One spring years ago our collie was injured and had to be put to sleep. I’ll admit I didn’t mourn her loss as deeply as my daughter and husband did because I had grown tired of the paths she had made through our back yard.

When David and his men arrived home from battle at their town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had carried off the women and children. David was in great danger because his men were bitter about losing their families, and they began to talk of stoning him.

Carolyn told of a problem with her daughter Julie that she had been trying for several days to find a Scriptural answer to. Julie had sneaked out of the house with her red sweater on Sunday and just the day before Carolyn had forbidden her to wear her sweaters.

In A Call to America, Nancy Jesudass tells of going to bed one night about midnight with a burden of the Lord. She wrote the following:

“I had read through the book of Lamentations over and over finding myself lamenting along with this prophet.

After eight-year-old John’s father died, he became “stuck” in the anger stage. One evening while Marie was walking and praying, it came to her that she should build a “prayer wall” around John for his growing up years. She was to surround him with the specific prayers of people who loved him and knew the value of seeking God.

Mr. George Matheson was recognized as an up and coming leader of the church in Scotland. But his life was filled with difficulties. He lost his sight as a young man, and had to change his plans because of his vision loss. Plus, when his fiancé learned of his disability she broke the engagement saying she did not want to go through life as the wife of a blind preacher.

Lea noticed that for some weeks she had felt spiritually dry. When she tried to pray, she was unable to focus and to pray sincerely. She couldn’t seem to hear God or to concentrate when she read Scripture. It was a case of spiritual blahs.

Words of an old chorus have been going through my mind: “Lord, lay some soul upon my heart and win that soul through me.” Could it be that we seldom sing such songs because such a message is not the cry of our hearts?