Urgent Request

Please keep the candle burning
for my cousin Michael!

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him. I John 5:14-15

I just wanted to send an urgent request for prayer for my cousin, Michael. I still want to refer to him as my little cousin, because I can picture him as a little 4 year old at my Granny's house. . . curly brown hair, cute as a button.  He just recently turned 21, and has turned out to be a fine young man.

Sometimes things happen in life that we wonder "Why!??" And this is one of those times. Michael was recently diagnosed with an EXTREMELY rare form of liver cancer. In fact, there are only 2 in 10 million that have this form of cancer. And he is one of those two. He is currently being seen by a team of doctors at the University of Virginia medical center. The tumor is approximately 12 inches...so it is a large tumor. 

The local doctors said that this cancer does not spread outside of the liver (metastisize). HOWEVER, the doctors at UVA have told them that it in fact does spread. So a bone scan is to be done soon. They are also planning to do three more biopsies of the tumor.

Our prayer is for them to be able to remove the tumor (and the affected part of the liver) and have Michael be able to keep 20-25% of  his liver. The liver can regenerate itself, so even though 20-25% doesn't sound like much, it's actually a lot!  If he is unable to keep at least that much of his liver, the entire liver would have to be removed, and he will need a liver transplant.

So....for now, please be praying for:

• Michael, and his family, especially his parents who are travelling with him to and from his appointments to UVA. Pray the cancer has not spread and that the tumor (& affected liver) can be removed without him needing a liver transplant.
• Also pray for God, Who is our Great Physician, to give the team of doctor's wisdom. Because this is such a rare form of cancer, the doctors are having to research this as they go along. Pray for God to guide them in their research and give them wisdom.

Even though we can't begin to understand the "why's" in this, we need to focus on the Who. God is "the WHO" that is ABLE!

So, let's not focus our energy on the WHY, but on HE WHO IS ABLE!  "Now to Him WHO is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21.

Look at the word POWER in that verse. The Greek word for power here is from "dunamai."

Definition: (miraculous) power,

might, strength

MIRACULOUS POWER!! But catch the fact that this is referring to God's miraculous power that is working WITHIN US! We have His Holy Spirit working within us! 

I John 5:14-15 says  we can have CONFIDENCE when we approach God in prayer.  HOW:

• pray according to God's will
• You must BELIEVE (know) that He hears your prayers...and when you REALLY BELIEVE that HE HEARS your prayers, He says that whatever we ask, we know we have it!

So, lets entrust the Holy Spirit to energize our prayers, as we lift our requests to the throne of God!  May we begin to see God's glory manifested through the miraculous work that will be done on Michael's behalf!!

Dear Heavenly Father, You have given us such a privilege to confidently come to You in prayer on behalf of Michael and his family.  We thank You in advance for what You will do.  Father, this situation comes as no surprise to You.  But to us who know and love Michael, it has shaken us to our core.  We ask for Your Holy Spirit to give us the words to pray according to Your will, and the FAITH to BELIEVE that You will hear and answer our prayers!  Please give the doctors wisdom to know how to treat this successfully.  We ask that the cancer would be contained to the liver.  Please allow Michael to keep a portion of his liver too, Father, so that he would not require a liver transplant.  I ask for You to strengthen and encourage Uncle David, Aunt Dianne, as well as Amy and Jay T (and their families!)  They are so special to our family, and need Your strength and peace throughout this storm.  Draw the family closer to You, Father, and to one another.  Be glorified in this, and may You give Michael a renewed sense of Your Divine purpose for his life, Father.  Allow him to be a shining light to others around him, in order to point others to his Inner Strength which is YOU.  We choose to focus on what we KNOW and not on what we don't know.  WE KNOW that You are in control.  We KNOW that You LOVE Michael and his family (and all of us); we KNOW that You have already answered our prayers and even take time to listen to us as we pray, for Your Word says, "Before they call I will answer, and while they are still speaking I will hear."  You do not lie, Father; You can not, for You are holy.  You honor Your Word above Your Name.  So we KNOW and we BELIEVE with full assurance that YOU have answered our prayers according to Your will.  We do not know what the future holds or what the outcome will be, but we DO KNOW that Your will for us in this situation (and every situation) is to GIVE THANKS!  It requires a LOT of faith to THANK YOU for THIS, Father. It makes no sense to the human mind to say "Thank You!"  but  maybe You're just wanting to see our hearts united in full faith and assurance of Your unfailing power and unfathomable love.  You are ABLE to heal Michael; You are ABLE to keep this cancer contained,  Father! You contain the ocean waves and tell them where to stop.  You have set the boundaries of the universe...so we KNOW that You can set the boundaries of this cancer and tell it "YOU WILL GO NO FURTHER!"  We ask You to have already done this, Father.   Even as I sit quietly here, Father, and just wait for You to speak, I hear You gently whisper, "Thy will be done."  Oh Father, we pray for Your will to be done not just in this, but in all of our lives, Father.  May everyone around us see a difference in us, and may that Difference be YOUR POWER resting upon us so that others are drawn to You.  We claim Your favor and presence as a shield around Michael and his family. . .and we ask that You would bring them to our hearts in order to pray for them at just the right moments when strength and comfort is needed the most, Father.  The effectual fervant prayer of a righteous man or woman availeth MUCH, Father.  You said it!  And we are made righteous because of the finished work of Jesus on the cross on our behalf!  So we thank You for this honor to pray for Michael, his family as well as for the doctors.  The battle, Father, is not in the hospitals or doctors' offices around the world, NO!  It is in the prayers of Your children.  Father, as long as Moses held his arms up to You, the army below was winning. . .but as soon as his arms began to slip and fall down from exhaustion, the enemy began to overtake them!  Father, lift up Your children's arms in this battle!  May we never grow weary in well doing to pray for not just Michael but for ANYONE who needs our prayers!  May we have eyes to see our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need of support in their prayer-life; and may we lift them up, just as Aaron and Hur helped to prop Moses' arms up!  (Exodus 17:12) We lift our hearts to You, Father, on behalf of Michael. We ask for Your will to be done.  Encourage Your children through this...May we see YOUR MIRACULOUS POWER working in and through us, and our prayer-lives, Father.  Breathe life into our prayers by the power of Your Holy Spirit!  In Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.....

THANK YOU TO EACH OF MY DEAR BLOGGING SISTERS AND BROTHERS IN CHRIST.  Please pass this prayer request along to your sweet blogging family! May the Holy Spirit renew our strength to come to the battlefield and PRAY for God's will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven!
**I've added an update from my Aunt Dianne in the comments section.  I am so thankful for each of your prayers. Before I wrote this blog, I asked them if it'd be okay to share Michael's situation on the blog, because God gave me the faith to believe He will use each of you in a special way to be a part of this journey in prayer on Michael's (and the family's) behalf!   Thank you for proving that God's people can pull together, even if they've never met, to pray for a special brother in Christ.  :)  Love U!  <3