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Dear Shiloh Family,
     
It was a pleasant Wednesday evening with temps in the 60’s, unusually warm for mid-March.  We were on our way home from church, when Jordan, my three-yr.-old daughter, casually asked if it was going to snow.  We chuckled and indicated our doubt.  Her mom and I explained how it was very late in the year, and the temperature was much too warm for snow.  Undaunted, she expressed a heartfelt desire to play in a winter wonderland. 
     
Parents try to be somewhat diplomatic or realistic when it comes to spiritual issues and specifically, prayer.  So, when she asked if she could pray for snow, we looked at one another with raised eyebrows, and the only answer I could think of was, “Honey, you can pray for anything.”  
   
She simply replied, “Ok, I’m gonna pray for it to snow.”
Jensen, our then one-yr.-old, who had been listening intently, but hadn’t said a word, matter-of-factly stated, “I pray.”  
    
Anita and I apprehensively shrugged our shoulders, but we could hear mumbling in the back seats.  Two days later, Friday, March 12th, the blizzard of 1993 rolled through the eastern United States, dropped 18 inches of snow, and deposited 3-4-foot drifts in many places.  Honestly, it really made me think of the possibilities the next time I made my children mad.  

Philippians 4:6-7: 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; NKJV
     
I leave you to your own opinions.  Believe what you will.  Children will pray for things as large as changing weather patterns, and matters as small as helping them find their lost toy.  Why is it that adults grow out of faith, loose the belief that prayer changes all things, and only appeal to a loving, caring, heavenly Father when great need arises? 

1 Thessalonians tells us to “pray without ceasing.”  God’s word also tells us that when we pray, the Holy Spirit becomes our intercessor, and prays for us as well.  
     
Next Wednesday, I ask all of you to meet in the Main Auditorium at 7:00 PM for prayer.  We will begin by collectively praying for our country.  We will then participate in a prayer-walk throughout the entire campus and pray for the ministries of Shiloh.  Let’s end the prayer session back in the Main Auditorium with prayer for our community, families, and for our children as they return to school and college.  

Romans 8:27: 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. NKJV     
The prayer that is not prayed is always answered.                           

God bless you all, 
Pastor Derrell