, I would ask you to join me with, join with me in prayer, as we prepare ourselves for the word. dear Heavenly Father, we just come before you this morning, Lord, and we just want to give to you thanks and praise. Lord, we want to ask, Lord, that You would illuminate the eyes of our understanding to help us to see what you have in store for us, Lord, through Your word. Lord, we come to you as sinful, fallen human beings in need of your grace, in need of your kindness, in need of your illumination, and we ask, Lord, that you might reach down to us in your grace.
Compassion and kindness, and that Lord, you would reveal to us what you would want us to receive from you and through your word. Captivate our hearts and our minds by what you would have to say to us here this morning. And I pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
I want to begin by sharing a small portion of an autobiography written by a man named Tom Williams. In his book, You Can Make It, he says the following. I was 22 years of age and Wanda was 23. The doctor had X-rayed her two weeks earlier and told me something seemed to be wrong with the baby, but he was not sure exactly what it was.
I prayed and cried to my Heavenly Father, asking Him to give Wanda and me the grace and strength to face whatever lay ahead. Wanda labored for 18 hours when the doctor realized she just could not deliver, he again took X-rays. They revealed that the baby's head was twice as large as it should have been. Cheryl was a spina bifida baby....
