Prayers Released

Week Seventeen

Prayers released

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:22-26.

Again in Matthew we read a similar verse. “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:21. And again in James 4:1-3, what causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

What are you praying for? Are your prayers selfish or do you find yourself praying for the needs of others more than for yourself? Do you truly believe when you pray that God hears and will answer your requests? It seems there is a lot to know about prayer before we pray, but the basic elements are quite simple. 

To have our prayers answered, we have to pray. We have to pray believing that God will answer our prayers and we have to pray in accordance to God’s will. Seems like a lot to remember, but the more you know about God the easier it is to pray his will.

God wants to answer our prayers, he longs for us to come to him with every concern we have. He is able to meet every need in the world. There are a few keys in the scriptures above about how to pray. 

First we need to have faith in God. Without faith it is impossible to please God. We just assume that if we are praying we must believe. But there are many people who pray and are unsure to whom they are praying. They really don’t know the God of the universe. They know of him, but they don’t have a relationship with him. So we must first believe that he is the Sovereign ruler of the world and that he is completely capable of answering our prayers.

Second we have to pray boldly. Hebrews 4:14-16 says, therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. 

In other words we can come to God because of Jesus and Jesus doesn’t want us to doubt what we are asking for. If we ask God for something that he doesn’t want us to have, he won’t give us our request. But we need to ask him and let him make the decision.

Third, we need to pray with pure hearts. That doesn’t mean that we are perfect, but that we are in right standing with our brothers and sisters, that we do not have anger or jealousy in our hearts, that we do not have unforgiveness inside of us. Before we can really pray for others, we need to ask God to reveal any sin in our lives so that we might confess and repent, then our prayers will be heard. The psalmist said, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 Should we expect anything else?

When our hearts are cleansed, then our requests are heard. What is in your heart that needs to be repented? Do you harbor unforgiveness against anyone? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any sin in your life to you and repent.

God, our father, doesn’t want us to come to him with a list of requests that reads like a shopping list or a to-do list. He really wants our heartfelt requests. 

The best way to pray is to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal needs to us and wait quietly while he speaks to our hearts. Sometimes this may be a person who is ill, in trouble of some sort, or just having to make a tough decision. Sometimes it is for a particular national need. Decisions that are being made by government officials. Sometimes it is for our children, grandchildren, parents, siblings. The spirit knows who is in need better than we do. He can direct our prayers right to the heart of the matter. 

Whatever the need, we can have complete confidence that God has heard our request. When we lift the needs to God, we should release them completely. He is able to meet the needs in ways that we could never dream of.

When we pray for a need, we need to let it go. Sometimes the spirit may keep putting a request on our hearts over and over. But sometimes, we only have to make one request to God and then leave it in his hands to answer.

Heavenly Father,

We praise you and worship your holy name. We ask that you cleanse our hearts and reveal sin that is hiding inside us. We ask forgiveness in the name of Jesus. Hear the requests of our hearts today. Relieve our fears for our own needs. 

We know that you are a God of provision, a God who cares, a God who is able to meet every need we have. Thank you for knowing what we need before we can even ask. Teach us to let go of our requests and let you answer them in your own time, in your own way and not according to what we think. We trust you to know what is best for us and for all those we lift to you. These requests we lift to you in the precious wonderful name of Jesus. Amen

A miracle in my life

A miracle in my life

Our lives are of full of the miracles of God if we just recognize them and give Him the glory for them. Time and time again I have experienced the power of God in my life. Some people may call miracles "lucky breaks" but I prefer to see the hand of God protecting and caring for me.

It was a beautiful spring day, Memorial Day weekend in 1969. My sister-in-law had just got married to a great guy and they invited my husband, Don, and I to join them on the Scioto River in Columbus, Ohio for a day of water skiing. I was three months pregnant and had made myself a new outfit. Those were the days when hot pants were the fashion craze. My neon colored top was sleeveless and perfect for a boat ride. I had also made a little drawstring bag to match my top. Hey, it was the 60s and I was styling!

I don't swim, but I was young and ready to celebrate with my family. The boat had just pulled away from the dock when we noticed that we were taking on water. My new brother-in-law had forgotten to put the plug in the bottom of the boat and we were all in trouble. 

Someone yelled "jump", but I knew I couldn't swim, so it seemed pointless to me to jump. Looking back on the experience I think that I must have lost consciousness, because the next thing I knew I came up out of the water, under the boat. It had capsized over me and it was then that I felt my worst nightmare was going to happen. I was going to drown! I just started screaming at the top of my lungs.

I felt a hand grab my leg and pull me out from under the boat and in my mind I kept repeating "relax and let him save you, relax and let him save you." That is my version of the rescue. My husband said that I had hold of his throat and he thought I was going to choke him to death. He got me as far as he could and just sort of gave me a toss toward the shoreline. At that point I felt the strong arms of a man pick me up and carry me to the beach area where his wife was sitting on a blanket. They wrapped me up and I sat with them until I could get my bearings. 

The swimmers in the group were trying desperately to recoup our belongings from the boat as it was sinking. What had started out just a short time earlier as a pleasant outing, was turning into a disaster. 

I later asked my husband how he found me under the boat and he said that he had seen my neon colored bag in the windshield of the boat and just reached for it. As I went down with the ship, I had somehow held onto that bag which held our car keys and his wallet. 

Not only did God rescue me from the river that day and help us hang onto the things we needed, but the following week I felt my baby move for the first time. That relieved my mind that maybe the baby would have trauma from the incident. 

During my life, I have had miracles occur many times, but none as dramatic as my near brush with death in the water of the Scioto River.

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Running the Good Race

Week Sixteen

Running the Good Race

In Hebrews chapter eleven we read about faith. Those who believed without seeing the promises. From Abel to Abraham, from Moses to Samuel, these faithful people believed that God would do what he said he would do. They didn’t have to see the end result to believe it would happen.  

Some of these faithful believers “faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 11:36-12:2

Can you imagine a faith that would believe God without seeing the end result? We have the testimony of so many people who actually walked with Jesus, his disciples and followers recorded actual events shortly after they took place. But those who went before Christ, those faithful men and women only heard of the promise of Christ. What faith they had. 

Hebrews 11:1-2 tells us what true faith is. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”

A sure hope is what we have about eternity. We cannot fathom eternal life and yet that is our hope as believers in Christ Jesus. We are certain that eternal life is ours. Not because we earn it, not because we deserve it, but because Jesus paid our debt and gives it to us. Are we so different from the believers in the faith chapter? I don’t think we are. 

We are all running a race, we have before us the promise of life eternal and we know that it is at the end of the race. There is no mistaking the fact that if we are faithful to Christ, he will be waiting for us when we cross the finish line. He will lead us to our eternal home with him. The Bible is very clear on this point. 

But the hard part is remaining faithful, not losing heart, not giving up. There are going to be hard times. If the ancients suffered for their faith, why would we do any less? Romans 5:3-4 says ...we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

How in the world can we rejoice in our sufferings? That seems impossible to do. Just this week I was reminded again of the training that I have been through in my life. Each time I had to endure suffering it grew my faith more and more. Think about your own faith walk. Remember a time when you suffered a loss, a disappointment, a heartbreak. What was the end result?

A perfect example in my life was when my baby daughter, Stephanie, was stillborn. I had carried her for nearly nine months. There was no problem with my pregnancy and yet, when it was time to deliver her, the cord was wrapped around her neck twice and as a result, she was born dead. 

Not an easy thing for a mother to endure, I assure you. It wasn’t until months later that I realized her death had caused me to take a good hard look at death and my belief in eternal life. At age 22 I was immortal, or so I thought. When we are young we don’t like to think about dying. It seems so far off. I had a belief in Christ Jesus, but I had never really thought much about the gift of eternal life. 

All of a sudden I realized that my baby girl was in heaven, she had to be. She had never done anything to deserve otherwise. But how was I going to get there? How could I guarantee that I would see her again? I believed in eternal life, but never really thought about it for myself. Quite a dilemma for a young woman. 

My faith began to grow as I asked questions and searched for answers. God said we would find him if we searched for him. My search began through my suffering. I can look back and rejoice now. Because I have every confidence that I will one day see Stephanie again. She will know me and I will know her. We will be together throughout eternity. 

This perseverance is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years of suffering through trials, trusting God to help you through and knowing when you come through that it was the Lord who brought you through once again. Your faith is strengthened each time you suffer and persevere. 

Eventually you realize that the trials that come your way are only going to grow your faith and you believe immediately that God is going to deliver you. 

Paul had that kind of faith. That is why he could write about perseverance producing character and hope. I want that sort of character developed in me, but we can’t get character without adversity. They go hand in hand. The more our character is developed, the more integrity we have. Integrity is a Godly quality that is developed as we walk with God daily. The world around us cannot make us falter when we have Godly integrity as part of our character.

Heavenly Father,

You are so good and so patient with us. We give you praise for you are worthy of praise. Thank you for the suffering that we have had to endure. We know that you are the one who has helped us come out on the other side of the suffering with our faith stronger and deeper. Each time we walk through the valleys, you are there on the other side waiting with outstretched arms. Someday we will walk through the final valley and you will be there, expecting us. Ready to take us home. Thank you for your loving arms. In Jesus name we pray. Amen

The Lord Longs to be Gracious to You

Week Fifteen

The Lord Longs to be Gracious to You

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! 

You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.” 

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.

Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 

Isaiah 30:15-21.

Why do we always think we can handle every situation on our own? Why do we refuse to ask God for help when we are surrounded by adversity and affliction? It is almost as if we see strength in handling our problems ourselves. And yet, we always fail. 

Sometimes we think we have it all figured out. We make choices and they seem good at the time. But how often do those choices end in disaster? How many times do the choices we make put us in an even tighter spot than we were before? We get ourselves all worked up, we think and we plot and plan. We figure and refigure, we talk our problems to death with friends, relatives, co-workers, anyone who will listen. We seek guidance from fortune tellers, psychiatrists, professional financiers, even our beauticians and barbers. 

But God’s word tells us “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” He knows that we want to be self-reliant, he knows that we want to be independent.

God knows that when we fail, when we come to the end of ourselves, when there is no where else for us to turn, we will cry out to him to help us. And you know what? When that day comes, when we finally ask for his help, he will show us compassion. 

He longs to be gracious to us. Do you hear that? He doesn’t expect it, he doesn’t shake his head and say sooner or later they’ll need me. No he longs to be gracious to us. He has so much patience and he loves us so much. He would prefer that we ask him for help before we get ourselves into a real mess, but he knows that we won’t do that. What kind of trouble were you in when you cried for help?

Pride keeps some people from ever crying out for help. Some folks never reach the end of themselves, some folks die trying to figure it all out. But that is not God’s choice for us.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9. “Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.” 2 Peter 3:15.

When my marriage was failing, I talked it over with friends, I sought advice from all the wrong people and tried and tried to make things work on my own. It took me years before I finally gave up. I was so determined to make it work that I never even thought of asking God for his help. It seemed to me that he really didn’t care about the mess I was in. He had a universe to run and why would he be concerned for someone like me? But I reached the end of myself and cried out to God to help me. 

It was at that point that He could begin to make a difference in my life. It didn’t happen overnight, but it was a turning point. I think it took five years or more to get my marriage back on the right track, but God is not slow in keeping his promise.

God has a plan for each person in the world, but he waits for an invitation to become part of our lives. He looks on us with compassion and waits. How hard this must be for him. 

As a parent, I have had times when I had to stand back and watch my children make mistakes. If I had interfered they would have been resentful, that must be what it is like for God. He has given us freewill and we are permitted to make choices. He just waits for us to ask for help. That is what a loving parent does. 

God does long to be gracious to you. He wants to have you with him for eternity more than anything else. He wants to shower you with good things, he wants to bless your life. But he, above all else wants you to love him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. 

God wants to have first place in your life. He wants you to ask him before you make a move to do anything. Why? Because he wants to rule you with an iron fist? No, it is because he knows exactly what is best for each one of us. He knows the end from the beginning and everything in the middle. He wants us to trust him with our lives, our hopes and dreams, our plans for every day. 

When we come to him all through the day he knows that he has an important part in our lives. It is almost unimaginable to think that the God of the universe cares so intimately about us, but it is true. 

Think about some of the times that you have experienced God in your life. Usually in times of trial, but sometimes in the quiet peaceful moments we have known him to be there also. He wants you to invite him into all the moments of your life. 

Is there any better place to be than at the center of God’s will? We are safe there, we are loved there, we are protected there, we are directed there. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Holy God,

You are so wise and compassionate, you are so loving and good. We thank you for taking care of us and drawing us to yourself. We thank you for waiting patiently for us to finally realize that we need to ask you for help before we do anything. Thank you for helping us realize that you have our best interests in mind and help us to trust you with our very lives. We seek you today and give our selves to you. May your will be done in our lives. Because of Christ Jesus. Amen

Ten things I wish I'd known before I became a mother

Let me wipe away some of the cobwebs from my brain before I begin. It has been a lot of years since my children were small and now I have grandchildren to try to keep up with.

Number 10 - I wish someone would have told me that my sleeping habits would be interrupted dramatically. The sleepless nights didn't just occur when my children were babies, but as they got older and experienced nightmares and flu viruses, I spent many nights comforting them. Once they were teenagers, I can't tell you how many nights I paced the floor until they came home. 

Number 9 - I never knew that as my children got older I would become more old fashioned. It seemed that mom was a really cool person when they were young, but it didn't take them long to find out that I wasn't really too hip on all the latest fads. They've outgrown that, but I think I'm still old fashioned.

Number 8 - I didn't know that I would be cooking dinner for a neighborhood every night. With more and more moms working, our house became the place where my sons' friends would just show up at dinner time. I learned to cook extra.

Number 7 - I never knew that before my kids graduated high school I would attend and cheer for more sporting events than anyone in the history of the world. I think I still have blisters on my fanny from sitting on the bleachers.

Number 6 - I would have invested in stock with Johnson & Johnson if I would have known that over the years I would purchase more than a ton of Bandaids.

Number 5 - I wish I'd known that my heart could be broken over and over because of my sons. It was broken numerous times over their behavior or something unkind that they said, but many times it was broken because someone hurt them. 

Number 4 - No one ever told me that I would be going back to school when my kids got on the bus everyday. I had to learn right along with them as I helped them with their homework.

Number 3 - I didn't know too much about pets before I had children. I learned about the care and feeding of baby parakeets, rabbits, kittens and puppies. 

Number 2 - One of the most difficult things I learned as a mom was saying goodbye. No one told me that my children would fly away from the nest and leave my husband and I grieving and lonely.

Number 1 - My relationship with God grew exponentially because, as a mom, my prayer life took on new dimensions. When you have children, you discover that you can't raise them without the help of a gracious, loving God. He has helped me and continues to be there for me as I watch my sons grow into manhood.

The Faithfulness of God

If I could become a Women of Faith speaker what would I talk about?

The Faithfulness of God

As Women of Faith we can all relate to many of the same trials and difficulties we have encountered as we make this faith journey. I'm sure that as I share my story, many of you will be nodding in understanding and others may receive encouragement from my testimony, because you are going through similar problems today.

Although I was raised in a Christian home with a loving family where good moral values were taught, it didn't make me immune to the ways of the world. I heard it said once that God doesn't have any grandchildren. All those who come into His family, must come of their own freewill as His adopted children. The faith of our parents can lead us to Him, but ultimately it will be our own faith that secures our place in heaven.

I remember getting my first Bible as a child and reading passages about the crucifixion. As a little girl I was so upset that Jesus was put on that cross, but I didn't fully understand why He had to die until I had to face several deaths in my own family.

I loved my Grandma Fisher, she had many other grandchildren, but she always had time to spend with each of us, one on one and I knew that her love for me was unconditional. She didn't have to love me, but she did. I was 14 when she died and it shook my world. 

Later at age 21, I had to face the death of my stillborn daughter, Stephanie. I had carried her full-term and just seen my doctor two days before she died. Everything was going fine, until she started down the birth canal and was choked to death by the umbilical cord. Back in 1972, hospitals did not have the technology that they have today and no one could foresee this happening.

After her death, I began seriously looking at heaven. I knew that was where she went to but I wasn't so sure that I was going there. I knew in my heart that she was greeted there by my Grandma Fisher and I also knew that one day, I wanted to meet both of them in heaven. How could I be sure that day would come?

God says in Deuteronomy 4:29 (New International Version) 29 But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. 

I began my search for God in 1972, that search has led to a peace within my spirit and an assurance that I have eternal life through Jesus Christ, my Lord.

I'd like to say that I have been walking side-by-side with Jesus since that time, but life is a journey and many times I've strayed off the path. God is faithful and He knows our hearts and our heartaches, He knows our struggles with sin and He's always been there for me to lead me back to His loving arms. 

Through my belief in Jesus Christ as my risen savior, I know that whatever trials, whatever obstacles to grace I may encounter in this life, I can depend on God to walk with me and give me the strength I need to bring me into His kingdom.

One day, I'll leave this earth behind and when that day comes, I know that I will be greeted in heaven by a beautiful young lady, my favorite grandma and many others. Thank you, Jesus!

We are Living Stones

Week Fourteen

We are Living Stones

We come to Christ, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him. We also, like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For the scripture says, ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ 1 Peter 2:4-6.

Jesus was the first living stone. All through scripture we see rocks as symbolizing a solid foundation. The foundation of our faith was built on this bedrock, Jesus. But stones are not alive. How can we possibly become living stones? 

As we find out about Jesus, we discover that he arose from the dead. Stones, rocks these are dead. People become like rocks when we die. There is no life there, there is no breath. 

But God is able to make stones live, he brought Jesus back from the dead, an impossibility but foundational in our faith walk. It is this basis on which we place our belief. If Jesus wasn’t dead, if he didn’t rise from the dead, then our faith is in nothing. Jesus was dead, just like a rock, but he was made alive. 

In Job 14:13-14 we hear Job say, “If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me! If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.” That time came when Jesus was resurrected.

Jesus has promised the same for each one of us that believes in him. That even though we will someday die, yet will we live.

Over and over again in the scripture we are promised eternal life because of our belief in Christ. 1John 5:11-12 tells us...and this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Again in John 3:15 we are reminded that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. In John 6:47 Jesus tells his disciples, “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.”

How are we being build into a spiritual house? As believers we work together to enlarge the kingdom of God. Jesus is the foundation and we place our lives in him and encourage one another. Our belief in the promise makes us into living stones.

In John 7:38 Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” This scripture reminds me of a passage in Exodus 17: 5-6 The Lord answered Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock of Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” Again in Numbers 20:11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

Are we like those rocks in the old testament. I believe that is a pretty accurate picture of believers as living stones. We who have accepted Christ now have the spirit of the living God alive within us and God’s spirit wants to use us to minister to others. To be living stones with the love of God gushing out of us to meet the needs of those we meet every day.

The love that we have been shown and the grace that God has given us should be passed on to others. What a beautiful picture of Christ. Rocks just don’t ooze water and yet that is what God can do through us. Especially when we are dead to ourselves. It is in this dying to self that God can use us the most. 

We too, like Christ, are rejected for our beliefs, but we, like Christ are chosen by God and precious to him. We know that someday we will be like Christ, eternally alive.  Not by anything we have done, but by his blood which covers us and cleanses us from all sin. That is amazing.

We are not solitary in our belief. We are being built into a spiritual house. We are connected by our belief in Christ and by the Holy Spirit. We need each other and as more and more people come to a belief in Christ we lift him higher and higher. 

Being interconnected is a way to show the world our strength. There is one Christ and even though we may come from different denominations and have some beliefs that differ, the one element that is the same is Christ Jesus. He died for all sinners in the world, his blood covers each believer. Let’s lift Jesus up to the world and show them our oneness with him.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for illustrating your love to us through things that we know, things we see every day. Like rocks. How very amazing to think that we could become living stones. It is even more amazing that you could use us, worthless as we are, to spread your love throughout the world. What a display of power and might. 

We bless you Lord and choose to trust your word. Give us opportunities to share our faith in Christ Jesus with more and more people every day. May we lift Christ higher as more people come to a belief in him and may this spiritual house continue to grow. In his name we pray. Amen.

The Flow of the Holy Spirit

Week Thirteen

The Flow of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit indwells each person who professes a belief in Jesus Christ as the son of God and the one who died to reconcile us to God the Father. The moment we accept Christ and the gift of salvation, he sends his Spirit to live in us. But we have to invite that spirit to rule and reign in our lives. He will not take over unless asked to do so. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman and quietly waits for us to call upon him. 

I remember reading the Bible without asking the Spirit of God to teach me and it made no sense, it didn’t really become a part of my life until the Holy Spirit began teaching me. And he didn’t teach me until I asked him to. It was a conscious act of my will. I had to submit my will to God and ask for help. This is not something we do once, but it is a daily submission, sometimes hourly, sometimes even minute by minute.

Once the Holy Spirit begins to teach us there is no turning back. It is like a flowing creek, it begins a course and will not stop until it reaches a destination. Thinking about how creeks flow, it came to me that they start out as small little trickles. 

The Holy Spirit may speak to my heart to send a get-well card to a church member who has been sick. Nothing elaborate, just a small note to tell them that they are being thought of and prayed for. That’s all, it may take only five minutes to write, address and stamp the note. The same Spirit may speak to another member of the congregation to make a casserole and take to the same person. The same Spirit may speak to another member and ask them to call them and see if there is anything they can do to help. 

When that person receives all of these blessings, they may not even see that it was the Spirit of God sending these folks to help them heal. They may not realize that God cared so much for them that he would use others to show his love. Then again, they may know immediately that it was from God and just praise him for being so loving and kind.

God’s Spirit wants to use us to minister to others. We often think that if we submit to God’s Spirit that he would want us to sell all we have, and move to Africa. But often all that God asks us to do is something small. If we don’t respond and do the little things he asks us to do, maybe the blessing won’t be as significant for the recipient. Maybe God won’t be glorified in the situation.

How many times have you heard a little voice in your spirit ask you to do something nice for someone? Give them a phone call, drop them a note, buy them a gift, offer them a ride. How many times have you ignored that little voice because it would inconvenience you or cut in on your family time. I am guilty of neglecting the Spirit's leading many times. Especially in the small things. But who knows how the Spirit may be trying to accomplish something really significant by using numerous people in a given situation. There is strength in numbers.

Remember September 11, 2001, do you remember the first thing you did when you heard that a plane had hit the first tower? I know the first thing I did was pray in my spirit, “God, please send your angels to minister to those folks in the building, help them Father!” 

How many prayers do you think God heard that morning? Do you believe that God was able to hold those buildings up until as many people as possible were able to escape? I believe we may never fully know just how many lives were spared that day as a direct result of prayer. We have that power each and every day, if believers would be attune to the Spirit of God and be ready to respond to whatever the Spirit asks us to do. 

Jesus prayed to the Father for us in John 17:20-23. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

As we obey the still small voice within, we may not know what the outcome will be from our actions, but just know that the same Spirit is moving in the hearts of other believers at the same time and God’s purposes will be accomplished.

It seems that denominational churches are finally starting to realize their similarities and the power that is available when we join forces. 

In the community in which I live, we are fortunate to have had this sense of unity for some time. During Holy Week we meet in different churches each night and a different pastor will give the message each night. This is a marvelous time of unity. We do serve the same God, we believe in the same savior and we are all sinners saved by grace.

The Emmaus community that we belong to is another example of the spirit moving and crossing denominational lines to minister to God’s people everywhere. When I went on the Emmaus walk there were ladies at my table from the Church of Christ, Methodist churches, Catholic churches, Baptist churches and Episcopal churches, but we all had the same love for Jesus and we all wanted to serve God. God’s Spirit was able to minister to us and through us in a mighty way that weekend.

If we as the body of Christ ever truly come together, there will be nothing that could stop us. The Holy Spirit is waiting for opportunities to use us. Lets give him more chances to become a raging torrent. That power will be able to sweep so many people right into the current.

Father God,

We want to be obedient, but we often don’t want to be inconvenienced. Today we ask forgiveness for our selfishness and our disobedience. Help us to look for the similarities among other denominations and stop bickering about our differences. Forgive us for thinking that the way we worship is the only way to worship. We do invite your Spirit to speak to us, to unite us and we will put aside our interests and listen to what your Spirit requires of us. We want to do your will and ask that you continue to use us as your ambassadors on this earth. In Jesus name. Amen.