One of the biggest blessings I anticipate from this blog is the prayer support I think it will illicit from those of you who visit it. I'll be sharing requests from time to time but also want to share with you what we desire for you to pray for generally. The verses I've placed as part of my title are very familiar to most, at least verse 28 is:

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

I've heard that verse many many times through the years, especially when people are going through tough times. The common understanding is that, for those who love God, God is going to work out the events in our lives so that it culminates in good. Which is exactly what verse 28 is saying. However, since people rarely tack on verse 29 with verse 28 (we'll get to that in a moment!), the "good" that a lot of people believe is going to happen are "good" things in our lives. You'll get a job, you'll find a spouse, you'll get well, etc. etc. etc. Paul's Inspired Word from God on this matter, however, does not end with verse 28. As we continue in verse 29, we find out that God, not us, defines what "good" is:

"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. "

The "good" in verse 28 is referring to being "conformed to the image of His Son" in verse 29 which is the goal and purpose of all who are truly believers after our conversion. In other words, what these verses are saying is that God orchestrates all events in our lives, even pain and suffering, to accomplish His purpose in us: becoming more like His Son Jesus Christ! That is an awesome truth! It gives purpose and meaning to what is happening with all of us! We don't have to ask or pray to God to reveal to us what His purpose is in our circumstances because He has already revealed that to us in His Word. His purpose with all our circumstances is to glorify Him and conform us in to the image of His Son. With this purpose known to Kim and I, we are also reminded that it is not simply going through or getting through the trial that makes us more like Christ but obedience in the trial that results in the growth that God desires us to have.

With that in mind, I would implore each of you to make the main focus of your prayers not on healing or comfort, but that God would continually help Kim and I (which He will of course) daily seek to glorify Him throughout this event in our lives and seek out our own personal sins, replacing them with right thinking and right actions, so that His Spirit would continue to conform us in to the image of His son. Kim and I have already seen evidence of this taking place in our lives the last couple of months. He has humbled us on many specifics that have been a sinful place in our lives for too long and has helped us put off those sins, replacing them with God's righteous replacement.

Sometimes the focus on praying for healing is disguised under the banner of "healing so that you can more fully serve God in the future." Obviously the purpose of good health and healing is to enable us to serve and minister without restrictions. However, I would ask that you be directing your prayers towards helping Kim and I minister NOW within the situation. God has already allowed me privileges of sharing His Truth in my sickness that I would not have had had my summer gone on without incident. From the "christian" chaplain at one of the hospitals who was trying to sell his "learning how to use the power god has put inside us to heal us" to a deep conversation/sharing of the gospl with one of of our three unsaved children, I've already been blessed with opportunities and look forward to more. Please pray for the ministry opportunities God already has in store for us on a daily basis.

Wow! Sorry I hijacked this blog and turned it into a mini sermon! Thanks for enduring it!

In short, Kim and I do covet your prayers and appreciate your desire to pray for us. Please use this blog(mini-sermon!) as a guide as to the specifics of what we would desire you pray for.

If you choose to put me on a church prayer list, I'd ask that you not just put it on there "praying for healing" but that you would explain specifically what we would like people to pray for. That's been a burden of mine through my years as a pastor, the amount of time we spend praying for what are temporal things on earth (physical needs, healing, etc) instead of what is eternal. When you look at the examples of prayer Scripture gives us, there is very little pointed towards the physical while the vast majority of prayers is for the Spiritual. We should do, and pray, likewise.

With love,

Rob