Emily's Prayer

janicemr55@hotmail.com wrote in recently:

I pray unceasingly that all will come to know the cleansing grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I would like to share about an almost 4 yr. old in my daycare. Though only pushing four, she is very responsible, well-behaved and quiet, just the model of sweetness. She had to be the model for the limerick of what little girls are made of:
 
"Sugar and spice
and everything nice"

Meet precious Emily on the left.
 

And here she is enjoying what most little girls her age do, eating ice cream and simply being a friend to those wanting and needing a friend.

About 1 1/2 weeks ago the Lord answered one of my prayers.

Emily was sitting at the table during lunch with the rest of the daycare when she spoke up and said, “Ms. Janice I want to ask Jesus into my heart. And I want to live with Jesus one day in Heaven.” Then she said, “Ms. Janice if my mommy is not there, you will have to be my mommy.

My heart must have skipped a beat, as what she said were the most precious words I could ever hear from an adult, let alone a 4 yr. old. I paused for a minute and then ask her to tell me again. And she did.

I said, “Emily you can do that. And do you know that when Ms. Janice was a little girl she asked Jesus into her heart?”

We talked for a while longer. Then I said, “Emily would you like to pray?” She said, “Yes.” Then she repeated this prayer after me:
 
"Dear Jesus please forgive me of the bad things I have done. Come into my heart and save me, so one day I can live in Heaven with Jesus."

Then we talked a little about her Mommy and Daddy. I said, “Emily you need to ask your Daddy and Mommy if they know Jesus,” and she agreed to that.

The very next day she had been at daycare about 2 hrs. Then out of the blue she said, “Ms. Janice last night I sat up in my bed and asked my Daddy if he had ever asked Jesus to forgive him of the bad things he had done, and come into his heart so he could live one day in Heaven with Jesus. He said he had, and one day he would be in Heaven too.”

Then she said, with a surety in her sweet little voice, “And I know my Mommy will be there.”

It was so exciting to see a small child have so much love and concern for her parents. The joy in my heart can also be expressed in this children's video (if you cannot see it on your iPone or iPad, click this link Come Into My Heart Lord Jesus)

Little children just believe. They have a simple child like faith. They live in the moment, without distraction, and enjoy all that God has made for them.  Their hearts are not calloused by the things of this world. That's why Jesus says in His Word, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 18:3 NAS)

“Oh Lord, I pray for You to help us to see this life through the eyes of a child, and to just simply believe when You ask us to do something, without questions or doubting. You just want us to heed Your command to "Trust in The Lord with all [our] heart and lean not on [our] own understanding; in all [our] ways submit to Him, and He will make [our] paths straight.”” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I'm very thankful that The Lord gave me an opportunity to talk about Jesus to His precious little lamb of a girl.

Our actions speak much louder than our words, however. The world sees or does not see Christ in our actions and words.  Therefore, we need to make sure that we are always witnesses in ways that leave lasting impressions on anyone with whom we may come in contact. This pleases Jesus and glorifies His Name.

So, Emily, reaching the age of reason as demonstrated by her questions and discussions with me and her parents, has chosen to live The Lord's life through her. Now begins Emily’s quest. Try not to complicate her life with endless doctrine and Scripture she may find difficult to understand. Jesus commands us not to hinder them in their Christian walk. (Matthew19:14 -But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.")

Living in Christ is not an easy task. Lifetimes of experiences can and do sometimes interfere with a Christian’s spiritual growth to maturity. Until then, it is crucial to disciple these precious lambs of God to protect their vulnerability. A great idea, as Emily is leaving for preschool in 3 weeks, is to provide her with materials from which she can learn and come to know the Lord. Here is an example of such age-appropriate material.

Also important is for her and her parents to find a Bible teaching church in which they can fellowship with and minister to others and enroll in Bible studies that will help them grow.

Pray that the Lord will watch over Emily and that she will grow through the Holy Spirit to understand and live out His Word, and that she will love The Lord with all her heart, mind and soul and love others as herself.

My final prayer is that Emily will always see a little bit of Jesus in me and all who come to know Jesus.

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Peruvian Jungle Mission

A request for prayer has just been received in regards to mission plans from the Dallas, TX area.

There will be 4 members of Journey partnering with other local believers  to take the gospel to the jungles of Peru. We depart July 23 (next Wednesday) and will be taking a medical team to work with a local missionary in Puerta Maldonada. Would you please be in prayer for the following:

1. Pray for the team's final preparation (spiritual, physical, emotional)
2. Pray for the unity of the team. We are from 3 churches and have had just a few meetings. Pray we are unified in the Spirit and that God would lead us in humble service to one another as we serve the Peruvians in the villages along the river there.
3. Pray God would prepare hearts to hear and understand the gospel. Pray many would respond to the gospel in repentance and faith.
4. Pray God would work through the medicines to bring healing to many and to bless many, that they would see Jesus' love in all this and be moved to believe.
5. Pray for a mighty work of God to cause a church planting movement among these people.
6. Pray for Daniel the local missionary there who is native to Peru. Pray he is blessed and encouraged and would be given a great vision for loving and ministering to these people God has placed him among.

Thanks so much for your prayers!

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In the Bible Ministries

Praise The Lord and thank You, Lord!

Prayer has been answered in regards to a new Bible study group recently started at Clear Lake Village Apartments in Houston (Clear Lake), TX.  The group has just completed its first three-part Bible study on "Heavenly Filters for Living" with five initial participants growing to nine in just three meetings.  Participants were awarded certificates of completion and scrolls of the Living Filters to display on their walls.

The group composition is rather unique in that it includes Indians, Americans, and Hispanics.  The Lord has established the community Bible study to support those in need of encouragement and discipleship amid depressed economic conditions and burgeoning health and marital concerns.

Fruit has already been borne out of the study with the establishment of "In The Bible Ministries", a supporting blog (http://inthebibleministries.blogspot.com).  While there are currently no postings on the blog, it is intended for God's good purposes that include sharing Bible studies presented at the apartments with others on the Internet.

Please continue to pray for the group to remain in the Word, that the group will continue to seek the Lord's Counsel and guidance to fulfill His will for His good pleasure, and that the fruit (of training disciples through these communication vehicles) will explode with ready disciples actively spreading the light of the Word locally, nationally or globally.



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Prayer Being Answered While Praying

Janicemr55@hotmail.comsent in a prayer request via email. In it she writes:

I wasn't sure if you wanted a prayer request to post while it is in the answering stages , but here it is. Saturday I took my car in to have the oil changed. I was told my 2 back tires were bad and one was bald. Great! That's exciting right? Well if I look at it as an opportunity for God to work, it can be. Instead of getting bummed I am asking God to meet the need.

I have already been ask to keep an extra little girl in my daycare 2 days this week. And a little boy for a few hrs. one day this week. (both of these children use to be in my daycare.) Please pray with me about the extra for the tires. I am trusting God that soon the funds will be provided.

I would love for the next tire story to be (Phil. 4:19) "And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus!"

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Prayer Requested

The following prayers have been requested:
From George:
Lord, please watch over my mother, Rose.  As she recovers from congestive heart failure, please guide her doctors in Your wisdom the prescribe the care You know she needs.  At the same time, as my 82 year old mother tries to implement her doctor's orders, please give her the clarity of mind to take her medicine on time, every time.  May each capsule she ingests be as sweet and good tasting as golden honey as it goes down and dispenses Your healing medications.

Also, Lord, please continue to guide our newly started apartment Bible study.  May you open our ears, hearts and minds to Your Word and may all who attend better live out our salvation to Your glory.  Lord, thank You for leading our apartment Bible study attendees to regularly read and discern Your Word.  Also, thank You, Lord, for Your gracious provisions and for the promises You have made that You will unfurl into our lives in Your perfect timing.

Finally, please hold my friend Randy and his wife, Kathy in the palm of your hand; protect them through their time of illness and guide their doctors' minds in their testing, diagnoses and treatment until they both have been completely healed; Randy of an aneurysm in his ascending aorta and Kathy of an unexplained loss of blood.

From Sam:
Lord, please make available to my attention the perfect job commensurate with my Chemistry Doctoral credentials so that I can continue doing Your work and provide for my family which recently joined me in the United States from the comfortable lifestyle they enjoyed in India.

From Melissa:
Lord, please guide my doctors as they test me in in the coming days for any breast cancer that may be lingering in my body.  You have cured me once and I have complete faith that Your healing balm of Gilead will completely eradicate the cancer.  Lord, may the cancer be completely and miraculously gone, and may such an act glorify Your name to all.  Please Lord, also, build a hedge of protection around my son, Daniel, as he enters college, and is exposed to a foreign environment and the unimaginable pressures heaped on young men by our depraved society.  And, also please heal my daughter's wrist/arm injury to the point that it was never there.

From Annie:
Lord, please continue to work in my life to make me a godly wife in accordance with Your Word.  May it be Your will to give me the wisdom to support my husband and family and be a reminder at all times to them of Your unfailing guidance and provisions.  If it be Your will, Lord, please fill my life with productive work for Your good purposes so that I may add to our family's resources and provisions when they are needed.

All these things we collectively pray and we thank You ahead of time knowing that You will work according to Your good purposes and in due time to bless Your believers in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Lord and Savior, Amen.       
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Room Makeover

Prayed: May, 2014- “Lord Please Help Me Reorganize and Redecorate a grandkid/Daycare Room”Janicemr55@hotmail.com sent this prayer request in along with how the prayer was answered by The Lord.

Over time, I had accumulated more stuff than I could use simply because I had the room in my house available. As my daycare business grew, I saw the need to locate a play room closer to where we conduct most of our activities. Being on a limited budget, I cannot always just act on an impulse. I had a vague notion of what I wanted to do, but I had no idea how I was going to be able to do it in a timely and affordable manner. The room I wanted to reorganize and redecorate had almost become a junk room. I said a silent prayer sometime in early May, 2014, asking for The Lord to help me transform this room into a more useful part of my daycare resources.

 Answered: Praise The Lord. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalms 50:10-12) and cashed in part of one to answer my prayer. This account of how The Lord acted on my simple prayer to make this room more useful for my daycare business.

In church we are often told that The Lord will give us our hearts desires. Sometimes we jump to conclusions by assuming that we can pray for anything and it will be given to us. We all too frequently and conveniently skip over the fact that what we pray for must be for His good purpose (Romans 8:28). The “name it and claim it” mentality of some pastors espouse sometimes do more harm to our faith than to reinforce the fact that God is capable of granting anything we pray for. The catch is that what we pray for must be aligned with the good purpose He has for what He gives us.

The other thing we often assume is that The Lord will act on our request when we want Him to. The Bible addresses this difference in timing this way: “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with The Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” (2 Peter 3:8 NAS) Further instruction that is often conveniently overlooked is that He acts in what He considers to be “due time”. (Psalms 145:15, Galatians 6:9)

When our prayers are aligned with His good purposes and when He considers the timing to be right, He will answer our prayers. This account is a testament to the fact that such answered prayers may not be quick, in this case, about two months went by before The Lord apparently had all the pieces to my prayer request ready to deliver to me. The provisions He manifested were complete and just what was needed to make this room useful for a daycare business. As you read through it, notice how intricately and thoroughly The Lord answers our prayers. Also, notice how often Janice gives thanks to The Lord and Gives Him the glory for the makeover.

This past Saturday, June 28, 2014, I decided to go to some yard sales, which I enjoy doing any way. I wanted to find a changing table or a dresser I could use for that purpose in the room. I also needed new toys and a place to put them in the room. So, I asked The Lord to lead me to the right yard sale to find what He knew I needed. 

Soon, after stopping at a couple of yard sales, I found a box half full of Lego, cars and 31 good books. I was amazed that the lot only cost me $2. I began to sense that The Lord was acting on my two-month old prayer request. Then, I drove to another yard sale that didn't seem to have many appealing things for sale. But, I had to catch my eyes from popping out of my eyes as I saw a 3 drawer dresser sitting in the yard.

I was sure it was too expensive as I asked the young man overseeing the sale how much he was asking for it. I was prepared to barter for it if it was out of my affordability range. I asked kind of tentatively how much he wanted for the dresser and, again, I gasped at his answer, $5.  And here it is after I driving it home and putting it into the room I was working on, definitely Heaven sent.

At this time, I knew immediately that this was an answer to my prayer, and I said so. “What a blessing!” I exclaimed. He looked a little puzzled, perhaps a little disbelieving that people still acknowledge their blessings the way I had just done. We loaded up dresser and I happily drove home. I was thrilled at how The Lord’s economy worked to enable me to gather much of what I needed to transform my heretofore junk room into one more pleasing and functional.

When I got home I was thinking about hanging a picture that my daughter made with my granddaughter in the playroom (see link to Mothers & Daughters Rays of Sunshine). Also I noticed some nail holes in the wall where the paint was removed as the nails were pulled out. I wondered if could ever match the color of the paint on the walls, and said a small prayer for that to somehow be possible.

You know, that's the thing a lot of people miss about praying.  No prayer is too small for the Lord to address.

My landlord has a shed where he stores a power mower and a bunch of other things useful to him on the property I rent, and I wondered if I could find anything useful in it. I went to the shed, climbed across the power mower and a few boxes. I stumbled over a large box that said bedroom on it that contained some paint stored in plastic bin containers. I took out one of the containers, that appeared to have paint in it similar to that in the room where I needed to cover the nail holes, and looked at it in the sun. Sure enough, it was a little bit of the saved color that had been used on the wall.

“Thank You, Lord,” I thought, “Your thoroughness in answering my  prayer makes me so happy.”

Then, a friend called to ask, “Weren't you looking for yellow curtains for the room you are decorating? I have some that just came into my possession, do you want them?” “Yes, I do,” I said. Then she said someone had also just dropped off a pair of Veggie Tales curtains trimmed in yellow, and asked if I could use them. That is just what I needed because I wanted curtains that could be for a girl’s or a boy’s room; Veggie Tales worked for that. I mated the yellow and Veggie Tales together as shown in the room below right. So, The Lord delivered my window accoutrements.

Slowly, but surely, the Lord was working on every detail of my prayer, and it was coming together before my eyes.

A few weeks ago I had attended a 1/2 day child care seminar. At the end of the seminar they gave each participant two big bags of new toys. I knew I could use those new toys, but only now did I connect them to this prayer request.

The Lord has been so faithful all through the years to me in big ways and in small ways. I love the constant reminders that He will take care of every need we could possibly have. He will give us the desires of our heart when they coincide with His good purposes! (Psalms 37:4, Ecclesiastes 11:9) Thank You for Your wonderful blessings, Lord.

I did buy a quart of paint to paint an old wooden shelf that the toys and books sit on. I also bought a 5x7 rug for the middle of the floor; it is so nice and ready to be used!

Here are a couple of picture of what the Lord had in mind for the room I wanted to makeover.  It matches my ideas perfectly!

But, while I thought I was finished, The Lord reminded me that He was still not finished. Just today, July 9, 2014, a friend delivered three baskets of books to go into the made over room. I had just happened to mention last evening when I talked with them that I needed some book baskets to finish up the room. And as I said, The Lord impressed upon my friend to deliver them to me gratis!

Now, the room is up to The Lord’s standards; as the Bible reminds us, "The Rock! His work is perfect…” (Deuteronomy 32:4)

How much cost in time and materials does it cost to makeover a room? In this case, it took about two months of patiently waiting as The Lord located and put in position everything for my needs.  The total cost was maybe $40 and a total of about 6 hours spread over the course of a couple of weeks. “Now, that’s God’s economics! I shout. I dedicate this room for His glory, because I know I would not have been able to make the room as usable as it is now without His help.

God is good all the time, all the time God is good!.
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Prayers, Planted as Seeds, Grow in Jesus' Heart

In followup to "Keeping Track of Prayers," janicemr55@hotmail.com writes how children she supervises in daycare are learning that "Prayers Planted as Seeds Grow in Jesus' Heart,"

There is little that can be more heart warming than little children believing what you tell them by putting what you say into practice!

Following the suggestion of tracking our prayers that Max Lucado made in his Bible study called "You Will Get Through This," these children are putting themselves in position to prove, and remember, that Jesus answers their prayers.

Why are we told in the Bible that unless we are like the children, we will not see the Kingdom of Heaven? (Matthew18:3)  Could it be that children have an innocence about them, a genuineness, and a vulnerability that needs shepherding?  Moreover, they have not been exposed to and ensnared by the evils in the world.  If they can be shown the truth about salvation by the grace of Jesus' sacrifice for all our sins, they will have longer to live out the truths of His promises before spending eternal life in Heaven.

Recently, a few children put into practice what most people just talk about.  The truth is, we all envy their pristine belief that what Jesus says He will do and has done He will fulfill.  After all, they take the fact that Jesus knows our prayers even before we say them (Matthew 6:8) as the truth.

Just as Abraham became fully persuaded that God could and would do what He promised (Romans 4:21), these souls precious to Jesus and to us all are becoming similarly fully persuaded.  They are planting the seeds that will track their salvation by their belief in Jesus Christ; as they grow into their adult years they too will become fully persuaded.

Starting out with open hearts, they began as follows:

Then they began diligently preparing their fields of potted prayers to Jesus:

They worked and worked, eager for their prayers to become known to The Lord.  And finally they finished, and though they didn't need them, they put their names on their respective potted prayers to make sure the Lord would not get mixed up.

The boys were not too much into planting.  They stayed busy practicing the art of saving damsels in distress.

But, they sure had fun almost drowning each cup with "living" water as they made certain they too had potted prayers.

They were all so precious when they asked if they could take their potted prayers home so they could watch their prayer seeds grow.  It provided me an opportunity to explain to them about The Lord's timing and will for them, not to mention that the seeds and soil might come out if they cups were overturned.

And when they had finished, each one had sown their seed prayers to Jesus in their own named cups.

 As the plants grow to show a stem, written reminders of their prayer(s) will be taped or attached to their plant stems.  They will serve as constant reminders of their prayers, and when they are answered, they will get some idea of the Lord's perfect timing and His faithfulness.  They too will become fully persuaded.



 
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