Praying even when I don't see the answer

http://youtu.be/du0il6d-DAk - Blessed be Your Name - Matt Redman

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.  I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “

I don't know about you, but my heart is so burdened by the suffering I see around me.  People I love are hurting, and there doesn't seem to be any relief.  The devotional that I've included below is from PrimeTime with God Daily Devotionals and it addresses some of my "whys".   I still don't like it when good people suffer but as a dear friend who is suffering herself says, "I don't have to understand.  I just have to trust."

What can I do?  How can I help my friends who are hurting?  I can pray.

But how do I pray, especially when I don't see an answer coming?

Confess sin and let the blood of Jesus cleanse. Prayer must flow from a cleansed vessel.
Psalm 66:18
“If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me.”

Pray fervently to be led by the Holy Spirit to the exact needs of the one for whom you are praying.  
Romans 8:26 NLT
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

Pray in agreement with others.
Matthew 18:19-20 NLT
“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”


Pray without ceasing.  Pray until God answers.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT
Always be joyful.  Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Luke 18:1-8 NLT
One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people,  but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”



Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge.  Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Pray with the authority you have in Christ.  His Holy Spirit lives in you and gives His power.
Mark 3:27 NLT
Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.



Ephesians 1:19-20 NLT
I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power ²⁰ that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

Pray the prayer of faith and claim the victory.
1 Corinthians 15:57 NLT
But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray the Scriptures which are full of God's promises. 
Below are three prayers that Paul prayed. When you don't know how to pray, pray along with Paul.  Also, the Bible is full of God's promises.  He tells us to pray in accordance with His perfect will.  Praying the Scriptures is just that; it's lifting up God's promises to Him in prayer on behalf of others:

Ephesians 1:15-23
Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.



I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.  God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.  And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

Ephesians 3:14-21
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,  the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.


Colossians 1:9-12
So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.

Don't stop praying for your family and friends - or for yourself, just because you don't see God answering.
He's answering with the most perfect answer.  Like my friend says "we just have to trust Him."

 
Holy Father, I don't understand but I will trust You.  You've shown Yourself to be loving and compassionate time after time.  I know the love You have for us is immeasurable, greater than we could even begin to comprehend.  This world is full of suffering and struggles but You sent Your Son to save us, and He has overcome this world.  Thank You for sending Jesus to be our Redeemer.  We look forward to the day when there will be no more suffering or pain.  But until then, use us, LORD, for Your glory.  Help us to see each struggle as an opportunity to testify to Your faithfulness.  Help us to remember that You are our strength and deliverer.  You will not leave nor forsake us.  Any thing we face, LORD, we face with You by our side.  We give You all praise and honor.
Dear LORD, I pray today for all my friends who are suffering.  We continue to lift them up to You, LORD, but there doesn't seem to be any relief from their pain and struggles.  Please, LORD, hear our prayer for those who are hurting and feeling alone.  Help them to feel Your loving arms around them, help them to feel Your strength, protection and provision.  Father, help them to know You are with them and will not forsake them.  Help them to trust in Your love and promises, even in the midst of their adversities.
Please forgive us when we fail to trust Your perfect plan for our lives.  Your plan is for good and not evil, a plan to give us a hope and a future.  Our hope is in You, Holy God.  In the blessed Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

http://youtu.be/qs2TQRUnE60 - My Savior My God - Aaron Shust
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Seeing Backward

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman


"O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed" (Psalm 30:7).

It is often difficult to recognize the hand of God when we are in the midst of adversity. We often feel God has hidden His face from us. When the Lord takes us through deep valleys, there will be fruit from the deep valley that we cannot see. You must press into Him with all you have during this time.

God uses the deep valley to frame our lives to create a change in our nature, not just a change in habits. The depth and width of our valley is often an indicator of the level of calling and influence we will have on others in the future. Our adversity is not just for us, but others who will be in our future path of influence. This is not very comforting when you are in the middle of the valley, but know this is a truth in the Kingdom.

It is often years later when we discover the wisdom of God and why He intentionally led us through the dark valley. Life is often lived forward, but understood backward. It is not until we are down the road and we stand on the mountain looking back at through valley that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale and the spiritual deposits He has made in our life while we were there. "He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light" (Job 12:22). When you begin to realize this, you sit back and breathe a sigh of relief because you know that God was in control all along. It didn't seem like it at the time, but He was.

Do you find yourself in the valley? Now is the time to fully trust Him to guide you to higher ground.


Today God Is First (TGIF) devotional message, Copyright by Os Hillman, Marketplace Leaders.

Jesus - Others - You - JOY

This photo was taken about a two years after I started communicating with Emma
and Oscar.  Oscar is top row far left, Emma is holding baby Carol - on top row, 
next to her is Timoland who was about 14 at the time.
is next to her left.





This is the first photo I received of the children with Oscar (in the blue shirt - back row).

The building in the foreground is where the children slept.  It offered  little protection from the

weather.  Oscar and Emma had a dream of being able to build a new hostel, a new, safe latrine,
and a new kitchen.  They believed God would provide.  And He has.

Christmas 2010 - Oscar's kids along with some of the children from the village.
They are standing in front of the new hostel which was completed this year.
Timoland is in the black shirt - back row.  This young man is following in Oscar's
footsteps.  He will complete high school  in a couple of months and hopes to attend a university.

When I first met Emma and then Oscar, I asked them what they hoped to be able to accomplish in the future for Happy Choice Ministries.  Emma gave me a detailed report of what they envisioned for the future.  Her outline included a new kitchen, a new latrine, a new hostel, and various programs to be put in place to help train the children with skills such as sewing, farming, mechanics, etc.  I must tell you, I couldn't see how in the world all this could ever happen.  They had no support - not even their local church was able to help much since most of the members were elderly, widows and poor families who barely could survive themselves. 
But Oscar and Emma believed God's Promises.  Six years later, God has provided through the generosity of his children.  Happy Choice now has a new latrine, a new hostel and a new kitchen.  Oh, yeah, they also have piped water coming right into the kitchen now.  Another of God's amazing blessings.

http://youtu.be/7fwI4qbLpxE - Just Another Mountain - Jamie Slocum

Proverbs 3:9-10
Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.


Proverbs 11:25 .
A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.  (NIV)

Proverbs 13:7
There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.

This is an email I received this morning from my friend, Oscar:

Praise God ,this Morning



I just wanted to thank God the Almighty for His great love unto us .


We are all doing well and God is good .


Thank God so much for the work He has called us to do, caring for the orphaned and all the needy children.


Yesterday i met my former friend who is working in Nairobi .We discussed alot but when i told him what i do, caring for the orphans and needy children, my friend told me that i am wasting my time and resources. He asked me ,''who will care for your children?''


It was a blessed day for me since i took my time to preach the living Word of God to my friend, and at long last he was weeping tears after hearing part of my life stories which he didn't know. I told him i am not interested in owning any thing big here but instead am working for God and to own something in heaven .

The only thing i learnt from him is that there are many people who do not understand what God has called us to do, and we are not doing this work to please any man, but God our Heavenly Father has called us purposely to serve these little ones .
 
Oscar loves to share God's message to anyone he meets.  He and Emma also provided bibles to one of the local schools.
 
 
Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”


Oscar and Emma don't give to receive, although I know their reward in heaven will be great. They may never have many material blessings on this earth.  Their treasures are laid up in heaven.  They sacrifice daily for the 12 children God has entrusted to their care.  If all they had to do was care for their three, their lives would be so much easier.  But Oscar knows what it's like to be left alone on the streets. Oscar was orphaned as a young teen and he remembers very well ,feeling alone, until he met his friend, Jesus.  His heart is full of compassion towards homeless children.  He wants them all to know his true Friend. 

When I first began communicating with Oscar and Emma, I  was uplifted by their words of faith.  They taught me about trusting God and believing in His provision and protection.  No matter how tough things got for them, their faith was strong and unwavering.

Oscar and Emma have three children of their own, Bobby, Bonny and Carol.  Providing for three children can be difficult in Kenya, however, neither Oscar nor Emma are afraid of hard work, and they do everything they can to have enough income to take care of their children. 

But God has given Oscar a heart for the homeless children he sees every day on the streets and in his village.  Oscar remembers too well the hardships he faced when he was left to care for his own needs.  He has taken in several children over the years.  Oscar cares for many of the children in the village who live with a grandparent or sick mother.  They have a roof over their heads, but not much else.  When Oscar has extra food, instead of saving for a rainy day as we might do, he shares his extra food with these other children.

During the elections in Kenya, there was great violence in the streets of Kisumu.  Businesses shut down.  Food was scarce. It was a very dangerous time for everyone.  Oscar's best friend was killed as he traveled on the road between their village and Kisumu.  Oscar was even attacked as he came back from Kisumu with some food for the children.  It was a horrible time.  But God protected the children.  Oscar said that there were breakins in the village.  Young men were roaming the area, stealing anything they could find.  It was if suddenly there was some bio chemical in the air that made people crazy and evil.  I knew Oscar was concerned for the safety of his family and the orphanage.  But he continued to trust God.  I hadn't heard from him for a while, and I knew what was going on in Kisumu from watching the news.  Finally, I received an email from Oscar.  He had some scary things to say.  But once again, I saw a man whose faith was steadfast.  He told me that break ins had occurred in several of the homes in his village. But God had protected the hostel ( the childrens building ) and Oscar's house from attack.  He said some of the homes that came under attack had protective walls surround them.  Yet, the hostel and his home had no walls of protection.  God was their shield.

During this time, one of the young boys who had recently come to live in the hostel decided he could take care of himself.  Food was very scarce and the children must have been hungry.  Oscar said that this young boy had lived on the streets prior to moving into the hostel, finding food any where he could. He probably felt his chances of having enough food was greater out on his own, rather than having to share with 12 other kids. He hadn't been at Happy Choice long enough to see how powerful God works in this ministry.  In desperation, he set out to find food on his own.  Oscar tried to find him, but he never did.

I thought how much we are like that young boy.  When times are tough, and God doesn't seem to be hearing our prayers, we sometimes seek to make our own way, just like this young boy.  If God doesn't provide an answer immmediately, or at least as soon as we think He should, we take matters into our own hands.
But if we trusted God like Oscar does, maybe we would wait for God's timing.  I don't know what happened to the young boy who ran away from the centre, but I am sure the children who stayed and waited on God's provisions are much healthier both physically and spiritually.

Faith is beilieving when we can't see.  It's easy to trust God when everything is going our way, when life is good, and we have everything we need.  True faith is trusting God when you have nothing.  I love this passage in Habakkuk:

Habakkuk 3:17-19
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights. 

This is how Oscar lives his life.  He rejoices in the LORD regardless of his circumstances.  He cares for 12 children who were not born into his family by  natural means.  These children were given to Oscar by God.
And Oscar loves them as his very own. 

I know Oscar must make God smile.  I'm honored to know him and to sit at his feet as he teaches me about faith and trusting in God - no matter what the circumstances.

Father, You are our great Provider and Protector.  I'm so in awe of how You reach down to us with love and kindness, providing for all our needs.  Your compassion is evident throughout Scripture, and I have witnessed it first hand in my life, in the lives of Oscar and Emma and so many others.  I know You are with us.  I know You care and want the best for us.  Thank You,  LORD, for taking care of us and giving us just what we need.  Forgive me for those times I try to do things my way rather than waiting on You.  Father, please direct my steps, help me to follow where You lead me.  Help me to hear Your truth and quickly recognize the lies of the enemy.  Thank You for saving me through Jesus, my Redeemer. I'm so thankful to know that You are with me always.  Father, please continue to bless Oscar, Emma and all the children of Happy Choice ministries.  I know You will provide for them and protect them as You always have.  Father, give Oscar everything he needs to speak Your truths to those you put along his path.  Give him influence in his community and among the children, so that others can see Jesus living in Oscar and be drawn to our Savior. Today, help me to give You control over everything I think, say or do.  Everything I am, LORD, is for your glory.  In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

Top photo is some of the poor widow women who Emma helps standing
in front of the new hostel with Zack and Michael from Lost Orphans
when they visited Happy Choice in August.

The bottom photo is the new kitchen. Oscar wanted Zack
and Michael to cut the ribbons for the grand opening!
This kitchen has a sink and a fireplace for cooking - even storage area
and counter tops.  Looks a little different from the old kitchen seen below.



This was the old kitchen where Emma
prepared meals for the children.