Devotions @ 3 on 9-26-18

3 a.m. prayer:

Most gracious heavenly Father,

Proverbs continues: right from wrong. SAVING TRUTH! Knowing God and His work saves righteous men from the evil work of the hypocrite. “With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered” (Proverbs 11:9). (A hypocrite seeks to undermine the faith of his neighbor with doubts and denials. Knowledge of the truth enables the righteous to detect the counterfeit, and to save himself and others from destruction.) Learning the Bible and walking in the way of the Lord will save you. You will learn the right way to live, discover God’s will from the scriptures, and you will not be led astray by anyone. *****

//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.
And so we begin, “Just for Today”: For anyone who is seeking forgiveness for a wrong, we pray.
*>NEW Prayer Requests: *>Two grandmothers are awaiting the births of grandchildren who are due in October, one around the first week and the other toward the end of the month, and we pray.
**<PREVIOUS Prayer Requests: **Addiction: **<A dear lady asks prayer for herself; she is trying to quit smoking, and we pray. **<A dear mother prays for her son who is an alcoholic and struggling to stay sober, and we pray. **<Battling Cancer: **<A dear lady prays for her 65 year old neighbor; he has progressive lung cancer, and we pray. **Update:>A dear wife prays for her husband who has a rare appendix cancer, now has fluid around the lungs; this dear man is suffering beyond words and has frequently been vomiting. He was admitted to the hospital yesterday with significant blockage in his lung, and his lung is being drained, a very painful procedure, and we pray.**<Continuing to remember a dear man with progressive kidney cancer, and we pray. **<We continue to lift up a dear lady who has stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and we pray. **<Chronic Pain: <** Some have overall, unexplained pain, others have pain in specific areas of their bodies, and we pray. **<Divorce is so bitter:< **A dear grandmother continues to pray for her grandchildren who are being exposed to an immoral living arrangement, and we pray. **<Epilepsy: **<A sister continues to worry about her 64 year old brother with epilepsy who is drinking excessively, and we pray. **<Family Affairs: **< A dear mother is experiencing problems with jealousy issues between her two adult daughters, and we pray. **< Financial +:**<A wife prays for an upcoming benefit on the 29th to raise money for her dying husband, and we pray. **<Continuing to remember the elderly couple whose life-savings account is in jeopardy, and we pray. **Grieving:<**<A dear widow is going through a rough time, much time has passed, but is still missing her dearly beloved husband, and feels so alone, not wanting to do anything, and we pray. **<Health Problems:**< A dear lady who has been recently diagnosed with severe degenerative disease has been referred to a doctor who specializes in the study of nerves. She will be having a sleep study on October 29th, and her appointment with the nerve doctor is on November 5th, and we pray. **< Among us is a grieving widow who continues to suffer from loneliness and chronic bouts of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and has difficulty sleeping, and we pray. **< A dear man with Type 1 diabetes and vascular dementia has been undergoing tests for his debilitating headaches; was to see the doctor yesterday about recent MRI, and we pray. **<A 20 year old man who has had deep muscular, skeletal problems has been having physical therapy treatments and other testing. He has also been experiencing debilitating pain in the chest, left arm and leg; has an appointment to see a cardiologist on October 3rd to find out whether any of his symptoms are related to his heart. The cost is all out-of-pocket and adds much financial strain to the family, and we pray. **<Heart Related +: *> A dear lady has been diagnosed with some heart abnormalities; she is facing more testing in a couple of weeks, and we pray.**<A sister prays for her brother who has an inoperable tumor near his aorta, and we pray. **< A dear lady endures much verbal abuse from her fatally ill husband who has a bad heart, and we pray. **<Homebound: **<One among us is disabled 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, and we pray. **<Infections/Injections/Injuries: **<A dear man prays for his elderly friend and neighbor who fell on Monday and is in the hospital, and we pray.**<An elderly woman who has many health problems asks prayer for her ‘whole body’, and we pray. **Update:<One among us continues to have much back pain, difficulty walking, and suffers from high blood pressure. Her only relief is through medications. She has begun receiving laser treatments twice a week. Yesterday, she had a needle injection on both sides of her back. She is thankful for this new doctor and grateful he is trying to help her. Hopefully, she can be relieved so as to avoid risky surgery. Today she has physical therapy. Much of her treatment is not covered by insurance which puts a financial strain and worry on this elderly lady, and we pray. **<One among us continues to suffer from tendonitis in her left heel which is being helped by wearing a brace, and for continued healing, we pray.**<Job Market: **< One in our group has been working with a recruiter to gain suitable employment with benefits; her husband’s insurance runs out in February, 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; also they are working hard to build up their online business, and for continued success, we pray.**<Marital Crisis:**>Update:>There are at least 4 couples who are having difficulty in their marriages; it is known that one of them is seeking Christian counseling, and we pray. **<Marriage Plans: **<A dear couple has set a wedding date which is a year away, and we pray.  **<Mental Health: **< Continuing to remember a 23 year old man who is at home after being treated for mental disturbances, and for continued healing, we pray.**<A 20 year old woman who had been in treatment at a mental hospital is out on her own but, not making good choices, and we pray.**<Pregnancy Crisis: For the expectant father of an unborn baby who struggles with memories surrounding the death of his first child, we pray. **<Respiratory: <**Many are suffering with symptoms from colds, flu, and/or allergies, and we pray.
**<Surgeries/Prior: **<There are two who are healing from back surgeries, and two had knee surgeries, and for continued healing, we pray.
**<Surgeries/Upcoming: **A wife prays for her husband who has to have a 4th surgery on his eye; he also suffers from Afib, and we pray. **<A dear sister prays for her brother who is scheduled for cataract surgery in October, and we pray. **>Update: Continuing to remember the elderly lady who is battling health problems, has blocked arteries, and an open wound on her heel. She recently tripped, fell; then ended up in the hospital for blood in her stool. Still hospitalized, she has been diagnosed with ischemic colitis, and will be consulting with a gastrologist about a possible scope procedure. Surgery is still 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. **<A group of veterans is presently on a trip westward, and we pray.
For these and the many unspoken requests we pray all in Jesus name. Lord bless our homes. AMEN