Dear God,
I only ask that you save my mother and I from suffering any longer. We’re scared, sooooooo scared. I’m 53 for heavens sake, I should be taking care of her..she’s 70 and we’re both looking desperately for work to survive, where are you? Are you seeing any of this? My prayers? do you hear them? what about hers? We’ve never asked for much from you, and we’ve never doubted your love even through this turmoil and bad economy..but now my faith is shaking like I am, it’s crying in the center of my soul and crying out for your help. I know you’re busy…I watch the news, but isn’t all of this torment with in your magnificent power to heal? Where are you? and with out you where are we?
Duane, Oregon Share:
July 28th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
dear Duane,
the God is always here next to us … just keep in faith he will answer your prayers
aicha,casablanca
July 30th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Keep the faith. I heard when you think everything is about to go wrong he is about to bring you through.
August 1st, 2009 at 11:50 am
Just hold on Duane, it won’t last forever. You will find a job, and if you are in critical condition then I am sure there are services near your area that help out families in your situation.
August 2nd, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Be encouraged, this is a time of building character and endurance for what is to come. “For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not harm you plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jerimiah 29:11 I lift you and your family up right now in prayer and ask that the Lord keep you in the palm of His hands puts peace in your hearts, in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen. Duane just keep your eyes on God brother.
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:38 am
Duane,
First, I must say to you that I have been where you are and actually became angry with God. That was a mistake! My anger and declining faith opened the door for the demons of this world and my troubles actually worsened. I finally picked up my faith again and realized that I had let in the demons do their work by questioning God’s plan for me. Without knowing it, I told the devil to “Just leave me alone, I am a child of God and will die right now a child of God, so he may as well go, Go and do his work somewhere else, because I was not budging nor leaving my lords side”. I was on interstate 64 at the time I spoke my faith in my lord, Jesus Christ, and REALLY meant it when I said I would die right now “a child of God” before I would let him take my soul: Believe me or not…life began to lift for me after I told the devil to get behind me. Read your scriptures, Stand up for God and he will stand up for you. Notice the daily signs that he is sending you. He may be speaking to you but you are not taking the time to heari him. Depression will put us in a state that closes our mind to God’s message. Dont let that happen. Sit quietly, with nothing on your mind, and see what thoughts come to you. If you need immediate financial help, do not be so prideful that you do not go for public assistance such as Food Stamps, or Salvation Army. If you owe debt, call the banks, collectors, financial institutions and ask for an extension on your payments. Most want to extend a payment for three months versus have to repossess or foreclose. Also, local churches want to help out. So if pride is holding you back, that is sinful in itself. Last, just hold on to his garment, just the touch of his garmet, just a pinch of a hold will get you through all of this. This is one thing in life that I can “promise” as I am living proof. Lastly, Christians will always bear trials and tribulations because we are already children of God. The Devil works on us the most. Those that have given their soul to him will not be haunted by him…..it is us Christians that he knarls at…..Do not give up your faith…Do Not….God is with you. Promise.
August 4th, 2009 at 6:44 am
Dear Duanne
Life has its ups and downs and though it may seem rough right now, trust me it will pass just like everything. Don’t give up…show persistance you will find a job that is right for you. As for your mother, try to be inspirational and motivational to her. She may want to help but I believe you yourself can get things back in line.
Remember God never gives you anything you can’t handle
Best of love and Blessings
August 4th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
You know what Duane? Like you and your Mom, I feel so left out! Where is my bailout? Where is my next job? I feel that God has let me down. Damn him! I’m a 50 year old lady with excellent skills, yet I cannot find a job! If God is alive and looking out for me, where are the results? Where is my job?
August 9th, 2009 at 3:46 am
Give up on your foolish childish superstitions! Think of the future and act!
August 13th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Duane, a lot of us can understand your frustrations. There are ways, and it is important that you find it the right way and that’s with Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. I agree with Becky. Keep praying and keep making good and honest decisions and choices. Tap into resources online that can help you get noticed on your resume and coverletter.
God bless,
Anna
August 21st, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Dear Duane,
There’s suffering in the world and good people sometimes can be hurt the worst while bad people may thrive. Prior to your own troubles, what did you make of all the world’s horrors and God’s role in them?
I think sometimes the things that make us doubt God the most are really attacks by Satan on one’s faith in God. Why does anyone believe in God? Is it a crutch, like some humanists say, or is it a genuine belief in a completely good creator working on some big-picture deal that’s hard to grasp? And is God limited by a world given to sin? I don’t think it is God’s will that anyone suffer, but I don’t think it’s God’s will that people murder and steal and commit heinous crimes. We are free though, and the price is that some choose to commit evil and this world sucks in so many ways.
It’s hard to start re-evaluating your values in life in the midst of hardship, but I think it may be the best way to find peace in the middle of a personal storm and in the chaotic world we live in. Whatever happens, remember there is more to life than economic stability. We will all die someday, but until then, make your days count. Find your peace in God, and no matter where you are or what you go through, you will be safe. Hope this helps. For what it’s worth, I’ll keep your family in my prayers.
God bless,
John
PSALM 23
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
MATTHEW 6: 25-28
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
September 4th, 2009 at 9:16 am
we all have a tough time, just hang in there. there people out there who are in alot more pain than you so count the blessings you have. Be thankfull for what you have, and pray for those who have none. trust in beleave in god and he will watch over you. my prays are with you
September 4th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Duane, I agree with John. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the things that you need, will be given unto you. It seems as though your heart is searching for God……or maybe seeking answers. Seeking God for answers to questions like “why is this happening to me”…..is really just the beginning of wisdom.
I think the most important step for you to take right now, is towards his mercy and grace. Lay your life down before him….I don’t mean give up living……I mean give him full controll of your life. It seems as though you have tried everything in your own strength to overcome the situation you are currently in. When you have exhausted all your resources, and still have not changed the situation, that is the best time to make him the “LORD” of your life. Read the scriptures and find out what really is the heart of God. What he really wants for your life. “Above all things, I want you to be in good health; and to prosper, even as your soul prospers.”……..This is just one scripture that tells you what he wishes for your life. “All good things, come from God.” “God is Love”, …….they go on and on.
“He so loved the world, that he gave his only son for it”……
Once you know that God loves you, with the perfect love, the love that cast out all fear……then you will be willing to say to him …….
Please be the Lord of my Life…..Rule over the forces of hell that want to destroy me……After all Duane, only he has the power to do that. So be of Good Cheer, read the scriptures….because this is the only way you get to know the heart of God….let the word of God transform you. Remember when you are weak….God shows himself strong. Let go…and let God.
Come into agreement with your mom to do this. Pray together….ask God to lead you in the path of rightousness. Be specific, make your request known unto God. You are allowed to ask. The word says……”Ask, and it will be given unto you”, It also says, “you have not, because you ask not.”. He knows what you need. come into agreement with God for yiour life…and be blessed.
October 29th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Duane, the reason that your prayers aren’t being answered is simple.
There is no God.
If God is so powerful, then why do innocent little kids get cancer and die. Let me guess, it’s because it’s in “their plan”, I use to be a passionate Christian, but it doesn’t take a genius to see how screwed up the world is. And if there is a God, i’m sure he has more important things to take care of than your job.
So here’s the ultimatum, either keep wasting your time praying, or use that time productivly getting out there, searching for a job and bettering yourself on earth.
October 31st, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I am 51 and have been through experiences like this. At times like this I turn to Gratitude. Being sincerely grateful for the things you do have, as often as you can, is the answer. What you focus on is what grows. Focus on your strengths.
November 7th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Vince, God exists, you can not proof he does not and that comment about cancer, that is the way WE WANT IT TO BE or it is a plan to test our faith. I ask myself why millions of animals suffer tremendously in slaughterhouses and no Christian have compassion for them? yet they ask God for compassion everyday, and i have no answer for you. Eventhough on Genesis 29, it says clearly, we are to eat plants and what the earth produces yet nobody listens.
This is all a test, nothing else. How do you test if your wife loves you? the bid test is when she is presented with better looking guy and a rich guy and if she leaves you, then you know she never loved you. Maybe you become ill and she leaves you, then you know she never loved you.
have you ever heard about those “”friends”" who stay with you during happy times but are gone when you are poor, and in trouble? well, they were never your friends.
God does the same thing but never doubt God, he will go as far as you can handle, he won’t hurt you.
November 7th, 2009 at 10:45 am
sorry about my english though i am a native Spanish speaker but i hope you understand what i said or got my point at least. War, diseases, is the result of our bad choices. Cancer have been connected with meat and other environmental factors, all human mistakes.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Dear Duane,
Maybe you need to change job. How about going to nursing homes and applying as caregiver. You can have your mom stay there, too, and same time have a job of caring for others as well.
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:43 am
First, I cannot say that I know exactly the trials that you are going through, Duane. From your prayer, it looks like life has hit you pretty hard. Though I believe that what you are going through is not easy. And I regret that I am not sure what advice I can give to resolve the employment situation.
Although I could tell you that God lives and that He hears you, my saying that will not be as meaningful if you don’t hear it straight from Him. I have tried that. When I had questions that needed to be answered, I experimented with prayer. If God exists, if He is just–if He is the same God who answered the petitions of Moses, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Paul and so many others–if He truly is the same today, yesterday, and forever–and if I need Him just as much as people way back when needed Him–I know that when I approach Him with the same child-like faith of the ancient believers, I can expect that He will answer my prayers.
Of course, I did not get answers to my prayers straight away. However, I feel lucky that He answered me as quickly as He did–it took me a number of years of investigation and prayer. I am grateful that He did not immediately gratify my petitions, because it provided me an opportunity to persist in simple belief and faith–even when I was not sure, I did not want to stop until I was sure. I learned that I had the strength in myself, as many, many others do, to persist in faith despite initial discouragement. The sincerity of my inquiry was proved to me, I suppose, in other words.
Of course, there are other factors about prayer that I am still learning about. But I know, that if you have a sincere desire, and you are willing to listen and be instructed and follow the answers you recieve, be they what they may, you will recieve an answer by the power of the Holy Ghost. It is an uplifting, ennobling influence. Different individuals describe differently it’s influence. However, this feeling of love, of joy, of peace, longsuffering, kindness, wanting to be better and more–that, for me, at least, is a little bit of what the Holy Ghost is for me. To the question, “can such important questions like the actuality and reality of God be resolved by simple feelings? Can my turmoil be really calmed by something so insubstantial?” First, I dare you to try it. Your experience will tell you. I can tell you from my experience that God does reveal truth to humble seekers of happiness in this day and age as in times of old. Isn’t it wonderful that it works that way? That way, that divine pearl of knowledge is given only to those who will know how to appreciate it and are prepared for it. It’s almost as if God planned it that way.
Even though my description of the Holy Ghost and His influence may be insufficient or poorly phrased, I nevertheless know what I have felt and what I have experienced. God has answered my prayers directly. I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that God lives. He loves us. He loves you. He is there. He sees all of this. He answers every sincere prayer, in a time, place and manner that will be the best for your eternal good. Even though I have in my own past been really hurt because I did not get what I wanted when I felt I needed it most–in retrospect, I now see that those experiences prepared me to appreciate and experience the marvelous blessings that God planned to give me soon afterward. Had I not been through the trials I have experienced in my life, I would not know what it means to be healthy–to see, to laugh, to have good company–things I took for granted before are now some of the grandest beauties I enjoy in this life.
Therefore I say that I know that God exists. I don’t believe that He exists, I know that He exists. I know that all truth can be circumscribed into one whole. I know that God exists. I know that even if I turned my back on him, decided to reject my trust in Him and militate against Him and use all my strengths and mights to disprove His existence–even if any or every individual, professor, institution, study group does so, from the sincerely and unfortuately misinformed to the blatantly belligerous–I know that God exists, no matter what other people say. If God told you, in a way that you know that God told you, that He exists, and a mortal comes and tells me something else, regardless of his station, education, temperment, bias, agenda or experience–who do you think I am going to listen to?
I have not seen God. But I know that He is there. That is the absolute truth, whether or not the world will reconcile with it. The thing that matters is, will you reconcile with it? Will you try?
God is busy (at least from my limited perspective), but He is omnipotent. I testify that He is more intimately aware of you than you could ever be aware of yourself in this mortal life. He knows your problems and pains alot more closely and in greater detail than even I can imagine. God knows exactly what is going on in your life–in each of our lives. How does he know? He has gone through it all. He has stood in your place, and took upon Himself your pains. He knows how it feels because he has felt it–along with all the pains, sins, and everything else that is not fair that the human family has suffered since Adam to the future end. Thus, He knows exactly how to help you. He knows what will feel the best, what will promote the greatest growth for you, at what time it would be too soon to suddenly give us everything that we want–He knows it all.
Remember too–this life is not everything. I believe in a God who loves us, and wants us to go back home to Him. I believe there is life after death, and that there are ways to gain an assurance that our families can be together forever. I know that it demands commitment, obligation, hard work, and active, living faith, as well as knowledge of true principles to gain this assurance, and I reccomend you begin that search for that assurance. Death is not the end, and there is no death above. I testify that Christ rose from the dead to conquer death. “As in Adam ALL die, as in Christ shall ALL BE MADE ALIVE” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22, emphasis added).
I know that life continues after death. This life is not our entire existance. We will continue after death.
There are simple answers to the questions that you have. However, in this setting, I find I cannot at this time disclose them.
And so, even though I don’t really know you, but feel for you, and even though I am not a minister or anything special, I would offer a few points by way of suggestion:
1. Keep on praying. Get an answer from Him. I believe that you are sincere and humble. When it’s best in God’s timetable, He will answer you. Ask Him first and foremost if He is really there. That knowledge will help you find answers to your other questions.
2. Ask him to send help. Again, and again, if need be.
3. Be willing to do the other things that God will tell you to do.