Pray Without Ceasing

Isaiah 43:2-3 says:  "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."  Oh, how wonderful that promise is from our Heavenly Father.  It covers everything, from something that's small, but big to us, all the way through the fire. 

I am overjoyed with the love of Jesus.  He is our rock and our fortress, and He tells us that He "will be a father to us, and we shall be His sons and daughters" (2 Corinthians 6:18).  How magnificent is it to be a daughter or son of Christ Jesus?!  For me, I don't know what I would do without Him.  I have been going through a breast cancer journey that has changed me, made me different, made me look for God, made me realize how precious every moment should be.  During this time, I have realized that what God really wants from us is our undivided love and attention...to pray without ceasing.  I have wondered how that could be possible and what that meant.  How could anyone just pray all day without ceasing?  What would you say - could you run out of things to talk about?  Well, God has shown me over this journey thus far that it is possible to pray without ceasing.  It's all about our heart and our mind. 

I have said many times that breast cancer for me has not been all bad, that I wouldn't want cancer again, but that I would not go back and change one thing.  I am sitting here today waiting...waiting on test results and estrogen levels.  You see, most of the time when a big trial comes along we don't just face it quickly and move on.  Usually, if it's a big trial for us, it puts us in a state of not knowing what to do, where to turn, or how to fix it.  That's what breast cancer has been for me.  Each path that I've traveled has had another road turning off to the side that I hadn't anticipated.  Yet, with each turn I've been able to see God in the distance waiting on me.  I am back on my cancer medicine; I've had a second surgery to remove an ovary that wasn't gotten during the first hysterectomy surgery.  With a hysterectomy my estrogen level is supposed to be lower than 32.  It was 169!  So, they went in a second time to get the "remnant" of the ovary left behind.  We still don't know if they got it.  The level is now 78.  Why do I tell you this?  Because that level is still too high, the doctors can't find the small part of ovary that has been left behind, and because I am to have faith that God has it under control.  Now, I have been on this cancer walk for a year and a half.  You would think that I would have mastered the wait and see, take one day at a time because God's got it approach.  But, no.  See, God knows me better than anyone.  When waiting for this last estrogen level to come back, I didn't wait in total confidence and think that whatever it is will be fine.  No, I prayed "please, please, please let the level be 10, Lord".  :)  Why?  Because I thought that if the level came back at 32 or lower, then everything was going to be okay "for sure".  And well, how much better would it be for the level to be 10?  What God told me instead was, your level may be 78 but how do you know things aren't okay "for sure"?  Wait on me.  Listen to me.  Trust me.  Have faith in me.  Walk with me.  I read something the other day that said that faith doesn't mean that because something good is happening to you that the Lord must have sent it; but faith says, God sent this to me, so it must be good.  After really studying that I realized that when something comes our way that we may see as bad, if God sent it to us, it WILL be good and it will be for His glory and praise.  It took a lot of tears of frustration before I realized that God wants me to trust Him totally and completely, without fear and frustration.  He wants me to give it up and go about my day with joy in my heart.  So I'm trying to learn, and I'm trying to get there, but some days are so much harder than others.  Sometimes it seems as if He's not there, but He is.  He's watching over us, maybe waiting to see what we do.  Will we run to Him?  Oh, I can talk to Him about it because He's always there listening for me, for He never sleeps nor slumbers.  I can ask Him questions because I am His daughter and He gave His son to die for me.  I can cry because He's there to wipe away my tears.  I can tell Him of my fears and He will calm the storm and say "Peace be still".  I can see Him do something miraculous and say thank you and praise Him for it.  I can do all of these things and He is there, helping me and guiding me along the way.  But do you know what else I've done?  I've prayed without ceasing!  Yes, having Him on the forefront of our hearts and minds, and going to Him with all our concerns, big or small, is continuous communication, which is praying without ceasing.  Someday, when we get to Heaven, we'll be able to praise Him for all of these things without ceasing, and what a glorious and wonderful time that will be! 

So see, just like He promises in Isaiah, whether it's the calmer waters, or the rivers that flow, or the fire that comes, He is our Lord, our God, and our Savior.  He's waiting on us to welcome Him in; welcoming us to see His beauty around us.  Look around you and you will see Him in everything you see and do, from the sounds of the birds, or the voices of your loved ones, to the smile of a stranger, or a beautiful moon that lights up the sky as if it were day, to the quiet stillness that only He can bring.  If you are going through an illness or a broken relationship, or financial issues, or knowing a friend or loved one is lost, or anything in your path that's big, it's big to God, too.  So, run to Him, for "whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1).  I love resting under His shadow.  There's no safer, quieter, more gentle, loving place to be. 

I love you all,
Kacey