165 Hours of Prayer for the 165 Million Orphans World Wide:
New to the 165 Hour Prayer? Start here, then read Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and come right back! Or just pick up from here and join us in prayer!! The Lord hears your prayers no matter if you started from Day 1 with us or are just praying today!
I just have to start off with a Praise! Yesterday a family in our agency accepted a referral for their new children!! This means that they moved a step forward in the process and were matched with their children!! Pray for the family as they move on to the next step in waiting to travel to meet the kids in person and for court dates! Our God is an AWESOME GOD!!
Day 4: Have you ever considered the bible story of Jonah and the Whale in the light of how many things of nature obeyed God? Most often we hear this Old Testament story and consider Jonah and his disobedience to the calling of the Lord. We consider the lesson to us to be in the example of Jonah's wrong thinking in that we can hide from the Lord. Though we see this and can learn from it, there is also more we can learn from the story of Jonah.
Jonah was told to go to Nineveh to warn the rebellious people there of God's soon coming judgement for their sinfulness. Not being fond of the people there, Jonah decided that he would hide from God and do his own thing. He hopped on a boat heading in the opposite direction, a fierce storm came and the crew called upon Jonah to be the root of the problem. Jonah admits to being in a state of disobedience to the Lord and suggests to the crew that they toss him overboard. The crew does, the storm ceases, and the crew worships the Lord as the one true God for saving them! In the meanwhile, Jonah is swallowed by a whale (or big ol' fish) and sits in a 'time-out' for three days. Jonah repents and is spat out of the whale and onto the shore. Now to Nineveh! He speaks to the people telling them of their sin and the people repent turning from their wicked ways! The Lord spares the people from terrible judgement and Jonah gets upset! Jonah thinks that God should give them their due punishment and heads off to the desert to pout. The Lord grows a leafy vine to protect Jonah from the sun. The Lord provides for Jonah. Then the Lord sends a worm to eat up the leaves and Jonah is once again in the heat of the sun. The Lord sends a scorching east wind. "Let me die" says Jonah, but God says, "Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died? You feel sorry for yourself when your shelter is destroyed, though you did not put it there, and it is, at best short-lived. So why shouldn't I feel sorry for a great city like Nineveh with it's 120,000 people in utter spiritual darkness?"
Let's focus on a few things to think about today:
1. That God is in control. He controlled the storm, the waters, the great fish, restrained judgement from falling (Jonah says from the stars falling) on the people of Nineveh, the leafy vine, the sun, the wind, and even the worm . He cares and He will direct our paths to carry out His plans even down to the littlest worm!
2. He will guide us and show mercy towards us. If you care about it, God does too! He even sees beyond you and sees the bigger picture. Just like Jonah saw only his heart and frustration, God saw the hearts of all the people and holds the bigger picture. God feels for them all and knew what was best for the big picture.
3. Through our journey of adoption (or your particular journey in life) God is working during the process too, not just that the end result is the finale of His one blessing. Look at Jonah- the men in the boat believed in the one true God after they saw what the Lord did in calming the storm. The hundred thousand people of Nineveh were saved from punishment and worshiped the one true God because of His mercy! That big picture, that process is worth the frustration (that now probably seems minor) IF we consider His control and His big-picture-plan.
Scripture:
Hebrews 4:13 "He knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from Him to whom we must explain all that we have done."
I John 3:20 "For God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything."
Psalm 147:5 "Great is our Lord and mighty in power, His understanding has no limit."
Proverbs 15:3 "Am I a God who is only close at hand?" says the Lord. "No, I am far away at the same time. Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?"
2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the Lord search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward Him, so that He can show His great power in helping them."
Prayer:
Praise: God is in control! He sees all and commands even the smallest of creation to assist Him in carrying out His plans. If worms listen to Him, if trees grow because He says so, then the mountains in our lives, and in the lives of these children, can be moved! Read this post, it's encouraging in the thoughts of God's control.
Pray: Pray for direction. Pray for those in charge of decisions that need to be made concerning the well-being of the orphaned children. Pray for congressmen and those in government to be aware of the orphan crisis and to put into action acts and laws that will provide help and safety to the children. Pray for the laws to provide protection against human trafficking and child labor, etc. not laws that hinder the adoption process and bind children to more years in an institutional living or life on the streets. Pray for laws and support for the adoptive family, not more unnecessary process that hinder families to even begin the process. Pray for new processes that have just started in Ethiopia as of the 1st of this month. Pray that all the adjustments and changes work to better the program and ultimately to safely bring children to their new families in a timely way.
Pray: 1. Ask God to reveal to you an area of your life that you are trying to 'hide' from Him. Maybe an area that you need to bring to Him and ask for forgiveness. Maybe an area in your life that you are frustrated about and it's taking a toll on you. Pray for His peace in letting it go and trusting God.
2. Ask God to show you the plans He has for you and open your heart and open your eyes to reveal a piece of the bigger picture - His plan.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto thine own understandings, in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5,6
Listen to "Strangely Dim" by Francesca Battistelli by clicking here.
New to the 165 Hour Prayer? Start here, then read Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and come right back! Or just pick up from here and join us in prayer!! The Lord hears your prayers no matter if you started from Day 1 with us or are just praying today!
I just have to start off with a Praise! Yesterday a family in our agency accepted a referral for their new children!! This means that they moved a step forward in the process and were matched with their children!! Pray for the family as they move on to the next step in waiting to travel to meet the kids in person and for court dates! Our God is an AWESOME GOD!!
Day 4: Have you ever considered the bible story of Jonah and the Whale in the light of how many things of nature obeyed God? Most often we hear this Old Testament story and consider Jonah and his disobedience to the calling of the Lord. We consider the lesson to us to be in the example of Jonah's wrong thinking in that we can hide from the Lord. Though we see this and can learn from it, there is also more we can learn from the story of Jonah.
Jonah was told to go to Nineveh to warn the rebellious people there of God's soon coming judgement for their sinfulness. Not being fond of the people there, Jonah decided that he would hide from God and do his own thing. He hopped on a boat heading in the opposite direction, a fierce storm came and the crew called upon Jonah to be the root of the problem. Jonah admits to being in a state of disobedience to the Lord and suggests to the crew that they toss him overboard. The crew does, the storm ceases, and the crew worships the Lord as the one true God for saving them! In the meanwhile, Jonah is swallowed by a whale (or big ol' fish) and sits in a 'time-out' for three days. Jonah repents and is spat out of the whale and onto the shore. Now to Nineveh! He speaks to the people telling them of their sin and the people repent turning from their wicked ways! The Lord spares the people from terrible judgement and Jonah gets upset! Jonah thinks that God should give them their due punishment and heads off to the desert to pout. The Lord grows a leafy vine to protect Jonah from the sun. The Lord provides for Jonah. Then the Lord sends a worm to eat up the leaves and Jonah is once again in the heat of the sun. The Lord sends a scorching east wind. "Let me die" says Jonah, but God says, "Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died? You feel sorry for yourself when your shelter is destroyed, though you did not put it there, and it is, at best short-lived. So why shouldn't I feel sorry for a great city like Nineveh with it's 120,000 people in utter spiritual darkness?"
Let's focus on a few things to think about today:
1. That God is in control. He controlled the storm, the waters, the great fish, restrained judgement from falling (Jonah says from the stars falling) on the people of Nineveh, the leafy vine, the sun, the wind, and even the worm . He cares and He will direct our paths to carry out His plans even down to the littlest worm!
2. He will guide us and show mercy towards us. If you care about it, God does too! He even sees beyond you and sees the bigger picture. Just like Jonah saw only his heart and frustration, God saw the hearts of all the people and holds the bigger picture. God feels for them all and knew what was best for the big picture.
3. Through our journey of adoption (or your particular journey in life) God is working during the process too, not just that the end result is the finale of His one blessing. Look at Jonah- the men in the boat believed in the one true God after they saw what the Lord did in calming the storm. The hundred thousand people of Nineveh were saved from punishment and worshiped the one true God because of His mercy! That big picture, that process is worth the frustration (that now probably seems minor) IF we consider His control and His big-picture-plan.
Scripture:
Hebrews 4:13 "He knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from Him to whom we must explain all that we have done."
I John 3:20 "For God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything."
Psalm 147:5 "Great is our Lord and mighty in power, His understanding has no limit."
Proverbs 15:3 "Am I a God who is only close at hand?" says the Lord. "No, I am far away at the same time. Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?"
2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the Lord search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward Him, so that He can show His great power in helping them."
Prayer:
Praise: God is in control! He sees all and commands even the smallest of creation to assist Him in carrying out His plans. If worms listen to Him, if trees grow because He says so, then the mountains in our lives, and in the lives of these children, can be moved! Read this post, it's encouraging in the thoughts of God's control.
Pray: Pray for direction. Pray for those in charge of decisions that need to be made concerning the well-being of the orphaned children. Pray for congressmen and those in government to be aware of the orphan crisis and to put into action acts and laws that will provide help and safety to the children. Pray for the laws to provide protection against human trafficking and child labor, etc. not laws that hinder the adoption process and bind children to more years in an institutional living or life on the streets. Pray for laws and support for the adoptive family, not more unnecessary process that hinder families to even begin the process. Pray for new processes that have just started in Ethiopia as of the 1st of this month. Pray that all the adjustments and changes work to better the program and ultimately to safely bring children to their new families in a timely way.
Pray: 1. Ask God to reveal to you an area of your life that you are trying to 'hide' from Him. Maybe an area that you need to bring to Him and ask for forgiveness. Maybe an area in your life that you are frustrated about and it's taking a toll on you. Pray for His peace in letting it go and trusting God.
2. Ask God to show you the plans He has for you and open your heart and open your eyes to reveal a piece of the bigger picture - His plan.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto thine own understandings, in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5,6
Listen to "Strangely Dim" by Francesca Battistelli by clicking here.
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