I don't advertise it, but it is true that I love to pray for people. The kind of prayer request that particularly captures my attention and compels me to approach my Father's throne is when I am asked to pray for some one's salvation. If I am standing on a street corner, and Providence brings a friend up to me asking to pray for so-and-so's salvation, we go to prayer NOW, Matthew 6:5-6 notwithstanding. There is no experience quite like that of asking God to convict a certain one of their sins, and to grant them repentance unto life and faith in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
That brings me to something that happened on face book last night. First, there was a notification that someone (whom I did not know) "liked" a comment I had made in reference to a quote from Tabletalk Magazine. (The subject was: not compromising the presentation of the Gospel in order to make it more acceptable to sinners.) But there was also a friend request from this same person. As a rule, I quietly ignore friend requests from people whom I do not know. I didn't know why I did it, maybe it was the fact that she was also a fan of Tabletalk Magazine, or perhaps it was the picture of a cute cat that she used as her fb profile picture (I am a sucker for cat photos), but I clicked "accept" without investigating any info about this person.
Within seconds, she responded with a message thanking me for accepting her friend request. We chatted for a few minutes; it was a pleasant conversation about church, being "strong in the Lord" etc. Then signed off.
About an hour later, I decided to look at the posts on my new friend's wall from earlier in the day, and there it was. A request to her "face book buddies" to pray for the salvation of her husband. I immediately did just that, and will continue to do so. So, there was my answer. It wasn't the Tabletalk connection; I've ignored plenty of those. Nor was it the cat photo. Many "face book" users have pics of cats. God was presenting me with an opportunity to pray for the salvation of a precious soul. I am humbled and overwhelmed by the way He plans out these things in our daily lives.
Praise the Lord.
Matthew As A Source On Jesus' Childhood
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5 hours ago
11 comments:
Craig, my husband asked to go to church with me this morning. This evening he asked if I would by him a bible of his own. God is amazing! Please continue to pray!
I will continue to pray for him, and pray for you as well. The Lord truly is amazing.
(Ligoner does have some great sermons.)
But Craig, why not just pray for everybody to be saved rather than 1 person in particular?
It seems odd.
Great idea, Captain Howdy, my old friend. You do just that : )
I did. He didn't.
I think I know why.
I know why, too. But, I bet your reason why is different than mine.
Seriously though. There is a real answer to your original question. I will address that in an upcoming post.
Right now my agenda is rather full with physical therapy, interview for disability, etc, etc.
I appreciate your comments, Cap'n. I think you know that. : )
Craig
Physical therapy? Aw man, I didn't know. I'm sorry to hear that, and I hope you're feeling better pronto. That's messed up.
It may sound lame, Craig, but I'd pray for you if I could. I really would. If there's anything I can do, besides convert to Christianity, just say the word.
word vev ranter. How cool is that?
Thanks Cap'n
True, your receiving Christ would be just the ultimate for me. I know you would pray if you could.
Just keeping in touch and dropping me a line once in a while would be greatly appreciated. Only a few commenters from Ray's blog have kept up off site communications with me over time. (You, Anette Acker, John Richt (WEM) are among the handful.
Here are links to two posts from a friend's blog at the time of my accident 4 weeks ago:
http://calvinisticcartoons.blogspot.com/2011/07/please-pray-for-craig-boyd.html
http://calvinisticcartoons.blogspot.com/2011/07/prayer-update-for-craig-boyd.html
I am getting around pretty well now with a walker or cane. My ear, which was ripped almost in half was marvelously reconstructed by a plastic surgeon. He did an unbelievable job.
In the transfers (the ambulance crew's first attempt to get me onto the backboard, and a few subsequent moves from gurney to bed etc. etc.) I experienced the most pain I have ever felt in my life.
Anyway, read my friend's posts to know what happened.
Craig
I was aghast at reading about what happened. It just read like a freak accident, the kind of thing that could happen to just about anybody. You can only prepare up to a point, and after that do the best you can and just hope things turn out today as uneventfully as they did yesterday. Sometimes that works. Other times, it doesn't.
One thing I CAN say for Christianity is that it usually provides a pretty decent emotional support system for its members when things like this happens. Make the most of it. It's an avenue denied to an atheist like me, mostly because we're not very organized.
Again, Craig, all I can really say is I'm sorry to hear about what happened, and I want you to know you've got people on both sides of the "God debate" pulling for you to get better & start jogging again soon. That truly is messed up what happened. There truly are no guarantees in this world.
Thank you Capt Howdy. Everything you said means a lot to me. I am a "people person" and I value each person I have ever had interaction with, disagreements notwithstanding. In my mind there is some degree of lasting impression with each human being who has crossed my path.
I am not sure if there is any jogging in my future. After exercise I still feel the effects in my right hip (the uninjured one) which I dislocated 3 1/2 years ago in a hiking accident. I re-set that myself, and even did some physical work during the 7 days that it remained dislocated. We desert dwellers are an independent breed (but maybe not all that wise).
After a visit to my doctor's office, I stopped by the scene of my accident to try to get a fuller picture of what happened. I saw the corner of the concrete base where the side of my head hit, tearing my ear nearly in half. Two inches difference and it would have been my temple that hit that corner. Scary thought. There are still things I need to do in this life before dying. My daughter is going to have a baby any day now, and I really want to be here for that.
Thank you for letting me know that my atheist friends (and I do mean "friends") are pulling for me. I havent participated on Ray's blog for a while, nor have I looked in on wearesmrt. (not easy to navigate that forum anyway).
Oh, and just so you know, the "God debate" was settled a long time ago. It is just that some people refuse to accept the conclusion. ; ) (You KNEW I just had to get that in : )
Craig
"Oh, and just so you know, the "God debate" was settled a long time ago. It is just that some people refuse to accept the conclusion. ; ) (You KNEW I just had to get that in : )"
Aw, you'll be okay. You still wanna argue.
Only problem is--Regarding your above statement, I happen to agree with it too. The debate WAS settled a long time ago.
Hope you're feeling better.
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