HEART THOUGHTS from Helen

Prayer

"He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intercede;
...so His own arm worked salvation for him" Isaiah 59:16 NIV

Lessons learned at the University of the Feet extended themselves to post graduate work in the basics of breathing. It's one thing to have limited mobility because of foot surgery but quite another to pant from pneumonia. Asthma, though not alien to me, took a back seat a number of years ago and has been controlled for the most part, for which I'm most grateful. A couple of weeks ago it reared it's ugly head as a result of an upper respiratory infection resulting in pneumonia. My, how quickly we forget just what an important role breathing plays in our existence. So, lame in the foot and lacking in proper lung performance, my life in learning new lessons took me to my old journals. I like to call it HARVESTING. In the midst of it all, I am reminded of my deep desire to be an effective intercessor and the struggles and groans that go along with such.

From my journals dating back to 1981 (and there are many more prior to that date), the pleadings of my heart record prayed prayers, praise prayers, importunate prayers, intercession, supplication, and ...you name it, I prayed it. My family, my friends, my fellowship of believers, my follies, my failures, all lay at the foot of the cross. My thoughts, my devotional times, my cares, my concerns, all, turned into prayers prayed.

So, while I've been incapacitated physically, my heart as turned once again to more strenuously to intercession.

"As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right." (1 Samuel 12:23, NIV)

What can you do when your body must be still? Breathe your prayers upward and wait expectantly.