I am at a strange cross roads in life. I have completed all the compulsory training I need to do prior to starting a career in cardiology. On paper, I should have been a shoo-in for the job because I had done all the right things and had tons of research to complement my other activities. But I didn't get the job. So I am now at this point in life where I could technically take a break, and I would love to take a break, but people around me are giving conflicting advice. I do not know if taking a break would somehow reduce my chances of getting a cardiology advanced training position in the coming year. Ideally I would love to have a year off, to spend time with my family, to do some humanitarian work and then I would locum around Australia so as not to deplete the bank account too much. But I don't know if this would be a bad idea from a cardiology perspective.
I wish God would just talk to me. I wish He would tell me what to do, in all His infinite wisdom. Sadly, my faith often wavers.
Are You really there God? Are you a figment of the imagination of a humanity that cannot cope with the notion of a meaningless life?
It has only been a week since I knew for sure that an accredited advanced training position would be out of reach for the coming year. In the lead up to the Match I was uncertain as to which hospital I wanted to preference. I told God to close the doors that He did not want me to walk through. But if He is truly in control, then really, He's closed them all! It has only been about a week, and I have at times reconciled myself to simply waiting on Him, and for answers in His timing.
But 2nd round offers (non-cardiac) should be opening up pretty soon. Should I apply? Should I leave NSW? Should I go back to Tasmania? Should I go to Sudan? That would be pretty cool. It's an Islamic country. Would I be safe? I have so many questions, but very few answers. I could I suppose cast my net widely - apply for it all. If God does not want me to walk through certain doors, He can close them again.
Father do not forsake me. I am here. Speak.
Philippians 4:6 ESV
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
When the righteous cry for help, the
Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ...
Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;
And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
The
Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.
The
Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’"
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. ...
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The
Lord is my God.’”
A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the
Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The
Lord is your keeper; the
Lord is your shade on your right hand. ...
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the
Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
A Psalm of David. The
Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...
For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
But they who wait for the
Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Cast your burden on the
Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.
Solomon loved the
Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the
Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O
Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. ...
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: ...
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ...
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the
Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ...
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the
Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the
Lord, because the glory of the
Lord filled the
Lord's house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the
Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the
Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the
Lord. King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. ...
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
And also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ...
In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the
Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: “Thus says the
Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the
Lord.” Then the word of the
Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the
Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. ...
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