Beauty Found in a Dental Extraction

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6-7(NLT)

For the past few years I have been suffering from ongoing pain caused by my wisdom teeth. There was a time when they were growing in just fine then all of a sudden, they turned and started growing into my cheeks. I would ease the pain with Orajel and ice. But these methods only provided temporary relief. I recently went to the dentist for a cleaning and the Doctor explained to me how chronic pain overtime could lead to cancer. I immediately asked for my wisdom teeth to be removed.

My appointment was scheduled exactly two weeks from my cleaning. Meaning that I got the right
side of my mouth worked on this past Monday, October 13, 2014. Within that two week time frame, my mind was filled with horror stories from my family members and peers about their dental extraction experiences. There wasn't a single person who had a positive, painless story for me. Even the dental assistant felt the need to tell me about his terrible experience after catching a dry socket. And for some reason I decided to recall these stories the minute I sat down in the chair for my operation.

Worry and anxiety began to overtake me. I had images of operations going wrong in my head. I began to sweat and move around in my chair nervously. Then out of nowhere I remembered that I didn't even pray about my procedure. I am a praying woman but I didn't see the need in praying for something so little as getting two teeth pulled. I mean I had two children, both over 8 pounds each with no epidural. So this dental extraction seemed pretty minor. But really nothing is too minor for God.

So I asked the Dentist if I could take a moment and pray. He then bowed his head with me. I asked that the Lord would anoint his hands, brain, and equipment. I also asked that my Dentist be the one that God called to remove my teeth. I thanked God in advance for a clean and painless removal. As well as a painless and healthy recovery.

I am proud to say that I have experienced no pain or discomfort. I had a clean break and the blood clotted just fine. I was eating and talking within hours of my procedure and now days later I still feel no pain or irritation. My jaw didn't even swell!

When I say that there is power in prayer, I mean it. And there is nothing too big or too small for God to handle. The text says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Call me extra spiritual if you want but there is nothing that I wont pray for. This includes clear skin, my eating habits, weight issues, and even my hair growth. These might seem minor to most but since they make me anxious and cause me to worry at times, I just submit them to Christ with Thanksgiving.

Prayer is the beauty that I found in my dental extraction. It really works! I challenge you to pray about EVERYTHING and worry about NOTHING. Have a blessed and powerful prayer infused week!