✨✨✨Monday, March 11✨✨ ✨✨✨27th Day of Lent✨✨✨ ‭‭ The heart’s journey is a pronounced theme of this week of Lenten readings. “The days are surely coming” sets our eyes on the horizon of the Lenten pathway. Culminating the trek is a new covenant. But remember, in liturgical time, we’ve only heard about this covenant. We’ve not yet witnessed it come to fruition. Thus, we journey with anticipation for something coming-expectant, longing, hoping-against-hope. It is a covenant of good news! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Praying Jeremiah 31:31-34 over all Your children today and always, dear Lord, especially those battling cancer: ”“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”“ ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Please hear our prayers and do not ignore our petitions, dear LORD, for Scott (Multiple Myeloma; battling since 2020), Erica (stage 4 breast cancer), Graham (brain cancer; surgery week of 2/25/24; 7 years old), Lori Frybarger (liver cancer returned), Cassandra Travis (needs treatment plan to be made quickly and pain medicine management), Sharon Harlee, Amy (skin cancer and now rectal; married with 3 children), Luis from Mexico (52-year-old battling cancer for years; had back surgery on 2/27/24; married with 3 sons), JP (had surgery to remove cancerous tumor; being treated for metastatic cancer; issues with good healthcare and possible mental health), renojudy (renal carcinoma; surgery scheduled 3/5/24), Hanna (breast cancer; 28 years old; from Sweden), Salla (breast cancer; 55 years old; from Åland), Matt (brain tumor), gruvers5 (stage-4 breast cancer), Sandra (cancer has spread to brain; husband is Glenn), Athanase (stomach cancer; wife is Hortense; 4 children), Humble Pi’s aunt S (last stages of colon cancer; on morphine to help relieve the pain), Humble Pi’s cousin K (overseas getting treatment), Harry (Merkel cancer spread throughout his body; wife is Susan), Jennifer (from PA; undergoing surgery), Brian (from GA; starting treatment), Alice (stage 4 ovarian cancer; age 56), Megan (breast cancer: age 38; new site found on left side; depressed and needs Jesus), Lola (in hospital getting transfusion; cancer has metastasized, needs Jesus), Zflsil (stage 1 prostate cancer), Zflsil’s wife (stage 1 breast cancer; tumor being removed 3/15/24), joycecummings46 (incurable cancer according to earthly MD’s), Marsha (from MN; pancreatic cancer; has metastasized to lungs 3/24), Rachel (kidney cancer; has 2 children age 8 & 12), kwhitaker99’s mom (lung cancer; needs to quit smoking; relationship with daughter is strained), cddrawdy’s sister-in-law (cancer in colon and liver; 6 children; getting test results on 3/12/24; port being put in 3/13/24), Don (stage 4 prostate cancer spread to bones; brother is Jack), James (stage 4 prostate cancer spread to bones; brother is James), 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! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ From the least to the greatest, all will know the Holy One, whose law will be written within and on our hearts. A deep belonging bestowed with God and with one another as our lives are bound up in the life of God’s forgiveness, restoration. This is the good news spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. But at the outset of this week on the Lenten journey, these are words of something to come. So, we travel on with longing hearts. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Holy One, we long to know You more. Journey with us into the unknown pathways of our lives, and through this Lenten season, for we know something truly good is coming. We trek toward You with longing hearts. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen!🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️♥️

✨✨Tuesday, March 12✨✨ ✨✨✨✨28th Day of Lent✨✨✨✨ Martin Luther and the early reformers were pastorally very concerned about the hearts of Christians when it came to sin. Of primary concern they had was the consolation and encouragement of “anxious consciences” and “terrified minds” that were “vexed by the doctrine of works” but hearing no “consolation from the gospel.” You can hear the “anxious conscience” and “terrified mind” of the psalmist in Psalm 51. The writer pines over iniquity, transgressions, and sin. “I was born guilty!” ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Praying Psalm 51:1-12 over all Your children today and always, dear Lord, especially those battling cancer: ”Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.“ ‭‭✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Please hear our prayers and do not ignore our petitions, dear LORD, for Scott (Multiple Myeloma; battling since 2020), Erica (stage 4 breast cancer), Graham (brain cancer; surgery week of 2/25/24; 7 years old), Lori Frybarger (liver cancer returned), Cassandra Travis (needs treatment plan to be made quickly and pain medicine management), Sharon Harlee, Amy (skin cancer and now rectal; married with 3 children), Luis from Mexico (52-year-old battling cancer for years; had back surgery on 2/27/24; married with 3 sons), JP (had surgery to remove cancerous tumor; being treated for metastatic cancer; issues with good healthcare and possible mental health), renojudy (renal carcinoma; surgery scheduled 3/5/24), Hanna (breast cancer; 28 years old; from Sweden), Salla (breast cancer; 55 years old; from Åland), Matt (brain tumor), gruvers5 (stage-4 breast cancer), Sandra (cancer has spread to brain; husband is Glenn), Athanase (stomach cancer; wife is Hortense; 4 children), Humble Pi’s aunt S (last stages of colon cancer; on morphine to help relieve the pain), Humble Pi’s cousin K (overseas getting treatment), Harry (Merkel cancer spread throughout his body; wife is Susan), Jennifer (from PA; undergoing surgery), Brian (from GA; starting treatment), Alice (stage 4 ovarian cancer; age 56), Megan (breast cancer: age 38; new site found on left side; depressed and needs Jesus), Lola (in hospital getting transfusion; cancer has metastasized, needs Jesus), Zflsil (stage 1 prostate cancer), Zflsil’s wife (stage 1 breast cancer; tumor being removed 3/15/24), joycecummings46 (incurable cancer according to earthly MD’s), Marsha (from MN; pancreatic cancer; has metastasized to lungs 3/24), Rachel (kidney cancer; has 2 children age 8 & 12), kwhitaker99’s mom (lung cancer; needs to quit smoking; relationship with daughter is strained), cddrawdy’s sister-in-law (cancer in colon and liver; 6 children; getting test results on 3/12/24; port being put in 3/13/24), Don (stage 4 prostate cancer spread to bones; brother is Jack), James (stage 4 prostate cancer spread to bones; brother is James), Jade (has cancer and is an only daughter), 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! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ But read the psalm’s first line again. This quintessential psalm of confession, prayed the world over by those beset by failures and shortcomings, begins with trust in the love and mercy of God. In your journey through this season of repentance, make time to unburden your heart in confession. But do so with the consolation of God’s mercy and love as your opening refrain, and the joy of salvation your “Amen.” ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Merciful and loving God, You desire for us truth and wisdom, joy and gladness. Please create in us a clean heart, a renewed and willing spirit, and restore to us the joy of Your salvation. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen!🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️♥️

Dearest sweet sister, GCOGA, oh how I love your powerful prayers! The LORD, our God, has truly blessed you with His Holy Spirit for your love of Him and His Son are very evident in your prayer life! Thank you for sharing your gifts with our brothers and sisters and their loved ones to comfort them in their time of need! It means so much because we know that you have walked this walk with the LORD’s presence during every step of your journey through this dark valley! His will was for you to come out the other side victorious and to be able to be a witness of His great grace and mercy! Praying this finds you well and strong in every aspect of your life as well as your family’s lives! 🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨ ♥️♥️♥️

Oh, my GCOGA, each time you post such strong prayers, I think this one cannot be topped. But then the next one comes, and I am proven wrong! Thanks for your kind words about these posts. The Lord is the One who put the desire in my heart, and it is truly a blessing and a privilege to share these posts with all who read them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued prayers and support of this daily effort to encourage and support our brothers and sisters as well as their families in their most desperate time of need! God bless you and your family most mightily!🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️♥️

✨✨Thursday, March 14✨✨ ✨✨✨30th Day of Lent✨✨✨ “Sir, we wish to see Jesus,” said the Greeks to the disciples. It’s a curious scene, occurring just after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem in the prior verses. As the Pharisees say in the verse just before this passage, the Greeks’ request is a sign that the whole world is now going after Jesus. But why did they wish to see Jesus? We aren’t told. In fact, when Jesus learns of the Greeks’ wish to see him, he moves into a monologue: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…” ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Praying John 12:20-33 over all Your children today and always, dear Lord, especially those battling cancer: ”Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.“ ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Please hear our prayers and do not ignore our petitions, dear LORD, for Scott (Multiple Myeloma; battling since 2020), Erica (stage 4 breast cancer), Graham (brain cancer; surgery week of 2/25/24; 7 years old), Lori Frybarger (liver cancer returned), Cassandra Travis (needs treatment plan to be made quickly and pain medicine management), Sharon Harlee, Amy (skin cancer and now rectal; married with 3 children), Luis from Mexico (52-year-old battling cancer for years; had back surgery on 2/27/24; married with 3 sons), JP (had surgery to remove cancerous tumor; being treated for metastatic cancer; issues with good healthcare and possible mental health), renojudy (renal carcinoma; surgery scheduled 3/5/24), Hanna (breast cancer; 28 years old; from Sweden), Salla (breast cancer; 55 years old; from Åland), Matt (brain tumor), gruvers5 (stage-4 breast cancer; tumors are shrinking 3/14/24), Sandra (cancer has spread to brain; husband is Glenn), Athanase (stomach cancer; wife is Hortense; 4 children), Humble Pi’s aunt S (last stages of colon cancer; on morphine to help relieve the pain), Humble Pi’s cousin K (overseas getting treatment), Harry (Merkel cancer spread throughout his body; wife is Susan), Jennifer (from PA; undergoing surgery), Brian (from GA; starting treatment), Alice (stage 4 ovarian cancer; age 56), Megan (breast cancer: age 38; new site found on left side; depressed and needs Jesus), Lola (in hospital getting transfusion; cancer has metastasized, needs Jesus), Zflsil (stage 1 prostate cancer), Zflsil’s wife (stage 1 breast cancer; tumor being removed 3/15/24), joycecummings46 (incurable cancer according to earthly MD’s), Marsha (from MN; pancreatic cancer; has metastasized to lungs 3/24), Rachel (kidney cancer; has 2 children age 8 & 12), kwhitaker99’s mom (lung cancer; needs to quit smoking; relationship with daughter is strained), cddrawdy’s sister-in-law (cancer in colon and liver; 6 children; getting test results on 3/12/24; port being put in 3/13; begins chemo 3/18), Don (stage 4 prostate cancer spread to bones; brother is Jack), James (stage 4 prostate cancer spread to bones; brother is Jack), Jade (has cancer and is an only daughter), Alette (1&1/2 years old with neuroblastoma – cancer has not shrunk after 6 chemo txs; surgery scheduled for 3/15/24), Kenni (pancreatic cancer; has 2 more txs left; has scan on 3/12/24), Ronnie (from LA; also needs salvation), Jessica (colon cancer; 37 years old; has 3 children under age of 7), 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! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Metaphorically, the Greeks are a symbol of the reach of salvation into the Gentiles. But in our story, there were some Greeks who journeyed up to worship at the festival. And they wanted to see Jesus. If you could imagine your way into this festival scene, why do you suppose they wanted to see Jesus that day? ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ God, through the darkness of the Lenten veil, we too wish to see Jesus. We make this journey longing, anticipating, hoping-against-hope that at the end, we will meet Him, as He was lifted up from the earth, drawing all people to Himself. In Jesus’ mighty and precious name, amen!🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨ ♥️♥️♥️

Such a beautiful prayer, dear GCOGA! The chapters you are praying over our brothers and sisters are so uplifting and inspiring! The prayers of a righteous person availeth much, and you are truly a righteous person, my sweet sister! Thanks for praying!🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️