Prayer Request
What an honor and privilege it is to bring our request before the Lord and before each other. I want to thank you up front for your love and prayers which have lifted us up on this journey of Enjoying The Shepherd.
There are several things I would like to ask you to pray about on our behalf.
1. I have been given the privilege to go and speak to a group of youth at a camp next Friday, August 5th in Ohio. I am extremely excited about this opportunity to tell of the Shepherds love and care. Please be in prayer for His words to be spoken and these young ones to be drawn closer to him.
2. Your prayers for us daily as we continually seek out His heart for the devotional videos. I have been amazed over and over at how sometimes my plans are changed as He continually teaches me things in the moments of life with sheep.
3. As a parent, our hearts are for our children to know Him more and more. Pray that as we spend time telling others about Him we never forget to pour out His love into our own home.
4. We are entering another season that will require a Ruthless Trust in His love and provision for our family. What amazes me is how following him does NOT instantly mean financial windfalls in work or business, and sometimes even means a deeper struggle and trial in those areas of life. However, He has never been unfaithful and has never left his children wanting what they need. All He ask and requires of us is TRUST. So pray that we trust and obey!
5. Pray for my ability to multi task as a ambassador for Christ, a husband, father, friend, business person, farmer, and all the other things that cross my path. I admittedly struggle with being so passionate on one area of life, that often others are neglected.
6. I have been very open with my heart and belief that the Gospel of Jesus is not for sale. I believe the news of his love is not something to profit from. That is just my DNA. With that being said, there those who God has put in my life who would like to see me to be able to pursue my passion of sharing the news of The Good Shepherd and also see my family provided for through that. I personally do not know how to handle that idea. God has given several thoughts of getting the children story of Precious published and maybe the one of Mauro the Mighty Ram. There is also talk of the Agents of Smash being further developed and then some T Shirt ideas have come up. Mother Teresa was once asked by a gentleman to pray that he would have clarity on things in life, and she refused. Astonished, he asked her why! Her response was simple, "Clarity is what keeps you from trusting God, so I will simply pray that you will trust!" So I ask you this same thing, that as Father opens a path before us that I/we will simply trust the most Trustworthy One!
Before I go, I cannot leave this without sharing a word of encouragement. I have been reading the Old Testament, something I simply love doing. I absorb these stories of God moving and living and breathing with his people. I am just fascinated by it all. Right now, I am reading through Joshua. What an amazing story.
The one thing that has stood out to me the past few days is the story of the time the Israelites came to cross the Jordan River. God told Joshua to have the priest carry the Ark of The Covenant into the middle of the river, saying once their feet touched the water that He would stop the flow of the river upstream so they could again cross on dry ground. Many years had passed since the Red Sea and many of the younger Israelites had only heard the story of what god did back then. So God was going to do the same thing again so that they could see His mighty hand with their own eyes.
When the day was over, and they had crossed, God told them the reason he did what he did. In Joshua 4:23-24 we are told by God why he did this mighty work with His hand.
23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea[a]when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”
What I treasure from this moment in time is that I know God is still working in such mighty ways and for the same reasons. He does certain things in our lives so the world will know the might and power of our God, but also so that we may always remember how great our God is and we can hold him in the highest reverence and sing praises to His name!
Thanks for your time, your prayers, your words of encouragement, your love, and your kindness. May His face shine down upon you and may His glory give you strength!
Your brother in Christ Jesus
Ray
