Prayers Are Vital

“Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” ~ Dorothy Bernard   

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As a part of being an employee at the Sheriff’s Correctional facilities, everyone is required to know the radio codes and be able to know how to use them. They are vital to each other’s communication. Especially during dangerous situations, radios are the fastest way to transmit a message if there’s a riot and deputies or medical staff’s help are needed.

I was nervous to listen to the traffic when I was newly hired. Memorizing each code night by night to get more familiar. Learning how to work the radio and be able to send a message or respond to calls. I’m sorry that I can’t disclose the meaning of some codes here. I used to joke around that I could use it [the radio], as my weapon if an inmate tried something with me. But I knew then, it wouldn’t be funny during critical situations.

Radio messages were able to summon more deputies and controlled fights among inmates. Ambulances were called on life-threatening situations by medical staff exchanging radio communication. They even could use it to alert if anyone would be willing to stay if they happened to be short of staff on a particular day.

I knew everyone’s messages were being relayed from a central transmitter location. I thought how neat technology was. That it would only take a few seconds and people’s radio calls were heard all over the facility, though the messages were going to that central location first.

How true it is with our prayers! How vital prayer life is to us as followers of Christ. They go to Him, the center of it all, and the answers come back to us, prayer warriors.

I like Don Piper’s preaching and I found one where he described this about prayer:





Oh Lord, I don’t feel the passion to pray sometimes. Help me Holy Spirit to give all my heart to you as I send out my prayers. What are beautiful prayers if they don’t come with my heart? I just want to thank You tonight that You are in the midst of us, listening to our petitions. I just want to glorify Your Holy Name. We are nothing without You, oh Lord. Please help me become strong in this area of my life. I know that I am in a battle and I am defenseless without You. I thank You Oh Lord knowing that because of my trust and faith in You, You have shared Your victory with me. Thank You for Your protection Lord. Thank You for loving me unconditionally. Thank You for Your power and might that You give us when we seek them. Help me Lord to remain standing. Our Father….How grateful I am that because of Jesus, I can go to Your throne of grace boldly and call You “my Abba, my Father…”Thank You Lord, the One Who is in heaven. Glory be Your Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done….on earth as it is in heaven…In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” ~ John 14:13

I Broke The Policy

I was the Intake Nurse long time ago. My charts that needed to be opened for those arrestees who had a medical or psychiatric problems were piling up in front of me. As I started getting to work, I was almost startled though the voice was soft. It broke through the brief solitude I had which gave me time to catch up with my charting.

“Ma’am, can I ask you for some Motrin? My tooth hurts!” bravely queried an inmate worker. He and the other worker wearing blue uniforms. They usually could be found in one corner of the Intake on the male side. Awaiting for the deputies to call them if they needed help to have something cleaned up or to pass meals during “chow times”. They sort of the errand runners for us. For medical staff, they often would get empty charts as we needed them. Or they would pick up a wheel chair or other equipment stored in our Infirmary.

“You know you need to put a sick call, right?” I replied. That was the rule. That no medications would be given to any inmate, not unless it was through a sick call when the nurse could evaluate them.

He lowered his head and pivoted to head back to the corner where he was.

“Wait! I didn’t say I wouldn’t give you any yet, right?” I added.

His face lit up. But at the same time, a little grimace was also shown.

“Are you sure you’re okay to work?”

“I think I can handle it Ma’am. I just need to try if the Motrin can help me until I finish this shift.”

I grabbed a handful of packets of Motrin after determining he didn’t have any drug allergy. His right hand, cupped and waiting for the meds to be dropped. He had a little wry smile this time.

“Sir, I’m giving you some to make you comfortable because you’re at work. But if your toothache doesn’t get better, please put a sick call. So, the nurse can determine if you need to see our dentist.”

“Thank you so much, Ma’am,” he replied with gratitude. He disappeared from where he was standing. A few minutes later, he came back and emptied my big trash can becoming full with papers and other forms of trash.

“Thank you, Sir! I appreciate your help,” I told him.

I sat there with my achy neck after finishing the charts. I started thinking…”Was I wrong on giving him that packets of Motrin because it just wasn’t allowed if not through a sick call? That meant I broke the policy?” But I strongly felt it wasn’t about breaking the policy. It was about helping someone who was in pain. And this thought came over me that brought me comfort:

That Jesus healed a crippled man on a Sabbath, where the Pharisees were just waiting for that opportunity to attack him and his ministry. Blinded by their own self-righteousness and oral laws with the intention of keeping God’s commandments, they failed to see the real meaning behind God’s laws.

“No work is allowed on Sabbath! Healing is work!” they accused Jesus.

Jesus knew their hearts…with hardness. So he asked if it was lawful to do good or evil on Sabbath, to save a life or destroy? None of the Pharisees could answer. Are there still Pharisees today? I believe so. We are like them when we build those walls around us, to separate us from sinners. Thinking that what we do is right in the sight of God. But those walls are the same walls that separated us from what God truly wants from us. What defiles us is what is in our hearts.

Oh, Lord...help us to be more like Jesus everyday. Mold our hearts. Remove the things that impede my spiritual growth. Forgive me for my sins. In Jesus' precious Name. Amen.



Self-righteousness: Our Greatest Danger

How Far Can You Go?

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“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”
-CTStudd                                                                          

“So, what am I gonna’ do now, huh?” asked a ticked-off male inmate, still groggy from being waken up at almost midnight.

“The deputy said that they are going to put me on discipline because I was upset and talked back to them when they woke me up and told me that you guys needed me for blood pressure check. My blood pressure is fine. C’mon!”

I just walked in to start my shift last Saturday night. Upon seeing the evening nurse got up from her seat to take vital signs on 2 male inmates, I volunteered to get the other one so she could go home on time.

“Why so late?” I queried.

“Well, our charge nurse wanted it done. Just following her order Rcubes,” she replied.

I tapped on the same nurse’s shoulder, as she heard the inmate’s complaint to me.

“Will you please tell the charge nurse about this?” I requested. She just smiled at me and proceeded to go inside the Infirmary where the charge nurse’s desk was.

The man has a long history of alcohol abuse. Without alcohol upon incarceration, he was prone to withdrawal symptoms that could be life threatening. He was being given medications to help combat the tremors but has the effect of making him sleepy.

I could reply with 2 different versions. Human way, I would have been upset because he was not being grateful to the care being given when he probably had a lot of sleepless nights outside the prison walls anyway, consuming alcohol until the wee hours of each morning.

But the Spirit reminded me. His ways higher than mine. His thoughts higher than mine.

“Sir, I could see where you’re coming from. I’m sorry that your sleep was interrupted. But we just wanted to make sure that you won’t have those dangerous symptoms. I am not sure if I can prevent this. Because when things get busy, whoever has the opportunity to take your vital signs will have to do it. But it must be done and the results be shown to our doctor. I would let my charge nurse know. If it’s possible to have it done before bedtime. I can’t promise. I can only try.”

“I’m sorry, Ma’am. I wasn’t upset with you. I understand you guys have to do this. But please. I would appreciate it if they can’t interrupt my sleep. I haven’t slept. Thank you.”

He got up with droopy shoulders, his orange uniform wrinkled in different places as if donned in a hurry.

I could feel for him. Despite the crimes they committed, inmates were given that right to have a straight sleep. That was a law. They must be allowed to have an uninterrupted sleep. So little sacrifice for me to try to let the charge nurse know. But it was worth a try.

How far can we go to make things better for others? How far can we make sacrifices to help someone in need? No one. Nobody. Can ever do what God has done. To save us sinners. He sacrificed His one and only Son. To save humanity.

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face so that he will not hear.” - Isaiah 59:2


“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8


“God made the one who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.” - 2 Corinthians 5:21


“For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 The one who believes in Him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.” - John 3:16-18

Hardened

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“Hardening of the heart ages people more quickly than hardening of the arteries.” ~ [think exist]

“I tell you now! You can’t have it your way!” yelled the deputy to a belligerent, young male inmate escorted by one deputy. More deputies were summoned over the radio as this inmate started fighting with one deputy who was escorting him from their unit to bring him to the Clinic and be evaluated.

“No, Ma’am! But these deputies will make me do it!” he blurted out to me when I asked him if he wanted to hurt himself.

“She’s just trying to help you! Answer her appropriately!” a cutting remark from one of the deputies wove in through our conversation.

“I’ll see if I can give you something to help you sleep like what you requested. But I’m sorry that I can’t give you any psych meds. Not until the psychiatrist has evaluated you and ordered something specific, the nurses cannot give you anything related to your mental health condition. I just want to request for you to be patient because I would try to have someone from Mental Health Services see you sooner!” my eyes trying to have a contact with his. His head remained looking down on the floor, only to look up when he wanted to say something in between or tried to free his wrists from the handcuff behind his back.

“You’re always patient. Thank you,” whispered one deputy.

“Because getting angry at him will not help in anyway. Thank you,” I replied.

How could I respond with anger? Knowing that he had a history of ingesting 2 bags of heroin and was treated at the hospital. He was fortunate to remain alive. He was one of those who was always in and out of jail for drug violations. Growing marijuana. Selling other drugs. Robbing places to sustain this ill habit. I could imagine the judge warning him many times to change. But trapped in this dangerous vice, he chose to not listen. His heart became callous to good advices.

Strong conviction for God’s Word lacks nowadays among many people. Many are doing things based on what is right on their own eyes. “Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against him.” - Ephesians 4:18-19. As believers, we can’t do anything to change a blind person and with a hardened heart. That is the work of the Spirit. “My job was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God, not we, who made it grow. The ones who do the planting or watering aren‘t important, but God is important because he is the one who makes the seed grow.” - 1 Corinthians 3:6,7.

“Apollos watered…” It is allowing a person to see Christ through us. Through our actions. We are here to plant and water. But we must leave the “growing part” to God. It is frustrating to share the Good News to someone with a hardened heart. But we must persevere. Let’s start with examining where our own hearts are… [Matthew 6:21 - “Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.”]

Which pot are you when the seeds [Word of God] got planted in you?



13This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' - Matthew 13: 13-15 [Parable of the Sower]

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