Hear my prayer

Last week was traumatizing. I don't recall ever feeling so hopelessly sad, stressed, and sick! The problem was most likely due to the dangerous combination of the three. The escalation (as there always is!) hit the high on Wednesday (is there some sort of connection between the middle of the week and stress? see "New Perspective" post). Never in my life have I had such a chaotic, interminable week. It felt like it would last a lifetime...

I came home from an already bad day of school (I took a terrible math test... a D+ was actually higher than I expected! :P), when my father informed me of some heartbreaking news about my brother. He was in the hospital and very sick. My life seemed to be hanging on a thread and the only thing that mattered at that moment was prayer. I prayed my heart out to God! Like never before, I prayed when I couldn't find the words - the Holy Spirit accomplished the rest. My strange lack of words resulted in music. Without a violin, I decided to use my other two instruments - the piano and my God-given voice. I had an out of tune piano (15 years...), a pen and paper, and my mediocre singing. Add a confused and frightened child of God to the recipe and you've got an extremely melancholy, but sweet and genuine song called "Hear my prayer." Here are the lyrics and "chords" (I didn't actually write notes... just the letters of the notes and I improvise on which octaves).

Hear my prayer

Dedicated to God,

and my brother "Steve"

mi hermanito Juanito! ;)

D A D A D D E AEEA D G D G B D

I don't understand.

D A G F G C E

Why could this happen?

D G F E A D

Why to me?

D A D A D A

A E A A A G F G D G A E

Lord, give me strength.

A E A D F E D A D

Lord, hear my prayer.

D A D

D E C A G F D G

Cause' I'm crying out.

D E C A G F A E D D A

Cause' I can't find the words to say.

A E A C B A C B A C B A C B A G B F A

A E A C B A C B A C B A C B A G B F A

A E A C B A C B A C B A C B A G B F A

D A D F A C B A A E A E G

In this world

E D E B E C E

There is pain

E D F C F C E

There are tears

E C A E A

There is sin.

D E A F A E A D

But I know there's hope.

D F G D F A G C E A

And I will trust my God

D F D F A E A D

And I know He cares.

D A D A D A D A D A D A D

Psalm 6:8-9 for the LORD has heard my weeping. The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.

Psalm 17:1 Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer— it does not rise from deceitful lips.

Psalm 39:12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping.

Psalm 84:8 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob.

Psalm 86:1-3 Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long.

Psalm 86:5-7 You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.

Psalm 102:1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you.

Psalm 143:1 O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.

Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

Luke 11:1 Lord, teach us to pray.

Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 7:7-8 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray continually.

The previous verses (sorry if that was too many... I went a little crazy from the trauma) are all of the verses that dealt with prayer and God hearing my prayer. I needed encouragement from the only ONE who knows it all - GOD. ;) I prayed for peace for me and my family and God wasn't skimpy. He gave me plenty peace for the matter - enough for me to go to school and concentrate on my final projects! Little did I know, I got sick the next day...

Thursday I was on the verge of becoming Job. I wasn't quite there, but God was seriously testing me! I had a sore throat, boat loads of homework, and I was informed that my FCA sponsor/leader/coach/teacher was moving to Illinois next school year! He is such an encouragement at my high school and an "on-fire for Jesus Christian." His room is literally the only safe-haven! When all else fails, I go to his room, talk things out, and ask him to pray. And next year is my senior year! I wanted it to be perfect. I've been in FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) for all of my four years of high school. What was I going to do? Well, I wasn't going to do anything, I would leave it all up to my maker. Cause' I know He's got it figured out. But seriously, God was TESTING ME!!! It's as if He took everything in my life, put it in a box, and randomly shook it until I exploded. But, reality told me He carefully planned out every inch of my life to transform me into the mature, humble, caring, and dedicated Christian.

Friday I was the modern-teenage-girl Job. I was officially SICK. God told me to take a step back from my busy life (again... see "Tragedy of the Busy Life" and "Voiceless") and TRUST HIM. I wanted to hold on... thinking I had it under control. I told myself I was doing the "Christian" thing by praying and "trusting" God. But was I really? Only when you've completely surrendered can you actually fully, without holding back, trust God with all your heart, mind, and soul. I may have felt like Job, but God worked His peace and miracles like He always does. ;) I just had no idea what I was getting myself into... (to be continued...)

-"drunk piano keys" found on Google. I thought this was appropriate because it not only symbolizes my piano song, but also my life last week. It was nothing short of chaotic and completely turned upside down!