Prayer Updating it up again

From Prayer on Saturday 3/11...
Right away we prayed for Charlie, as he is on his spring break mission trip with the Students Today, Leaders Forever group. We asked God to give him much wisdom and grace to develop relationships, and to be bold at the proper times with the gospel. Please keep him in prayer throughout the week as he is on this trip. Following that, we prayed from a passage that God has continually been bringing before Gary as of late. It is from Hosea 6:
“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. ² After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. ³ Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

This led us to spend some time meditating and praying on God's patterns for rain in Israel, which is also His pattern for our lives in our walk with Him. In the same way that He provided the former and and the latter rains to His people in Israel (See also Joel 2:23), also He pours out His blessings to us in a similar pattern as we follow Him. Here is a statement from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on these rains:
The summer months are practically rainless, with very few clouds appearing in the sky. From May 1 to the middle of October one can be sure of no rain; “The winter is past; the rain is over” (Son_2:11), so many sleep on the roofs of the houses or in tents of leaves and branches in the fields and vineyards throughout the summer. The continuous hot droughts make the people appreciate the springs and fountains of fresh running water and the cool shade of rock and tree.
The rainy season from October to May may be divided into three parts, the former, the winter, and the latter rains, and they are often referred to under these names in the Old Testament.
The “former rains” are the showers of October and the first part of November. They soften the parched ground so that the winter grain may be sown before the heavy continuous rains set in. The main bulk of the rain falls in the months of December, January and February. Although in these months the rains are frequent and heavy, a dark, foggy day is seldom seen. The “latter rains” of April are the most highly appreciated, because they ripen the fruit and stay the drought of summer. They were considered a special blessing: Yahweh “will come ... as the latter rain that watereth the earth” (Hos_6:3); “They opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain” (Job_29:23); and as a reason for worshipping Yahweh who sent them, “Let us now fear Yahweh our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season” (Jer_5:24).
The rain storms always come from the sea with a west or southwest wind. The east wind is a hot wind and the “north wind driveth away rain” (Pro_25:23, the King James Version). “Fair weather cometh out of the north” (Job_37:22, the King James Version).

5. Biblical Uses:
The Psalmist recognizes that the “showers that water the earth” (Psa_72:6) are among the choicest blessings from the hand of Yahweh: “The early rain covereth it with blessings” (Psa_84:6). The severest punishment of Yahweh was to withhold the rain, as in the time of Ahab and Elijah, when the usual rain did not fall for three years (1 Ki 17); “the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and ye perish quickly” (Deu_11:17). Too much rain is also a punishment, as witness the flood (Gen_7:4) and the plague of rain and hail (Ezr_10:9). Sending of rain was a reward for worship and obedience: “Yahweh will open unto thee his good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand” (Deu_28:12). Yahweh controls the elements and commands the rain: “He made a decree for the rain” (Job_28:26); “For he saith to the snow, Fall thou on the earth; likewise to the shower of rain” (Job_37:6).

So we see both that the natural rain was absolutely essential to the survival of God's people, and that it is symbolic for God's spiritual blessings to His children. Gary spoke of how we will see these patterns in our lives over and over. We have a time of great blessings, inspiration, vision, and joy in the Lord. We are ready to go out and accomplish all that God has called us and truly believe that it will happen because we are in a time of fresh faith and joy in the Lord. Then come the summer months of our lives, and the rain seems to stop and we are walking things out in the heat of the sun.
During this time God is refining us and purifying us so that we will become more humble and steadfast in Him. This season may even be like Hosea 6:1 cited above, the time when God is tearing us so that He might heal us. When God deals with the sin in our lives, and corrects us that we may have fuller life in Him. It is the bruising that comes from the Father in infinite wisdom and mercy towards us who belong to Him. We really have to perservere in this time, and even though we still have fellowship and love flowing between us and God, it is not as real and tangible as it was during the season of rain. After God takes us through this dry season, He then will send the rains again. They will refresh us and encourage us, and even bring to fruition many of the things we had to perservere in during the dry months. So let this encourage us who are in the dry season right now. Let this time be used of God to bring about much humility, purity, and steadfastness in us! And let us look for and wait for the rains to come again from a God who is Faithful and True! And we prayed that God would give those who need it this time of refreshing, and that He would be pouring out another season of rain upon Prepare Ministries for the good of the souls of the college students and for His glory.