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Prayers for rain answered
in West Texas – and how! 
Reservoirs overflowing 1 month
after officials made case to God


There was some snickering in certain parts of the country when city officials in the drought-stricken West Texas towns of Lubbock and Rockwall took their case for rain to God in the form of resolutions calling for prayer.

While the votes made national news – sometimes in the "quirky" sections of big-city dailies and news services – the results didn't, until now.

Within seven days of the Lubbock vote, the rains started. And they haven't stopped.

Some three and a half inches of rains fell in the town over the Labor Day Weekend alone, overflowing some reservoirs and spillways.

Jody James from the National Weather Service recalled: "We were dealing with red flag warnings, fire danger, and extremely dry conditions earlier in the year."

Without mentioning the prayer requests, Channel 11 KCBD reported: "Looking outside, you'd never guess a month ago that Lubbock was described as parched, and in serious drought conditions."

James said: "We were very behind on rainfall, several inches below normal as we got into the early mid-part of summer, just in the last 3 days we have got 3.5 inches."

In January, the Lubbock City Council implemented stage one of its drought contingency plan because of the dry conditions. By June the situation had reached the desperation point. Lake Meredith, Lubbock's primary water source was at a record low, and losing water daily.

In July, Lubbock had received only about half its normal rainfall of 10 inches. Between June 1 and the Lubbock vote at the end of July – which represented the growing season for cotton – the area got only .75 inches, far less than the normal 4.43 inches. As September gets underway, the area is on track to reach its annual average for rainfall.

"All areas lakes and reservoirs are doing better, but we still need more rain. We can't just recover from a long term drought in one episode of rainfall, but this is what we needed to get started," said James.

Apparently taken with the results in Lubbock, the West Texas town of Aledo is considering a similar resolution for prayer.

It's not the first time prayers for rain in Lubbock have met with good results. In January 2004, after a year of drought, the city and county set aside a Sunday to pray for rain and got the second-wettest year since records have been kept.

I'm remembering better times in this country when prayer for just about everything was a matter of normal day to day life. It's very sad to know how far away from God we have gone in just a matter of 50 years. There were times when prayer was the first thing done - not the last, and nobody laughed or snickered about prayer. Prayer was a matter of reverence and respect to God, the giver of all good things.

It now appears to be the norm that most people take many things for granted and don't thank God for abundance. There's really nothing small about the 3 good meals that we have in front of us every day, the roof over our heads, and the clothes on our backs. Our Great God and Creator did provide those things, and we should thank HIM for everything.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Titus 3:4-7 NASB  But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Amen brother, that we should from the bottom to the top of this nation.

I think they heard you brother.  ;)


Grateful Lubbock calls day of prayer
Earlier time to seek Almighty sought rain, saw flooding

The city council in Lubbock has called another "Day of Prayer," but this time it's not to seek God's blessing, it's to say thank you.

The council had declared a day of prayer and fasting on July 30 to seek God's gift of rain for the region, which had had just 5.71 inches since Jan. 1, according to a report in the Avalanche-Journal.

Since then, 6.55 inches of rain has fallen, even triggering some flooding. And now the council has declared Sunday a day of prayer and thanksgiving.

"It's not hocus pocus," Mayor David Miller told the newspaper. "It's not magic. It's just honoring the Creator."

One Lubbock resident told WND, "It is wonderful to see a city acknowledge God's sovereignty, and even more wonderful to see such an obvious demonstration of His power to answer prayer."

An announcement at Pray Lubbock! said, "Thank the Lord for Every Drop! Let's make Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006 A Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving!"

The earlier pronouncement that officials in the drought-stricken area were taking their pleas to God triggered a lot of sniggering – and made it into the "quirky" sections of big-city dailies.

But then the rains started.

Some three and a half inches of rains fell in the town over the Labor Day Weekend alone, overflowing some reservoirs and spillways.

The area had been "dealing with red flag warnings, fire danger, and extremely dry conditions," according to Jody James of the National Weather Service.

Drought contingency plans, in fact, had been started as long ago as last January, and during the cotton growing season from June 1 and the end of July, Lubbock got only .75 inches, only a fraction of its normal 4.43 inches during that time.

It's not the first time prayers for rain in Lubbock have met with good results. In January 2004, after a year of drought, the city and county set aside a Sunday to pray for rain and got the second-wettest year since records have been kept.

The decision to hold a day of thanks comes even though the city still is nearly 2 inches below its average rainfall of 14.12 inches for a year, officials said.

The Lubbock County Commissioners Court also has joined in the declaration.

AMEN!

I love this story. It reminds me of older times when public prayer was frequent and expected. Prayer was the first thing we tried instead of the last thing, and prayer went along with anything that the community was trying to do, with or without any problems. I must add that it has been the norm during most of my life where all public figures were expected to pray for guidance from GOD if they were going to serve the community. It is always a good thing to sincerely pray for GOD'S guidance, wisdom and strength from the very start of anything - not after problems arise. It's also a reminder to always thank GOD for everything HE gives us, and we should know that GOD does give us all good things. I can just imagine that if we don't thank HIM, HE won't think that we appreciate HIS Blessings and abundance. This is simply a wonderful reminder of times gone by when everyone thought about and prayed about the Providence of GOD.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Ephesians 5:1-2 NASB  Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.