Hands that do more than pray

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hands that do more than pray

On Father’s Day we had a special speaker at our church service and hands down it was probably one of the best sermons I have heard this year. Maybe ever. It’s a big call, because I’ve heard thousands of sermons. But this sermon explained a truth I’ve always known, but in profound way. It was the type of sermon everyone should have heard.

Father's Day
This was a photo booth that was set up at our church for Father’s Day.

I left church, inspired and ready to live my dream and then Monday happened and the weight of the world’s problems, combined with my own became a heavy load to bear. I lost it last night when I went to place Esther’s dinner on the table, but the plate missed the table and landed on the floor, splattering cheese, rice and chicken all over the floor. I was able to save it before our furry hoover (Bentley, the dog) inhaled the delicious mess. But I swore and I cried and the girls looked at me not sure what the heck was going on with their mum.

There’s so much going on in the world at the moment. I’ve had my own battles to deal with too.

I’ve been affected by the picture of little Aylan Kurdi. I’ve felt utter despair for the parents of William Tyrel.

Life can be mundane one moment and intense the next. There is never a happy medium and I wish there was.

I had my own little life scare when I arrived to my church last Thursday morning to attend Sisterhood. I’d arrived right on time and had the pram out with Phoebe sitting in the top seat and Magdalene and Esther waited by the car as I went to get my handbag out from the front passenger seat of our car. The next moment, I heard a scream and loud cries from Maggie as the pram had tipped over backwards with the metal handle bar pinning Maggie’s head into the bitumen road.

I swore in shock as I lifted the pram off Maggie and bundled her in my arms as she screamed in terror at what had happened. There was a massive bruise and scrape in the middle of her forehead and she kept holding her head and nose, crying in pain. I didn’t know what to do and quickly rang Jacob who told me to ring 1300 Health, but I was able to find our doctor’s phone number and they told me to drive straight away to the centre to get Maggie checked out for a possible concussion.

Maggie waiting at the Doctors
Maggie waiting at the Doctors

Esther was upset because we had to get back in the car and she was going to miss the kids program, and Miss Phoebe was in protest that she was being placed back in her car seat again.

That same morning, my mum had raced my grandpa to the doctor because he wasn’t well and then came over to wait with my girls while I got Maggie checked out.

Our doctor wasn’t too concerned about the forehead, he was more concerned about the lump on the back of Maggie’s head and told me we were extremely lucky because little kids died from hitting the back of their head where Maggie had.

Maggie ended up being fine, but the scare didn’t help my emotional state.

That night, I had no dinner organized so we resorted to eating microwave dinners which neither of us can stand. Jacob came home earlier from work, so we chose to have a walk to get some fresh air and finish the day on a high. While we were out a good friend of mine left some dinner and a bouquet of flowers at our door. When I got to say thank you to her in person on the weekend, she admitted she hadn’t had a great week either.

Beautiful flowers from a beautiful friend
Beautiful flowers from a beautiful friend

I was touched by this, because despite her having a not so great week, she took the time to bless me.

Sometimes we often wait until we have it altogether before we offer to help someone else, but if we waited for that to happen, no one would get help.

I feel a bit like this with the Syrian crisis. I don’t know what to do. On the weekend I donated money, but for me, that’s not enough. I want to do more, but I don’t know what. I want to write up a post of what we can do locally to help the refugees. Veggie Mama has written what you can do locally in Melbourne by purchasing produce from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Food Truck, and this post also has some practical suggestions too.

Don’t underestimate the power of prayer. For the last couple of weeks I have been praying for the women and children of Iraq and Syria who have been raped and abused in the most horrific way. Remembering and praying for the victims of this war keeps it not only on mind but the prayers of many can ensure miracles of deliverance can happen.

Where is God when we see a crisis of this sort? What is He doing? How can He look on and watch what is happening in Syria?

The same questions can be asked of past wars and horrific crimes that are performed day in and day out. We yearn for the perfect life, but a lot of us still don’t understand the consequences from the fall. Rather than shake a fist at God, be part of the answer by helping local initiatives to help the crises. But I know a lot of Australians will simply do nothing because the need is so overwhelming and great. It’s too far away for us to worry about. We don’t want to be inconvenienced, and simply want a God to fix it for us.

I’m reminded about the power of prayer in times like these with the story of Daniel 10:2-14. Persistent prayer is needed to fight against the strongholds of evil. God hears every prayer and has angels working constantly but there are also evil angels that resist and try to combat the good. For us, in our simple thinking it makes sense that if God is God he can combat anything and he can, but don’t underestimate the power and authority of evil. Daniel 10: 12-14 explains how an angel was ‘detained’ by an evil angel in Persia and Daniel’s consistent prayers ensured a spiritual breakthrough where the angel Michael was sent to help.

We can feel like our prayers aren’t working, but we don’t have the vision and sometimes we don’t have the comprehension to understand what is happening in the spiritual world. So it’s easier to play the blame game. It’s a typical human response.

I don’t profess to know everything about spiritual matters. This year has brought about many conflicts of faith that have had me yearn to understand rather than walk away from my faith.

What I do know is I have been touched by what I’ve seen and heard and I want to do something and will continue to do so whether it’s through prayer, or donating or getting on board local initiatives that are set up to help.

How have you been feeling about the events going on in the world? Do you think faith can play a part in finding a solution? Do you know of other practical ways to help the refugees?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT.