Does your heart get overwhelmed?
Mine sure does. My prayers seems to be always asking, asking, asking God for help!
[Tweet “Our Father God is available 24/7- Call Him! #prayer”]
H e l p !
Help me cope with life! Help my four friends undergoing chemotherapy! Help two precious women I love heal from miscarrying. Help for my fragile relationship with my only brother. Help my sisters: one trying to break the bondage of drug addiction so she can succeed when she’s released from prison this winter, one dealing with the sorrow of an empty nest, and one coping with a child with special needs.
Help for my mother-in-law struggling with health issues. Help for our adult children all facing numerous challenges. Help for two of our grandchildren adjusting to the reality of divorce that translates as two bedrooms and a “mommy” home and a “daddy” home!
Help for our precious church family who have ever changing needs! It might be my most frequent used four letter word. 🙂 And just before I posted this- my 86 year old Dad, who lives with us, called to say he had “overexerted himself at work and was at the Emergency Room finishing up tests for a heart attack and stroke! Praise God- everything checked out fine but it still adds a little more “spice” to the pot. 🙂 HELP!
Before I know it, a thick, heavy fog of sadness cocoons my soul, shrouding, then paralyzing me to inaction. I feel reduced to a tired lump of nothing. It has a mammoth, yet invisible presence, blocking my sight from even a glimpse of His mighty power. He feels so far away. Problems seem insurmountable- unending- tempting me to be swept up in a flood of melancholy. Then I have to reach out- like a drowning man to the only Life Preserver who has been faithful to me 1000 times over!
The following is a devotional I wrote 3 years ago when Beth was 6.
Her gift to me- and I hope to you – “wondrous- simple- child-like faith”.
Help us Lowrd!
Bethany and I were praying before bedtime the other night. I listened as she prayed with heartfelt seriousness. “Oh Gowd, pease help us with de day, Gowd, pease help Sarah, Aaron, Finley Cohen, Lowrd, pease help Papaw, Grandma, Lowrd, pease help Micah, Adi, Jesus, pease help Noah, Sarah, and Gowd, pease help Josh, Moriah, Lowrd, help Aunt Melody, Grace, Isaac, pease help Bekah, Hope, Sean, God, pease help Mommy, Daddy, Lowrd help everybody in de world, Gowd, pease just help us allllllll de time! In Jesus name, Amen.”
Hoping to give her a fuller understanding of God, I hesitantly said, “Bethany that was a great prayer! You remembered so many people to pray for. God wants us to do that- but do you think maybe we should thank God for what He has done for us and not just ask Him for help?”
s
She just looked at me in her Bethany way, incredulous I had just asked such a foolish question. Her mouth shot out words of conviction and pure faith, hitting the target of my heart.
“But Mommy,
God loves help!
He loves us ask help!
We all need help,
so I just askted Him!”
[Tweet “God loves to #help- just ask Him- #prayer #childlikeFaith”]
Is it really that simple?
Does God delight to help us?
Does He hear us when we call?
x
Of course He does! I just need to think a little more like Bethany- and the Word of God.
[Tweet ““Our help is in the strong name of the Lord, the Maker of all heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:8”]
Surprising Treasure: We have a Savior who doesn’t mind us asking for help- He knows we are weak and His glory is made great through weakness. (Don’t miss the treat of hearing Adi Camp (Jeremy Camp’s wife) singing SUFFICIENT!
Hey–I was just thinking about your last post–about working with the special education teacher to help Beth over those moments when she’s hesitant to try something new. That’s part of the reason why I started using the “chart” with her–where I would write the 5 things that we were working on that day. I always tried to make sure that #3 or #4, or sometimes #5 were either the new thing I wanted her to try, or the “harder” thing she had a harder time with. Thus, she got reinforced each time she “checked” off one of the activities we finished, and she got reinforced at the end (usually with bubble gum, but I’m sure something else she likes would work just as well) of doing all of the activities. She also got really used to the routines that way–including new ones. And, by having her not get the “harder” activity until 3 or 4, she started with success, and ended with success–because she knew how to do the first and last activities. It’s called positive practice 🙂
Also–does the special education teacher have a background with students with functional disabilities or mild/moderate? Because if it’s mild/moderate that may be part of the reason why she’s not worked with other children with Down Syndrome 🙂
Hope that helps! Love your posts!
Thanks Mary! That will help. I have “adjusted” and “learned” what works with Bethany but to sit down and write it out as a process is difficult for me. We’re having our first iep moment 🙂 in 2 weeks. Making a video this weekend- I’ll add your comments. (by the way- if you have time- grab a “gravatar” and put your smiling graduate pic up so I can “see” you when you comment) hugs
I will never forget that, “But mommy God loves help. He loves us ask help.”
God loves help. Amen.
The simple truths from innocent hearts!
Out of the mouths of babes! Children really know how to “shuck down to the cob,” as my husband likes to say. (I shared this link, already, with a niece on facebook who posted about struggles with praying – so you’re getting the word out!) Oh that our own understanding of Jesus and His love could be as crystal clear as it is for our little ones! Bethany is a wonderful teacher – you can tell her so, along with a hug from me 🙂
EDY! You are a treasure chest of sayings! You always seem to nail it down for me! I’ll tell her you said so and she’ll love your hug 🙂