Here we go again

I am beginning this today after several months of silence as I have not been posting.  The reason I stepped away was because of the health of my precious wife Elaine.  Last November through a regular checkup with her cardiologist it was found that she would have to have open heart surgery.  In her case it was triple bypass surgery.  She did great with the surgery and her heart is as strong as they knew it would be after the surgery.  However, she had a myriad of complications which slowed her recovery.  I won’t get into them all but suffice it to say she dealt with a lot physically.  Now she is doing great and continuing to do the cardiac rehab and as I like to say, “I have my Elaine back”.  Will be back on the road next month after she completes all her cardiac rehabilitation classes.

So, as I begin to share some thoughts to ponder today you might appreciate that I have a lot I have pondered in many different areas since we last were together.  One of the things that I am going to be doing in future post is sharing perspectives that I believe are vitally important for us as believers, which has always been my primary focus.  I have and will continue to address that even as Christian’s we have very important roles to play in this life.  The list is long as to the roles we play but each has great importance. 

I think about how we just celebrated Mother’s Day a few Sundays ago.  Women as Mom’s play an incredible role.  There are countless women who also have the role of being a mom even though they may not have their own child.  Yet they are involved in the life of others. So, as I have in the past I will continue to venture into areas where we as Christians play a role.  In the future post I am confident we will be able to address many if not all of them. 

I would appreciate your help in sharing them with others.  I post on my website ElbertNasworthy.com/blog.  Post as @ElbertNasworthy on Facebook, Threads, X, Truth Social, Instagram, and video at Rumble.com and so with that said here we go.

One of the things that I was so quickly reminded of over these past months was the power of prayer.  From the day Elaine was told she had to have the surgery the prayers were extremely focused.  For her peace and strength, the nurses and Doctors, for the preparation and the actual surgery, and for her recovery.  Let me be honest here and say that the one part of the prayer that went much differently than we prayed for was her recovery.

Without, as I said earlier getting into it, she had a myriad of things happen.  Lacey is our daughter and a nurse and one day she said, “if I hear one more time this usually doesn’t happen, I think I’m going to scream”.  I was right with her because in all that Elaine went through her heart was never the issue.  There were other things as well slowing her recovery and affecting her overall health.

Yet, we prayed continuously and God answered prayer. I have reminded people over the years as a Pastor “that God is seldom early but He is never late.”  In honesty I was wondering sometimes what God was doing.  I trusted Him and He proved His faithfulness.   However, I can tell you I had this scripted a totally different way than God.

So, while all of this was happening, I prayed, family and friends prayed and maybe you prayed and if you did thank you. There is a manner in which we pray.  When I pray, I ask for God’s will to be done.  You probably do to, because we’ve been instructed.  Matthew 6:9-13 are Jesus's instructions as to how to pray, the Lord’s Prayer.  This is the NKJV-

⁹ In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.

¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

¹³ And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Early in life I learned this prayer just like you.  The words He spoke “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Stuck in my mind and heart.  When I pray honestly, I have to admit that I don’t ask much of God.  When I pray and ask it is conditional upon His will being done.  Prayer has never for me been about getting God to do what I want but rather that in whatever I am praying His will be done.

So here is the thing to know about prayer and God.  If we can pray and ask of God but do so realizing it is ultimately His will that is done then we can accept and be comforted in knowing because He is God and knows all it will be the best for us or those, we pray for or about.

Let me conclude today by again thanking you for allowing me to come to you with the blog.  Let me humbly ask you to pray for us as Elaine continues to get stronger each day.

Be sure to share this post with others on Facebook, Threads, X, Truth Social, Instagram, and tell them they can also go to my website ElbertNasworthy.com/blog

In God’s Grace,

Elbert Nasworthy