Thank you for Praying

I've been wanting to acknowledge in some way a milestone. It was one year ago that I reached out to all of you for prayer. One year ago Kristen was diagnosed with Leukemia. Last year on this day, we were anticipating leaving to go to Houston for further testing at MD Anderson. We faced an uncertain future. In a few days we were to learn that she had Acute Myeloid Leukemia with a mutation on a couple of chromosomes that made it particularly difficult. But I don't want to dwell on that. I want to talk about the power of your prayers. The Gospels talk about the healing power of Christ. In Luke 4:40 it says, "While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them." We did this for Kristen. Bless Linda for suggesting an anointing ceremony and arranging it for us. This was the beginning. We were bringing her before God and asking for healing. We believed in the power of God to heal. By the power of the Internet word was spread far and wide asking for prayer. People all over the world were praying for Kristen. We not only let God know that we desired healing but we also asked for His strength. This was very important. Sometimes when we pray for those that need healing it doesn't end the way we would like it to end. But God can give you the strength to move forward, to go on. A line from one of my favorite Casting Crowns songs says, "What if His people pray?" I'll tell you what happens when His people pray. Miracles. This past year has been a miracle. You don't often hear stories like Kristen's. Usually illnesses like this are long and drawn out. They search and search for donors for transplant. One problem after another crops up. Because you prayed for Kristen, miracles happened. Miracle one, her disease was diagnosed before she went off to school. If she would have gone back to KU we may have been telling a different story. Miracle two, she only needed the one round of chemo to have her leukemia go into remission. I give some credit for this to Pastor Tony who came by our house before we went back to Houston for another round of Chemo. He prayed over and anointed Kristen again. We got to Houston prepared to go through chemo again to knock her into remission only to find out that she was already in remission. Miracle three, she had 7,000 possible donors for a stem cell transplant. 7,000! We met many patients that didn't even have one. Miracle four, her transplant and engraftment were so successful. Instead of having to keep an apartment in Houston for 100 days, she was released on day 78. I'm sure if I really thought about it longer I could see many other miracles. But back to my main point. Prayer. Intercessory prayer. Be faithful in your prayer life. And don't just chatter at God, pause to listen. Listen for that quiet whisper. Your prayer doesn't have to be formal. Converse with God. Ask questions. Listen for answers. Tell God when you don't get something. Ask him to give you understanding. But Pray. God doesn't care if you are eloquent, if you stutter, if you have trouble putting your thoughts together. God knows your heart, he knows the intentions of your prayers. Pray.