How to Pray

This morning Dennis and I were discussing how to pray for him as he battles this cancer.  The obvious prayer that flows from our hearts is that God will choose to heal Dennis and he will have many more years to serve Him here on earth.  As I’ve said before, I am reminded of how King David pled for the life of his son.  We do that on a daily basis as well.  But Dennis brought up a much bigger issue and prayer need.  His thought is that we also need to be praying that God will give us the grace to walk through whatever is ahead in a manner that will glorify God.  From the first time we heard the diagnosis of Dennis’ illness, that has been his focus and the way in which he has led me in my thinking as well.  Frankly, all of us only have a short period of time on this earth but what we do here and how we live will matter in eternity.  So we hope and pray for physical healing but we also pray for the grace to walk this path in a way that glorifies Christ and points others to him.  

Recently I was reading the blog of another adoptive mom whose daughter is in desperate need of a heart transplant.  This note in her blog struck my heart:

I am tempted to let my imagination take me to places I simply cannot allow myself to go...  Because, as I learned from the writings of Elisabeth Elliot so many years ago,  "God does not supply grace for our imagination."  Rather His all-sufficient grace will be available for my every need, at the very moment I need it!  I have a choice to make.  Will I choose to go to places in my heart and mind without the grace of God to meet me there?  Or will I choose joy for today, knowing that His perfect grace will meet me in that place when I need Him most?

I relate to this so well.  When I choose to allow my thoughts to go down a path I may walk in the future, I am overwhelmed with grief, but when I choose to focus on today and count the blessings God has given us, I have all the grace I need for today.  I am endeavoring to live in today’s grace and blessings knowing that God will supply what we need, when we need it in the future. 

Update on Dennis

Dennis completed five days of chemo last week.  He has 23 days off of the chemo now.  He will do this cycle for five more months.  He goes to the hospital two times a week for the trial drug he is getting throughout the six months of treatment.  About every eight weeks they will do an MRI to check if there are any changes or regrowth of the tumor.  He is doing well with all of the treatments except for the fatigue.  The worst part of the fatigue is how unpredictable it can be. Some days he is doing great and other days will be exhausted. 

We are praising God for how well Dennis is doing.  We are so thankful for the lack of any significant deficits following the surgery.  We know this if often not the case following brain surgery and we marvel at it.

Prayer Requests:            

• Physical healing and strength.
• God to be glorified in our lives.