These past months while confronted with this battle of lung cancer, the Lord has been revealing how He wants to enlarge my heart to love as He loves.  Luke 4:17-19 states “And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’”  I remember distinctly reading these verses years ago while in the Holy Land with my Pastor in the very place that Jesus spoke them.  The day that we were there, we were amazed to find an inner city choir from Chicago singing praises to God in this very place where God spoke His love for the least and the lost.  The Lord broke my heart that day for the poor.  I immediately identified with these dear people who were is such great need.  I knew that I had been blessed beyond measure and that I would dedicate my life to serving the poor from that time until now.  Because the journey of faith is a journey and not a destination, we are constantly either growing closer or further away from God.  Clearly all who believe are saved but there is the daily issue of growing to be more like Jesus.  Ultimately one mark of this growth is loving as Jesus loves.  For me, the poor have captured my heart.  I can also say that as this verse goes on, He speaks of healing for the blind or those who are ill.  There are few things that could be lower on my priorities in the past than to go to the hospital to visit the sick.  God has broken my hard heart of thinking that I would rather invest in the healthy for they could do more kingdom good.  God’s ways are certainly not our ways.  These days the Lord has broken my heart for the sick and hopeless.  My trip to M.D. Anderson, Baylor Hospital and other doctors has opened my heart to the great need of people all around us each and every day.  This past week, the Lord has led me to ask Him for the opportunity to pray for people specifically battling serious medical illnesses.  The Lord blessed me with three amazing prayer times this past week in this new area of ministry.  One was with a dear friend battling cancer who said the very day I called to pray was one of the darkest days he had experienced since the battle began, but he knew God had answered his prayers by having me call and pray for him.  Another member of my class was home alone battling fear and discouragement regarding his severe medical needs.  He said my calling was a direct answer to his prayers.  In each case, we prayed, believing in a God who is able to heal; for His glory.  The Lord enabled me on Saturday to pray with Maola, an 86 year old prayer warrior in the inner city who prays with Mary Anderwald for the transformation of her community. She says we are an answer to her prayers.  She has been praying for her 90 year old brother’s eyesight.  Each morning she wakes up and asks Bo if he can see.  She said, as we prayed for his healing, don’t pray if you aren’t expecting an answer.

  The Lord is blessing me to feel good and  have few side effects from my treatment.  He has enlarged my heart to begin a ministry of prayer for the sick and hurting.  If you know someone who is in need of prayer for healing, please contact me on this blog and I will count it my joy to pray, believing the same Jesus, who over 2,000 years ago said he came to bring sight to the blind. 

We thank you for praying for my healing and are prayerful that wherever you find yourself in your journey of faith, that you will ask God to enlarge your heart. We will be tested the middle of October to see the fruit of your believing prayers for the healing of our tumors.  We are humbled and blessed by your love and prayers.