Thank you, my dear sister, for your post! We have missed you so much, but understand that your health and wellbeing come first. We also know you are still praying for those who are need. God bless you! 🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️♥️

Please forgive me for not posting the usual prayer request yesterday. I did it later than normal, and evidently my brain had already gone to the bedroom and fell asleep… but I truly did post it; just under the wrong prayer request. I’m so sorry, and I’m sure the person who originated the thread read my response and couldn’t understand what was going on. So here is the prayer from yesterday, today: ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Dear Abba Father, we enter Your presence praising Your Holy Name for You are with us every single step of our journey! Living in this world is not always easy. We have demands that are made of us, challenges that confront us on all sides, and pain and suffering that is almost too much for us to bear at times! When we face our trials, there are sometimes when we try to deny them, hide them, or sweep them under the rug. On the other hand, when we can no longer ignore our trials and tribulations, there are times that we resent them and grow bitter. But Your Word tells us differently! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Praying James 1:2-4 over all Your children today and always, dear Lord, especially those battling cancer: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Please hear our prayers, dear LORD, and do not ignore our petitions for Melissa (having breast cancer surgery 1/30/24), Sandy (breast cancer; meeting with MD 1/30/24 to discuss options for new diagnosis), Marcus Maze (wife Regina), Galdino (10-year-old with brain cancer; beat lung cancer at age of 3), Joni (angiosarcoma; begins chemo on 2/5/24), Sarah Lam (breast cancer spreading to other areas of her chest), Vernon (cancer returned; surgery scheduled for 2/22/24) Doug (stage 3 rectal cancer; wife is Joan), Randy Lee Burkett (sister Michelle asking for deliverance from cancers in his body), Frederic (prostate cancer; cousin of godsservant), emilycnoftle’s cousin (stage 4 cancer of neck and lungs; age 19 and having surgery 2/6/24; needs salvation), Don (glioblastoma), King Charles III, Michal (stage 4 mass on brain stem, trachea, lung, stomach and right leg; starts chemo 2/6/24), and all cancer patients who we don’t know their names, but You do! Bless them, their families and friends with Your peace that is beyond all understanding as You guide them down the journey they are traveling. By Your stripes, they are healed! In the mighty and precious name of Jesus, amen! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ ✨✨ You had James write that we should “count it all joy” while we are in our trials. How can this be? Receiving joy in our trials seems to be an impossibility. Most of us try to avoid trials! But James tells us that we can “count it all joy” by changing our attitudes towards our trials. By having James tell us “for you know,” You had him remind us not to rely on our emotions, but to rely on what we “know” to be true, Your truth! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Oh LORD, thank You for Your truth! Thank You for giving us the faith, the strength and the courage each and every morning that we need to get through another day! Help us to increase and strengthen our faith during our trials. For we know that the things we want to avoid are the very things that make us. If we’re really honest, our faith is easy to show to the world when everything is going right. But it’s not as easy to do when we are in pain and are suffering. Please help us to trust You through all the difficult days that You are keeping Your promise that we can “count it all joy” in the middle of our pain and suffering. We would not have chosen this path, but help us to remember that You have. Thank You for using it to show us more of Your Son, Jesus, and to make us more like Him. Thank You for the pathway to Your joy. In the mighty name of Christ Jesus, amen!🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨❤️❤️❤️

Dear ycruz1413, thank you for your post, and your name has been added to the list. So glad to hear things are going well even though you are still having chemo treatments. May the Lord continue to bless you and keep you protected! In Jesus’ mighty name, amen!🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️

Dear Father God, we come humbly into your presence with praise on our lips for You are our sovereign and worthy Father! We will praise You in good times and bad, in poverty as well as plenty, and in sickness and in health! We will trust You in all our circumstances because You are all knowing. You not only know everything from our past and in our present, but You also see our future! We will continue to praise You through our tears and disappointments like You have taught us through Job’s life. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Praying Job 1:20-22 over all Your children today and always, dear Lord, especially those battling cancer: “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Please hear our prayers, dear LORD, and do not ignore our petitions for Melissa (had breast cancer surgery 1/30/24), Sandy (breast cancer; met with MD 1/30/24 to discuss options for new diagnosis), Marcus Maze (wife Regina), Galdino (10-year-old with brain cancer; beat lung cancer at age of 3), Joni (angiosarcoma; began chemo on 2/5/24), Sarah Lam (breast cancer spreading to other areas of her chest), Vernon (cancer returned; surgery scheduled for 2/22/24) Doug (stage 3 rectal cancer; wife is Joan), Randy Lee Burkett (sister Michelle asking for deliverance from cancers in his body), Frederic (prostate cancer; cousin of godsservant), emilycnoftle’s cousin (stage 4 cancer of neck and lungs; age 19 and had surgery 2/6/24; needs salvation), Don (glioblastoma), King Charles III, Michael (stage 4 mass on brain stem, trachea, lung, stomach and right leg; started chemo 2/6/24), John (battling brain cancer for 7 years), Iris (colon cancer; has kidney disease and diabetes as well), Bruce (lung cancer), Mike (aggressive form of cancer), Yvette Cruz (colon cancer; has had chemotherapy for 2 years), and all cancer patients who we don’t know their names, but You do! Bless them, their families and friends with Your peace that is beyond all understanding as You guide them down the journey they are traveling. By Your stripes, they are healed! In the mighty and precious name of Jesus, amen! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Job has the greatest endurance while facing hardships than anyone else we know! Even though Your Word describes him as a blameless and upright man, You allowed the evil one to test his love for You! In just one day, he lost all of his children and nearly all his possessions. But instead of cursing You like his wife told him to, Job put on sack cloth, worshiped You and praised Your Holy Name! In the darkness of his pain and suffering, “Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Oh LORD, thank You for showing us that You are still worthy of our praise even in the middle of a difficult storm! Help us to remember that You are with us in every moment of our day. Help us to understand that You have everything under control; You see our future, and You’ve got this! Thank You for reminding us that all things pass through Your hands, and nothing takes You by surprise. Thank You for giving us Your hope, Your strength and Your Spirit to encourage each other, pray for one another and share our love with everyone! Thank You for being our Father who knows what it is like to be us, and who has made a future for us with no pain, no more suffering or no tears! That is why we can praise You in the middle of our storm! In the mighty name of Jesus, amen! 🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨❤️❤️❤️

Dear mkdwhitted, your encouraging words are always so appreciated! Thank you for sharing your prayer with our siblings who are battling cancer! 🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️♥️

Dear Heavenly Father, we humbly enter Your presence praising Your Holy Name for You are with us during this difficult journey, guiding us, comforting us and giving us hope! You have foreseen every difficult moment in all our lives. When You sent Jesus down to earth, You had Him tell us and show us that there would be trials and tribulations in our lives; no one is exempt, not even Christ Himself. You also had James tell us that “when” trials come, not “if”. So it’s never if, but when for everyone; there’s no escaping it! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Praying James 1:2-4 over all Your children today and always, dear Lord, especially those battling cancer: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Please hear our prayers, dear LORD, for Melissa (having breast cancer surgery 1/30/24), Sandy (breast cancer; meeting with MD 1/30/24 to discuss options for new diagnosis), Marcus Maze (wife Regina), Galdino (10-year-old with brain cancer; beat lung cancer at age of 3), Joni (angiosarcoma; begins chemo on 2/5/24), Sarah Lam (breast cancer spreading to other areas of her chest), Vernon (cancer returned; surgery scheduled for 2/22/24) Doug (stage 3 rectal cancer; wife is Joan), Randy Lee Burkett (sister Michelle asking for deliverance from cancers in his body), Frederic (prostate cancer; cousin of godsservant), emilycnoftle’s cousin (stage 4 cancer of neck and lungs; age 19 and having surgery 2/6/24; needs salvation), Don (glioblastoma), King Charles III, Michael (stage 4 mass on brain stem, trachea, lung, stomach and right leg; starts chemo 2/6/24), John (battling brain cancer for 7 years), Iris (colon cancer; has kidney disease and diabetes as well), Bruce (lung cancer), Mike (aggressive form of cancer), Yvette Cruz (colon cancer; has had chemotherapy for 2 years), Brady’s pastor’s wife (severe cancer), Hannah (breast cancer; 28 years old), Jim (bladder cancer plus host of other health issues), and all cancer patients who we don’t know their names, but You do! Bless them, their families and friends with Your peace that is beyond all understanding as You guide them down the journey they are traveling. By Your stripes, they are healed! In the mighty and precious name of Jesus, amen! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ You showed James the truth, and he shared it with his brothers and sisters in Christ, including us today. We know that trials and tribulations are part of life. There were people before and during James’ time who believed that when trials came, it was the fault of the person due to their weaknesses, disobedience to God, or lack of faith. You taught us differently in the life of Job, a blameless man who lost everything! But even today there are some who still believe this “theory”! But if it were true, Jesus who walked this earth sinless, would never had a single trial or tribulation during His lifetime! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Oh LORD, thank You for not letting most of us fall into the blame-game trap, blaming the people who are suffering. Thank You for being a forgiving, a merciful and gracious Father, and not a cruel and vengeful God that would use suffering to punish us. Help us to stand steadfast in Your love and know that You are always present and You are working our pain from today into joy for tomorrow! Only You know exactly what is going on inside our bodies and how desperate we can feel some days. But because You call us Your children, we thank You for taking us by the hand and leading us through our valleys! In the mighty name of Jesus, amen! 🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨❤️❤️❤️

Oh, thank you, GCOGA, for the beautiful words of prayer! They are so precious in the sight of our Lord! There is nothing I can add nor take away to bless our siblings who are fighting a battle against cancer anymore than you have already done. God bless you! So I will only add the names of the most current names from this month: ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Melissa (having breast cancer surgery 1/30/24), Sandy (breast cancer; meeting with MD 1/30/24 to discuss options for new diagnosis), Marcus Maze (wife Regina), Galdino (10-year-old with brain cancer; beat lung cancer at age of 3), Joni (angiosarcoma; begins chemo on 2/5/24), Sarah Lam (breast cancer spreading to other areas of her chest), Vernon (cancer returned; surgery scheduled for 2/22/24) Doug (stage 3 rectal cancer; wife is Joan), Randy Lee Burkett (sister Michelle asking for deliverance from cancers in his body), Frederic (prostate cancer; cousin of godsservant), emilycnoftle’s cousin (stage 4 cancer of neck and lungs; age 19 and having surgery 2/6/24; needs salvation), Don (glioblastoma), King Charles III, Michael (stage 4 mass on brain stem, trachea, lung, stomach and right leg; starts chemo 2/6/24), John (battling brain cancer for 7 years), Iris (colon cancer; has kidney disease and diabetes as well), Bruce (lung cancer), Mike (aggressive form of cancer), Yvette Cruz (colon cancer; has had chemotherapy for 2 years), Brady’s pastor’s wife (severe cancer), Hannah (breast cancer; 28 years old), Jim (bladder cancer plus host of other health issues), Shawn (breast cancer returned to his bones), Doug Claassen (end stage cancer), Brittney (cancer is spreading quickly; MD’s giving up; has 3 daughters), and all cancer patients who we don’t know their names, but You do! Bless them, their families and friends with Your peace that is beyond all understanding as You guide them down the journey they are traveling. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen! 🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️♥️

Dear Abba Father, we come to you today with praise on our lips and love in our hearts for You have given us the best gift a Father can give to His children, Your love! This gift lets us know that we truly are Your children. Whether we understand it or not, You unconditionally love us. Every day You choose to lavish Your extravagant love upon us. Daily, You desire that our hearts be opened to comprehend Your love towards us, that we would know the breadth and length, the height and depth, and that the Your amazing love towards us is the foundation of our faith and healing. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Praying 1 John 3:1 over all Your children today and always, dear Lord, especially those battling cancer: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”  ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Please hear our prayers and do not ignore our petitions, dear LORD, for Melissa (having breast cancer surgery 1/30/24), Sandy (breast cancer; meeting with MD 1/30/24 to discuss options for new diagnosis), Marcus Maze (wife Regina), Galdino (10-year-old with brain cancer; beat lung cancer at age of 3), Joni (angiosarcoma; begins chemo on 2/5/24), Sarah Lam (breast cancer spreading to other areas of her chest), Vernon (cancer returned; surgery scheduled for 2/22/24) Doug (stage 3 rectal cancer; wife is Joan), Randy Lee Burkett (sister Michelle asking for deliverance from cancers in his body), Frederic (prostate cancer; cousin of godsservant), emilycnoftle’s cousin (stage 4 cancer of neck and lungs; age 19 and having surgery 2/6/24; needs salvation), Don (glioblastoma), King Charles III, Michael (stage 4 mass on brain stem, trachea, lung, stomach and right leg; starts chemo 2/6/24), John (battling brain cancer for 7 years), Iris (colon cancer; has kidney disease and diabetes as well), Bruce (lung cancer), Mike (aggressive form of cancer), Yvette Cruz (colon cancer; has had chemotherapy for 2 years), Brady’s pastor’s wife (severe cancer), Hannah (breast cancer; 28 years old), Jim (bladder cancer plus host of other health issues), Shawn (breast cancer returned to his bones), Doug Claassen (end stage cancer), Brittney (cancer is spreading quickly; MD’s giving up; has 3 daughters), and all cancer patients who we don’t know their names, but You do! Bless them, their families and friends with Your peace that is beyond all understanding as You guide them down the journey they are traveling. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ You have given us promises so we may experience Your love. One of these promises is found in Hebrews 13:5 AMP, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!” These words are not just empty promises. They are the truth. They are the expression of Your love. You want only what is best for us. You long for us to know and experience Your love in our lives today and every day! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Oh Lord, we thank You for lavishing Your love unconditionally upon us every day. We are eternally grateful. Thank You for the truth of Your word that You will never leave us nor forsake us. You have promised that You will never let us down or relax Your hold on us. Help us to rest in the knowledge that You are our perfect Father who has our best interests at heart. Help us to know and understand the great abundance of Your love. Thank you that we can rest assured that You are our loving Father, that You are working out our healing in our futures, and that we are safe in Your hands! In Jesus’ mighty name, amen. 🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨ ♥️♥️♥️

Dearest siblings, happy Ash Wednesday to all! During this Lenten Season, I thought it would be a good idea to make sure we are honoring our Lord despite our suffering and pain. So for the next several weeks, I will be posting devotions from Luther Seminary (they allow free copies of their devotions to be shared). I hope you all enjoy these devotions and have a blessed and wonderful Lent! ✨✨Hymn of the week:✨✨ “Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song” by The Little Sisters of Jesus 1. Lord Jesus, you shall be my song as I journey;
I’ll tell ev’rybody about you wherever I go; you alone are our life and our peace and our love.
Lord Jesus, you shall be my song as I journey. 2. Lord Jesus, I’ll praise you as long as I journey.
May all of my joy be a faithful reflection of you.
May the earth and the sea and the sky join my song.
Lord Jesus, I’ll praise you as long as I journey. 3. As long as I live, Jesus, make me your servant, to carry your cross and to share all your burdens and tears.
For you saved me by giving your body and blood.
As long as I live, Jesus, make me your servant. 4. I fear in the dark and the doubt of my journey; but courage will come with the sound of your steps by my side. And with all of the family you saved by your love, we’ll sing to your dawn at the end of our journey. ✨✨✨Wednesday, February 14 Ash Wednesday✨✨✨ In the below verses, Jesus instructs his listeners to go pray in private. He tells them, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them.” This sentiment has been very popular among many faithful followers of Jesus. Many people have a deep, but quiet faith. And yet, if we look at the hymn for this week, we see the authors wanting to sing openly and publicly to the Lord. The songwriters say, “I’ll tell everybody about you wherever I go.” ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Praying Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 over all Your children today and always, dear Lord, especially those battling cancer: “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”… “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Please hear our prayers and do not ignore our petitions, dear LORD, for Melissa (having breast cancer surgery 1/30/24), Sandy (breast cancer; meeting with MD 1/30/24 to discuss options for new diagnosis), Marcus Maze (wife Regina), Galdino (10-year-old with brain cancer; beat lung cancer at age of 3), Joni (angiosarcoma; begins chemo on 2/5/24), Sarah Lam (breast cancer spreading to other areas of her chest), Vernon (cancer returned; surgery scheduled for 2/22/24) Doug (stage 3 rectal cancer; wife is Joan), Randy Lee Burkett (sister Michelle asking for deliverance from cancers in his body), Frederic (prostate cancer; cousin of godsservant), emilycnoftle’s cousin (stage 4 cancer of neck and lungs; age 19 and having surgery 2/6/24; needs salvation), Don (glioblastoma), King Charles III, Michael (stage 4 mass on brain stem, trachea, lung, stomach and right leg; starts chemo 2/6/24), John (battling brain cancer for 7 years), Iris (colon cancer; has kidney disease and diabetes as well), Bruce (lung cancer), Mike (aggressive form of cancer), Yvette Cruz (colon cancer; has had chemotherapy for 2 years), Brady’s pastor’s wife (severe cancer), Hannah (breast cancer; 28 years old), Jim (bladder cancer plus host of other health issues), Shawn (breast cancer returned to his bones), Doug Claassen (end stage cancer), Brittney (cancer is spreading quickly; MD’s giving up; has 3 daughters), Gerald (lung cancer), and all cancer patients who we don’t know their names, but You do! Bless them, their families and friends with Your peace that is beyond all understanding as You guide them down the journey they are traveling. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ So, which is it? What does God want us to do? Perhaps Jesus’ instructions are meant to free us from having to prove our “Christian” identity. We don’t have to pray in public because God already sees what we need. He sets us free from having to prove ourselves through some kind of identity. We are who we are because of Jesus Christ, not because we look like “Christians.” ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Oh Lord, thank you for knowing our hearts’ desires and our human needs even before we do. Open us up to the endless possibilities of living in your divine freedom, both in our public and in our private lives. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen!🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️♥️