grace that overflows

Some of you have followed the initial story of Grace that I shared on my son's birthday and the follow up. This week she went home with her family... an indescribable Christmas gift, as we can all imagine. Yeah, Jesus!

I received an email from a friend named Jill today... I'd ask you to please read her request with the same sincerity and context we extended to Grace.

A while back you asked readers of your blog to pray for a little girl named Grace. I prayed with you and was elated when I read the follow-up. I was impressed by the way you asked them to pray and by the wonderful results. Would you be willing to you ask your readers to pray for another person in a desperate situation? I'm about to lose my dad. He has more than 70 tumors in his lungs, a result of smoking for almost five decades. Another tumor is in his brain and actually eating at the bone it sits next to. Another behind his ear makes it difficult for him to maintain his balance.

He's an atheist and has insisted for months that I not ask my friends to pray for him or even report to my small group on his condition. I don't know why. I don't much care now; I'm going to seek prayer for him anyway, in any way I can. He can't breathe. The medicine they've given him to help him breathe makes his mouth bleed so badly he can't eat. So the choice comes down to whether to eat or breathe. He's dying a painful and hope-less death. I pray that he will accept Jesus before it's too late.

He says he's not afraid to die at all. I don't understand that. What I do understand is that, according to what I believe, if my dad doesn't change his mind about Jesus, he's going to die, and I'm never going to see him again. If you would ask those people who prayed for that little girl to pray for my dad, I would really appreciate it.

My dad's name is Dean.

If Dean was your dad, what kind of passion would you like others to have when praying for him? Let's gather around this request today.