A PRAYER REQUEST

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

To all of Sally Stuart’s prayer partners,

Hello to all you writers. I’ll just go by my first name, Steve, in this prayer request.

As writers, there is really only one reason why you would consider praying for me and that’s because, as a computer programmer, I’d like to computerize Sally’s Periodical Manuscript Tracking system.

A little background is in order. I was a professional programmer analyst from 1987 to 1996 when I became disabled. I’ve been disabled up until now. But I’ve resumed my studies and intend to return to work after I complete a certificate program at a local university.

The reason I’m asking for prayer is because I’ve developed sleep apnea. When I became disabled, I weighed approximately 165 lbs.; I’m now at 225 lbs. This weight gain has caused several problems:

• Sleep apnea causes me to be lethargic.
• Worst of all, and mysteriously, I tire and fall asleep most easily when I’m working on computer programming issues. It seems as if:
  • I don’t fall asleep but am put to sleep;
  • I don’t sense myself falling asleep; rather I just notice myself waking up after having slept at my desk, sometimes for nearly two hours;
  • These factors make me wonder if I’m suffering demonic, in contradistinction to simply physical problems.
• I have had sleep studies and do use a BiPAP, a type of CPAP, but it only helps a little.
• At bedtime, I only sleep two hours at a clip and must force myself to get extra sleep.

What are my prayer requests?

1. Please pray that I can walk regularly. Walking releases endorphins which help me stay alert. It’s too early to walk when I arise, I tend to sleep at my desk the hours when I should walk, and by the time I’m ready, I feel like I should be working—around 11:00 A.M.
2. Please pray that I sleep longer when I do sleep. Two hours is clearly not enough.
3. This is a weird problem. Something often drives me to my PC late at night. I should go to bed around 9 PM to 10 PM. Instead, I’ll go to the PC around that time and just fall asleep in my desk chair. Now that kind of sleep is unproductive; it is un-restful, so it doesn’t help me. Yet it causes me to go to bed around 2:00 AM, after which I awake at 4:00 AM. When I do awake, my head is groggy but my body wants to work. That makes going to sleep hard. Please pray God changes this strange tendency about me.

For those of you who care to pray for me, I thank you dearly.

Steve