Updated 08Feb2010…

This list has grown since the first post back in February of 2008.  It is wonderful to look back at recorded prayers that turn to praise.  The blessing of prayer is that every time I “send” word to God, I’m committing to His mercy and sovereignty and it’s just a relief sometimes to let it go to Him.  I think I said it before somewhere here on LAH, that faith is practiced, not just existent.  Prayer is willful practice of faith in a very solid sense.  Sometimes it seems the only course to take in life is to find a quiet corner, put face in hands and pray, hard.  I don’t know what to do most of the time, but I have to believe that God does.  Action that isn’t prayerful doesn’t usually seem too faithful, in my short experience.  In fact, un-prayerful action often seems to turn out to be selfish action instead.

I was just thinking today that there are a number of things which I don’t put here but are heavy on my mind.  I pray for friends and situations that just don’t seem like they’re publishable.  This is not because I think they are trivial or embarrassingly “dirty laundryish” but that some things just plain remain between me and the Lord.  Besides that, there is so much I’d like to pray for (indeed, I’ll pray about at least double what’s on this page over the course of the week) I can’t see it fitting here.

No order of precedence, other than what’s on my mind (how can we set one thing higher than another before the Lord?). If you have someone in mind that I should have in mind, leave a comment or email me. I’ll stick ‘em on the list. I’ve been praying for some really tough ones. Now that they’re recorded so I can read them, I see some of these aren’t going to have a final sort of resolution. Guess that’s the other meaning of “Pray without ceasing.”   They may all seem a little disjointed, but that is because I’m just adding on updates to the end of the section as I get them.  Treat the paragraphs as linear-in-time and they’ll make sense.  The bulleting system in WP isn’t very functional.  Upgrades from the last time I edited are in bold.

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Kathy is faced with skin cancer.  It’s a tough thing to treat, I believe.  Something to praise right off, though, is that she won the battle with Tricare to get it diagnosed properly (which, if you know Tricare, is a HUGE victory in itself).  Prayer for quick healing and peace for her. Kathy’s surgery went well and you can hardly tell she had anything done. She went in for another surgery (unrelated, more serious) this week, so I’m praying for her quick recovery and a successful operation.  You’d simply be amazed at the good things that have gone in for Kathy.  She’s looking and doing really well.  Wow.

Our dear friend Bill is having back trouble.  Praying for healing and God’s blessing.  It’s very VERY challenging to have back problems in the military.

Dad and Mom are moving (again) and though it’s a short, cross-town shift, relocation is always a challenge.  Praying for them to settle in and enjoy peace in their new digs (hopefully I’ll be home to test ‘em out soon).  Most of all, though, praises for them.  They’ve been grandparents in a very close-proximity for this past year, and though I’ve missed the joy of seeing them and their grandkids, I’ve heard enough to know this has been a great experience for everybody.  I’m glad the Lord put us all in reach of each other. They made it to the moving part and have invaded their new house. Praises! This is Very Late indeed, but they’ve moved AGAIN, back to Peru, Indiana where they should be staying for a long time. Dad has been searching for a job since late last year and an old employer hired him up as a Big Time Boss Guy. Praise the Lord for all this stuff that’s happened in just the last two months.  They have, in the last few months, been able to enjoy a lot of good time together, travelling to Dad’s work and lots of other stuff.  God has been blessing them with some good times.

My dear friend L and her family.  They’re a lot like my Anika and me with our family (just one kid shy of an exact population match).  They have scouts to contend with and school and all the regular stuff.  I think of D, specially, with his recent recovery from an injury and L’s ongoing trials with stuff too.  I care for them all very much and spend a lot of time thinking of them. Still praying for them. Life is tough up there.

Brother-in-law Greg got home from his LONG separation from the family.  He had a lot of interaction with the Lord during this time.  Praise the Lord for the protection and blessing on Greg and for his continued good service!

Anika’s Dad’s job: Praying for his Job environment and everything that goes with it. Work is rough for Dad. I keep meaning to put a blog post up for him, but work and brains are not cooperating toward this goal. Pray for Dad. Lots. Dad, along with many others, has seen the layoff caused by this crazy economy. He’s trying to find work, now, and is having a hard time. We’ve been up to see him, and he’s come down to visit as well, and he’s toughing it out. Praying for God’s peace and encouragement as he searches.  He’s still working at getting that right job and remaining hopeful.  Mom-in-law is still employed, which is helping.  Continued prayer is the route for now.

Bunky’s autism. She’s doing so well lately. Bunky talks in sentences, she is very expressive. Praise the Lord for her presence in our lives. She’s a ray of light (sometimes a little too bright and bouncy, but better that than the darkness). Now she’s in school and LOVING it. Looks like a really good school with good numbers and a really neat system tailored to Bunky’s own needs. We got her into the school. Turns out she’s not well off with the class they planned for her. Joscelin doesn’t suffer from the more troubling forms of autism, but has speech improvement needs. Fortunately, the school people have made some changes and now Bunky is in a class more equivalent to her age, and she’s having a great time. More to follow, though. Pray for her continued development and that she’ll progress enough so we can bring her home to school with her sisters. You wouldn’t really know she was autistic these days, unless you spent a Lot of time with her. Joscelin is amazing in all sorts of ways. Praises are in the air from our house about how wonderfully the Lord has blessed us with our Bunky.  We praise the Lord for Joscelin and all our girls almost every day.  They are growing too fast and getting too smart!  Joscelin constantly amazes us in how bright and wonderful she is (as well as precocious).

Mr. Carpenter’s really cool Gospel sharing idea. Ideas! He’s awash with dozens of ideas and I told him he needs to get into a business that promotes evangilization programs. He’s like me, I think. Has too many great ideas and not enough time or capacity to manage them all.  He’s headed off to home and his family.  Prayers for a good time of reunion and renewed relationships! I’m not sure how the ideas have panned out, but I know he’s retired after a long service in the USN. I’m proud to have worked for him and I pray that his Navy-Free life will be as full and Godly as ever.

My girls at homeschool, both teacher and students.  They are all flourishing.  Excellent readers and even math (my worst subject, personally).  Prayers for their continued hard work and wonderful successes.  Home-school is filled with many great things as well as challenges. Three out of four are avid readers!  #4 is on the way.  Mom is having serious challenges keeping up with them!  It’s good when the teacher is passed up by the students, but it’s critical to continue challenging them.  Praying for the Lord to enable us both to be the wisdom and intelligence that our girls need. Due to the recent changes in our house, Hickok Homeschool has been mostly turned off. Bo and Gwen are in the 4^th and 2^nd grade at our local elementary school. Not to worry, though, since they’re both totally excited and cool with it. Joscelin is still rocking through her class too. Molly is the only one left, since she’s a FRESHMAN next year in High School (!!!!!) and we thought she should probably finish up the work she’s doing at home for the rest of this year.  Now, a year later, we’re looking for new schools for all of them.  Depressing as the CA school system appears to be, the ones we’re at right now seem to be at the bottom of the barrel.  Praying for God’s guidance as we’re working on getting them into what should be a little better.

Heather’s finally at her new job.  Sounds like things are on the up for her!  Continued prayer for her walk with the Lord and for strength in her life! Prayers for endurance and continued growing in the faith at her church and study group! Heather is another one of the casualties in the economy. She’s looking for a job too. She came to visit us and was in good spirits, and I’m praying that she’ll keep them and have faith that the Lord will hand her the best job possible as soon as it’s right.  And now praying for Heather’s custody and parenting battles with her ex.  She’s been praying and hoping hard for a resolution to an old, long battle.  Extra intercession is just what we’re seeking. You’d be amazed at the growth in her faith through all this!

Prayer Request from SI about a girl who’s heading for Wicca. Not much word here. The man gave her a book on the Christian view of paganism, so hopefully she’ll take something from it.

Grandpa. His health isn’t the best, and I’m praying he’ll keep strong. He’s still a lamp in our family, I believe, and I would like to see him again when I get back from here.  His trials just keep coming back, so there is much to ask for in God’s will, including legal stuff, health, peace and all that. Still praying! Last time I talked to him, he was doing well, missing Grandma, having a ball at church and letting his home-care nurses beat him at dominoes. Definitely a Hickok Patriarch.

My friends who don’t know the Lord: Praise Him, I got to witness to one last year! Gave him a Bible and things are looking pretty good. He returned to the U.S. this month. Things look pretty good. His fiancee’ insists that he’s going to start going to church, which gives us some hope. He kept the Bible I gave him and I’m praying he’ll stick to it. Good man, bright man. Lots of potential for service under the Lord.  Haven’t heard much from my friend of late, but last news was that he was doing well.  I’m going to try to get back in touch.

We’re looking at beginning a Bible study at work! Again! MacArthur’s Fundamentals of the Faith. Two of the guys at work want to check it out and I’m going through the same thing at church. It’ll be a real good opportunity to start a group prayer for the command and grow us sailors in His ways.

Pakistan’s turmoil: Extended to the rest of the world? Haha. This is a sad but real course of the Lord’s promises.

GTMO: I got to talk to the guys back there a couple of months ago. Everything is the same there. Work and play are just as I left them. I pray that the sleepy little town of Guantanamo Bay stays peaceful and that the church there flourishes.  Praying especially for the military challenges there, as well as the routine hurricane season. With all the Haiti disaster and everything, I’m sure the business is booming there. My old boss is there and probably quite busy. Praying that GTMO is a good impact on all who visit there and the Lord shows his power and grace through it all.

Our beloved Dad and Mom in San Jose.

Molly’s Growth in the Faith.   Extra prayer turned on.  I’m watching her grow from a distance, and she seems larger than life.  I pray hard and hope hard that our Lord sends His message to willing and hearing ears.  STILL working hard on this one.  We really want to see some changes in this kid who is almost grown up.  It’s scary to think she’ll be “adult” in only 3 more years.  She’s finishing Freshman-year at H.S. in a few months. We’re doing counseling now and working harder on being the right parents and getting her to be the right kid. She’s getting too big too fast.

Tim and Deanna Smith in Europe.  Praises for doctors and miracles.  Some medical challenges have arisen, but were quickly faced down with faith and prayer.  Deanna is apparently doing very well, but could always use some extra prayer as well as the whole family who are supporting her. Just got word they’re finishing their tour and are heading back home to CO. Praises for a job well done and prayers for continued work in the mission wherever the Lord leads them next.

Jim and Ina Smith in Africa.

Steve Smith’s safety and continued success: The BOOK has hit the streets! O happy day! I’m so proud of my pal, and glad he’s seen the completion of his huge project. I’ll be getting one or three copies.  Now he’s an official instructor, with a small class of discipleship students.  Pray for his facility with the language and the challenges in his new country project.  I need to get on his news-roller here at LAH.  Whenever he releases it, I’ll start keeping track of his escapades with the all-new and flashy Steve Smith Pulse!

All of us and them who are bringing the world into our Bibles instead of our Bibles into the World.

The politicians in the race and for us Christians to remember that we’re not voting in the best Christian leader, but the “best” worldly leader.  Especially true now that we have a “religious” sort of figure in the running, which has a good scent, but is filled with complications.  I didn’t get the one I wanted, but we got the one God wanted in the office.  Pray for him:  he has a Lot on his shoulders.  STILL.

My growth in the life He wants me to live: I’m continually challenged at work. I need to be filled with integrity and dedication to the mission while remaining focused on my relationship with the Lord as well. Doubling up my prayers here.  I’m ready to come home and need a lot of grace. Sensitivity, patience, openness and love are what I need to bring back with me.  I’m praying for wisdom in money and in the moving logistics.  Wanting to help with school and household. I got home in October. Got us moved, checked in at the new job and all sorts of other stuff. The life I thought I had has changed a lot, but I’ll leave that to the regular entries on the blog. Prayers about that as well. Gotta say there’s nothing but praise to offer up for all the things the Lord provided us. We’re still above water. With money working, church, house and cars and everything we asked for, the Lord is awesome.

Me and Anika, our parenting, our spiritual leadership in our family and our relationship together.  Anika’s been having really tough times lately.  I worry about her often, but know that I must lean on the Lord’s grace here.  Pray for her renewed strength and faith! Worrying isn’t really worth the effort, I know.  Anika’s had so many blessings and successes this year.  She’s amazing. We have a house only about 25 minutes from work, 5 minutes from shopping, 15 minutes from church… Yeah, We had a church and then we switched.  Pacific Hope is our home church now, and we’re enjoying the Word preached honestly and clearly.  VAST improvement on our previous choice.  Praise God for that. We’re STILL working out our kinks, but we have a (finally) good, Biblical church, good marriage counseling, a zeal to work on each other and our kids.  God is blessing us daily.

My distant brothers in Christ, Pravin and Row. They are from India and need many blessings from our Lord. Both of them are on their way to seek new jobs, and Pravin wants to return home soon, to be an evangelist and plant churches. Row returned to his home and Pravin is working a new job, so things seem to be pretty good.  I don’t get out to see Pravin much, but still get intermittent news on him.  Pravin has returned to India.  He will be busy with church-building, I believe, so I’m praying for his endurance and faith to grow. Both of them being out of the country has left the communication lines quiet.  I’ll continue to pray for them, but I doubt I’ll be seeing any new updates.

My writing. I really want to write. A lot. A book or something. I seek the Lord’s guidance on this, and to be sure my vanity and self-importance are not the source. I’ve started running nearly a thousand words a day, fairly consistently. I’m absolutely astonished at how much can come out of this mind when I’m rolling smooth. Should the Lord see fit to bless this, I’ll have a poetry book finished, another Bible study and maybe even a book of simples for my daughters. Praise Him for this much already. So in recent news my writing has sloughed off to a few thousand words a week, but I think some of the content is improving.  I’ve finally finished Deuteronomy (praise for that as well as how much of an amazing, wonderful study it turned out to be).  Thinking about Thessalonians next, maybe.  My plan to get Paper Screams published is pretty much awaiting money, but isn’t high on the priorities list right now.  Praying mostly just to keep writing, and in that to keep writing in a way that brings me closer to the Lord and His will (and hopefuly be of value to others too). I killed off the Paper Screams website and re-installed it as a section in Lord and Hearth. I’m trying to keep writing through my Bible studies and other stuff. I feel another book study coming around soon, maybe I’ll do a second round of 1 John or something. Praying for the Lord to bless me with this outlet of my hopes and thoughts.

I’m striving to meet the Lord daily, but some days it seems more likely to be weekly. Praying that I stick to my devotions and prayer life.

Ben’s pastoring. He’s recently had a lot of preaching to do while the boss is on travel. Challenging. It seems like it went pretty well! He survived, and nobody threw toast! I can’t wait to read the sermons or hear them on podcast. Now changed to praying for Ben’s faith and submission to the Lord in his search for a new occupation.  There are many opportunities and he’s waiting for them to come calling.  He’s felt the call to move on to a different profession, and it’s probably very hard to do.  Praying for patience and wisdom for him and his Wife too. Ben got his new job, way back in Wisconsin area (which is real close to Mom and Dad). The family is doing great and Ben seems really happy to have his new IT job (I’m sorta jealous).  Praying more for Ben and Tori and their upcoming addition to the family.  A Girl will usher in all sorts of new fun for them. And the addition of Julia Rae Hickok makes for a great round of praise to our Lord for his greatness and blessings in our lives.

Rick in Ecuador.  He’s roughing it in a civilization that doesn’t seem to jive with ours.  Pray for renewed strength and connection with people who will lift him up (and his wife) in a good community of love and support. Rick is a teacher, which is new territory for him.  He’s feeling the weight of responsibility and the challenges of being in a school with Christian influence as well.  It’s a daunting job so far.  Praying for strength and wisdom!  And he’s STAYING there, after what seems like a long time working on the decision.  Money is still an issue, probably the red tape of the job he’s working as well.  Prayers continuing.

My dear friend Janelle from long ago.  She’s facing some challenges. Praying for her whole family.  Life is tough.  My girls and I know it all too well. Nothing like a new baby to make things interesting and improve the family atmosphere. Praise the Lord for awesome (timely) blessings and congratulations, Janelle!  Praying again for Janelle and Family.  They’ve seen a lot of grace in recovery from the challenges, and all is looking way good.  Praying for their youngest who has medical needs.

Kirsten and Cat!  Challenges at home and teaching.  Praying for all the kids at Kirsten’s school.