Devotions @ 3 on 9-13–18

3 a.m. prayer:

Most gracious heavenly Father,

Continuing Proverbs: Righteous vs Wicked! The Whirlwind & The Sure Foundation! “When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation” (Proverbs 10:25). (When the whirlwind of God’s judgment passes by, the wicked is nowhere to be found. But the righteous person is established on the Rock of Ages; nothing can ever move him.) The resemblance of a wicked man to a whirlwind: both destructive, have ruined their own lives and that of many others by their selfish, unscrupulous behavior. They often burst forth with sudden fury, and seem beyond the control of ordinary laws and methods of operation. A whirlwind often descends upon a peaceful valley without any warning and destroys everything in it’s path; like the wicked man, lawless, not guided by principle but by passion and impulse which no one can foretell his next act of violence or who will be his next victim. The whirlwind passes and so does the wicked. However, the righteous man is an everlasting foundation: his character is something to build upon (nothing can be built upon a whirlwind) but a substantial structure can be raised upon a good foundation. Like an anchor, hope and a solid ground of confidence is built upon the word and character of a good and righteous man. This is especially true of the ideal man, Christ Jesus, He is the righteous one. His promises are as anchors of the soul to the children of men. Upon His character rests all their hopes for their own blessedness in the future, and for the restoration of a fallen world.  *****

//Standing Prayer: Always remembering our country, for restoration, our continued peace, and freedom; we ask that You grant wisdom and guidance to those who are in authority, and we pray; and for the protection of our men and women who are on the battlefield, we pray. Lord, heal our land, we pray. There are people in other parts of the world who need protection and relief as they are surrounded by war and poverty; also in need of rescue are Christians who are being persecuted, and we pray.

**REMINDER: **> September 19th @ 11:30, several in the group plan to meet and have lunch; details posted on “Devotions @ 3” Facebook page. For this upcoming gathering, we pray.

And so we begin, “Just for Today”: For anyone who is facing an uncertain path, we pray.

*>NEW Prayer Requests: *> An enormous hurricane continues to intensify and is barreling toward the East Coast. By tomorrow, it is expected to make landfall somewhere between North and South Carolina. Many have evacuated, and will continue, due to the storm’s damaging high force winds, rain and flooding, and we pray.

**<PREVIOUS Prayer Requests: **<Battling Cancer: **< Continuing to remember a dear man with progressive kidney cancer; he is very fatigued, and we pray. **<We continue to lift up a dear lady who has stage 4 pancreatic cancer along with blood clots, and we pray. **<Update:<A wife prays for her hard to live with husband who has a rare form of progressive, appendix cancer, and an infection in his lungs. Because of the pain involved, he has decided not to have his lung drained; he had an appointment yesterday with a pulmonologist and while we await an update, we pray. **<Chronic Pain: <** A dear lady prays for her sister who has unexplained pain, and is currently on a month long camping and fishing trip with her husband, and we pray. **<Divorce:< **A dear grandmother continues to pray for her grandchildren who are being exposed to an immoral living arrangement, and we pray.**<Epilepsy: **Update:< A sister worries about her 64 year old brother who is drinking excessively. He has severe epilepsy, but just can’t seem to move on with his life and let go of the past; hopefully, he will once again consider spending time with and traveling with a well-respected cousin who might be able to influence him, and we pray. **<Financial +:**< A wife is worried about her husband’s mental state and how he interacts with the family; too, he has recently begun having lapses in judgement regarding finances, and we pray. *Update**< Continuing to remember the elderly couple who is about to turn 90 years old and have recently discovered their life-savings account is in jeopardy. Due to dementia they are making some bad financial choices; it’s difficult to get through to them, and we pray. **<Health Problems: **Update:<A dear man has been undergoing tests for his debilitating headaches; along with ulcers on his foot, he also has Type 1 diabetes and vascular dementia. He is scheduled tomorrow for an MRI of the brain, and we pray. **<Update:**<A 20 year old man who has had deep muscular, skeletal problems will begin physical therapy treatment on the 19th. The cost is all out-of-pocket and adds much financial strain to the family, and we pray. **<Heart Related +:** <A sister prays for her brother who has an inoperable tumor near his aorta which doctors believe is benign. As they seek a second opinion, we pray. **< A dear lady endures much verbal abuse from her fatally ill husband who has a bad heart; also she has the responsibility of a very demanding, 90+ year old, ailing father, and we pray. **<A dear lady has difficulty sleeping due to chronic nervousness and heart palpitations, and we pray. **<Homebound: **<One among us is disabled and homebound due to a previous stroke, and we pray. **Identity Crisis: **<A dear grandmother prays for her 16 year old granddaughter who is struggling with gender identity. The parents are heart broken as well as others in the family who love her, and we pray. **<Infections/Injections/Injuries: **<One among us has much back pain, has difficulty walking, suffers from high blood pressure, but is not a candidate for risky surgery at this time. Instead, will take medications and have injections in her back, and we pray. **<One among us suffers from tendonitis in her left heel, and we pray. **<Job Market: **<One in our group is working with a job recruiter to, hopefully, gain suitable employment, and we pray. **<Making Progress: **<The dear couple who stepped out on faith several months ago, to ‘begin again’ are continuing in remodeling their newly acquired older home; and are working hard at developing a new online business venture, and for their continued success, we pray.**<Marital Crisis:**There are at least 3 couples who are having marital difficulties, and we pray.**<Mental Health: Update:*>An aunt prays for her 23 year old nephew who has been admitted to the hospital for mental illness and undergoing some serious testing and evaluation. The parents continue having a difficult time watching their son adjust to the 30-day treatment program at the mental health facility, and we pray. **<Continuing to remember the 20-year-old young lady who was treated for major depression, now seeing a therapist twice a week, and we pray. **<Respiratory: <**Several in our group have loved ones in their family who are suffering with symptoms from colds, flu, and/or allergies, and we pray.
**<Surgeries/Prior: **Update:>An aunt prays for her niece who had surgery yesterday for herniated discs. Surgery went well, she is doing great, and we rejoice; and for continued healing, we pray.**Update:<A dear man is doing well after having knee surgery on Tuesday; but he had a very rough night, lots of spasms, and for continued healing, we pray. <Continuing to remember the lady who had a hysterectomy a week ago, and for continued healing, we pray. <**Continuing to remember the dear man who had knee replacement surgery a little over a week ago, and for continued healing, we pray.
**<Surgeries/Upcoming: **Update:<A dear wife prays for her husband who has many health issues; is still waiting for a surgery date in the removal of a cancerous growth from his nose. He is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow, and we pray. **<A dear lady is scheduled for her 2nd cataract surgery today, and we pray. **<A dear sister prays for her brother who is scheduled for cataract surgery in October, and we pray. **<Continuing to remember the elderly lady who is battling health problems, has blocked arteries, and an open wound on her heel. Surgery is scheduled on October 17th for a Bi-femoral artery bypass, and we pray. **< A dear lady suffers much pain due to bone on bone in her hip, also has severe curvature of the spine. Surgery for hip replacement is scheduled for November 28th, and we pray.

//Travel Mercies: **<>This is an ongoing prayer request for all who are on the highways and byways. Lord, we ask that You daily keep our travelers safe from harm, and we pray.

For these and the many unspoken requests we pray all in Jesus name. Lord bless our homes. AMEN