Devotions @ 3 on 10-8-18

3 a.m. prayer:

Most gracious heavenly Father,

Continuing in Proverbs, right vs. wrong; or opposites attract. BIZARRE BEAUTY! “As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion” (Proverbs 11:22). (A pig’s snout is as unattractive as the ring is lovely.) A beautiful woman who lacks discretion also combines two opposites – physical attractiveness and moral deficiency. Not pretty; her beauty will be put to wrong uses. Just as a gold ring has no place in a pig’s snout, improper conduct has no place in a truly, inside and out, beautiful woman. *****

//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 with a loved one who is spiritually lost, we pray.
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*>NEW Prayer Requests: >* One among us has chronic hip pain, and we pray.
**<PREVIOUS Prayer Requests: <**Addiction: **<A dear mother is having to clean up a mess after discovering her mentally impaired, adult son, had been on drugs. He is presently in jail for assault and battery, and for that situation, we pray. **<A dear lady is trying to quit smoking, and we pray. **<A dear mother prays for her son who is an alcoholic and is struggling to stay sober, and we pray. **Aging:**> A niece prays for her dear 90+ year old aunt who is recovering from a recent stroke, and we pray. **<A friend prays for a friend’s 90 year old mother who recently sold her house and has to be out by November 5th. She is on the waiting list for senior housing, and hopefully her apartment will be ready beforehand, and we pray.**<A dear lady prays for her daughter-in-law’s aged grandfather who is under Hospice care and not expected to live much longer. Praying, too, for his devoted wife of 60+ years, and we pray. **<Battling Cancer:< **Update: A dear wife continues to pray for her husband who has a rare, aggressive cancer (appendiceal adenocarcinoma), who is suffering beyond words. The cancer has now spread to his lungs. He has recently been released from the hospital; is in need of prayer for a smooth transition as new meds and nutrition are now being administered intravenously, and we pray. **>Continuing to remember a dear man who is very fatigued and suffers with progressive kidney cancer. He has been advised to slow down and not over do, rest when tired. Hopefully, the man and his wife will be able to take a trip in the coming weeks to visit their son. He is scheduled for another PET scan in November, 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. **<A sister prays for her sister who gets little or no relief from medications for her chronic pain, 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 lonesome and prone to 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 +:**> Continuing to remember the elderly couple whose life-savings account is in jeopardy, they have ongoing problems with dementia, and we pray. **Grieving: > A dear lady grieves the death of her 65 year old neighbor who had been battling lung cancer. Remembering the family and friends this week as they mourn his passing, and we pray. **> The dear, elderly woman who had been in a coma at a nursing home, passed away Thursday. Remembering the family as they prepare for her memorial service which will be on Wednesday, and we pray. <**Although much time has passed, a dear widow continues to grieve; she is still missing her dearly beloved husband, and feels very alone, has no ambition, and we pray. **<Health Issues/Problems: **> An aunt prays for her niece who has been having problems with high blood pressure. She recently fainted and has been put on bedrest for the weekend. She will be going back to the doctor today, and we pray.**>A dear lady and her father are awaiting an appointment to have genetic testing in order to see if they have inherited the rare gene, linked to cancer and numerous conditions, which runs rampant in their family, and we pray.**< In that same extended family, two brothers await the results of their genetic testing to find out whether or not they have inherited the mutated gene which runs rampant in their extended family, and we pray.**<A dear lady prays for others but has multiple health issues herself, and we pray. **< A dear lady who was recently diagnosed with severe degenerative disease has a sleep study on October 29th, and an appointment with a nerve doctor 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 20 year old man who has had deep muscular, skeletal problems has been having physical therapy treatments. He has also been experiencing debilitating pain in the chest, left arm and leg, and is being treated by a cardiologist. As his therapy and treatment continues, the cost is all out-of-pocket and adds much financial strain to the family, and we pray. **<Heart Related +: **>A dear man prays for his Christian brother who has been admitted to the hospital with heart trouble; his heart is functioning at less than 10%. He will have a heart catherization today which will, hopefully, provide answers, and we pray. **>A brother-in-law prays for his 79 year old brother-in-law who has been hospitalized with a heart aneurysm, and has growths on his kidney. Awaiting test results on kidney function; his high blood pressure is hindering treatment, but since being admitted it has come down considerably. Once it’s low enough doctors will be able to operate, and we pray. **<A wife continues to pray for her dear 80 year old husband who has only 25% heart function. He has had several stents as a result of a heart attack 30+ years ago, and has been taking nitroglycerin. He is having a nuclear stress test on October 16th, and we pray. **>A dear lady has been diagnosed with some heart abnormalities, and is facing more testing to determine if there are any blockages. Tomorrow, she will have an echocardiogram, a limited carotid artery ultrasound, and an abdominal aorta aneurysm screening. A sleep apnea test will be done in the next two weeks. Furthermore, she is being referred to an orthopedic specialist because of shoulder pain and immobility in her right arm, 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, which has deeply impacted the rest of the family. Hopefully, a weekly, Wednesday, Bible study group will help to bring restoration and togetherness of these hurting hearts, and we pray. **<Infections/Injections/Injuries: *>A little 13 year old boy broke the thumb on his left hand while playing soccer; is sad that he won’t be able to play soccer for two weeks, and we pray. **>Update: A dear man continues to pray for his 84 year old friend and neighbor who fell last week and remains hospitalized because of paralysis in his right leg and will be in assisted living where he is receiving physical therapy for a couple of weeks, and we pray.**<An elderly woman who has many health problems asks prayer for her ‘whole body’, and we pray. **< One among us continues to have much back pain, difficulty walking, and suffers from high blood pressure. Her only relief is through medications, physical therapy, and laser treatments twice a week. Hopefully, she can be relieved so as to avoid risky surgery. Much of her treatment is not covered by insurance which puts a financial strain and worry on this elderly lady, and 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, to ‘begin again’ continues in remodeling their newly acquired older home. They have also been working hard to build up their online business which has really picked up and is expected to further increase in sales over the next two months, which will keep them very busy, and for continued success, we pray.**<Marital Crisis:**> There are at least 5 couples who are having difficulty in their marriages; one couple 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: **> A 20 year old woman who was in treatment at a mental hospital is out on her own but, not making good choices; she is working at a strip club. However, the lines of communication do seem to be opening between the grandmother and her granddaughter. The grandmother is a believer and is trying to build a better relationship with her granddaughter, and for continued communication between the two, we pray. Also the grandmother asks prayer for the young lady’s parents who are involved in a cult, and we pray. **<Pregnancy &: **<Two grandmothers are awaiting the births of grandchildren who are due in October, one due tomorrow, and the other toward the end of the month, and we pray. <**Pregnancy Crisis: For the expectant father who struggles with memories surrounding the death of his first child, is now anxiously awaiting tomorrow’s birth. Prayers are needed for his wife who had complications during a previous delivery. They had a recent scare when an ultrasound detected kidney problems in the baby, but all continues to look normal, still we pray. **<Respiratory: **< Many are suffering with symptoms from colds, flu, and/or allergies, and we pray.
**<Surgeries/Prior: **>For the little 11 year old boy, who had his appendix removed on Thursday, we pray. **<There are two who are healing from back surgeries, and we pray. **A dear man who had knee surgery on September 11th continues the 4 weeks of physical therapy on his knee, and for continued healing, we pray. **> A sister prays for her sister who had hip surgery Thursday, and for continued healing, we pray.
**<Surgeries/Upcoming: **>A grandmother asks prayer for her daughter-in-law who has been scheduled for the birth of her son via C-section tomorrow. The pregnant woman had complications and excessive bleeding during a previous childbirth, and we pray. **>A daughter prays for her dear mother who has a suspicious polyp and gallstones. She is scheduled to have gallbladder surgery tomorrow. She may need additional surgeries, the bile duct and pancreas are enlarged, and she has a spot on her liver, and we pray. **>A dear 49 year old woman is scheduled for a total hysterectomy on October 31st. She is expected to be off work for 3-8 weeks, and we pray. ** >A wife prays for her husband who has to have a 4th surgery on his eye which is scheduled for October 15; he is on meds right now from allergies; also suffers from Afib, and we pray.  **>Continuing to remember the elderly lady who is battling numerous health problems, and is scheduled for surgery 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