Turning Points: Learning to Ask for Help
It
has been written that problems have the potential to become opportunities for
growth. Well, I had a problem…
Recently,
I encouraged visitors to our Sowing Seeds of Faith Website to share their
concerns through an interactive web page, entitled “Prayer Needs.” Over the
next few weeks, I received nearly one hundred requests for prayer from around
the world. Here are a few examples (Names have been changed and requests were
edited):
- Alice (Alabama) We are the custodial parents of a seven-year-old granddaughter. Now her unfit biological mother is going to file to regain custody and we are devastated.
- Stephanie (California) I am a single mother raising a teenage daughter who just turned thirteen. My church is not offering much support. It’s scary and very lonely sometimes.
- Larry (Canada) I would like to change but I have a hard time obeying God’s Word. I would like to serve him and find happiness. I don’t want to fall back to the world.
- Allison (Maryland) We have been trying to have a child for almost five years. We have been through many doctors and procedures. We conceived once and lost the baby ten weeks later. We were both devastated.
I personally answered each request with encouragement and prayer but every day three to four more letters would arrive. Soon the requests for prayer became overwhelming. I was beginning to feel inadequate to meet the needs.
- Nicole (California) I lost my Mom and have a broken heart. She is with Jesus and I should be rejoicing but some days I hurt so much inside. I want to feel joy again.
- (No name) I am 33 and mother of a 12-year-old son. My husband was unfaithful and I must file for a divorce. He has no desire to continue being married to me. I am really struggling with why this happened to me. I don’t run around. I’ve been a good wife.
- Patricia (South Carolina) My son is serving a fifteen-year sentence for something he is innocent of. Please ask God to turn his heart. Pray God’s blessings upon him.
- Colleen (Colorado) My friend was badly injured in a terrible car accident. He looks well on the outside now but he’s still having memory loss, fatigue, mood swings, etc. He desperately needs help.
I wanted desperately to suggest words of hope that would movingly articulate God’s love and grace but at this point the person needing help and solid scriptural guidance was me.
Several respected leaders asked
Jesus to come and heal the slave of a Roman officer who was near death. Before
they arrived, however, the officer sent friends to meet Jesus who said, “Lord, don’t trouble
yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy. Just say the word from where
you are, and my servant will be healed. I know because I am under the authority
of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to
say, ‘Go,’ and they go.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to
the crowd, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all the
land of Israel!” And when they returned the slave was healed. (Parts
of Luke 7:6-10)
On the surface, Jesus using
a Roman officer as the main character in a lesson about faith makes no sense.
Unless that is the lesson… For you see, it was the Roman Officer, not
the religious leaders who grasped exactly Who Jesus was. “Just say the word
from where you are and my servant will be healed.” While the religious
experts, the insiders were conducting debates, a religious outsider; a Roman
officer went from debates to faith to action.
The Bad News: I am the
religious insider who neglected to trust in God’s authority and help readily
available.
The Good News: It’s never
too late to ask for help. For me, that was a turning point.
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I value and encourage your comments on this devotion. Many of you have helped and I thank you for being a part of teaching some valuable lessons. May God continue to bless your prayer ministry. If you would like to be a part of our Sowing Seeds Ministry prayer team, simply click the prayer needs page below and fill out the short form. I'll add you to the list and you will begin receiving prayer needs weekly.
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