Good evening, Family! 🙏🏽
We are praising God for:
🙌🏽 Kristina is grateful to God for Seth and for our awesome God granting him another year of life...his birthday is on Tuesday! 🎈 She also praised Him for keeping her and Baby safe. They had a little scare with test results, but thankfully everything was okay! Her team of doctors has set a date for the baby's birth, but let's keep PRAYING TOGETHER for God's Timing to prevail!
🙌🏽 Carole thanked God for helping her brother-in-law Harry make it through surgery without complications, but asks everyone to continue praying for a full recovery and relief from his chronic pain.
🙌🏽 Angelique praised God for His faithfulness and favor over Matthew as he completed the academy. She thanks God for always drawing our children closer to Him and for keeping His promises to us as parents.
🙌🏽 Doris thanked her church family for keeping her in prayer last Sabbath during her emergency surgery. She appreciates the prayers and the kindness shown to her!
🙌🏽
We are also praying for:
🙏🏽 Maria asked that we pray for Jordan as is working for the city clearing snow for the first responders to be able to get where they need to go. May God guide and protect him.
🙏🏽 Doris asked that we pray for her friends, Annie and Izzy. Annie was admitted to the hospital temporarily wand Izzy is experiencing severe knee pain.
🙏🏽 Evelyn is having a birthday this week, may God grant her continued health and blessings.
🙏🏽 Angelique's nephew, Jordan. That he will be reminded of how much God loves him.
🙏🏽 Missael asked for prayer for h is friend Victor, who is battling last stage cancer. For God to strengthen his faith and give him peace to accept whatever HE allows.
🙏🏽 Prayer for Titi Doris who was in surgery to remove her appendix while we were on the line for worship. May God grant her a safe and full recovery.
🙏🏽 Mr. Zingale (Connor's dad) as he battles a very serious infection after a dental procedure. TUESDAY'S UPDATE: The doctors were able to identify the bacteria, so they are treating the infection in a more targeted way. Please pray for Connor's family as well, that God would give them strength and courage.
🙏🏽Uncle Junior asked the church family to pray for him.
🙏🏽 Danielle asked for combined prayer for her classmates; dinner have recovered from Covid, but others haven't. May God help them all.
🙏🏽 Genny is asking for the Lighthouse to pray for her sister who just found out that she has cancer.
🙏🏽 All the silent petitions.
🙏🏽Carvins, Astrid’s friend, who is desperately in need of healing and new kidney after his transplant surgery was canceled due to him having COVID. May the lord protect him as he awaits a new kidney.
🙏🏽Bianca, Vishal and Baby Sebastian. May God continue to guide and protect them.
🙏🏽 Doris asked for continued prayer for her family, including her daughters, grandchildren and siblings.
🙏🏽 Catheryn, Connor and Baby Nora. May His ministering angels be their support system as they transition into this new life as a family.🙏🏽
Tonight’s Devotional was shared by Ruth.💖
The Spiritual Practice of Surrendering Worry
When an irritating grain of sand dwells within an oyster for a while, the oyster responds by coating the intruder and protecting itself from harm. In time, that gritty annoyance becomes a beautiful, treasured pearl. The oyster does this instinctively.
We have an opportunity to do the same. We can respond to the irritant of worry by covering it in prayer and asking God to protect our hearts, minds, and spirits. The result? God’s peace blesses us with the pearl of wisdom.
This way of responding to worry is a spiritual practice that will change your life. Most of us don’t do this early in our journey of belief. It takes life experiences. Falling, getting up in forgiveness. Worrying all night, then in the light of day and truth, wondering why you anguished so. Those lessons allow you to grasp God’s faithfulness. Covering your concern with prayer and asking for the hope of Christ starts as a happy experiment and becomes a healthy practice.
With awe, we realize that it is possible to pray without ceasing by offering up concerns, questions, doubts, fears (and praises…don't forget those) as they appear. In this way we keep our prayer line, our lifeline to God, open. God satisfies our needs, speaks to our broken hearts, calms sensitive souls, whispers assurances to an anxious mind, and fills us with his peace-loving wisdom.
Take your thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and surrender them to God out of obedience and faith. Deeper encouragement comes when you also relinquish words and phrases that have anchored you to fear. Exchange them for words that emphasize the nature of God’s character: loving, enduring, ever-present, faithful, eternal, unconditional, unchanging, gracious, merciful. Rest in those.
Regularly immerse your mind in the help and comfort of Scripture so eternal truth enters your thoughts before temporal tangents begin. God’s promises and presence will release you from the restraints of fear-thinking and His peace will guard your heart and mind so that you might live, breathe, believe, trust, serve, pray, and think with a faith that produces the beautiful treasures of hope and wisdom.
Reflection: Commit to ongoing prayer as a spiritual practice. See how your thoughts change in the next few days as you freely give your concerns to God’s care and seek His guidance, wisdom, and peace to move forward.
Prayer: God, I am thankful to be able to lift up each concern to you. In your wisdom, Lord, I have learned to release worry and hold onto wonder, to turn from fear and walk in faith. Thank you for this way of peace through life.
Still love this trade, my worries for God’s peace.❤️