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| Praying Hearts Santuary |
| Newsletter |
| May 2002 |
| It was just a year ago that we excitedly published our first Praying Hearts Sanctuary newsletter. None of us had ever done anything like this before. The Prayer Team was just a group of Christians, sprinkled around the globe, who had a desire to love and support others who wanted prayer support specifically for issues related to mental illness. Many feel very uncomfortable sharing concern about mental illness with those nearest and dearest to them. Unfortunately, in most, if not all, cultures around the world, there is quite a stigma attached to discussing mental illness. Sadly, traumatic stress survivors, those born with mental illnesses, and those with other mental illnesses with mysterious origins often have no place to turn for support. With our information era in full swing and our ability to instantaneously reach around the world to those who understand the pain associated with mental illness, it just made sense to establish a means by which we could unabashedly share the burdens caused by mental illness in ourselves. Our families and friends. We know that God is never limited. He loves us so much that He sent His Only Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die for our sins. He loves us far more than we can ever imagine and He immediately hears our prayers. We thought, why not establish a network, a web site, and a newsletter to communicate with each other! Why not have an intercessory prayer group for those in need of prayer support! And that's how we got started. Thanks must go to Patty Phiel for her vision and to those who volunteered to get started with this "Miracle Website". God has blessed us in so many ways and all we can say is thanks be to God for His love, wisdom and grace in allowing us such a privilege. -Grandytoon :-) ****************************************************** THOUGHTS FROM PRAYER TEAM MEMBERS I asked our prayer team if they'd be willing to share what Praying Hearts Sanctuary has meant to them over the past year. Here are some of their comments: "I'll not be wordy, but I thank God, and the praying team for being there. Many answers are still missing, but we find comfort in knowing that others of God's children pray, call on Him, and He sustains, helps, solves, resolves, heals, gives mercy and grace, wisdom, strength --whatever we need. It has been a privilege to take part in a small way, and keep on praying for T, H, J, and others. This ministry is an opening door to what our good God can and will do for many who are suffering from mental problems or illnesses, whatever their source. Thanks." - F. L. ********************************************* "I guess the greatest impact on my life (that I'm fully aware of) since becoming involved in the Prayer Team, is that God is allowing me greater knowledge about myself; my weaknesses and possibly some strengths. God is letting me know what I need to let go of in order to survive and thrive. God is letting me know about the character defects that have always tripped me up, time and time again. When I took the attention OFF MYSELF and turned it towards the sincere care of those who truly need and deserve it, God allowed me the wisdom I needed to help them and myself. I believe I'll only be able to utilize this new found wisdom if I continue to focus my energy unselfishly. I do intend to continue with the Prayer Team, as well as volunteer here at home, and be involved in the other ways I am. God Bless Us All. (o:" - W. "God has blessed me, again; I became involved with the sanctuary prayer team after requesting prayers for a situation that was "rocking my world." By doing so I was invited to become a participant of the Praying Hearts Sanctuary. Yesterday that situation (that has been ongoing for 2 1/2 years) did conclude. God has been with me every step of the way, and I am safe. I am free of that situation. Thank the Lord!" -W. ******************************************************* "When Praying Hearts Sanctuary was launched a year ago, I wasn't really sure what to expect. What I discovered was a group of wonderfully caring Christian people who wanted to do nothing more than give Spiritual Support to those who couldn't do it on their own. This past year has been a wonderfully rewarding experience for me. The friends I've made, the prayers I've said, the prayers that have been said for me have been uplifting and joyous. If we let Him, God will take each one of us, find talents that we didn't know we had, and use them to share His Word and care for His children. I am so honored to be a part of Praying Hearts Sanctuary and I look forward to another year of laughs, cries, and blessings. May God Bless all of you." -Ang ******************************************************* Today, as I was lining up my little students to leave our classroom, a child noticed a little yellow gold finch perched on the screen outside of our classroom. He shouted to the others and we all slowly and carefully approached that area of the classroom. The little bird flew a brief distance away, then came back to the window at least a dozen times. By now I was getting concerned, first about getting the children lined back up and out to their destination, and secondly for the confused little bird. Of course, I was as fascinated as the children since I have never been that close to a gold finch before. Eventually and now definitely late for our destination, we all departed amazed at the beauty, power, and the determination of God's tiny creature. I was reminded of the song, "His Eye is on the Sparrow" and have copied the words for you: HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW By Mrs. L. D. Martin and Charles H. Gabriel Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come, why should my heart be lonely and long for Heaven and home when Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He: His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me; His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free, for His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. "Let not your heart be troubled, " His tender word I hear, and resting on His goodness I lose my doubt and fears; though by the path He leadeth but one step I may see; His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free, for His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise, when songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies, I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free; His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free, for His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. ******************************************************* PSALM 84 1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young-- a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Selah 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. 8 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob. Selah 9 Look upon our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one. 10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you. ******************************************************* ABOUT OUR NEWSLETTER FOCUS ARTICLES The Praying Hearts Sanctuary articles on various aspects of prayer and prayer-life are about meaningful spiritual efforts. Sufferers of mental illness are beset by destructive feelings and emotions. At times the whole world seems to be our illness. We are in the grip of something very painful which is not our fault, a sickness which can also destroy family relations of all kinds, alter personalities, and often lead to suicide. It is a miserable and often frightening existence: an illness for which there seems to be no cure. These articles are to help us turn our thoughts from self to God; to get outside of Self; to take some part in a "universe out there" where spiritual peace and health reign in "God's Kingdom." While the articles never infer a miracle or any cure, it is my continuous prayer that they will lessen some of the symptoms by turning our thoughts and efforts into productive spiritual channels, guided by the Bible. Some of the suggestions or directions are very direct, as is God's Word. We have much to pray about if we seriously consider the realm and reality of true Christian prayer. The Scripture references in the articles are for reading and study. -Paul ******************************************************* FOCUS ARTICLE: PRAYING AS JESUS TAUGHT US TO PRAY "Lord, teach us to pray.."(Luke 11:1). "After this manner all of you should pray" (Matthew 6:9). In Matthew chapter 6 and Luke chapter 11 we find what is traditionally called "The Lord's Prayer." It is the same prayer in both writings, with some changes, reported by two different men. Matthew a Jew and a disciple of Jesus (Luke 6:13-15), but Luke a Greek, and a later "investigative reporter" (Luke 1:1-3). In Matthew 6:5 and 6, Jesus first tells us that there are two kinds of prayer: that of the hypocrite who prays publically in order to be "seen of men" for their praise; and true pray-ers who enter into prayer privately. Jesus promises that God "who sees (knows, or hears) in secret will reward openly." A second recorded truth is that vain (or empty and meaningless) repetitions are not Christian prayer. God knows what we need before we make our requests (Isaiah 65:24). As Christians, our confidence in The Faithfulness and Love of our All-knowing God is essential for meaningful prayer. We should pray for that confidence to be established and increased within us by the Holy Spirit. Because of our sinful natures, we cannot have too much of this assurance. ".. My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus," Philippians 4:19. "..They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing," Psalm 34:10. Pray all these promises. God does not lie or deceive. Why do we pray, seek and ask what God already knows? Because (1) Jesus commanded it (Luke 18:1), and (2) prayer opens us to spiritual life which contains hope and assurance (Matthew 7:7). If we have all this important information "from the Source", as it were, in mind as we talk with God, our prayers will be more fruitful. But what shall we pray about and how? This is our continuing theme. Jesus gives instructions: "After this manner (or fashion) therefore pray ye (all of you)." "AFTER WHAT MANNER? The answer leads to vital, meaningful communication with God. We hear Jesus' warning in the opening verses against using vain repetitions. The various written or memorized church service prayers made by the millions all over America and elsewhere on Sundays come to mind. What are they worth? Prayer should have a "worth"! An unfortunate "habit" is reciting "The Lord's Prayer" in unison, service after service. With some folks it may even be their only daily prayer. But Jesus was talking about a "manner" of prayer. His words were not a prayer made and given by Him (and so they are not the Lord's Prayer!) Those words are not a magic formula to be used in order to escape danger or to complete our prayer responsibility for the day. They will not guard our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:7). The "Lord's Prayer" is a set of suggestive and leading ideas for meaningful prayer. The disciples wanted to learn HOW to pray (Luke 11:1): they didn't want memory work. Let us begin. "OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN." We claim a relationship: a (close) family relationship. God is our Father through Jesus Christ, (Romans 8:16; Galatians 3:26)! The word "Father" is not a title of respect, or a meaningless opening word. We are engaging One who is related to us, interested in us, listening to us! Yes, even speaking quietly to us at times within our minds. We are addressing the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all! Our spirits (hearts) are talking to His (God is spirit--John 4:24), and we claim sonship or daughtership! Yes; "..in Heaven", but also now! This is holy ground, on which all Christian prayer should "stand". This is a relationship to be learned and claimed in all confidence, through Jesus Christ. It is the door-opener to heaven. Think about it, . Get a mind-set for your prayers. The heavens are not "brass" even on days when prayer comes "hard". Your Father IS listening! Jeremiah 33:3: "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou >knowest not." He answers in His own time; not necessarily ours", but He answers! So we continue: "HALLOWED BE THY NAME." May your Name be Holy! Once in the Old Testament (Isaiah 6:3) and once in the New (Revelation 4:8) the awesome true description of the nature God is given. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts" and "Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts." And each time, all those are with God are repeating it continuously! God is holy and His name is Holy. That which is holy is set aside from all contamination, all sin, all darkness, all injustice, all imperfections: dedicated to what is true and right (righteousness). It may seem strange to use these words in trying to describe God, but some kind of picture or thought should be in our minds when we say, "holy God" in prayer. There is nothing holy on this earth. There is no one holy in this world, in the sense that God is holy. Christians are chosen to be holy beings, by God (Ephesians 1:4), but we are not like Him in holiness. All the holiness we have is imputed to us through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21): it is not our own, it is HIS! Yet it is ours through the faith (belief) God gives. This is part of the "mystery of the Kingdom" (Mark 4:11). Holiness means separation from the world and its evils: being in the world but not of the world (John 17:16). As such holy persons, we should guard our tongues. "Lord" and "God" come so frequently from human lips, with no thought of holiness or reverence. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain (emptily)" (Exodus 20:7). We will be guilty if we do! (v.8). "Hallowed be THY name." Make it part of our prayer, that in our lives and among all Christians, His name may be reverenced and held holy. This is not a suggestion but a divine command. And, to repeat, just as He is holy, so are we by imputation through Jesus Christ: God sees us as holy as He looks at us through Jesus. If we wish to please God, and receive answers to prayer, we must live in the holiness He gives to us, by faith. What kind of language do we use? What kind of things do we read or watch? What thoughts occupy our minds? Here are many personal things to pray about. "Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you" (James 4:8, etc.). Excellent advice! Be sure to read the "etc's"! "THY KINGDOM COME. THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN." This thought has greater depth and meaning than many folks think about. We should not let it hang there, as if we have said all there is to say. It is our opening for prayer on behalf of our world and our nation, which we should not neglect. Missionaries all over the world need our lifting up to the Lord. Our leaders in government need God's spirit to keep them honest, level headed, wise, moral and dependable. Furthermore, WE also must ask God to develop the Kingdom of God within US, "on earth" (Luke 17:21)! His Kingdom is His Will! The whole "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew, Chapters 5-7) is worth much study. Ch. 5 ends with the command to "be perfect" or mature (spiritually). The Kingdom (our obedience) is developed within us by the Holy Ghost through proper prayer and Bible study, and it is demonstrated in our lives: His will done in and through us, just as it is in Heaven. The "Mount-Sermon" is for Christians, not the world. If we are "Looking for" the actual Kingdom to come when the Lord returns, it will be a motivation now to live Kingdom lives for Christ and His Kingdom. Read Titus 2:13,14. "GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD." is first of all a request for God to supply all our real physical and material needs. And it is more, for Jesus said HE was the bread of life. "I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" (John 6:35). To the woman of Samaria he promised "living water" (John 4:10), speaking of the Holy Ghost, as in John 7:38,39. This is the meaning of "our daily bread" --the filling of and daily guidance of God's holy Spirit, with Christ dwelling in our hearts (Ephesians 3:17). Surrender to God is a living effort requiring thought, confession and rededication of our wills. "Daily bread"! If we fail in this spiritual effort we shall just be husks with the name Christian, but have no fruit of the Spirit. The conquering of ourselves is no easy task, and an absolutely impossible one unless God brings it about. "Create in me a clean heart O God; and renew a right(eous) spirit within me!" was David's anguished prayer (Psalm 51:10), and it should be ours. He knew this had to be God's work in his life, just as it must be in ours. Don't think we need this confession only occasionally or on Sundays. Think of what is being said when repeating these words, and expand upon them. Talk it over thoroughly with God, your Father. He intimately knows all our struggles with the sin that so easily besets us (Hebrews 12:1). It will give us plenty to pray about. The connection with God is very emotionally therapeutic, also. Prayer is not a way of getting things from God, but is primarily the giving of ourselves to God! The greatest spiritual gift we can have is a certain "breaking through" into His presence. He graces the faithful pray-er with this "reality" which is more than just a feeling. It is the certification of a family relationship. Go for it! Be faithful in true prayer. Be patient. Be expectant. It makes prayer a joy. In the next News Letter we shall think more about the Manner of prayer. --Paul ******************************************************* Paul's article deals with the Lord's Prayer as found in the beginning of Matthew Chapter 6 and these verses, filled with so many precious gems, conclude this chapter. MATTHEW 6: 19 - 34 19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ******************************************************* CLOSING PRAYER Our Precious Heavenly King, time after time, we have seen how You have heard and answered our prayers. It is nothing but miraculous how You brought us together as an internet family. There is no way to explain the love You have given us to share and the desire to support each other in prayerful concern. We feel so blessed to be Your servants and feel privileged to be able to intercede for others in Your kingdom. Thank You for giving us wisdom and the understanding of how to communicate around the world using the internet technology.. It is truly wonderful how those in need have found our website and have had the courage and faith in You to email us with some of the most personal matters in their lives. Thank You for opening opportunities for us to intercede for these others and thank You for the faith that we all have in Your awesome power. At this anniversary of our Praying Hearts Newsletter we again seek Your strength and guidance. We ask for Your encouragement as we take time from our personal schedules to spend time with You on behalf of these precious folks who are in need. Empower us to do Your perfect will, we pray. We pray in the Holy Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Savior, and Coming King, Amen. Peace be to you, [email protected] |
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| Anniversary Edition |
| Volume II Number 4 |