New Christian Prayer Thread for February...

[Tuo]

Is it too early to call this the ?early Spring? thread? Wishful thinking?

Praying at this time especially for:
amberlight ? for strength to cope with those who would campaign against those with ASDs; and, in contrast, giving thanks for her work in raising awareness of the needs of people with autism;
BabyBeatrice and her family ? for healing and fortitude as they deal with Beatrice?s illness;
BlackEyedSusan ? for health and strength for her; for an easier time at school for her children; and for her mum to feel more settled;
BlueTinkerbell ? giving thanks for her baby DD; and praying for her as she explores her vocation;
charlottecollinsislost ? for her to know more certainty in her difficult relationship situation;
DoctorAnge ? for health for her little girl;
Dontsteponthemomeraths ? for her DS as he is referred to the community paediatrician; for her ?LM? as he tries to establish contact with his children; for her brother to regain full use of his thumb, following an accident;
DutchOma and Bob ? for health for Bob and for him to feel at ease in his new ; and for Oma to feel supported as she cares for him day-to-day;
FlatsInDagenham ? for the family and friends of her colleague, who died recently; for her SIL who has cancer; and for her brother and their family;
GingerCurl ? for the successful and (relatively) stress-free completion of her thesis;
HaveALittleFaith ? for health and happiness as she nears the end of her pregnancy;
jann2013 ? for her health; for an easier relationship with her ex; and for her to feel accepted at her church following the break-up of her relationship;
Kaykat ? for her and her DS to know peace and happiness as they emerge from an abusive relationship;
MadHairDay - for her continued good health; and for her whole family and their mission, that they will find the resources (financial, practical, spiritual, whatever) that they need to grow and flourish;
PositiveAttitude ? for her mission overseas; and especially for her DD1 who has been going through some tough times and may soon be spending some time abroad with her parents; for happiness for the whole Attitude family; also for PA?s mum who has Alzheimer?s; and prayers of thanks for the birth of PA?s baby great-nephew;
raininginbaltimore ? for healing for her broken foot; for health for her baby girl who has terrible reflux; and for her financial situation to improve;
Roomforalittleone - for her hyperemesis to ease and for her house sale to go through smoothly, easing her family?s financial anxieties;
Teahouse ? for healing following her TVT operation;
waitingtobeamummy ? for her to feel closer to God following a series of difficult situations, and in the meantime for her to feel our prayers supporting her;
...and for all who post on this thread, for those who lurk, for occasional visitors, and for those known to us who are in need of prayer, whether mentioned here or not.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayers.

[RoomForALittleOne]

Have replied

And I reckon your DS was right. How on earth is your brain supposed to cope with that many swirly spotty lights and not get a headache or totally disorientated? There's probably too many areas of the brain being stimulated at once with all the light, movement and noise from the disco.

[blackeyedsusan]

i was thrilled that he could say too spotty rather than scream.

[Dutchoma]

That is such an enormous step forward, BES, can't be underestimated, no wonder you are thrilled.

[MadHairDay]

Afternoon all, that is wonderful BES :) Bless him at the spotty disco. And lovely about his friend!

Roomy, aw lovely to feel the baby move, especially after you've been feeling so rough the past few days.

Kaykat, I can't put it any better than Oma, she is so wise as usual. Just remember you are yourself, made in God's image, you are who you are meant to be, and your purpose is not bound up in other people and in serving your h and your ds. It's not in anything you do, but in who you are. I love that in the Christian life our purpose does not have to be in what we are to others or what we do in society, but only in who we are in God - you're his precious daughter. Loved and delighted in. What could be a higher purpose? Praying for you.

Jan, continuing to pray.

PA, how are things?

Having a nice relaxing weekend, still feeling much better. Feel a bit more cheered up re ministry too so thanks for prayers.

[pannetone]

I haven't often posted on this thread but I have just had some very sad news. A mum at school and church who was expecting her fourth child died of a heart attack yesterday. They managed to save the baby who was born a month early but is ok. My heart goes out to her husband and 3 children who are in the juniors at school. It was very sudden and unexpected - the mum was well and their had been no problems with the pregnancy. I was on a school trip with her on Thursday. It is so shocking that something so awful can happen completely unexpectedly. Please pray for her husband and children and the whole extended family.

[Dutchoma]

Oh pannetone, I'm so glad you came on here to ask for prayers for your friend. Sometimes the only consolation we have is in knowing there is a God and knowing that when things get really awful He is still there. It can't get much more awful though, can it? May God have mercy on that dear family.

[RoomForALittleOne]

Oh, Pannetone! How sad! Definitely praying for her DH and 4 DCs. Also praying for you as well. It must be such a shock for you. May you all know the peace of The Lord at this time.

[pannetone]

Thank you Dutchoma and RoomForALittleOne. Please pray for our church and school community as well. So many families are going to be so shocked and upset by this loss. At school we already have a family where the mum died of meningitis 3 years ago - that bereaved dad has a child in the same class as the newly bereaved family. The same class has a family who tragically lost their 1 year old just over a year ago. I pray for them all as it will cause them so much heartache with memories of their losses.

Duthchoma - I did have a moment of feeling angry with God that this should be happening again, but I know that truly God is with us 'weeping with us in the pain'.

[Dutchoma]

Yes, of course you feel anger towards God in such circumstances, you would not be human if you didn't. And yet in the deepest pain people have said they have found the deepest peace and that is what I pray for all the bereaved people in your schooll and church: that the peace of God will truly come upon you in all its fullness

[Tuo]

Pannetone - I am glad you came here too. I am praying for that family and for your church and school community. I pray that you will be able to support one another through this terrible time; in my experience, when the most awful things happen we can often be surprised by the ability of human beings to show love and strength and truly to be there for one another. May God's peace be with you all at this time.

[RoomForALittleOne]

Pannetone, probably a silly question, but do you know if people are cooking meals for the family or shopping, cleaning, offering to do the school run when it's appropriate? I only ask because 1) I felt a real God prompting to do so (it seems obvious to me, but I am not about to argue with God in case I look like a fool) and 2) IME, men like to 'cope' and often you have to just give them help without asking first (sounds rude I know but it's the only reason we got any help while I was really sick as DH was too busy coping to agree to accepting help). Of course I will pray for the wider community. I particularly pray for wise and sensitive words from the vicar in church tomorrow. And that people will realise that when there is nothing good to say, it's OK to not say something totally trite but to come alongside each other in recognising that life is sometimes totally sh*t. As I've said on here before though, God is good and God is fair. So when life is this bad, there is no more perfect being to lean on and rest in the presence of.

[RoomForALittleOne]

DS kept us up until gone 2am vomiting. He is now totally fine, full of beans in fact. DH and I are not. He has to go to his placement today and has an essay due tomorrow. Please pray for him. And please pray for lack of grumpiness due to tiredness...

[cloutiedumpling]

Pannetone - praying for the family and the wider community.

BES - that is wonderful news about DS. I hope everything goes well with your DD too. In my opinion some teachers teach to the level of the average person in the class, so that the people at the bottom and the top don't get the attention they need too. Friends have raised similar issues at parents nights and have felt that the teacher has looked at them in amazement and said "but your child is doing fine and is doing all that is required of them".

[MadHairDay]

Pannetone - there are just no words. The family, school, church and you all are in my prayers :(

[pannetone]

Thank you for prayer. Room - Hope your family's day went as well as it could with the lack of sleep.

The bereaved family are getting practical help. The mum's sister (who is single, no children) is staying and their mum is coming over from Europe today. R. had lots of friends locally and they are rallying round as are her neighbours. The baby is still in hospital but a good weight(for gestation) and doing ok. R.'s sister says he is a beautiful baby. The 3 DC have been to see their new brother - and their mum.

I'm not a close friend but I will make be in touch with those who know the family best to offer help. I can see it is important for us all not to think someone else is doing it - and to organise help when the poor Dad has so much on his mind.

My friend knows the family better than me and she saw the Dad today. He is very shocked. It all happened so quickly on Friday. Having chest pain R. was transferred from a local hospital to a city one and they knew how serious it was - apparently one of the nurses was crying. The Dad thinks R was holding on for the baby. I just pray that her determination meant she didn't feel afraid and that on some level she knows that she gave life to her baby whilst she was losing hers.

[Kaykat]

Please pray for me. Don't want to post details but desperately needed. I'm happy for anyone to message me who wants to know more.

[jann2013]

hope ur ok Kaykat thinking of you x

[GingerCurl]

Praying for the family, school and community and you, Pannetone.
I hope you are OK Kay. Praying.
Yay re BES DS at disco. Praying re DDs situation.
How is your cold MHD? I've been praying that it hasn't migrated to you lungs.
Amber, how are you?
How's Bob, Oma?
Jann are you getting any sleep?
I'm struggling with feeling v resentful towards my DB's wife. It seems that since she's come into our lives she's damaged, or tried to damage, just about all DB's relationships with his family, incl. his sons, who don't feel welcome to see him and our DSis. I'm also angry with DB for letting her do it. DB wife's due to be ordained within the next 2 years, depending on when she finishes her training. What on earth were they thinking when they accepted her as a candidate for the ministry? Thinking about all this makes me so angry and sad and feel very un-Christian towards her.

[Dutchoma]

Oh Ginger that is such a hard situation. Hopefully you can keep track of the fact that God is just and sees into the heart of each one of us. He will be the judge, the righteous judge of everyone. All you can do is love and support your DB and his family and leave her to the mercy of God. It is very hard though.

We are alright-ish, we saw dd and dgrandchildren yesterday, which was hard for Bob as they can be a bit noisy.

[pannetone]

I went to the breaved Dad's house today with some other mums. Please continue to pray for L. His grief is terrible to see. He is in shock and can't make sense of the tragedy - as indeed none of us can. R. died of an aortal anuerism. I now appreciate and thank God for the miracle of the baby being saved.

Also a prayer for a mum who knew R. well. She lost her husband to the same condition 5 years ago when her DS was 3. She is reliving the terrible time she went through.

[blackeyedsusan]

praying kay. and others.

[Tuo]

Praying for Kay, Panettone, Gingercurl, BES, Jan, Bob, Room and all... Has anyone heard from Kay? I hope she's OK...

I feel it's time to repost St Augustine's night prayer, for all those on this thread and/or known to us who need it:

Watch, dear Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and let your angels protect those who sleep. Tend the sick. Refresh the weary. Sustain the dying. Calm the suffering. Pity the distressed. We ask this for the sake of your love, AMEN.

[Kaykat]

My H sank to new lows of emotional blackmail, threats and lies. He is also a sexual predator to me and other women and its caught up with him. I have been referred to a high risk domestic abuse multi agency team. Can't even go to my own house ATM. I really want to get back to my house.

[blackeyedsusan]

oh kay. hugs. and prayers. I hope they give you lots of support.

I have meeting with the head/autism advice and caf.

[jann2013]

praying, Kat lots of hugs and many thoughts how upsetting

thinking of each of you

would appreciate prayer this morning i have a docs appointment