2018 Prayer Requests 2.0

God has likewise shown me, that while there are some things people generally might have to 'wait on', on the other hand, there are other things, such as studying the bible again, that do not require any waiting process of any kind. Recently God has been showing me also through various circumstances, that my extended period of rest/sabbatical has some aspects that are likely his plan and others that likely are not within His plan/will.



When I was thinking of writing this post to include the prayer request of returning to seminary, my YouTube jumped on it's own to this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coHKdhAZ9hU after I looked up the 'Ticket To Ride' lyric that is apparently part of the J Train song and it reminded me of the time I was giving my testimony at summer retreat at the other church I previously attended for a long time and I was giving a testimony about dedicating my life into ministry and I quoted Matthew 16:26.  Interestingly enough, I just discovered this verse is also in context of the verses about Jesus renaming Cephas to Peter.  Peter (the biblical Peter) is a name I've been reminded of a lot recently, particularly this one time prior to church group, I was unable to load the digital copy of Sunday's message in the same day the Pastor/speaker picked (the Rooster crows three times passage, Mark 14 I believe, will verify later if I have the opportunity) as the main passage for discussion that week.



My attention was also drawn to this verse:

²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” [Matthew 16:23]


One of the things I am starting to feel/sense is not within God's will is my stubbornness about wanting to be married prior to returning/graduating from seminary because I personally am holding onto a belief or perhaps a better word is "fear" if somehow I am not married yet, my life will be a lot more complicated going back to seminary studies as a unmarried person.


Another thing I am processing is that my lack of employment is possibly also another circumstance that is more 'my doing' rather than God's. As I have been trying to keep this area of my life likewise too much within 'my control' rather than leave it in 'God's control'. As I have been sharing with some friends, in recent years I've been applying to majority of jobs mainly in the Engineering and IT sectors and while this is not necessarily a sin in of itself.  None of my interviews thus far in those fields have landed me a job, other than a short term part time job almost 2 years ago now and recently I am finding I am also able to get interviews in other fields. My parting line as I have been telling my friends is this: "It is one thing if God closes a door on us, it is another thing if we close a door on God..."



Haven't had a (noticeable) dream for over a week now, but (this entry is a few days late in being posted, so 'a few days ago...') I had a dream involving a 'phone metaphor'. I believe I do have a fairly good grasp of interpreting this dream as well as others I have had recently, however of course, I'm still likely not yet at the level of dream interpretation I would one day need if God calls me to finally become a licensed Spiritual Director just yet. Similar to the "call" imagery in the dream, which is set in the future tense, "call" is likely the key word. I should likely jot down this dream in more detail in one of my private blog spaces as it could like other dreams I've done in the past, speak more than just towards the present circumstances.


My 'concluding prayer request' has somewhat of a Luke 22:42 theme to it cause I'm going through a lot of life shattering struggles at home still and while it's possible these conflicts can potentially bring about positive change, it likewise could be God may also answer the prayer by showing me His will is to deliver me from them...