In spite of night...

No encouragement here to sing more than you pray. But simply put, when your songs are prayers, by all means sing them. 

You see, there is a power in relying, allying, and complying with Omnipotence that sets the heart at peace. And from that peace, we can sing. 

Duty may call perpendicular to desire. Shadows may seek to claim the sunbeams.

But in the gathering dusk, let me tell you there is power in praise…

...to bring peace and delight in spite of the night. When you’d rather be between cotton and quilt, or when you’d rather see the dawn. 

When shadows cross your road,

Sing a song.

When heavy weighs your load,

Sing a song.

When darkness presses round,

Let the praise to God abound,

And thanksgiving then resound,

Sing a song.

When duty's call is hard,

Sing a song.

When from the battle scarred,

Sing a song.

For the Lord is on His throne,

Still He careth for His own,

And my friend, you're not alone,

Sing a song.

Kneeling and Healing

It’s a rare privilege, but here it’s everyday. Throughout the round and routine of patients and treatments, it is an oasis in time. Stresses soften. Burdens lighten. 

Private prayer is powerful. No question. 

Praying for people is as well. We call it intercession.

But then there is that gem of praying with a patient.  

When sickness of body often follows sickness of soul, when pain in the home-life often brings on pain in the physical life, when mental burdens often load the human frame with disease, people need more than a massage therapist. 

Human touch is woefully inadequate for a hurt that runs so deep.

And so we pray. 

Healing comes alone from heaven. A higher hand than mine is needed.

And so we pray.

Day by day, this I see, that oh, there must be less of me.

For in kneeling comes a healing that no other way could be.

It is a miracle. 

Impossible Prayers & Morning Miracles

Birds sing. Red and gold streak across pastel blue as if crowning a miracle. The coolness and freshness of morning air caress sleep from my eyes. Today dawns a miracle, but another miracle captivates now. 

Not that God gives good gifts… He does. 

Not that God cares for temporal necessities… He does. 

Not that He owns hills of gold, and cattle times thousands… He does.

It’s that…  He rules in the impossible. 

That a child’s prayer is heard by the King of the Universe. That He finds no complexity in our perplexity. That unfeasible realities, farfetched dreams, impossible hopes- to human sight, look very different to Omnipotence. 

A miracle times two, but really beyond numbering floods my heart with wonder. Two and half years ago, two and a half really solid impossibilities stood in my path. And really, it doesn't matter what impossibilities face us. Today, the answer is two inches from my eyes: God rules the impossible. 

  God’s working is miraculous. 
  His storehouse is sufficient.

  His answers to prayer are as sure as His name. 

...and that's present tense.