Christian Prayer Thread - Joy to the world, the Lord is coming

[DutchOma]

I thought it was time to set up a new thread for Christmas.

Will just leave it short and give you all the opportunity to add your own prayers.

Nickelbabe Prayers of thanks for the delivery of her little girl, continuing prayers for her and the baby. We look forward to you to be able to update us.

MHD prayers that the medical team will get their act together, but also that you will be able to be at home and stay at home over Christmas.

Soozi we know how hard things have been for you for such a long time. Prayers that you will find the strength to cope, especially at this Christmas time.

CaptainDippy Prayers for comfort and joy.

Prayers for all of us that we will proclaim the birth of the Saviour to a world in need.

Thinking of all of you this evening -

PA - I know that overwhelming feeling, got a bit of it now. I know it's easy to say, but don't make yourself ill. Remember 'All will be well' (Julien of Norwich) They were, more or less, my mum's last words and I think she said them because she knew that I take on a lot and that I'm, after all, 'only' human. Prayers for you in Germany and as you prepare.

Blue - hoping the sadness soon recedes and in its place, peace and hope.

Jently - I don't think we've 'spoken' much but the thought of your being driven out of MN in this way is deeply upsetting. God speed - and delighted to hear you'll be keeping in contact with some on this thread in other ways.

Mousie - hang on in there, do. Praying for continued strength for you.

Wisteria - are you quite OK now?

Springy - lots of positive thoughts coming your way - hoping that 2012 brings some healing.

Oma - is Bob feeling better, still?

To ALL, continued prayers. And continued thanks for prayers for my dh (tired, stressed, worried about money and job security) (and, if you have a moment, please for one of my DCs who is in the midst of gcses but finding it difficult - or is unwilling - or both - to prepare for them and also, please, for the DC who is still missing - he is never out of my thoughts).

A peaceful night to you all xx

Popping in with prayers for all, but especially for Blue, Jently, Springy, Issy and Mousie... I pray for strength and love and hope for all of you in your different difficult situations.

Prayers for continued recovery for WW, MHD and Bob.

And superwoman, getting-things-done, non-coldy prayers to the wonderful PA!

Thanks today that dd1 spontaneously decided to come to church with me and dd2. (She's 11, and generally doesn't want to come and claims to be an atheist like her dad - who's vehemently anti-religion. Our 'deal' has been that he'll be tolerant of me and dd2 going to church, and won't be overtly negative about religion, but that I mustn't 'force' dd1 to come if she doesn't want to. Actually, I'm not sure how much good it'd do to force her anyway, but the good news is that today she wanted to come. I think she felt that she'd been 'protected' from being badly hurt when she was knocked down - at least that's what she hinted she was feeling. Anyway, she had a great time, stayed for the (post-)Christmas party and enjoyed herself.) Prayers answered that she was there at all, but if you can spare her a prayer, please pray that she decides to come back.

I did have a moment of embarrassment when people said 'Oh, I didn't realise you had two dds', but I have decided to ignore. Both dds know (I trust and hope) that God is 'out there' and that all they have to do is turn to Him. If dd1 isn't ready for that right now, that's OK... I turned my back on Him for a long time, but I let Him back in in the end... and only then did I realise He'd been there all along!

Anyway, sorry for wittering. You're all in my thoughts very often, even if I'm not on this thread much.

pa job number one... can you just not prioritise it and let thenm take the consequences of not organising something? (if only?)

plenty of vitamin c and fresh fruit and plenty of sleep may help ward off the cold.

either that or wear your knickers on the outside...

Prayers as I read through.

Can I ask for a few prayers. As those of you with a good memory will remember, my parents are very negative about my son and my parenting. It has got to the stage where I dread seeing them and anything they've said affects me for days after. My self esteem and my belief in my parenting is at an all time low.

I have told my mum how hard I find seeing them and after she drops ds present by on Wed, I won't be seeing her unless I arrange it. I know my mum is hurt. But it's too much for me. I find how they speak of him and their comments about me just too much. I cannot relax in their presence with my children. Ds has come on so much since the Summer. Playing nicely with other children, sharing etc. Starting pre school has done him the world of good. But life is hard enough as a single mum without feeling judged and not accepted.

The other thing is I feel so lonely. I need some good friends. I "know" lots of people at church as I've been there for years but I need a close friend. I do keep asking God to bring me one and try to go to social events when babysitting allows. But some extra prayers would be wonderful.

Off to bed feeling very wibbly today

Certainly, Tea, prayers for you tonight. Sorry to hear about your parents - people, and that can include parents, don't always realize the effect their words have - but being negative in the way you describe isn't on. Do you know what, if anything, lies behind it - can you talk to them about just how it all makes you feel?

Hope you make the friends you want soon. It's not at all easy, even at church. Do you do stuff outside church, when time (and babysitting) allows? I=

Hope you manage/d a good night's sleep!

Can't sleep as my head is so full - thankfully we have a God who never sleeps, and who will take all these worries from me and just give me what I need just for now. Which, hopefully, will be back to sleep in a bit. In the meantime it's a nice peaceful time to pray and just be still. Thank you so much for the encouragement and support from so many of you, Oma, Issy, SES and others. The rehab and counselling has started and it's very intense but really amazing.

PA you sound amazing with all that you have to do - wow! Praying that you get it all done with dependence on his strength not your own.

Totally how wonderful about your DD - you sound like you are handling it all brilliantly, it must be hard though.

teaandcake well done for breaking the cycle with a healthy way of communicating, and praying for you to find a new level of friendship. I have recently at church but it took opening up and risking rejection - but was definitely worth it.

Love to all x

Teaandcake have ((hug)) and be assured of prayers from here for you and DCs. Also prayers for a good friend for you.

Totally that's great about DD. Its good that she is making those first steps herself. Prayers that they continue and DH might wonder what the attraction is! Dont give up. It took 10 years of marriage with a total unbeliever before DH suddenly surprised me and became a Christian. Now he is streaks ahead of me!!

DO Prayers for DH and for you. I pray that above all you feel God's presence.

Mousie Well done!! I pray that God will make His presence felt by you in every step you are going through.

Prayers for Jently Blue and Springy

I can assure you all my pants are firmly Inside my trousers!! Day one of the mad week went really well, thanks for the prayers. I may have 3 jobs, but they are all little and I love the variety!! They all work really well together so its not hard.
I know that I should just leave the work in job 1, but the minister is on sabbatical, so it would be my lovely friends who would be left with the mess, not the person who created it, IYSWIM. Although I had a long chat with our Youth Minister yesterday and he has banned me from being in the office before 8.30 and I am not allowed to do any evening stints, or any extra hours and only do what I can. I can now feel guilt free if things are left, which is good.

Have a good day everyone. and waves to anyone not mentioned personally.

Morning all. Keeping prayers going as I'm reading through for each of you.

TACP - shame we live a couple of counties apart - people are always welcome as good friends

the exhaust has fallen off the car.

and the meeting with ds's teacher has gone well. she is implementing a sticker chart for him to try and improve his behaviour.

I am feeling really sad today. I had to take my little cat to the vet as she has lost a lot of weight. They aren't exactly sure what is wrong with her but whatever the problem is the prognosis is likely to be quite poor. It is possible she has renal failure or cancer or something. She has to go back for further tests tomorrow.

She is a really old cat but I am really sad as she has been my constant companion for about 8 years and has been a great comfort in some very sad times.

I could just cry right now :(

FoD, huge prayers for you...and for your cat too
and for everyone one

Ooo, it's added another 'one' on the end

Trying to keep up with who's who and a very s-l-o-w pc.

tea - I have had to back off from a critical family and I must say it is easier to be loving and forgiving when not exposed to seering criticisms all the time! I read Stormie Omartian's book recently re her life story of an abusive mother who had significant MH problems - Stormie realised she didn't have to see her (still very abusive) mother but could love her from a distance. I will pray for you for wisdom to know what to do. You could also have a look at the book Boundaries by Dr Henry Cloud and Dr John Townsend (christian book).

My mum is a little better but has been hallucinating (blood test results pending - could be a urine infection). I have finally been able to speak to her and she is convinced I am mentally ill. My sister has downloaded a piece entitled 'paranoia' for my parents re me. My kids are telling the family lurid tales about me which are being wholly believed.. 1Peter4:12

It would be inauthentic not just to the truth but also to the good relationship between me and my mum to agree with her (re my 'mental illness'..) in order to placate her. It would certainly fit neatly into the family drama for me to be alloted the role of the mad and bad one.. I need wisdom on this!

pc dastardly slow but praying for you all (the cat, daughter (yay!)/husband, rehab). Loved the Julien of Norwich quote.

Hello - haven't been on here in ages, but you have been in my thoughts and prayers over the past few weeks. I have dipped in but for some reason didn't feel I could add anything by posting. Well, I probably won't add anything by posting this one, but I want to get back into the habit of being on this thread, giving and receiving prayerful help and support. Your prayers have meant so much to me over the past difficult year.

Jently, I am so sorry you have been made to feel you need to leave MN. There do seem to be some nasty individuals around - in that respect, MN is just a microcosm of life, I guess.

I need to do some more reading back to find out what's been going on with everyone but I wish health to the sick, happiness to the sad, strength to the weak and love to the lonely.

Hello Sweetest! Good to see you here.

Praying for all as I read through. I seem to suddenly have a thousand things to do but not really the energy yet and keep getting distracted. I am trying to write a seminar for a conference next week but it's not really coming together yet....hmm.

Teaandcake certainly praying for a friend. It's so hard feeling lonely. It's easy to say the Holy Spirit is our comforter - and he is - but sometimes we just need someone to have a laugh and a cry with. Praying.

Could you pray for the same for me and dh? We have loads of friends all over the country and see them fairly often but it's the day to day close by friends we are really missing and feeling a bit lonely atm...know we haven't been here long, and have made some friends - it's just getting that depth of relationship, it all takes time (and I'm impatient!) Just feeling a bit sad. It doesn't help not having a church as such - we are going to one as part of the job but it's not the same...don't feel like I know many people there and it's hard (doesn't help that I haven't been in over a month now)

MHD you are pushing it, dearie. You have been told to rest for another week yet, not have a thousand and one things to do.

Praying for all as I read through.

Not so good here today. Back to the hospital for a check up. There's a problem with my leg that they can't deal with, so I'm being referred on. My hand is getting quite stiff while I wait for the physio appointment, which is next week - 4 weeks after referral. The consultant seemed a bit that I was still waiting. I'm a bit worried about all that.

Good news, though: I should be able to drive in a couple of weeks. But bad news: DH is going away for a week tomorrow. Good news to go with that is someone is here to help me, particularly with school runs, but that has problems attached of not being able to relax and be by myself.

Or perhaps I'm just seeing problems where I shouldn't. The good thing about DH being away is that it makes it easier to get an early night! :) That might help my perspective!

I always seem to come on here so late ...
Exhausted right now - been up since very early hours preparing for a meeting (turned out I didn't need to do all that preparation, it was quite laid back) and took a DC to station as he's back to Uni for the Spring Term today. Just got in and walked past his bedroom - untidy, stuff lying around, his room alright (missing him) and could I ask anyone who is up for prayers for a safe journey for him, please! About a 7 hour train journey - he'll get in at midnight. Thanks xx

Anyway, I wanted to say to Friend of Dorothy - one of our cats, also old (about 12 or 13), rescue cat, was diagnosed with kidney failure and thyroid problems, amongst others. Been, for a couple of years, on a Hills prescription pet food diet and recent blood tests have shown a marked improvement and she's so much better in herself. We get this from the vet but as it's quite expensive (very, actually), we're looking elsewhere but will stick to it for DC (Dear Cat) as she likes it and it seems to be helping ..

www.hillspet.com/cat-care/cat-disease-kidney-disease.html

is a link to a description of the food (wet, dry) but I guess your vet has advised? Prayers for your cat - they are great, loyal friends.

Good night all - late prayers tonight.

Prayers...

how is that boy of yours?

car booked in for mot.

ds was told by me that he could have a sticker for hanging up his coat/doing his name card, which he did, but no sticker froom nursery. I wonder if that was why he was awful for the rest of the morning?

Oh, that's not fair, is it? I presume the nursery was in on this and they knew their role! So many times ds (4) has hit me, then said, "I'm cross because you didn't do such-and-such" (that he was expecting me to do, sometimes legitimately, usually not!) They don't always have good coping mechanisms when things go wrong, do they?

Teacher told dh yesterday that ds is getting in trouble for "being violent" - don't know if these are dh's or teacher's words. Not again. Thought he was doing better here, but perhaps I just wasn't hearing about the problems.

I think he and dd2 are having trouble making good friendships. Please pray for them! And for wisdom for me to help them if I can.

Flying visit... prayers for all.

Sweetest - good to see you. I was thinking about you just yesterday.

Dorothy - so sad about your cat. I am so sorry.

Tea&Cake - thinking of you too.

Love and prayers all round - sorry to drop in and out. Horrible day tomorrow which I am dreading - especially meeting at 9.00 which could be OK or could be really nasty. I am a bit wobbly about it. Prayers appreciated. Will come back and update.

good luck tuo.