on your knees

To touch is to heal, to hurt is to steal.
If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel
On your knees, boy!

- from U2, Mysterious ways

in the past month or so, danielle has had surgery twice. 

once to fix a hip, the second to fix the first. an infection set in after the first surgery that wasn't pretty and needed to be gotten out of there. it didn't seem to go a whole lot better than the first. she's a very young woman and to see her on crutches last sunday, making her way to the Lords Table, dragging her leg along behind her, was a difficult thing to watch.

i was invited to drop in on her super bowl party sunday evening (i know! what in the world was she doing hosting a party? well, she needed company and had a lot of help - kudos joe!) 

when the game was over, four of us from THD remained, along with danielle and her hubby mark. we were cleaning up the kitchen a bit and decided that we needed to pray for danielle. so we seated her on a chair and gathered around her, laying our hands on her shoulders.

and we prayed. honestly. boldly. emotionally.

danielle went to the doctor monday. she didn't seem to feel any better and was anticipating the worst. but later monday, her facebook status read...

danielle is infection-free!!!!

not bad for one night of prayer...

(honest note: we weren't the only ones. a lot of prayer had already been going up on her behalf)

van called yesterday. 

she was so excited, she just had to tell someone! i was the lucky one.

during the summer of '02, THRESHOLD was still in the womb - yet to be born until september. but those of us whom God called in the pre-natal phase were gathered one sunday afternoon. i asked all who were present to write down three names. names of people who either didn't know Jesus as Son of God, Lord and Savior, or someone who wasn't close to him at this point in their lives. one of the names van wrote down was michael.

she called yesterday to tell me that she had just talked with michael. he had been to THRESHOLD sunday for the first time. he found the worship and the talk to be very personal and emotional. tears flowed. God had his attention and was opening his eyes. he is so excited about what is going on in his spirit!

not bad for 7 years of prayer...

you get the point, right?

PRAY.

constantly.

st. paul puts it like this in 1 thessalonians 5.17: NEVER STOP PRAYING (nlt)

sometimes the bible seems really unclear.

not here. no excuses this time, baby: Never Stop Praying

sometimes you'll pray once. sometimes for 7 years. and sometimes for a lifetime.

but let's lose the attitude that somehow leads us to believe that God owes us an answer - the desired answer - on our schedule. 

just pray. for as long as it takes. 

after all, it really is a privilege. when we pray, we are seeking the face and the heart of God. and just being able to have the right to do THAT is amazing, really.

the desires of your heart? God really does want you to bring them to him.

why he waits so long sometimes is not worth the time it takes to breathe the question. 

it's only time lost from prayer.

so... what are you waiting for?

on your knees.