Monday: Faith (1)

Oh you of little faith!

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Monday and it is very early in the morning, and God woke me this morning to do His work. Monday, blessed Monday, the first day of the work week. Monday is the day we set aside to pray for our leaders, our Military, our police, our firefighters, and all others who work so hard to keep us safe and well. Please add your doctors to your prayers today also.

Regardless if you like our leaders, you do need to LOVE THEM and PRAY FOR THEM. And remember to pray for the families of all those also. Please also as you pray for our military, pray for our MERCHANT MARINES. These brave men and women, running these big ships full of goods, many taking supplies to our troops, are being hijacked by those pirates, and trust me on this, they are not from Pittsburgh Pa.

Oh you of little faith! There is a reason why God is giving me messages this week on faith. For right now I just want you to stop and say PRAISE THE LORD.

Faith (1): Matthew 6:28 - "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O YOU OF LITTLE FAITH?" (NIV)

Now I asked you to say PRAISE THE LORD, and please say it again with me. PRAISE THE LORD. So many times we pray and pray for something and it does not always happen. Now I am very sure and have faith that God hears all my prayers, and if He hears mine, I am also sure that He is hearing yours. Sometimes the prayers are not answered by the time we say Amen, so we think they are not going to be answered, or sometimes it might be in God's will to answer our prayer in a different way and we missed out on the answer. And listen to this, sometimes we must do things to help on those prayers. This week I want to write about Faith, but in the most part I want to write about it as it concerns our heath, and the healing power, the MIGHTY HEALING POWER, OF OUR LORD JESUS.

I believe in the healing power of our Lord Jesus, over and over again we see it in the Bible, and over and over again we see it in friends or even in our own bodies. And I would say that God has healed us thousands of times before we even knew we were sick. In other words, He blocked it. I give all glory to God for I know I have had God's healing hand on cancer in my body, and I give all glory to God for His mighty healing hand on the cancer of my brother in Christ, Bob, squarewheels, Beard. I also know sometimes we pray for healing of things and then do things to hinder God's work. Again I am going to use myself as an example. I pray daily for healing of my back, I need new knees according to the doctors, and I also need at least one shoulder, maybe two, as I cannot get them up in the air anymore, except when praising God ... other than that, they just will not work. But as Dolores and I pray for the healing, I keep on lifting all I can lift, and I refuse to let it get to me. Is that hurting the healing? I don't know, but I need to keep going for God. I know my late brother had cancer, caused by his smoking. Yet as we pray for healing of cancer, people, so many of them, keep smoking. So I ask, why might God want to heal a person of cancer if they are just going to put it right back in their body?

This week, however, I want you to really dwell on the faith part. Do you have faith that God will heal you? Listen to this, week after week at the Bridges I have prayed with, prayed for, and also from time to time asked you to pray, for a man named Don who is blind. Yesterday I wrapped my big old arms around this man as he sat in a wheel chair in church and I prayed for God to give Him is sight. As I finished praying he said to me, "Pastor Dan, when I get up in the morning or after a good nap, I can see light and count my fingers ... I can see my fingers." So I stopped and prayed again, thanking God for bringing in some light, and I HAVE FAITH THAT DON WILL SEE!! It is not because of me, although I do believe God heals through the hands of others, and I have indeed prayed over and over again for that gift. I give all glory to God, for even if He uses me it is just that, He is using me as a tool. Now if you recall from the Bible, and the verse has slipped my memory right now, but God healed the eyes of a man, and the man then saw "men as trees walking", so our Lord God, our Lord Jesus touched his eyes again. So with Don, this just might be the first touch. So please warriors, pray and pray and pray for the healing of Don's eyesight.

As I go on this week I am going to mention others who have been healed, and also some who are waiting, and folks, the big thing I want to bring out is that we NEED TO KEEP OUR FAITH. Please do not lose that faith. For listen to this ... prayer is indeed the key to heaven ... but it is faith that really opens the door. (words from a great song)

Now pray in faith with me. oh, and if you are not praying in faith ... why even pray?

Dear Father in Heaven, some of us seem to let our faith run low, or even run out. We here in America seem to want things to happen at a wave of the hand, or the first time we talk about something. Lord, when we want something we seem to want it yesterday. Lord, I will be very happy to have my prayers answered according to Your will and in Your time, for You know best what is best for us. However Lord, I do, from time to time need to twist Your arm, so to speak. And this is one time, please dear Lord, open those eyes of Don and let him see the beauty of Your work. Also Lord, as I pray for Pastor Charles Idler and Pat Parvin to come up out of those wheelchairs, I want to add to the list, Sharon Saylor, and ask that Your healing hand brings all three up. Let them rise and walk again, and Lord, please let Pastor get back to preaching. Lord, I pray for all those in our military today, all those who work to keep us safe and healthy, like police, firefighters, those on the ambulances of the road and air ... the doctors, nurses and all those working in the health field. Lord, I pray for President Obama today and ask that You keep him and his family safe, as I pray also for our other leaders, Federal, State, and local, Lord bless them. And Lord, thanks again for this line, and Lord I need Your help today as I sing for a group. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Now go forth, HAVING FAITH, having very strong faith, sharing your love and your blessings with others. And let me close with a question I asked my flock yesterday. If you ask God to come into your heart to live ... are you giving Him a good home? love ya, dan.