Another personal story...

Today was a difficult day.  My inner dialogue went something like this "I'm doing a study on prayer, yet I'm struggling to pray right now".  I'd love to tell you that I had some great spiritual revelation today, but the truth is that when days of trouble and strife come (like today was for me) I struggle.  I try my best to focus on what God has done in the past, figure out what He may be trying to show me right now, and focus on the future when all of this life's trouble will be just a memory.

In the midst of the study of prayer, one theme that stands out is man crying out to God in times of need. Tonight I will share one of my favorite Psalms and a personal story about God's answering of prayer.

Psalm 3
1 O LORD, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;2 many are saying of my soul,
there is no salvation for him in God. Selah3 But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.4 I cried aloud to the LORD,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah5 I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.7 Arise, O LORD!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.8 Salvation belongs to the LORD;
your blessing be on your people! Selah
I love how God comes through in this Psalm.  While crying out in the presence of great iniquity, with trouble all around, God granted peace, rest, salvation, and deliverance from the enemy.  
One of my most memorable encounters with a prayer like this, crying out for deliverance, was in July of 1998.  I had a motorcycle accident in which I broke all of the bones in my right arm.  They had done surgery to reconstruct my arm, but were able to use just pins to keep the bones in place, no screws or rods.  This would be better for me in the long run as I would end up with no foreign structural pieces in my arm (the pins would be removed once the bone was healed).  1 day after the surgery, while still in the hospital, I was in excruciating pain and I could not move my arm at all without screaming.  They did some x-rays and said that the surgery was undoing itself and that I was going to have to have another surgery.  The pain continued for the next several hours and as they prepared to do put in plates, screws, and rods, they needed more X-rays to know where to put them.  The pain reached a whole new level because of the position they needed my arm in for the X-rays.  I remember my dad tearing up and not knowing what to do (this was a tough 30+ year cop we're talking about) because I was screaming so badly from the pain.  I remember the next part VERY clearly.  I SCREAMED to God "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE, JESUS, PLEASE HELP ME!!!!"  No sooner did I finish that prayer crying out to God than the pain went away.  They did the X-rays and everything looked ok, no need for more surgery, as a precaution, I needed to sleep upright for the next 6-8 weeks.  I was told many things after that by Doctors, things like "You will never be able to raise your arm above your head again" and "You will not be able to close all your fingers again"...but you know what, I can...and that is all because of the power of Prayer.  This is what I reflect on when days like today seem like too much, and you know what...I Can, because HE Makes it possible.  Amen!