Kristina Lunde

The Lord is my strength and my song.
Psalm 118:14a

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December 31, 2022 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

Prayer & Architecture on a Clinic Visit

Snow patches dot the roof as gray clouds obliterate any hint of sun. Despite the drab skies, floor-to-ceiling windows usher light into the laboratory waiting room of Mayo Clinic’s Gonda Building. People file out of elevators, line up at the reception desk, and then take a seat in the sea of chairs. They wait to surrender their blood, the vital fluid that will direct diagnostic and treatment decisions. My friend K similarly hopes that her what, why, and how medical questions will be answered by laboratory results.

I join K to chauffeur, support, and take notes during her visit to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. My God-given responsibility is to pray for her as she faces two days of tests, scans, and appointments. Injected with radioactive materials and other chemicals for picture-taking, K undergoes hi-tech scanning. I pray for clear-cut, sliced-and-diced pictures of K’s tumor that will map out cancer treatment options. All that information will be funneled into the final evaluation by the world-renowned oncology surgeon. He will decide whether he can excise the tumor—or that he cannot offer surgical treatment.

Kahler Hotel, Rochester MN
Siebens Building, Rochester, MN

After K marches back to meet the vampires, I become distracted from praying by the eclectic architecture. Outside the third floor window, the hospital’s exterior structure consists of gray marble panels and steel window frames. These surfaces intersect a narrow flat roof that obscures the streets below. Beyond the roof, Gothic arches line the top floor of a grand old building. That limestone structure reflects in the wall of windows across the street. The windowed modern building contains a vertical panel of concrete that brutally contrasts with both of its antique neighbors.

Plummer Building, Rochester, MN

Finally, I tear my focus away from the inanimate to pray for K—only to be distracted again. The next architectural masterpiece in my line of vision holds gargoyles, griffins, and other statues. A rooftop flag ripples in the pre-blizzard winds, providing the only visible movement above the urban street. Tiles, mini-balconies, and other bric-a-brac ornamentation embellish every visible horizontal and vertical surface.

My excitement over urban architecture fades when K comes out of the lab. K, a strong woman who survived an intense triple regimen of tumor-poison, chooses the stairs over the elevator. I join her march up the seven flights to her surgical oncology appointment. In the exam room, the primary surgeon surprises everyone by arriving an hour early to the appointment. Other professionals enter the room. The moment of truth arrives as photos of K’s innards fill the computer monitor screen.

The practitioners describe the tumor’s response to chemotherapy in glowing adjectives. The surgeon presents the outcome of K’s chemotherapy: surgery is now an option. Briefly, I raise my hands heavenward to the God who answers prayers, and then I resume my note-taking. Looking at the scan as if it were a map, the surgeon plans and describes his surgical path. He traces his intended journey into the organ, around the tumor, and through neighboring structures. K smiles along with the entire team.

Thank you, God, for guiding K’s chemotherapy, making it work, and providing the previously unthinkable option of surgery. Please keep your healing hand on K. Guide her medical team and give her the treatments and care that she needs. Help me to love, support, and pray for K as you intend. Thank you, dear Lord, for miracles that don’t depend on feeble human prayers easily distracted by urban architecture. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Filed Under: Prayer Tagged With: architecture, chemotherapy, Mayo Clinic, prayer

November 30, 2022 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

Psalm 23 Kids’ Prayer

Image by Cocoparisienne/Pixabay

Yay God—you’re my shepherd! I don’t need anything, because you take good care of me.

Thanks for giving me places to eat, drink, and rest.

You energize me! Help me obey you, in Jesus’ name.

Even when things get bad, I don’t need to be afraid, because you’re always with me. I like it when you fight my enemies and pull me close to you.

When the bad guys are all around me, you do all kinds of cool things to love and support me.

Thanks for the good stuff you give me while I live here and when I—for sure!—go to heaven.

I love you, my good shepherd God! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Psalm 23 ESV

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Note: For a grown-up prayer of Psalm 23, see https://kristinalunde.com/psalm-23-prayer/

Filed Under: Prayer Tagged With: lamb, prayer, Psalm 23, sheep, shepherd

September 28, 2022 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

Psalm 23 Prayer

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1

Lord, thank you for being my shepherd and providing everything I need and want.

Photo by Adina Voicu/Pixabay

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. Psalm 23:2

Lord, guide me to your chosen places for rest and nourishment. Quench my thirst with your living water.

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Psalm 23:3

Please revive me from the inside out, Lord God. Pull me back from my sheep-like wandering to follow only you, in Jesus’ name.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

Thank you for navigating me through death’s dark shadows. Help me to recognize your constant presence, so that I will not be afraid. Thank you for shepherding me with your rod and your staff: you protect me from my enemies and yank me back when I stray.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5

Even when enemies surround me, Lord God, you set me up to feast on your goodness. You pour out your anointing on me, beyond what I can contain. Lord, I am grateful.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6 ESV

Lord, I have confidence in your goodness and love, which will accompany me throughout my life on this earth. Thank you, Lord God, for the certainty of living with you in your presence forever. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Note: For a kids’ prayer of Psalm 23, see https://kristinalunde.com/psalm-23-kids-prayer/

Filed Under: Prayer Tagged With: prayer, Psalm 23, sheep, shepherd

November 28, 2019 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

A Mother’s Prayers Preempted by a Sovereign Heavenly Father

Dear One,

You followed your passion in college, filling your days with studies and hard work in preparation for graduate school. I prayed that God would open doors and lead you to a school in your chosen field, but you did not get accepted into any graduate schools. You later described how you asked God for forgiveness for the bitterness, frustration, and anger you felt after that disappointment. Having learned to wait, and even surrender your ambitious dreams, you now give God credit for His peace in your life.

Woman holding Bible and praying
Photo by Olivia Snow on Unsplash

Lord, your will be done.

When you graduated from college, I prayed that God would give you a job in your field. You worked two part-time jobs for almost six months and applied to eighty-five jobs. (I felt discouraged and frustrated for you!) In retrospect, you saw God’s miraculous provision in the job He ultimately gave you.

Lord, your will be done.

For months, I prayed that God would encourage you by improving the communication and working relationships at your job. Despite the verbal promise of a two-year position, your boss let you go on short notice that your position lost funding. (Not the answer I prayed for.) Instead of being bitter or vengeful, you gave God credit for teaching you to want the best for your co-workers and to diligently complete your projects.

Lord, your will be done.

In your current period of unemployment, I keep praying for God to find you a job. No job yet, but you write of trusting God to open doors and give you peace about uncertainty. I love your phrase about “enjoying the closeness of God’s presence,” even though you remain unemployed. You learned to submit all of this to God, a process that might not have been happened if God had quickly answered my prayer.

Lord, your will be done.

The growth, maturity, and perspective that you have gained reveal God’s work in you. May our sovereign heavenly Father keep drawing you closer to Him, even though this process can be challenging and painful. As Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Keep trusting God because He created you and knows exactly what you need.

Love you.
Mom

Lord, your will be done: not what I think is best, but what you as her sovereign heavenly Father know that she needs. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Filed Under: Prayer Tagged With: college, daughter, heavenly Father, Job, letter, mother, parenting, prayer

May 20, 2019 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

James and the Giant Prayer

Relegated to a basement room between church services, my Sunday school class of kindergartners and first graders is usually small. If any children walk by, no matter their age or potty-training status, I try to talk them into joining us for our Bible story. (Just last week, I reeled in a grandmother and her two granddaughters on Mother’s Day.)

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14

Our class follows a weekly routine. An opening song is our prayer of honor and invitation to God. During the Bible story, we discuss God’s Word and apply it to our lives. Coloring sheets and occasional craft projects review the Bible verse theme. Lastly, we close in prayer. Recently, as I tried to change the kids’ focus from their projects to prayer, the reserved, soft-spoken James volunteered to pray. In his maroon, three-piece, corduroy suit with plaid shirt, James looked so formal, his eyes focused and sincere. James had never been a talker, although he always demonstrated his comprehension of the Bible story.  I nodded and then wondered, “We’ll see how this goes.”

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16

And then James prayed. This recent graduate of pull-ups with the gentle disposition launched into an earnest prayer of thanks. In the loudest voice I had ever heard from him, James boldly brought us before the throne of grace. In gratitude to God, James listed over ten items, each spelled out in a full sentence. He gave detailed thanks for personal blessings as well as generalized blessings of yesterday, today, his family, the weather, our class, the kids, and even the teacher.

Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

James’s straightforward prayer gave a comprehensive list of why he was grateful to God. In faith-filled boldness, he concluded, “in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16b

Long ago, I memorized that last part of James 5:16 in the King James Version: “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” To use the King’s English and male gender in our setting, this certainly demonstrated effectual fervent prayer by a righteous man-child. Instead of jumping in with a closing prayer for our class, as I had anticipated, I was humbled by James’ faith-filled prayer.

Lord, please grow this little James with the giant prayers and use him in mighty ways for your glory.

And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3

Thank you, James, for being my Sunday school lesson on how to pray bold, giant prayers.

Filed Under: Prayer Tagged With: parenting, prayer, Sunday school

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  • Prayer & Architecture on a Clinic Visit
  • Psalm 23 Kids’ Prayer
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