Praying and believing for the future!

"...(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;"

This is from Romans 4:17 (NKJV). When I woke up this morning (at about 6:15 AM), this Scripture was on my heart and IN my spirit! An unusual verse perhaps to think of when writing a Thanksgiving post. But...check this out...

I opened the "new post" window, pasted the logo I wanted to use for this blog and copied the verse above from Biblegateway. com onto my new blog window. But then I stopped because Gayle and I were ready to have our morning devotional time. We are using Mark Batterson's Draw the Circle devotional book and we're in our third time through. Today, Gayle read Day 25. The title for this chapter is, "A Prophetic Voice."

I wish I could just copy and paste today's devo right here into my blog because every word Batterson wrote for day 25 had already been placed in and on MY heart when I first woke up. Let me share one paragraph under the heading, "Personal Prophecies."

"Prayer isn't just the way we cultivate our own potential; prayer is the way we  recognize potential in others. Like Paul, who saw gifts in Timothy that Timothy couldn't see in himself, we, through prayer, are enabled to see with prophetic eyes. We are given supernatural insight. Then we are prepared to speak with prophetic boldness into the lives God has positioned in our path" (140).

Today is Thanksgiving Day, 2015. Gayle and I praise and thank God daily for His abundant supply. I, as anyone talking about this "holiday" could, thank God for the rest of our lives for all He is and for all He's provided. I thank Him for life eternal made possible through Jesus. I am thankful for Gayle, my family and friends, and for His sustaining daily strength in spite of critical health issues.

But today, I am also thankful for the things God is going to provide us in the near future! I said in my last blog that I would share some things about four things Gayle and I are praying about AND FOR! 

1. We thank God that He is going to miraculously save the girls, the manager(s), and the owners of New York New York which is a local strip club. We are praying for each person to have other vocational opportunities as well. With everyone involved out of "the business," we are praying that God would provide the building for a ministry center that could be remodeled and sanctified for His work.

2. We thank the Lord for the work He's doing at a local high school. And trust me, He IS working. But our praise takes us to the work He's about to do there. Revival is coming. We're sure of it. And many, many lives (students, faculty and staff) are going to be transformed by the grace of God. Jesus is about to show up, AND show off! (Thanks for that too, Mark Batterson!) (I wish I could share the story of just ONE young man, a ninth grader who has the faith of someone who has lived for Christ MUCH longer. He's amazing! Perhaps soon, he will share his story here.)

3. Gayle and I praise God for the open doors He is going to provide to have my books edited professionally and published. I am convinced that the Lord gave the ideas and themes to me and I believe that He is going to use them to reach a lot of folks with the Gospel.

And, 4., Because of the love and support of some dear friends whom I love with all my heart, Windstorm is back on the Web. I had a dream that took shape in 1985. That dream has yet to be fulfilled but that dream, with many parts, is about to come to pass.

We believe. And, we give thanks!