Please bear with me as I quote a few things I have written to the readers of ‘Out of the Dark’, and to those who use my forum. These excerpts will give you some background about a new section I am introducing to my website:
In the Forum Code of Conduct and Policies, I wrote that ‘this is not specifically a ‘help’ site (like ‘the Samaritans’), but is intended to be a place where we can make friends and encourage each other in an atmosphere of unconditional love. It is my prayer that this section (the Forum) will generate a positive environment that will encourage us all to continue to seek our healing and wholeness, and enable us to free ourselves from the hurts of our past and move on’ I also went on to state that ‘While people of all faiths (and none) are very welcome to write in, please bear in mind that I, and the moderators and administrators of this site, are Christians, and our faith that Jesus Christ is our healer will be evident as we interact with, and pray for, all those who write in.’
In the section titled ‘A letter to readers of Out of the Dark’, I wrote that ‘I pray for all of you, constantly. I may not know who you are, but God does – and He also knows, and can meet, your deepest needs.’
I did not write this in a flippant way. I really do pray for you all constantly. I read in Webster’s Universal College Dictionary, that some of the meanings for ‘constant’ are: ‘not changing; invariable; regularly recurrent; continual; persistent; faithful; unswerving in love or devotion; steadfast; firm in mind or purpose’. This really does describe how I pray for you.
Last summer (the summer of 2006) I had a wonderful opportunity to spend some time with a dear friend who was instrumental in my healing. Pam is still amazed to know how deeply moved I was by the cards she sent me during the three years of my breakdown. I told her that her words of encouragement, reminding me that she was still praying for me, helped me to get through many dark days. We spoke about the power of prayer, and the importance of encouragement.
I shared the vision I had/have for the ‘forum’ section of my website, and said that I would like to introduce a special section titled ‘Prayer Requests’. As the title states, this would be a place for anyone to post specific prayer requests. One of the concerns I had about doing this, is the fact that I am not able to spend as much time on the forum as I would like. If I was going to invite prayer requests, I wanted to be sure someone would definitely be praying for them specifically! One of the definitions of ‘intercession’, in the dictionary, is ‘prayer to God on behalf of somebody or something’. This is actually what Pam already spends her life doing. She told me that she will log on to the forum regularly, specifically to read and pray for, the prayer requests.
I want to say at this point, that I know many of you will use this section not only to post your own requests, but also to pray for the requests of others. Pam and I will just be there to come alongside you, and add our prayers to yours.