🕊️ Rescue Story

 (Acts 12:5–11)
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
— Acts 12:5–11 (NIV)

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The Rescue You Don’t See

Peter had no idea that his rescue was happening while the angels were breaking him out of prison. Much like Peter, we often have no idea when God is rescuing us. We are oblivious to the higher realm—yet He rescues us time and time again. The church that was praying for Peter had no idea that their prayers had been answered until Peter was standing right at their door.

This makes me ask,
“How much can I trust what I see and hear when I am blind to an entire realm I can’t perceive?”

Because I can’t see the process of God working, I often wrongly assume He isn’t. I miss it. My eyes are drawn to what the world shows me instead—the noise, fear, and hopelessness that fill my screen. It’s exactly where the enemy wants my focus.

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Looking for God in the Wrong Places

So, how can I see evidence of God’s movement?
Well, it’s not on TV or social media.
If social media is my only indicator of the movement of God, I’m in trouble.
My best source for seeing His hand at work is to pay attention to the prayers I pray.

I must remember what I’ve asked for and follow through. Sometimes it may take years, even decades, to see an answer. Yet other times, God responds in an instant. I’ve seen both.

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A Moment on the Road

As I was traveling home from work on a wooded, winding, dangerous road, a motorcycle—one of those fast “crotch rockets”—flew past me on a blind curve. I imagined his demise and prayed for his safety. About a mile down the road, I saw that same motorcyclist stopped on the shoulder, frustratingly trying to start his stalled bike.

That moment stopped me.

Few prayers are answered in a minute. But that one was.

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Write It Down

Since most answers take time, how can I remember what I’ve prayed for with my poor memory?  

        Write it down. Check that list daily. Then record the answers. 

                                                          You will be amazed!

Because we cannot see the actions God takes, never assume He isn’t responding. His timing is not our timing.

And just a word of advice: remember, these prayers are not wishes sent to a genie. They are conversations with the Creator. Prayer must always come from a humble, honest relationship with Him.

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Be Persistent

Scripture tells us to pray about everything.
So pray about small daily irritations as well as the big, life-changing events—and keep track of them. Day by day and year by year, you’ll begin to see results from many of those prayers.

Be persistent. Changing hearts—especially hearts with the freedom to reject truth—is a slow process. But God begins His work when we ask. He is always moving on our behalf.

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Watch and See

When Peter was set free, he didn’t realize it until he was already outside the gate.
You may not recognize your rescue until much later either.
But trust this—God is already working it out.

Watch and see.

Prayer Changes Things: But Why?

“God only knows the times my life was threatened just today.

A reckless car ran out of gas before it ran my way.

Near misses all around me, accidents unknown,

Though I never see with human eyes the hands that lead me home.

But I know they’re all around me all day and through the night.”

— Angels by Amy Grant

It is rare that we are given a peek at the tragedies avoided because someone prayed. Yet, I have seen amazing answers to prayer—some of which I’ve shared in past blogs. Still, being an analyzer at heart, I can’t help but ask why. Why does an all-powerful God need my prompts to change things? If He wanted to act, He could. He doesn’t need me. So why prayer? Why does it take prayer for God to decide to move?

I had a little breakthrough in my thick skull while listening to a video by Pete Greig on intercessory prayer, and I can’t wait to share it.

The first thing Greig pointed out was a biblical account where talking with God actually changed the outcome. Abraham negotiated with God over the fate of Sodom. In a respectful—and slightly humorous—conversation, Abraham convinced God to spare the righteous rather than destroy everyone. I think God was moved by Abraham’s humility, reverence, and persistent faith. (Check it out in Genesis 18:16–33.)

Then Greig shifted to God’s gift of free will. God gave us a choice: to love and follow Him, or to go our own way. This choice extends into our daily actions and how we treat others. God did not make us puppets. If we choose to defy Him and hurt others, He allows that freedom. This interplay of free will means future events are not set in stone. Prayer, then, becomes the way we align our will with God’s. Our choices—and our prayers—can release or restrict the power of God.

Let’s Do This—but How?

We have power over circumstances in prayer. Scripture affirms this over and over.

1 John 5:14–15

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

What an amazing gift! When we ask unselfishly for the things God desires to set right, He responds. He dotes on us—sometimes even spoils us—with blessings we don’t deserve. All we have to do is have a conversation with Him.

How do we know His will? Like a good parent, He doesn’t give us what will ultimately harm us. He sees our future and filters our requests through His wisdom so we don’t have to worry about asking for the wrong thing. Our job isn’t to figure it all out—we simply need to ask, and keep asking. He will sort it out.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Prayer must start with humility in our attitude. God is waiting to answer our humble requests—those offered with reverence and awe.

But What About…?

Of course, this doesn’t fully explain why loved ones suffer, why cancer claims lives too soon, or why the wicked seem to prosper. Even with this new revelation, I can’t explain it all. But honestly, I don’t want a God so simple that my little brain could explain Him.

Simply Pray—It Is Our Responsibility 

What I do know is this: prayer changes things. If we want to work with God, love Him, and bless those around us, we can. In fact, it’s our responsibility.

Because of God’s gift of free will, our prayers matter. They open the door for God to act. That truth adds a little urgency—and a lot of hope—to my prayer life.

Being the Weirdest One in the Room

Following Christ is not my best thing. Seriously. It is hard. It is a fight from the moment I wake up to the moment I give up the struggle, close my eyes and go to sleep. This is why I blog. Maybe following Jesus is hard for you too, and I’m pretty sure we need to stick together.

My most recent struggle is that I don’t feel understood because, quite honestly, I’m weird. I won’t go into my weirdness’s here but suffice it to say that I am never comfortable in a group, always having the gut feeling of being the odd person out. Maybe that is how everyone feels? Or maybe that is an introvert thing? Or maybe it is a blessing? No idea.

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But today while reading my daily devotional, the words of a prayer by Francis of Assisi spoke to this very point of my weirdness and not being understood. It said, “O, Master, grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love with all my soul.” This selfless prayer made me see the selfishness of wanting to be understood and the beauty of being understanding rather than judgmental. It made me see through the eyes of Christ.

“O, Master, grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love with all my soul.”

~Francis of Assisi

So now, when I find myself wallowing in self pity, I must obediently bring it to my Papa and let him do his thing. Hopefully, this is helpful to some other weird person out there. May He give us all a glimpse of others through his eyes so that we can console, understand and love them.

Hallmark Movies

 I am not a fan of movies where, in the end, the bad guy wins. And I don’t think many other people like them either. I am making this bold statement judging by the popularity of Hallmark movies. We want the good guy to win in our fiction as well as in real life. But more times than not, in daily life we see wrong appear to win over right.

You may have seen what happens to people who have allowed bitterness to rule their heart. Their thoughts become consumed with fear and malice and they slowly become isolated in their bitter world. All their joy has vanished. If we could trace the origin of their bitterness I believe we would find that it started when an unfairness, disappointment, pain, or injustice happened and they believed that wrong won over right. Do not discount this. Bitterness is a tricky ploy of the enemy and it begins with waving the flag of righteous indignation. At this point it is our response to this apparent injustice that matters. 

Guard your heart. We are told in scripture throughout the Bible to guard our hearts. But what does this mean? As we all know, our world is full of unfair situations and it is our response to it that matters to the health of our soul. We cannot control those situations but we can control our response to that unfairness.

I don’t know about you, but my gut response to unfairness and disappointment is anger. Then I shoot off my mouth. Then I internalize it. Then it plants a tiny seed of bitterness. Bitterness is an underestimated powerful, slow acting poison. The natural way animals know not to eat a poisonous plant is a bitter taste. This is a lesson from nature. If you don’t believe me, just feed a small child their first bite of broccoli and then duck. In much the same way as consuming poison, that seed of bitterness grows in my heart and slowly begins to taint my thoughts and words. If I continue to feed this bitterness with wandering thoughts and internet rabbit holes, it slowly poisons my heart and causes a long drawn out suicide to the spirit in me.

Praise God, there is an antidote to bitterness’ venom once it has a hold on my heart! It was given in the Lord’s Prayer. “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Forgiveness is the antidote to this poison. And Jesus must have known the destruction left by bitterness because he chose to address it in his model prayer. Forgiveness is anything but easy and it must become a daily habit until all the bitterness is gone.

Matthew 6:12 AMP – And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment].

So what do we do to steer clear of bitterness when facing the apparent win of evil? Again we need to turn to the Bible. There are plenty of stories of injustice from Genesis to the New Testament. But my favorite response to injustice is in Psalms. Psalms is a book of prayers and praise to God. If you have read the book of Psalms through, you will be surprised by many of them. So many of them express fear, sadness and anger to God over situations in life. Some of it seems inappropriate by our standards yet those who were experiencing injustice boldly asked God for retaliation. They cried out to God in the honesty of their feelings. Here is an example from King David when folks were lying about him.

Psalm 5:8-10 NIV – Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies— make your way straight before me. Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies. Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.

I believe that is the most appropriate place to voice our anger and indignation. As we become more tuned in to the Holy Spirit we become more sensitive to the injustice of this world. So after crying out to God, we must remind ourselves of who is really in control and in his almighty power which we cannot begin to fathom. God does not tell us that this surrendered life will be a cakewalk. In fact he tells us that we will have troubles but he has let us have a peek at the final chapter and it will be far beyond that happy Hallmark ending we desire.

Looks Like Somebody Prayed

 When people say, “All we can do is pray” it bothers me. It is the best thing and the first thing we should do, not the last. What if you had a loving powerful confidante who cares for every little thing about your day—someone who would act on your requests in a surprising and efficient manner—someone who never got tired of your requests and stood by you in the most difficult of circumstances? Would you wait until you tried everything else before you ask him for help?

Here is what I have learned so far. You have to make the effort to get to know Him. You have to learn to recognize Him by his actions. You have to constantly seek his companionship because he isn’t pushy. He won’t step in and solve your issue unless you ask and believe that he can. And even when He solves those issues you have to pay attention or you will miss the opportunity to see what he has done. 

He will fix things in your life in his own way, which is not always your way, but is always in the best way. In some situations He carries you through the heartbreak. He is with you and he is developing your strength in this painful earth experience. Just focus on Him and you will realize you have made it through to the other side and are better for it. He is not a genie. He will not grant wishes. He is a BFF. He matures you. He makes you stronger. He always has your best at heart even when you cannot see it that way. 

Is there anything He won’t give you? Well, I think He will give you all you ask in his own time if it is asked in humility and in line with his heart. For example, if you ask for world peace he will surely give it to you but it is in his own time. He tells us in his Word that there will be wars and rumors of wars but he also tells us of a time when the wolf and lamb will graze together. So yes, he will answer that prayer for world peace, just probably not in the timing that we have in mind. To him, millennia are seconds on a clock. We cannot wrap our heads around how big He is. 

How do you get to know him? Pay attention. Yep, just pay attention. The best way to develop this sensitivity to His presence is to be grateful and read the stories written about Him. Realize that He created this universe and that everything amazing, creative and good, from laughter to coffee, comes from his hand. Everyday think of three new blessings for which He is responsible. (Although I thank Him for coffee everyday.) Give credit where credit is due. Develop that habit of gratitude. 

Next, when you ask him for something, watch for the answer. Don’t just set it down and run off and forget it. And don’t try to manipulate the answer. Trust me, I have tried this and it doesn’t work out. Let it go. It helps if you write down the request then go back and record how it was answered. Develop this habit. Again…pay attention to His work. Then praise Him for what he has done. 

Why am I so authoritative on this subject? Because He has answered my big and little prayers over and over again throughout my life! Oh, and sometimes he said no to my solution but he gave a far better one and I am so glad he did. It is only in the last twenty years of my life that I paid attention to what He is doing. I wish I had paid attention sooner. 

Answered Prayer

As a young Christian in the ‘70s, I spent a lot of my prayer life asking for world peace. I believe God will answer that prayer well past the timeline I had in mind as a teenager. As I grew older, my prayers changed. Some sounded like I thought God was a genie, but most sounded like I thought he would never really answer. Later I spent an enormous amount of time asking God to heal my broken marriage. He answered that prayer with a gut wrenching “no” and now, looking back, I am so glad. He had something so much better for me around the corner! Since then, there has been a much more personal heart-wrenching prayer that I prayed for 15 years that I have seen God answer. I can’t share it, but suffice it to say, it was BIG! Praise his Holy Name!

About ten years ago I discovered the beauty of writing my prayers. In fact, that is how I started blogging. I got so much practice at writing that I discovered a love for it. Back to my point. When I wrote down my prayers, I was able to go back and see what I asked and often I could see how He answered it. What a wonderful thing this has been for my walk of faith. God’s time is so different from my short attention span.(After all, it was God who created elephant’s memories.)

When reading over my past prayers, I see some of the things I couldn’t at the time. I see each uniquely designed answer. Some answers I am still waiting on but by reviewing God’s work in my life, I have begun to let go of the framework of time and have developed a hair more faith than I had when I was in my teens.

Since my expectations of God’s answers have no time frame, there is shock and awe in the random timing of His answers. For example, I was driving home the other day on the winding two-way, no passing road to our neighborhood. A “crotch-rocket” pulled out behind me on this narrow road and began tailgating me. The only thing that makes me more nervous than tailgaters is motorcycles and winding roads. I clenched the steering wheel and said a quick prayer for tailgating-crotch-rocket guy. Within a minute of that prayer, the guy passed me on a blind no-passing curve. I was relieved no one was coming the other way and he was out of my sight. Then, a minute later I rounded another curve and there was crotch rocket guy on the side of the road frantically trying to start his motorcycle. I was absolutely amazed that God answered my prayer so swiftly because that is not his usual MO. I thank God for sending me this reminder that he is listening and he answers prayer. 

Stranger Than Fiction

 Just because you have seen the movie doesn’t mean you can’t read the book. Because as we all know, nine times out of ten, the book is better than the movie. I say that to preface what I’m about to tell you.

If you asked me what book other than the Bible, brought me closer to God than any other, you would be shocked at my answer. Although I have read and loved books by C.S. Lewis, Henry Drummond, Watchman Nee, Timothy Keller, James Bryan Smith, Corrie ten Boom, Priscilla Shirer and many other inspired authors, they did not change my life as much as The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Yes, I am talking about that non-Christian genre, fiction book that was published in 2009 and later became a movie.

Before I explain this, first of all let me tell you that I believe we often underestimate the influence of fiction books. Fiction is able to slip up on you and convince you to try things that no frontal attack can.(Especially if you are as stubborn as me). So how did a silly fiction book, make an impact on my life? In the book, the main character had a habit of writing her prayers down so she would be able to look back and see how God answered them and not forget. This was the idea that I took to heart. It rang true because I often forgot what I asked of God and failed to thank Him for his answers. Gratitude matters.

At that point, I began writing down my prayers so I could look back and see God’s blessings in my life. And fifteen years later, you wouldn’t believe the blessings that I have been able to witness! They were blessings that I would have forgotten or overlooked had I not recorded them. And on a side note, it also got me started writing. Once I began writing regularly, it became easier to put my thoughts on the page. This is where the blogging thing originated. It all started with a fiction book.

Gratudis: A Pill for Health and Happiness

 Here is a quote from the Mayo Clinic on gratitude: Expressing gratitude is associated with a host of mental and physical benefits. Studies have shown that feeling thankful can improve sleep, mood and immunity. Gratitude can decrease depression, anxiety, difficulties with chronic pain and risk of disease. If a pill could do this, everyone would be taking it. Dec 6, 2022

Side effects of daily doses of “Gratudis” are peace, patience, kindness, and contentment. For best results take it with your coffee every morning, with your lunch, dinner and before you go to bed. If you skip a dose, double it the next day.

As I grow older, I am convinced that the practice of gratitude is lacking in our everyday lives and the implications are far-reaching beyond anything we can imagine. I believe that gratitude leads to peace as well as many other life-changing benefits. I am not talking about a Pollyanna approach to life nor am I talking about a fake-it-till-you-make-it practice. I am talking about a deep-seated attitude change rooted in gratitude to God. It is developing a relationship with God starting with gratitude.

I wish developing gratitude was as easy as taking a pill. There are some people who were raised to be grateful. Their parents constantly pointed to the blessings, small and large, in their day. Consequently, they grow up to be joyful adults. I have a feeling though, that most of us were not taught gratitude while young and impressionable. Like me, most of us only hear about it in November every year near the Thanksgiving holiday and it seems warm and fuzzy but we forget it while vying for a parking spot on Black Friday.

So how do we begin to learn a lifestyle that wasn’t modeled for us as children? I am convinced that the first step is to develop a thirst for gratitude. Seek it. Convince yourself that you need gratitude like oxygen. For starters, try Googling “benefits of a grateful heart”. Study how gratitude is a practice that will answer the deepest longing of your soul. Then tell God of this desire. Ask God for it like you are asking for water at the end of a marathon. He is the source of all good things. He will give us whatever we ask in his will. Asking for gratitude is most certainly asking for something that God wants to give us.

And how many times should we ask Him? As many as it takes. It should be asked in sincerity of heart and not forgotten. If you are like me, you will need to take measures to remember that you asked God for this. In my experience, God usually has tipped his hand and given as he sees fit for the day. And when I am ready for more, he gives more. Although I have no doubt that he can, he does not usually zap me to fix me. He teaches me in small increments. He is a patient teacher at heart.

Learning something new is not easy for an adult. Just ask anyone over 70 how they feel about technology. And change won’t happen if we don’t cooperate in the process. We have to be willing to change habits. After developing a desire for gratitude and asking God for this gift, we must be willing to put away old practices that God shows us are detrimental to gratitude and begin new gratitude-nurturing practices. He will show us what these are but we must pay attention. He might lead us to sit with Him at an appointed time daily and list points of gratitude. He might ask us to limit time with those who constantly complain and spend more time with people who have a joyful attitude. He might prompt us to fill our minds with stories of those who lived a life of gratitude like the Apostle Paul or Corrie ten Boom.

How do we recognize it when God has answered our prayer? Because change is slow, most often I see God’s work in my life when I look back over several years time. Give Him your cooperation and patience and he will change your heart.

Here is a final comment from the Apostle Paul:

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Trivial Little Prayers

 Because I am a cynic, I have made fun of people(occasionally out loud) who pray about every little thing. Lord, what should I wear? Should I go to the store? Should I make my bed? Should I call or text? I think, “they are so needy; so co-dependent.” But isn’t becoming dependent on God the goal of any Christ follower? Faith and belief are indeed close cousins to dependence. Could this practice be a big step toward God?

So I am giving it a whirl. It is my new experiment in the pursuit of Christ-likeness. I am trying to make my prayers less about curing cancer and more about the daily trivia that so often holds my mind at ransom, remembering that faith is the goal. Hoping that by coming to Him with all things, I will create a habit of dependence. And because the fears of yesterday are forgotten by new anxiety of today, I thought I would record my trivial requests. That way I can go back the next day and see how God has answered and thank Him for how he provided. Because I know God is good, I know this will be a win-win by creating both faith and gratitude.

I love trying experiments. Who says a there can’t be a scientific approach to following Christ?

Philippians 4:6-7 Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Photo by Richard Jaimes

Never, Ever Give Up

 Prayer is such a mysterious thing…until you see an answer.

Luke 18:1-7 NIV Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!' ” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?

Sometimes I think my prayers are unimportant or that maybe I’m praying wrong or that the answer is no and I’m not listening. But if Jesus bothered to tell a story instructing us to persist in prayer, and under divine protection this story has been passed along for over 2000 years, who am I to stop battling for people I know in prayer? And the most important part is that yes, I have seen my prayers answered. They are seldom answered instantly (although that has happened too). Some answers have taken decades. And it is a glorious thing because I know my Creator has heard and responded to my prayers even though I don’t deserve his attention.

Never, ever give up in prayer.

Photo by Laurissa Noack

G-Rated Prayers

 Pain happens in all of our hearts. Some days you wake up to a gnawing feeling that things are all wrong. Then you have to deal with it. You have a choice. My usual choice has been to deny it, ignore it and push it down. Then when it works its way out, I feel guilty about it. That is not honest or healthy.

For example, when I am lonely, I shove it down thinking, “other people are so much worse” and successfully shame myself for feeling lonely. This is how I deal with every other feeling that is negative. I shove it down then shame myself into faking it. I know I am supposed to be honest and often apply this to everything except honesty with myself and God.

You don’t have to read very far into Psalms to see the authors dealing with bad feelings in a much different way. They let it all out! In Psalms you will find the authors dealing with anger, sadness, blame, depression, sleeplessness, mistreatment, abuse, sickness, and injustice to name just a few issues. They even go so far as to wish their enemy’s children dead! This can’t be right. But seriously, it is in the Bible. We are taught that it is evil to express feelings like this. And we suppress it. We never admit it, we never deal with it and we shame ourselves for it. Well, it is the human condition. We are ALL sinners.

We all have bad thoughts and if we don’t deal with it we eventually act on them. The Psalms show us how to deal with it. The Psalms show us that we should pour them out to God. This is anything but denial. This is dealing with the negativity in a healthy way. Take it to the Lord in prayer. You can even write it out to him and let him know how you feel. He won’t be shocked. He loves you and he created you and he has done time in flesh-and-blood in this evil world. He gets it.

Check out this Psalm dealing with social injustice:

Psalm 12:1-5;7-8 MSG Quick, GOD, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down, All the friends I depended on gone. Everyone talks in lie language; Lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues. Slice their lips off their faces! Pull The braggart tongues from their mouths! I’m tired of hearing, “We can talk anyone into anything! Our lips manage the world.” Into the hovels of the poor, Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks: “I’ve had enough; I’m on my way To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched.” GOD, keep us safe from their lies, From the wicked who stalk us with lies, From the wicked who collect honors For their wonderful lies.

So I need to quit praying G-rated prayers. I need to get real. I need to learn to express my issues to my Father and Friend. I won’t shock Him. He already knows but I need to express it. I need to write it, vocalize it and sing it out to God just like the Psalmists.