Prayer......A Powerful Medicine

   Today, I sit and think about many friends and family members that are heavy on my heart. We have friends back in the states that are battling cancer. We have family members that are facing trials of their own. We think of our parents and how they are doing in everday life. We also think about how they must feel with their children and grandcildren living in another country. We have so many people that we pray for and we pray for friends and family of friends that we have never met. Prayer is an amazing tool that many only use as a form of communication when things go wrong or a trail arises. But we should have prayer as a daily routine to talk with the Lord in good times and bad times.

Some people think that because we are in full time ministry or serving as missionaries that we are somehow different than everyone else. Well, let me just say this.......we are not any different. We have just been given a call that we chose to obey. (Not everyone is given the call to go to another country but we do all have a call to be a witness for Christ.) However, we are still human and the devil attacks us just like he attacks you. Our life did not just "with the snap of a finger" become perfect and burden free. In fact, those who are doing God's work are put in the hot seat and the devil is trying his hardest to bring us all down and to get us to throw in the towel.

I can say that we have seen that first hand here, living in Costa Rica. Almost, all of the students that walk through the gates of "ILE" are here because God has called them to the mission field. It is sad to say that some will not make it to their field of calling. Some have been hit with sickness, lack of support, or emotional strain. Last week, the devil had us ready to leave very early beacuse of all the contractions that I was having. However, we prayed and turned it all over to the Lord and he gave us peace that everything was going to work out and that would take care of Micah and myself. Things here are great and we only have 28 days to go.

This week we have a dear friend here who has a very heavy heart. She is a sweet lady and a dear friend and at this time I am not going to give her name because I have not asked for her permission to use it. However, I am asking that you all please lift her and her family up in prayer. (God knows her name and so if you earnestly pray he will hear you). Since she has been here studying Spanish she has lost her mother, sent one of her children back to the states for college and is preparing for her other 2 children to return to the states after classes finish. Her and her husband will head to their field by themselves. I can say that there is much stress in trying to learn a new language. Some days are great and others are days where you.....well wanna go home and cry or pull out your hair. With that said who needs anything else thrown your way? Well, this week she ventured to the doctor because she has been having some joint pain and her body hurts....you never would know by the sweet smile she carries on her face. She has been an encouragement to me and I know many others here. I am asking that you help me by praying for her and of coarse the many others that need prayer. Just becasue we are a missionary does not mean that again we do not go through trials and have burdens. I know that God answers prayers and he hears his children.

I am thankful to know that we all have a comforter. It says in John 14:16-18 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; butye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shll be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

The Bible also says in 1 John 5: 14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us:And if we know that he hear us, whatsoeverwe ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

I know that there are many of us that have special needs and prayer request. I can say that we have a family prayer board to help us remember special prayers and needs. We did not always have one of these, we learned of the prayer board when we moved to Tampa to train at the children's home. Pastor Mike told us that if the children or staff needed something or had a special need it had better be on the board and they should be praying for it. God can not answer prayers if we do not ask HIM to answer. While we lived in Tampa we saw just how God supplies the needs of his children through prayer. The children were very involved in prayer and they prayed for things that were on the board and when God answered a prayer they would remove it. We do the same thing with a white board. We plan on continuing this tradition once in Honduras. I challenge you all to have some form of a prayer board to help with prayer request and erase them once God answers them.

The Coats Family Prayer Board