Ever since the day I caught my foot on a prayer and stumbled into heaven, prayer has been a very important part of who I am. I've discoved many fascinating things about God, myself and others. God blesses us with so many gifts and sometimes we just don't notice, or we take them for granted. There is one gift that is particularily precious to me and I am going to take a chance and share it with you. My "mother heart" tends to worry, as do most mother's hearts (and father's hearts too!) about my only child, who will soon be 20. When I was worried about her or concerned about her safety, her driving, her choices etc., etc., I would leave her, or so I thought, in the Lord's care... you know... lay her gently in His arms, put her in His hands, surround her with His LOVE and His Light ... you can identify with some of this, no doubt? BUT- you know - I was never quite content to just leave her there! I'd creep, very quietly, back into God's presence and snatch her back because I thought just maybe I should worry, ya know? Then I read this book in which the authour talked about how he had tried to carry burdens for many people in his life. In my mind those little pinging sensations started - ping-ping-ping - like God saying "Have I got your attention here, Bette?" The authour of the book finally realized that he couldn't carry the weight of all these burdens that he was bearing AND that God didn't expect or want him to! He decided that what God wanted and needed him to do, was to release them into His care and LEAVE them there. He started to write down the names of all the people that he felt a burden for and then, in faith, believe that they were safe with God. Well... yes! and it sounds good BUT... you know that "mother heart stuff". It must have been bothering me more than I had realized because one night I had a dream. In the dream, I found myself sitting in a large auditorium. (In dream symbolism, that could be big concerns.) It was empty (an empty effort?) except for a brown, woodgrain, arborite (artificial, not real?) folding table (not permanent; collapsible) and the folding chair that I was sitting on behind it. In came my daughter, through double doors ( a wide gate/narrow gate?) to my right ( from the right direction or path?) followed by a pudgy, pasty, cold, clammy, sinister looking man - the epitome of evil (or someone dead in the ways of LIFE?) She was unaware of him. I knew instinctively that he was set (or sent) to tempt MY child and to lead her astray. I was standing then, a reflex action (take a stand) and I yelled at him (the mother instinct to protect her child) "GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" (Get ye behind me satan! ?) Then from over my right shoulder (right denoting truth?) I heard a very LARGE, gentle, yet firm voice, say to me "SHE is not YOUR daughter!" With that, every shred of anxiety melted away, a wonderful sense of peace and well being flooded every fibre of my being and I thought, very simply: "Oh" like ...OooooooooooooH... Well, of course, SHE is still my daughter but in the LARGER reality, she is a Child of GOD and HE will take care of her. Nice gift, eh? The dream was able to deliver the gift of a message that God had been trying to give me all along. Of course, being human, there are still times when I get to thinking I just might like to worry (LOL) but then that VOICE seems to echo again within me and I say to myself, "Peace, be still." I'd like to share a little POWER PRAYER of RELEASE with you. I hope that when it is offered for those you love and worry about, your hearts will be flooded with that PEACE that is beyond understanding.

Remind me Lord, that You are always as near as a heatbeat, as close as a prayer... I enter into the quiet stillness of Your Presence. I come to You with the anxious concerns that fill my heart right now. I lift _______ into the direct Light of Your LIFE and LOVE. Let him/her be steeped in Your divine power; immersed in the essence of Your being. I know I can let go of all my worry, anxiety and concern for him/her in these few precious moments of prayer. I trust confidently in Your wisdom and power and believe Jesus' promise that You ALWAYS hear prayers offered in His Holy Name. I relinquish ________ into Your care and leave him/her cradled safely in the palm of Your mighty hand, surrounded and protected by You Holy Angels. In Jesus' Name Amen: Let It Be So and Thank You, Lord!

Now remember: LEAVE them there :-)

You might get a note book, Write on the top of the page or the first page:

IN WRITING THIS DOWN, that is, the NAME of the person on my heart, I release them to You and I will no longer try to carry them on my own. Lead me to do only that which is Your will for me to do...

Record the date, the name of the person or situation and your concern. This is a wonderful symbolic way of releasing people and things to God. You write their name down and leave it there. Another thing I do sometimes is to get a piece of paper... draw a Cross on it and write a name across the arm of it, put it in my pocket, close to my heart and leave it there, safe. This is symbolic of carrying them in your heart in the power of Jesus' Cross. You could do this in a note book or journal as well. If you use a note book it is so interesting to also make a note when something happens that is God's answer... interesting to see when and how He handles the situation... Don't ya just love it????