Dear Friends,

Most of you have heard about the tremendous amount of rain we have received here in the Northern Philippines the last three weeks. In some parts of the country, more than three feet of rain fell in just a few days! In Manila there has been terrible flooding because the water had nowhere to go. The farmlands around Manila and to the North have been flooded as well and thousands of acres have been taken out of production in this already impoverished country.

We have a house to temporarily provide shelter for abused women and children in our nearby town of Silang, Cavite. A couple of years ago we started growing crops on the cement by constructing boxes and growing vegetables. Every now and then the heavy rains would come and wash out our smaller seedlings and we would always have to start over with the planting.

When I visited in Kenya and Korea I saw the extensive use of greenhouses and decided we would build two over our grow boxes. The roof is made of special UV treated plastic that will not be affected by the sun and the sides have mosquito netting to keep the bugs out. When the big rains came this time, the plants were protected and they continued to grow, grow, grow everyday.

Prayer is the Greenhouse of God. It protects us from the storms of life and the temptations of the evil one. How foolish would it be for me when a storm is coming to take off the roof of the greenhouse and leave the plants unprotected. Yet how often we are without the delivering power of the Almighty God because we have neglected to daily, hourly and moment by moment uplift our hearts to the Lord above?

Ellen White tells us, "When we feel the least inclined to commune with Jesus, let us pray the most. By so doing we shall break Satan’s snare, the clouds of darkness will disappear, and we shall realize the sweet presence of Jesus.—(Lift Him Up, 372.). Let us seek the Lord, especially when we don't feel like seeking Him and thus we will be saved from the deluge of temptations because our lives our hid by faith through prayer in the Lord above.

Till next week . . . Remember to pray the most when we don't feel like praying.