Pray for President Bush -- Day 2783

Most High God, we seek You this day. We seek Your goodness; We seek Your wisdom; We seek Your guidance; We seek Your grace, glory and power. In so doing, we acknowledge our need for You and Your great power in and for those of us who believe. You alone are our God.

Today we are seeking Your power to uphold President Bush. Surround him with Your servants to give him the wisdom, the protection and the guidance he needs. Provide him with sufficient grace to be a success at what he is setting his hand to. By Your Spirit of Truth, show him things to come so that he can prepare us as a nation. Specifically, Father, we pray that You would show him how to handle the economic issues that we face.

We bless You for each defender of freedom You have provided and called. Anoint them for success, show them where the enemies are hiding and let Your Word have free course among them. Teach them to seek Your face for each battle plan.

We rejoice with the angels over each person who chooses life and becomes a Heaven-bound born again Christian. We stand in agreement with every believer who is praying for loved ones. We call each sanctified by their prayers and thank You for the work of Your Holy Spirit in giving him the gift of faith and enlightening the eyes of his understanding as Your laborers give them the Good News of the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

April 28, 2008

The Greatest Gift

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READ: Job 2

They sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him. —Job 2:13

We rightly disparage Job's three friends for their insensitive response to his suffering. Yet when they came, they sat in silence beside Job for 7 days before speaking. As it turned out, those were the most eloquent moments they spent with him.

Instinctively, I shrink back from people who are in pain. Who can know whether they want to talk about their predicament or not? Do they want to be consoled, or cheered up? What good can my presence possibly do?

Tony Campolo tells of going to a funeral. By mistake he ended up in the wrong parlor. It held the body of an elderly man, and his widow was the only mourner present. She seemed so lonely that Campolo decided to stay for the funeral. He even drove with her to the cemetery.

At the conclusion of the graveside service, Campolo finally confessed that he had not known her husband. "I thought as much," said the widow. "But it doesn't really matter. You'll never, ever, know what this means to me."

Most often those who suffer remember the quiet, unassuming person. Someone who was there when needed, who listened, who didn't keep glancing at a watch, who hugged, touched, and cried. In short, someone who was available and came on the sufferer's terms, not their own.

In our shattered times, anguish relents
Not at mere idle words spoken in vain,
But rather from the silent eloquence
Bestowed by those rare souls who share our pain. —Evans

Often, the best comfort is just being there.

Bible in One Year: 1 Samuel 13–15; Proverbs 10:12-21

AMEN SISTER AND GRACE TO ALL CHRISTIAN PATRIOTS!

“Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to
hope.”
- Psalm 119:49

Whatever your especial need may be, you may readily find some promise in
the Bible suited to it. Are you faint and feeble because your way is rough
and you are weary? Here is the promise-”He giveth power to the faint.”
When you read such a promise, take it back to the great Promiser, and ask
him to fulfil his own word. Are you seeking after Christ, and thirsting
for closer communion with him? This promise shines like a star upon
you-”Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filled.” Take that promise to the throne continually; do not
plead anything else, but go to God over and over again with this-”Lord,
thou hast said it, do as thou hast said.” Are you distressed because of
sin, and burdened with the heavy load of your iniquities? Listen to these
words-”I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions, and will no
more remember thy sins.” You have no merit of your own to plead why he
should pardon you, but plead his written engagements and he will perform
them. Are you afraid lest you should not be able to hold on to the end,
lest, after having thought yourself a child of God, you should prove a
castaway? If that is your state, take this word of grace to the throne and
plead it: “The mountains may depart, and the hills may be removed, but the
covenant of my love shall not depart from thee.
“ If you have lost the sweet sense of the Saviour’s presence, and are
seeking him with a sorrowful heart, remember the promises: “Return unto
me, and I will return unto you;” “For a small moment have I forsaken thee,
but with great mercies will I gather thee.
“ Banquet your faith upon God’s own word, and whatever your fears or
wants, repair to the Bank of Faith with your Father’s note of hand,
saying, “Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused
me to hope.
“

C.H.SPURGEON

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

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