Waiting it Out & Swallowing the Grudge

It was SO nice of Summit Plastics to finally check in with me today (6 days later) on how I'm doing.  Afterall, I was barely awake when they told me I still had cancer and then swiftly carted me off to the ER because I was short of breath, coughing uncontrollably and had low oxygen levels. I felt like they couldn't wait to get me out of there and get on with their gurney-runway of boob jobs for the vain, non-cancerous patients.  But hey, I'm sure they thought of me over Christmas.  Luckily, it's all good here...no bruising, no swelling, no pain.  I ask the nice lady, "You DID request to have a copy of my pathology results sent to my primary care physician, right?"  She replies, "I'm not sure if we did since your primary care physician is located out of town."  Ummm, ok...

{Where the f*** do I live?  It's not like we are trying to get Mary from Walnut Grove to Sleepy Eye!  I'm pretty sure my insurance would pay for the long distance call or fax to Angola.} 

It's obvious I'm dealing with some feelings of impatience and frustration here.  It's prudent at this point that I get over my grudge with God immediately and start praying-- fast and hard. This bitterness is ugly and un-Amy-like!  I'm not really feeling it, though, like I normally do when times are good.  But as luck has it and blessings follow, I get an email from a friend, Kathy, who is on vacation in Florida, but still finds the time to send a very timely email to me about prayer called 'How to Pray', by Robert Wells.  {My friend/fellow cancer battler/mentor professional blogger Hollye would call this a silver lining.} 

Here is an excerpt from "How to Pray":

Description:
Prayer unleashes God's power so that he is able to work in our behalf. Prayer opens the channels of God's blessing. Prayer is how God accomplishes the things that he wants to see happen in our lives, and in the lives of others. Prayer opens new doors of opportunity for God to move in. {So far, so good}

In Philippians 4:6 it says, Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God. Basically prayer is simply talking to God just like you would talk to your very best friend.  {uh, oh. when I talk to my best friends I use a lot of profanity. I need to work on that}

Why should we pray?
Prayer unleashes God's power so that he is able to work in our behalf. Prayer opens the channels of God's blessing. Prayer is how God accomplishes the things that he wants to see happen in our lives. Prayer opens new doors of opportunity for God to move. In fact you can view prayer like a door. You are on one side of a closed door and on the other side is God. But standing with God is all this incredible and unimaginable power. When you pray, it is you turning that doorknob and swinging that door wide open. For it is at that moment when all that power can step through that doorway and work for God's good, and for your good.
Since he respects our freedom of choice and free will, prayer enables him to step into our lives. God has limited his powers in our lives to the importance that we place on prayer. Prayer gives God the permission to do what he has been longing to do all the time. Even when we do not see anything significant occurring, God is still at work solving the problem. When there are apparently no answers, God is still is waiting for the proper time to give us the solution. {HURRY UP, I SAY!!!!}
 
Psalm 55:22 Throw every burden upon God.
Psalm 68:19 Blessed be Our God who daily carries the load for us.
Psalm 56:9 This I well know, that God is for me.

There are four basic steps involved in the proper way to pray.
1--Bring the problem to God's attention immediately. But always keep the problem God centered and not problem centered.
2--Supplication. The definition of supplication is---a very honest and clear confession that tells God that you need his help.
3--Then focus on God and not on the problem. Keep in mind that our prayers are always to be God centered.
4--Thanksgiving. You are thankful because you know the following about our great and mighty and glorious God.

• That you can come to the Father with your problems anytime
• That he is concerned about you
• That he loves you
• That he said that he would help you
• That he will see you through this problem
• That he has the power to solve this problem
• That you trust him 100%

Whew!  That's only some of it, but it's helpful, huh?  I hope it's insightful for some of you out there.  We Catholics, especially, need a little help in this area, because we have a tendency to recite prayer after prayer without giving much thought to the meaning. 

Thank you, Kathy for this great email this morning!