When I shut up the heavens ...

The banks of one Georgia lake are so low

it's left several boats beached.

Let's join Georgia in praying for rain!

Hello friends. I want interrupt our regularly scheduled prayer time for the city of Altoona to praise God for a national example of answered prayer ...

In the end of last October Georgia's Governor, Sonny Perdue, declared a state of emergency over what would become the worst drought in the history of the state of Georgia. Here is a quote from an article about the devastating drought written on Oct. 21st ...

"Georgia has declared a state of emergency over its worst drought in decades and appealed to President George W. Bush for federal aid, newspapers said on Sunday.read this article

After trying several courses of action it seemed as though nothing was working. The people of Georgia were faced with such extreme shortages of water that the story continued to draw more & more national attention. Then, as if the story wasn't drawing enough attention, Gov. Perdue decided to attack the problem from a different angle ...

"What to do when the rain won't come? If you're Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, you pray. The governor will host a prayer service next week to ask for relief from the drought gripping the Southeast.read this article

Now folks, we've all been around the block enough times to know that there were going to be quite a few people who weren't as favorable to the idea of praying for rain as we are ... and they made sure to let it be known!

"A secular group said Friday it would protest Gov. Sonny Perdue's planned prayer service intended to ask for relief from the Southeastern drought, saying the rally violates the principle of separation of church and state." read this article

But, after the Gov. pressed on with his appeal to God, lo & behold ... it rained! Check out the article released by the Georgia Associated Press ...

"A storm system crashed through the Southeast and brought up to an inch of rain in parts of drought-stricken Georgia ... The rain, late Wednesday and early Thursday, brought some precipitation to the parched hills of northern Georgia. The showers began a day after Gov. Sonny Perdue led a prayer service on the steps of the state Capitol to beg the heavens to end the drought." read this article

Stumbling upon stories like this gives me a great deal of encouragement and a great deal of fear all at the same time. Is it really so incredible that if we would humble ourselves before the Lord and request His divine intervention that He would answer us? After all, isn't this exactly what He has promised ...

For me, following this story has brought a new profundity to the well known passage in 2 Chronicles ...

"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:13, 14

So, let's rejoice with the people of Georgia & Gov. Sonny Perdue for the blessing of answered prayer.

Do you believe that God will answer your prayers for Altoona?

Today:

• Pray & thank God for giving Georgia and the rest of the region the much needed rain.
• Pray that God would continue to bless with plentiful rains.
• Pray that God would give us the faith to believe that he answers prayer.