrary, I have seen him do mighty and wondrous works. Yet, each time, I am left with not much to show that points to him as the Author of such amazing deeds. It just hadn't occurred to me to record them. I even thought that it might not be appropriate.

Yet, I know that as a believer, I am called to testify to his glory and faithfulness. Well, I am convinced that a blog is an excellent, if not perfect, means to answer this call.

LORD, I pray for your guidance and blessing as I explore the possibilities of this medium.

In Jesus' Mighty Name, I ask it, LORD. Amen.