Help! Where Do I Go?

Saturday was an interesting morning.  Darrell and I had our usual walk and I had “directed” myself that I was going to attend to some long overdue garden issues.   Since my mother died, I haven’t had much gusto to decorate for the holidays but this season I was going to improve upon my feeble attempt from last year.  I rummaged through a corner in the garage and located some of my fall yard décor.  I had decided to stick a cute sunflower flag in the corner of the front stone flowerbed.  At that spot, the bed is mid thigh high.  Instead of climbing into the bed to step down on the prongs, I just threw my right leg over the top level of the stone bed and was successfully able to press the prongs down.  It was a quick fix.  No problem until I attempted to swing my leg back over the top of the ledge and my shoe got caught.  My foot flew up and I braced my fall to the ground with my left hand. Lying on the ground, I thought quickly I should arise lest one of my neighbors would think I was injured.  Two prideful thoughts infiltrated that colossal mistake.  Scripture says in Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.  Certainly it was my overwhelming pride in my agile ability to do the act in that manner and caution to the wind that while I am 63 I think I can move as if I am 30. I certainly did not want my neighbors to see me laying in the yard, in the front yard of the house on the corner by the neighborhood entrance in need of help.  My whole mentality and actions screamed of my pride and haughty spirit, which did end in a fall. I will check with Darrell about that scriptural application.

Pride is not the topic this week but prayer.  I called out to God in prayer in the midst of my excruciating pain and in between making some phone calls. I asked God to sustain me through the pain.  I even pepped talked myself that I had birthed 5 children naturally, confident I could manage the wrist and arm pain.  That was another one of my prideful moments. Darrell was not at home at the time of my fall but I called him. We were not sure if it was a sprain or a break/fracture.  After some time, I decided I would take myself to urgent care.  Darrell was coming right behind me in his truck.  On the way I focused only on God, asking Him to continue to sustain me in the pain, to heal me and give the doctor wisdom.  How quickly I called on the attributes of God to meet my needs.  Prayer is our lifeline to our God for all of our needs.  Prayer is one of our foundational activities in our fellowship with God our Father.

Every thing, topic, thought, forgiveness, sin and need can be taken to God in prayer. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV) scriptures says: Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:4-8 instructs us to: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Jesus speaks about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:1-13 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
 Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts,
 as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

Later in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:7-12 Jesus stated,  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!  So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.  These words ask, seek, knock are commands in present tense to 2nd person plural “ya’ll.

 Our prayer is not only for our needs but to also express our adoration of God, hallowing His name and expressing gratitude.  I did get to the point of expressing thanksgiving to God that the waiting room was not full, I was seen relatively quickly, there was a clear diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. 

Here are some people in scripture you might know that prayed to God for help.                                                                                  
Courage:                                                                       Moses - Exodus 3:12-12
                                                                                        Daniel - Daniel 6:10
Direction/Wisdom:                                                    Solomon – 1 Kings 3:7-9 
Distressed/Help:                                                             David – Psalm 77:2-6
Provision:                                                                          Abraham Genesis 22:1-18
Healing:                                                                            Ananias prayed for Paul Acts 9:13-17
                                                                                           Peter prayed for Tabitha Acts:9:32-43
Fear:                                                                                  Gideon Judges7:3-15
 Thanksgiving:                                                                 Paul - Philippians 1:3-6
I leave you with this truth we can go to God with anything and everything.  God is big enough to handle all of your emotions, thoughts, worries…. the whole kitchen sink of dirty dishes.  God is good and loves us. 
I did fracture my wrist. No surgery needed.  Brace for 6 weeks.  (I am thankful that I have another hand to type)
Blessings,
Karen