FACING MY GIANTS- PRAYER NEEDED

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

I do a LOT of writing, but this is a very significant and important piece. I have prayed much about it, and I have asked that the people who are supposed to read this will be directed to read it. If this is a busy time for you, I ask you to come back to it later. I'm asking each reader to read this thoroughly and give it thought and prayer. It's not an easy piece to write.

I tend to be a person who is very dramatic, very emotional, and who can be very sensational. These traits can be good and they can be bad. On the positive side, they tend to help me to be a very effective public speaker and storyteller, and also a good writer and storyteller. But on the negative side, a person with my persona runs the risk of not being taken very seriously when he or she needs to be. My mother often told us as kids the Aesop fable of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". Most of you know it. When the kid REALLY needed the help, he was not taken seriously, and it was his own fault. I remember that when my mother was near death, I told a family friend of her condition. At her funeral, this guy actually said to me, "Bob, when you told me she had only days to live and was about to succumb to cancer, I did not take you seriously. I just thought you were exaggerating." I realized that maybe I should rethink being emotional and sensational about EVERYTHING, but I guess I still have not done that.

So, I hope you will not be like the guy who did not believe how close my mother was to death and did not take me seriously. There have been several very serious times of crisis for my family and me. This is one of them. It MAY be the worst. Honestly, I think it is the worst. On a scale of 1-10, a 1 being something very minor and a 10 being catastrophic, this one is a 13.

Some time ago, I received a letter from someone who really took me to task. This person said I should NEVER let anyone know of my problems...that it meant I was not trusting God. I have been told that by others, as well. Shortly after that, I had coffee with Pastor Rob Woods of New Hope Church in Marlboro, MA. Rob told me he flatly disagreed with that letter writer and with anyone who tells me I have to keep my problems bottled up and just trust God in secret. "How are we supposed to know how to pray for you and how to help you if you don't TELL us?" Rob admonished, and that helped me. That is also the spirit of the Bible verses I opened with. As much as I CAN be a loner and very private about SOME things, I also believe very strongly in the BODY OF CHRIST concept- that (in the best sense of the words) we really ARE to be very involved in each other's lives, and that means earnestly praying for and encouraging one another. Maybe more so than other people, but I need that! I also expect others to contact me regarding their own prayer requests and problems, that I can get involved in praying for them and helping them when and where I can.

Last night as I washed dishes, in my heart I asked God this question:

"Is it right for me to 'put this out there' to ask for prayer support as I feel I am in way over my head and drowning, or is it right to just keep it to myself and trust You?"

Immediately, and I mean IMMEDIATELY the Lord spoke to my heart in that "still small voice" that some of you know about. He reminded me of the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 23 verses 12-24. Paul had been arrested and jailed in Jerusalem. His nephew learned that more than forty of his enemies had bound themselves in a conspiracy to neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. The nephew told Paul. Paul immediately called for a soldier and told the soldier to take the young man to his Commander; that the young man had something important to report. When the young man told the Commander what was going on, the Commander called for a bunch of soldiers and horsemen as escorts, and had Paul taken scores of miles away to the jail in Caesarea where he'd be safe. The Lord pointed out to me that Paul didn't just sit there in Jerusalem and say, "Well, I'm just going to KEEP THIS A SECRET and TRUST GOD to protect me." He had the matter reported, and literally had a LOT of help in getting out of there safely! The Lord impressed me that, likewise, to ask for many people to earnestly stand with me in prayer during a time of crisis is NOT wrong at all.

One of my all time favorite films is the 8-year-old Christian football film, "Facing the Giants". I had watched that at least 4 times, but I watched it again last night. THIS time I watched it with the verbal commentary track running. While I LOVE that film and never get tired of it, my one regret about it is that it's a fictional film and not a true story. How I'd wished those miracles in the film had REALLY happened! Well, was I ever surprised last night?! It turns out that almost every miracle portrayed in the miracle: Coach Taylor being given a new vehicle paid for by one of the Christian school parents; his wife getting pregnant when they'd been told they could NOT have children; an older man praying earnestly for revival to break out in the school and THIS HAPPENING; all of that and more that you see in the film REALLY HAPPENED- just not all as part of the same story. The filmmakers combined a bunch of miracles and true stories into one movie BOY, did that excite me!

If you have a chance to get that "Facing the Giants" film, please do so! How I identified with Coach Taylor last night, more than I ever had before. The filmmakers stressed the character's perceived failures as a leader and as a man; this led to depression and low self esteem. YET, he turned to God and changed his entire focus, and miracles happened!

I never minimize young people. My daughter Rachel who is in her mid-twenties has sent me several e-mails lately. She has specifically encouraged me to pray for wisdom and to believe God for GREAT MIRACLES for the near future. She has shared with me magnificent answers to prayer in her own life as she's done this. Listen, she's encouraged me more than almost anyone else over the past few days.

But I do covet your prayers. I ask you to please pray for me today. And, if you know someone who really knows how to pray...whether or not they know me or know anything about me...would you have them read this, as well, and would you ask them to pray for me.

I'm trusting that as we all pray, miracles will happen.
If anyone wants to personally contact me, my e-mail is
revrbaril@aol.com