Dear Ones,
We are home now from our trip to N.C. and thank you again for your prayers. We had a wonderful time and the Lord protected us (tornadoes missed us) and we traveled many miles. I am sending this early as our daughter-in-law’s dad is being transported right now to a Hospice House so her mom can be with him until the end. The hospice nurse feels he is very close to his “Homecoming” and he is ready to be at home with the Lord. We visited with her mom while we were in N.C. but didn’t realize her dad may soon be leaving his earthly home. Please pray for the whole family.  
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Prayer is one of the most important things we can do and not just prayer for ourselves and our families but for our neighbors and friends and pastors but government officials and whoever the Lord puts on our hearts. We may never fully know the power of our prayers, even to save lives. Such was the case I read about in Dutch Sheets book, Watchman Prayer, concerning Anna Schrader. She was praying and felt like the Lord was saying that Gorden Lindsay, who was preparing to go on a world trip, was in great danger. She warned him to look to the right when he got to Hong Kong, and also asked others to also pray. When Gordon got to Tokyo the man who was to take him on to Hiroshima, had to cancel and Gorden didn’t know what to do. He asked the Lord and felt led to go to his next destination instead and got the first plane. He remembered to look to the right and saw a big Canadian plane and many people boarding. The next day the newspaper was put under his door, and he read that the Canadian plane he had seen crashed and all the people were killed. The following day he got another paper and discovered that the plane he would have been on if he had gone to Hiroshima also crashed and killed 124 people, for it exploded over Mt. Fuji. How important the prayers of those praying for Gordon were and saved his life.

As we pray and reach out to win others, a good place to start is in our own neighborhoods. It may simply begin with inviting them for coffee and getting acquainted and then maybe even a neighborhood outdoor picnic. We can ask the Lord how we might pray for them and then follow with acts of kindness as led. If they commit their lives to the Lord, we can follow up on them and help them grow by having a Bible study etc. Our church once had a period of several weeks where we prayed for unsaved neighbors and then invited them to a service where the way of salvation was made clear. We prayed for our unchurched neighbor and yet were so wonderfully surprised when she accepted the invitation, which we knew was only a result of prayers.

Of course, we don’t need to stop by just praying for our neighbors but gather with others to pray for our churches, our cities, and our nation. Jesus told us in Luke 18:1 to pray always and not lose heart.”

Challenge for today: Pray for those in your neighborhood or co-workers and look for opportunities to share the Lord.
Blessings on your evening and day tomorrow. Prayers and Love, Judy