Day 32: Real Joking

Someone had knee pain today and I said jokingly, "be healed in Jesus name" as the situation may not have been appropriate at that time.  It made me think, when we joke with that, does it still matter in the heavens?  I pray silently for her regardless.

Day 31: Who?

Again I came up empty.  But tonight I will pray for healing of the little girl's heart that I mentioned previously.  May her heart not be empty like that of her father's.

Every Day Heroes

As I was out picking up beer cans for Bibles, I witnessed an everyday hero.  As I was walking down the alley way an older man was walking with a 6 or 7 year old little girl.  He took her to where her father was at the car and that's when I noticed them because the father of the girl was yelling at her.  The man explained to the father that she was lost quite a ways from home, scared and crying.  The father did not hug her, welcome his lost girl home (it was early evening) but shouted that she was grounded for 3 days.  The man who brought her turned and walked away, saddened by what the little girl was returning to.  Perhaps it was this kind of environment that made her want to wander away.  But as I looked at the man who had brought this little girl home, I began to think that I had just witnessed an every day kind of hero.   Sir, the father may not have thanked you, but there is a Father who will.

Day 30: Different and Harder

This 40 day challenged has looked different and been harder than I ever thought.  I had pictured it would be easier to find 40 days of sick folks.  To be honest I''m not discouraged yet I'm losing hope and motivation in finding people.   I'm also losing radar eyes.  I wish I could have more exciting stories to tell here.  I can only say that I continue to pray for healing everyday for someone or something.  Like today, praying for healing of this nation.  A shift is taking place and it's unsettling.  I pray God would save us.

Day 29: Healing of Homes

Home is one of the most important thing to receive healing right now.   And one of my friends has suffered a terrible blow in their home.  I pray for healing.  I can't reach through the internet, but I can reach through the heavens and pray for healing.  Let there be healing in this home.

Day 28: The Woman Bent Over

I was reading the Scripture the other day of the woman bent over:

"On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God." (Lk 13:10-16).

When I read this Scripture I immediately thought of a woman I know.  She too is "bent over."  There are medical reasons for her bent over situation, but she needs prayer.  If she were healed it would be a great relief to her and visible to everyone else.  So I gathered the church kids around her and led them in a prayer.  We're still awaiting healing.

One thing I'm discovering through this process is the shallowness of my faith.  The more I go on, the more I doubt that God will heal.  I know.  I've only probably had 18-20 actual people in this experiment that I've prayed for, but I'm starting to get casual about it.  I'm thinking if it took some other folks upwards of 700-800 people before they saw healing, do I actually think I'm going to start seeing at 20 or so?  My mind says no.  But why not?  Is God limited by numbers?  Are numbers the source of healing or God?  How little is my faith.  The problem is it creates a casual attitude instead of a contending one. 

Day 27: Healing of the Heart

For Day 27 I didn't find anybody so I prayed for someone I knew who needs deep healing of the heart.  The spirit of rejection is so strong from wounds that continue to happen.  Healing of the heart in this scenario would be far greater than any physical miracle.

Day 26: Out of Mind

It's a lot easier to remember who you've prayed for when they are in the flesh in front of you, but yesterday I prayed for healing for something and I can't remember.  I'm still in the dry spell of finding people.  I'm continuing to read healing in Scripture that I've forgotten about or haven't read in awhile.  I think my eyes are more attuned.  Maybe I will find someone tonight in flesh and blood.  That's the ideal anyway. 

Day 25: Pray On

I've been hitting a dry spell of finding people to pray for.  I was going through people today earlier and realized I'd already prayed for a bunch of them.  Or maybe I'm not being bold enough.  Regardless, I was walking the neighborhood tonight picking up aluminum cans again and decided to pray for healing in the neighborhood.  I live in a quite ethnic part of town and it is quite a hodgepodge which I really love--Hispanics, African-Americans, Caucasians, the elderly and the young.  But I know that there is always a need to heal among the races and so that was my prayer tonight. May there be a healing of relationships past ethnic lines. 

Day 24: Prayer Requests

On the days I don't find anyone to pray for it forces me to get creative.  I had just written a post called "harder than I thought" and now am erasing it.  Yes, it is harder than I think, but I have to get outside the box.  My box is something along the lines of 'laying my hands on the sick and praying for them.'  Ideally that's what I would like because then maybe I could see if they were healed or not.  But now it's late and my list has run dry.  But then I remember...

I remember on Facebook the prayer request for Stephen Hinkle, the grandson of someone I know who was in a car accident.  His life is hanging in the balance.  Do I need to be there in person to pray for healing?  Does God heal any less from a distance?  No.

Then I remember John Campbell, another person on Facebook whom a friend is asking for prayer.  He's got a head injury and his life is hanging in a critical balance.  Do I need to be there in person to pray?  Absolutely not.

When someone I know is sick or when I'm not doing well, do I need to hear their voice or feel their physical touch to be prayed for?  Absolutely not.  Healing is beyond this.  God is beyond this.  I don't know why that for this experiment I created a box.  But it's time the box gets smashed.

So tonight John and Stephen will get my prayer time.   May God heal and restore these young men.

Day 23: Healing of the Nations

I didn't seek out/find someone to pray for (I was so exhausted I'm not sure I wasn't getting sick).  But  I did take some time to pray for Algeria.  This nation in northern Africa has seen literal rivers of bloodshed.  If there's any nation that has needed healing it is Algeria.  I wasn't even connecting this to the 40 days, but I took time to pray for this country that God's healing would cleanse and redeem this country from the hundreds of thousands of lives that have been brutally lost in the most sickening of ways.  And prayer is the beginning of bringing healing to this nation.  God cares for the healing of the nations. After all, he is the healing Balm of Gilead.

Rev 22:  Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Day 22: Repeat

I know these have been short and sweet but I've been working and I'm tired and beat.  Anyway, someone I have prayed for previously still isn't better and so we went at it again.  Can there be too much prayer?

Day 21: Easy Sundays

Maybe it's because of the Sabbath but Sundays are easy--church seems to be full of sick folks and folks with pain.  But before I even asked around someone mentioned they had back pain.  Prayed for him and hope he gets better. 

Day 20: Myself?

Again I was at a loss of who to pray for when I thought, why not myself?  Earlier I had smashed my foot and had a large hematoma on top of my foot.  If God healed, I would certainly know it.  So I prayed.  Nothing happened.  So continued to pray again.  Still nothing.  Going to have to continue to work at this.  :)

Day 19: Unconventional

So tonight I had run out of folks so I did something unconventional, I prayed for the kitty!  He is a stray who has a heart condition that causes him difficulty in regulating his body temperature.  Why not?  Is he not too a living creature that God can touch?

Day 18: What does it look like?

I discovered someone who had feet and knee problems and as a group we prayed for her.  I was thinking during the time, what does it mean to "heal" someone vs. just pray for them?  Is it our sense of expectation?  Because so often we just pray and go on, not contending for healing.  What if we actually contended for it?

Day 17 Reflections

When I pray to God with my concerns which include health, I just have this assumption and expectation that He will hear me and take my needs seriously.  Why?  Because He is a good God, a loving God and a caring God.  When someone presents me with their needs, do I deserve to be any less like God?

Where the beer cans are

Tonight I was out again collecting beer cans for Bibles and I hit a good area.  Filled up a Wal-mart sack which isn't a whole lot but when you're used to finding 5-6, finding 30 or so is a good day.  But it was also kind of interesting.  Obviously where I was at was a rough part of town.  The ditches were filled with trash.  Strangely enough though there were more fast food sacks and containers than anything.  It was a voluminous amote!   It filled the ditches and bushes even in remote places.  It's almost if some closet bingers were finding some clandestine place to do the deed.  And when I think of it, what is more deadly?  The beer folks are drinking, or the fast food?  Let me give you a clue:  many people have experimented with McDonald's hamburgers to see how long it takes before they go bad.  After 12 years, the verdict is still out (click to read more).   Without question the quality of our food and our penchant for eating it causes more death in our country and around the world than almost anything else.  We're digging our graves with our teeth.  

Day 17: The Stomach Bug

I woke up this morning and prayed he would send someone to me today for prayer.  He did and I'm glad for that.  Someone who was feeling cruddy all over so I took a quick second to pray for him. 

I still sometimes wonder how 23 more days of sick people can still be found.  Thankfully the Lord has been bringing them to me or pointing them out.  Although I'm still trying to discern if it is the Lord, me, or just being open to people's needs.  Regardless, we'll see what the remaining 23 days holds!

Day 16: Healing takes different faces

Tonight I kind of had an inkling that I might pray for someone but in a different way.  I'm not sure if it was the Lord or not.  I wondered if it would just be a general prayer for sick people I read about.  Or something different.

Then I went on my walk again to continue to collect beer cans alongside the road and I was listening to a podcast on cultural differences.  It is by Sarah Lanier whose book and teaching I think is the best on understanding culture.  A little while later it made me think of one culture in particular that I've had a particular difficult time with.  I had a roommate from this country whose attitude and behavior was very offensive to me.  Then I went on a ministry trip with another woman from this same country and we clashed terribly the whole time.  It was this latter person I began to think about.

The reality is that I was a total jerk--arrogant, demanding, caring me for my own desire to be respected than to actually be the one who shows respect.  I was a big part of the problem.  And the cultures clashed too.  It was bad. 

I was thinking of her and also thinking of who to pray for when I thought that healing takes different forms.  In fact, I really believe a lot of sickness is rooted in anger and bitterness of heart.  I wondered if she still feels bitterness towards me?  For me I know that while I don't feel anger and bitterness, I still don't have kind thoughts towards this culture.  

So I began to search for her on the internet to see if I could communicate with her.  I found where she lives but there's no address (unless you want to pay a strong fee).  I found her page on Facebook but she doesn't seem to check it.  But for now that's what I decided to do.  I wrote her a note, explained what a jerk I was (not much needing to explain that but confession is good for the soul), and I asked her to forgive me.  I hope she does.  I hope she has healed from that time and season. 

Maybe I didn't pray for a physical ailment to be healed, but tonight I prayed for someone's spirit to mend.  I think this too is a part of the healing process.