True Life Family Ministries- Prayer Chapel

"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." NKJV

Welcome to the Prayer Chapel. We hope you will find it be a place of comfort & uplifting. Click on the Cross below to visit the Prayer Board. Or, if you wish, submit a confidential Request for Prayer or Biblical Guidance. Any personal request for prayer or Biblical guidance will always be kept confidential.

Some special words of Encouragement & Hope, as well as uplifting Scripture Verses have been provided below. Please feel free to stay as long as you like. You are graciously welcomed. Our prayers are with you. And may God bless you with His tender mercies.

Lamentations 3:22-24 "It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him." KJV

Psalm 46:1-2 "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea." NIV

Isaiah 41:10 "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." NIV

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." ASV

Philippians 3:20-21 "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." NIV

Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." NIV

1 Peter 5:6-7 "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." NIV

1 Peter 5:10 "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." NIV

Jeremiah 31:3 "...I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you." NIV

Psalm 34:18 "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." NIV

Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." NIV

Romans 8:28 "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." NIV

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and the Lord appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin.

The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with All his might. This the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might.

Each night the man returned to his cabin sore, and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Since the man was showing signs of discouragement, the Adversary decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man's weary mind:

"You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it." Thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.

These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man."Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough." And that is what he planned to do, until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord.

"Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, using all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"

The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back is sinewy and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done. I, my friend, will now move the rock."

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him.... By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God who moves the mountains.

When all hope seems to be lost....PUSH
When you are tired and battle worn....PUSH
When you feel like giving up.....PUSH
When you are disillusioned by a friend...PUSH
When you are accused and are innocent....PUSH
When all looks dark around you....PUSH
When you lose your job....PUSH
When you are weary with the world....PUSH

P.U.S.H - Pray Until Something Happens!!!!!

THE CRACKED WATER POT

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly.

He took a pair of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But something was strange. The butterfly had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand, was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the small opening of the cocoon are God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings, so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved it's freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through all our life without any obstacles, that would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Not only that, we could never fly.

She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live.
I drive to this beach, a distance of three or four miles, whenever the world
begins to close in on me. She was building a sand castle, or something, and
looked up, her eyes as blue as the sea.

"Hello," she said. I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother
with a small child. "I'm building," she said. "I see that. What is it?" I
asked, not really caring. "Oh, I don't know, I just like the feel of sand."
That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes. A sandpiper Glided
by. "That's a joy," the child said. "It's a what?" I asked. "It's a joy, my
mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy." The bird went gliding down the
beach. "Good-bye joy," I muttered to myself, "hello pain," and turned to
walk on. I was depressed; my life seemed completely out of balance. "What's
your name?" She wouldn't give up. "Robert," I answered. "I'm Robert
Peterson." "Mine's Wendy....I'm six." "Hi, Wendy." She giggled. "You're
funny," she said. In spite of my gloom, I laughed too and walked on. Her
musical giggle followed me. "Come again, Mr. P," she called. "We'll have
another happy day."

The days and weeks that followed belonged to others; a group of Unruly Boy
Scouts, PTA meetings, and an ailing mother.

The sun was shining one morning as I took my hands out of the dishwater. "I
need a sandpiper," I said to myself, gathering up my coat. The
ever-changing balm of the seashore waited me. The breeze was chilly, but I
strode along, trying to recapture the serenity I needed. I had forgotten
the child and was startled when she appeared. "Hello, Mr. P," she said.
"Do you want to play?" "What did you have in mind?" I asked, with a twinge
of annoyance. "I don't know, you say." "How about charades?" I asked
sarcastically. Her twinkling laughter burst forth again. "I don't know what
that is." "Then let's just walk," I said. Looking at her, I noticed the
delicate fairness of her face. "Where do you live?" I asked. "Over there."
She pointed toward a row of summer cottages. Strange, I thought, in winter.
"Where do you go to school?" "I don't go to school. Mommy says we're on
vacation." She chattered little girl talk as we strolled up the beach, but
my mind was on other things. When I left for home, Wendy said it had been a
happy day. Feeling surprisingly better, I smiled at her and agreed.

Three weeks later, I rushed to the beach in a state of near panic. I Was in
no mood to even greet Wendy. I thought I saw her mother on the Porch and
felt like demanding she keep her child at home. "Look, if you don't mind," I
said crossly when Wendy caught up with me, "I'd rather be alone today." She
seemed unusually pale and out of breath. "Why?" she asked. I turned to her
and shouted, "Because my mother died!" and thought, "My God, why was I
saying this to a little child?" "Oh," she said quietly, "then this is a bad
day." "Yes," I said, "and yesterday and the day before and - oh, go away!"
"Did it hurt?" she inquired. "Did what hurt?" I was exasperated with her,
with myself. "When she died?" she asked. "Of course it hurt!" I snapped,
misunderstanding, wrapped up in myself. I strode off.

A month or so after that, when I next went to the beach, she wasn't there.
Feeling guilty, ashamed and admitting to myself I missed her, I went up to
the cottage after my walk and knocked at the door. A drawn looking young
woman with honey-colored hair opened the door. "Hello," I said. "I'm Robert
Peterson. I missed your little girl today and wondered where she was." "Oh,
yes, Mr. Peterson, please come in. Wendy spoke of you so much. I'm afraid
I allowed her to bother you. If she was a nuisance, please, accept my
apologies." "Not at all - she's a delightful child," I said, suddenly
realizing that I meant what I had just said. "Wendy died last week, Mr.
Peterson. She had leukemia. Maybe she didn't tell you." Struck dumb, I
groped for a chair. I had to catch my breath.> "She loved this beach; so
when she asked to come, we couldn't say no. Wendy seemed so much better here
and had a lot of what she called "happy days". But the last few weeks, she
declined rapidly..." Her voice faltered. She left something for you... if
only I can find it. Could you wait a moment while I look?" I nodded
stupidly, my mind racing for something to say to this lovely young woman.
She handed me a smeared envelope with "Mr. P" printed in bold, Childish
letters. Inside was a drawing in bright crayon hues - a yellow beach, a
blue sea, and a brown bird. Underneath was carefully printed: A SANDPIPER
TO BRING YOU JOY. Tears welled up in my eyes and a heart that had almost
forgotten how To love opened wide. I took Wendy's mother in my arms. "I'm
so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." I muttered over and over, and we wept
together.

The precious little picture is framed now and hangs in my study. Six words
- one for each year of her life - that speak to me of harmony, courage, and
undemanding love. A gift from child with sea-blue eyes and hair the color
of sand - who taught me the gift of love.

The Four Candles burned slowly.
Their Ambiance was so soft you could hear them speak...
The first candle said, "I Am Peace, but these days, nobody wants
to keep me lit."
Then Peace's flame slowly diminishes and goes out completely.
The second candle says, "I Am Faith, but these days, I am no
longer indispensable."
Then Faith's flame slowly diminishes and goes out completely.
Sadly the third candle spoke, "I Am Love and I haven't the
strength to stay lit any longer.."
"People put me aside and don't understand my importance. They
even forget to love those who are nearest to them."
And waiting no longer, Love goes out completely.
Suddenly...
A child enters the room and sees the three candles no longer
burning.
The child begins to cry, "Why are you not burning?
You are supposed to stay lit until the end."
Then the Fourth Candle spoke gently to the little boy, "Don't be
afraid, for I Am Hope, and while I still burn, we can re-light
the other candles."
With Shining eyes the child took the Candle of Hope and lit the
other three candles.
Never let the Flame of Hope go out of your life.
With Hope, no matter how bad things look and are...Peace, Faith
and Love can Shine Brightly in our lives.

In a small house near Jerusalem was a small lamp. I say it was a lamp but it did not know it was a lamp. It had sat many years on the highest shelf, well out of reach and long forgotten. It did not help that the shelf was over the stove and years of grease and grime had accumulated until the lamp was a sticky blackened mess.

One day the lady of the house found a tall stool to clean the top shelf. She had been dreading and postponing this cleaning for a long time. She didn't care for heights but with the marriage of her oldest daughter to the son of the village's most respected and wealthy citizen she wanted everything to be perfect. She did not want to give his snoopy wife one spec of dust to gossip about. So up on the tall stool she went gathering items and cleaning quickly, for she really did have a fear of falling.

Then there it was. This old blackened greasy grimy lamp. Oh my how awful. I'll never be able to clean it she thought. Just what that old snoop would love to get her hands on. Oh no she won't, out it goes with the rest of the trash. And there the little lamp sat feeling ugly and useless. Setting on a pile of disgusting rubbish. Not even sure who or what he was.

Out of no where these pointing fingers came. "Useless piece of trash. Look at it. What is it? I'm sure no one knows. You're worthless. No one wants you. You belong in the trash." The little lamp was sure they were right, so he sat there and began to cry. "I am worthless, I do belong here. No one wants me and I can't blame them. Look at me."

Then he heard a voice and there was the Master and he was looking at the lamp. The lamp felt so ashamed. "My what a nice lamp", said the Master. "Why ever is it in the trash." "I'm a lamp" said the lamp, "why I guess I could be a lamp." Gently the Master reached to picked it up. "Oh that will be the end of you now," the pointing fingers said, "you'll get grime on His hands and He'll throw you down." "Be silent," the Master said to the pointing finger as He turned the lamp to the side to view it more carefully.

"I thought so," said the Master. "There is my mark. I made this lamp." "Oh no," said the lamp "you must be mistaken, you couldn't have because I really am ugly and useless. You couldn't have made anything as hopeless as me."

"Are you telling me that my handiwork is trash and that I, the Master, don't know how to make a lamp." "Oh no!" said the lamp. "Good! and what a fine lamp you are." said the Master. "Look at this" and with the hem of His garment and a little moist breath the Master wiped a little round circle of the grime away. And there it was - who would ever have known - the little lamp was gold.

The fingers pointed, "That means nothing, you're still useless and always will be a dirty grimy piece of junk. A spot of gold makes little difference when you're that far gone."

"Be silent," said the Master, "he just needs a good cleaning." and with that He set to work wiping and polishing. It was uncomfortable but oh to be the Master's lamp and to think of all the work and care He was taking in the little lamp. It was hard, but wonderful, to feel the Master working so attentively and skillfully on me.

After a while the lamp was clean and even the pointing fingers folded back amazed at the beauty and grace of the little lamp. As the master polished He said, "I can see my reflection in you and if I can see my reflection in you others will see my reflection in you too."

Then carefully He poured in the oil, how refreshing it was. He put the wick through the opening and lit it with His fire. The glow of the lamp lit the whole room. The Master said, "I will put you to good use, to light the way before me." This was it, fulfilling my purpose, shinning and warm. Then the Master set me on a fine table in the center of the room and went out to check the oil supply.

That's when it happened. With a flicker and a flutter and a sickening stench of smoke the fire went out. Oh no! I finally had a chance and I failed. Then came the pointing fingers, "You sure fooled yourself but we knew all along. Once a useless piece of trash always trash. The Master trusted you and you failed Him. Give up before you make a worse mess than you already have."

He heard the Master coming, this was it for sure. The fingers were right, back to the trash heap and could he really blame Him. No. Now the Master was here towering over him, looking at him intently. The poor lamp could take no more and just burst in to tears. "Throw me away. I've failed. I couldn't stay lighted. Then the Master began to - - laugh, a deep hearty laughter, a warm laugh from deep within. "All is well little lamp. You've been listening to those accusing pointing fingers again haven't you." and with that He gave a menacing glance at the pointing fingers as they stole away from the Master's displeasure.

"The inside of the lamp takes a little longer to clean. A piece of grime was clinging to the wick and put it out. But that is good, for as the grime comes to the surface we can remove it. Then little by little your insides will be as bright and clean as the outside. As for the fire going out, I can always relight it."

It seemed so simple when He explained it and the warmth of His smile reflected in the lamp like a mirror. The warm glow of the lamp light showed the way for all who would come to the Master.

"My what a beautiful lamp," said the woman as she cleaned for the coming wedding. "The Master has really out done Himself this time. I wish I could afford such a lamp in my house for the wedding but the Master has said it is not for sale and that He will keep it forever. I wonder why?

Sometimes we need to be polished and renewed on the outside. But sometimes we need �new oil� on the inside, too. It may be because of sin, burdens, guilt, dishonorable thoughts, scars we�ve been carrying for many years inside us from hurts we�ve experienced. All may seem hopeless to us, like it did to the little lamp. The accusing fingers may be pointing at us, telling us we�re not important to the Master or that we�re too far gone. But the Master will always love us, because He created us. He can pick us up, no matter how far down we sink; heal our hurts and polish us up, and give us the new oil we need to burn brightly again.

First, we must be willing to listen to Him like the little lamp did and follow His leading. If we listen to the accusing fingers, those who would seek to belittle us and keep us from receiving the Master�s new oil, then we can never shine as brightly as the Master created us to shine. We can never have that full joy and peace which He has in store for us. The little lamp could have listened to the accusing fingers, but he chose to listen to His Master, the One who created him and knew all about Him. The Master was able, not only to make the little lamp shiny and like new on the outside. But, little by little, He cleaned and restored the little lamps inside, too. He gave him new oil and sought to make sure that the supply never ran out, as long as the little lamp was happy to shine for his Master.

We can learn from this story and from the examples of great Christians in the Bible, many of whom were considered failures, by the standards of men, at some point in their lives. But God loved them and brought them out of their circumstances and short-comings, cleansing them and giving them new oil so that their lamps could shine brightly for Him.

Peter denied Jesus three times. The Bible says. in Matt. 26:75, �he wept bitterly.� because of it. How grimy and dirty he must have felt and how retched and hopeless. But God loved him. When the angel appeared to the women at the tomb he told them to go tell Jesus� disciples and Peter, for Peter had gone unto himself because he was so ashamed. (Mark 16:7)

Peter went on to do great works for the Lord and to preach a great sermon on the Day of Pentecost. Three thousand people accepted Christ that day! (Book of Acts)

Moses was considered a failure by most because he had killed an Egyptian while defending an Israelite brother. He became an outcast and lost his position of authority among the Egyptians, fleeing to the back side of the desert. There he lived, tending sheep, for forty years. That is, until God spoke to him in the burning bush and called him to be one of the greatest leaders of all time. (Ex. 3:4)

Abraham failed, when God promised to give him and his wife Sarah a son and to make him a �Father of many nations.� He had trouble believing that God could do what He promised. So he tried to help God out by accepting his wife�s handmaiden, Hagar, with whom he fathered Ishmael. He certainly could be considered a failure at that point for refusing to trust God and wait upon Him for His promise to be fulfilled. But God still loved Abraham and fulfilled His promise, anyway, giving to him and Sarah their promised son, Isaac. Abraham, though his actions caused harmful repercussions down through the ages, still went on to become a great Patriarch. God's own Son would one day come through Isaac's lineage!

God is no respecter of persons. He loves all His children the same. What He does for one, He will do for another. There are no �failures� in God�s eyes because He loves each one of us. There are only �learners�. No matter how long we�ve been sitting on a shelf collecting dirt, no matter how lowly we�ve become, He can restore us and give us that �new oil� if we will only be "learner�s" of His instructions......listening to His words of guidance and then acting upon them.

James 1:21-25, "Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.".

May God bless you today and fill you with that "new oil" so that you may burn brightly and reflect His glory!

One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my
spirituality. ... I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one
last talk with God.

'God', I said. 'Can you give me one good reason not to quit?'
His answer surprised me.

'When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of
them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the
earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the
bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.'

'In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again,
nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.'

'In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not
quit. The same in year four.'

'Then in the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth.
Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant.
But just six months later, the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.
It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and
gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a
challenge it could not handle.'

'Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you
have actually been growing roots? I would not quit on the bamboo.. I will
never quit on you.'

'Don't compare yourself to others.' He said. 'The bamboo had a different
purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful.'

I left the forest, realizing that God will never give up on me. And He will
never give up on you. Never regret a day in your life. Good days give you happiness; bad days give you experiences; both are essential to life.