Answered Prayer

Carolyn

I love clearly answered prayer! God is so good!

My friend’s husband was going to be traveling on business all month long. There was one trip in particular that was going to be a great distance away and a long time. When I talked to my friend last week, we decided we would pray that trip would be canceled, even though it wasn’t likely. We prayed that morning. As I left a prayer time with her, I walked to my car and drove away praying, “Lord, You can do this. I ask You to. I know You have the power to do this. So I ask you to.” It was one of those prayers of confident hope and expectation that just felt like “Why would I not ask this” and felt such certainty He could and would and that He would grow our faith in the process.

I saw my friend a couple of days ago and asked her if the trip was canceled. “No,” she said. Well, I do admit, now that it had been a week since we prayed, I thought maybe it wouldn’t be at this point. But God has His timing and ways. Today, my friend called me. “I just hung up with [husband]… the trip is canceled!” They were excited; we were excited. Just rejoicing that God could and God did and He made it so visible to all of us that He did it!

This may sound small, but it showed me God is big. Oh, for faith to trust Him more, believe Him more, and not hesitate to ask Him big things, because quite simply, He can do anything!

Praise You, Lord!

Be Dressed in Readiness

Carolyn

A couple of blogs back, I wrote about being caught in a Texas hailstorm back in 1995. I shared about how a song on the radio was comforting to me in that moment as the car was being crushed and I was afraid. I felt like the Lord was speaking to me in my moment of fear and panic through the song: “God is in control…. there is no power above or beside Him, we know….”

I always felt like God so clearly spoke to me that day in a way that I had never experienced before. (By the way, for those who read my blog and know how God uses music in my life, this was the first time — and the only time for many years — I had ever felt like God spoke to me in a song!) But there was also a part of me deep down that questioned that — was it just a “coincidence”? Does God really speak that way? Somehow in my growing up years, either I had missed it or it wasn’t talked about that God does speak to us. I tended to be very skeptical of anything like this. So I don’t think I shared it with anyone — but somewhere deep inside me, I knew it was the Lord that day comforting me through that song.

Fast forward to the summer of 2004. I was doing my first Beth Moore Bible study with some friends. It was called Jesus, the One and Only, and was a study on the book of Luke. To my surprise, I had been thoroughly enjoying this study and loving Beth Moore! I had heard about her for quite some time and been reluctant to do a Bible study that everyone else was doing — what is that rebellion in me all about?! I had all kinds of pre-conceived, yet so misguided, notions!

Anyway, each day had been showing me something new — isn’t that amazing about God’s Word — it does that. And He has given Beth Moore a gift of insights that seem to apply to anyone at any time, no matter the situation.

So it was late one evening and I was not in the mood to do my Bible study. This was a time in my life when I was still addicted to TV in the evening after I got my kids down. I would watch one show to the next, frittering my life away, not doing anything meaningful. I reasoned that I really didn’t need to do my Bible study that day… I had already learned so much the 2 prior days, how could there be anything else God had to show me?! Yes, I know, the arrogance I had is staggering!

So I started into another typical evening, Law & Order, followed by the news and on into Oprah was the plan… just mind-numbing activity. Well, when the news came on, my family was all in bed asleep already, and suddenly, a violent storm came up out of nowhere. The lights flashed and the TV blinked and the storm came. Given my fear of storms that still lingered now, I jumped up and debated, “Do I wake up the kids and bring them into the hallway for safety?” I rushed to wake up my husband who kept on sleeping after urging me that everyone was fine.

I then quickly decided I must be prepared, so I ran and put on my pajamas, lit a bunch of candles in case we lost power, and got everything ready for the worst. I then decided maybe it wasn’t such a bad time to do Bible study. I sat down at the kitchen table with my Bible, study book, candles lit all around, and me in my pajamas, ready for anything!

I could not believe it when I opened the study to that day’s lesson. It was titled “Keep Your Lamps Burning.” The verse was taken from Luke 12:35-36: “Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.”

Do you see the picture? Be dressed in readiness with your candles burning basically. And there I sat, now dressed in readiness with my candles lit, a literal example of what my spiritual life should look like.

God showed me He can and does have other things to show me in His Word. It made me wonder whether watching TV each night was the best way for me to be spiritually prepared and ready for His return. I am to be a faithful servant, awaiting my Master’s return.

Well, needless to say, this was the second time in my life where I felt like God had just used some circumstances to speak to me. It’s interesting that both times were in the midst of real life thunderstorms. But He does that, doesn’t He? He enters into the “storms” of our lives to show us Himself and give us hope, to teach us and use those hardships to help us know Him.

I praise Him for that, that He is a personal God, so ready to speak, willing to use any of life’s circumstances to reveal Himself to us. I didn’t even ask Him to in these instances, but He graciously opened my eyes to Himself. I praise Him for that. I don’t think I’d ever asked Him before that time to reveal things to me, but I’ve found He does when I ask. I praise Him for that, too.

Praise You, Lord, for using the storms of life to reveal Yourself to us. I want to be Your servant, dressed in readiness, with my candles burning, expectant, responsive, alert, faithful, sensible, obedient, serving you as I await Your return. Not for me, but for You. Help me to go forward in Your strength and by Your power, to hear Your voice and see with Your eyes, and to obey You as I live in these days and wait for the certain hope of Your return. Praise You, Lord!

A Woman of Prayer

Carolyn

My friend told me today that her aunt died last week. This lady was 78 years old and a very godly woman, a woman of prayer, a woman who was not often seen, not in the spotlight, but committed to prayer. When she didn’t show up to a doctor’s appointment last week, family members went to check on her. They arrived and went in, and the lights were off in the house. They found her in her bedroom, on her knees in prayer, with her Bible before her, having died unexpectedly and suddenly, in that position. It struck me all day… what an amazing way to leave this life… talking to her Savior, entering into His presence and seeing Him face to face. What a blessing!

I love her example. I’d love to know the things God had shown her through the years through prayer. I’d love to hear her testimony of the power of prayer and what it was that brought her daily to her knees. Surely it was something powerful, yes, an encounter with God Himself during those times spent daily in prayer.

My children are studying the Lord’s Prayer in chapel at school for about 12 weeks, taking a phrase each week. They’ve been encouraged to make prayer a part of their lives in the hallways, throughout their days, and wherever they go. Make it a practice. We’ve learned that prayer is first about God, not about us. “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This is how the Lord’s prayer begins, before it ever gets to us…. then it’s “Give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

Prayer. Power. “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16b

Something kept this woman on her knees. I believe she knew the power of prayer. I pray we know it, too.

Powerful God

Carolyn

April 19, 1995. I remember the date clearly because it was the same day as the Oklahoma City bombing. I was working as a legal assistant in Dallas for a small law firm. They asked me to drive to Tyler, Texas, to pick up the record on appeal for a case on which we were working.

There was supposed to be bad weather, so one attorney suggested I not go. The others didn’t think it would be bad, so I went ahead. As I entered the highway, my car slid out of control because of the wet ground. Thankfully, I didn’t hit anything, but it made me a little nervous about the travel ahead. The radio was, of course, on, and a song by Twila Paris was playing, “God is in Control.” “God is in control, we believe that His people will not be forsaken, God is in control, we will choose to remember and never be shaken, there is no power above or beside Him, we know, God is in control.”

The song gave me comfort, and I chose to believe that He was in control of my travel that day. I went on, and as I did, it turned into the most beautiful and sunny day! Well, this wasn’t bad at all, I thought. But as I drove, after I would pass a town, a short time later, the radio announcer would say, “The tornado is now in X.” And X was whatever town I had just passed. But I wasn’t worried because it was so sunny and pretty now. Surely those towns were pretty big, and so the likelihood I would encounter anything on the way back seemed remote to me, I reasoned.

I ran into the Court of Appeals and got the record. As I started to head back to Dallas, I thought again about the storm, but went ahead. As I drove, it didn’t really occur to me that there were no other cars on the road; the highway was empty. But they obviously had heeded the warnings. I have never before encountered what I did that day. It literally went from blue and sunny to black, heavy rain, hail, and a total inability to see—literally in an instant. There was no transition from light to heavy rain—it just went from light to dark, and I had zero visibility for the darkness, the torrential rain, and the softball size hail hitting the car!

I didn’t know what to do. The last thing I had seen was that there was an exit ramp just shortly ahead, but I couldn’t even see to drive. I inched along. Suddenly all the glass started breaking on the car, the back window blew in, I was covered in glass, rain and hail, and the car was flooding. I did the only thing I knew to do. I was screaming to God to help me. All I know is that my panic turned to peace as soon as I heard a song coming in from the radio. Yes, once again, Twila Paris, “God is in Control.” “God is in control, we believe that His people will not be forsaken. God is in control. We will choose to remember and never be shaken. There is no power above or beside Him, we know. God is in control.”

I clung to those words. There is no power above Him. He was right there with me. I remember the rain moving on enough that I could see to exit, and oddly, I still remember driving my car in a complete circle, so shaken, so unsure where to turn, which direction, that I literally held the wheel and kept going around in a circle. I finally saw a driveway and entered. It was a local country club. I went inside, and they were shocked that I had been caught out in that storm. They all testified, “We’ve never seen anything like it. We can’t believe you were caught in it!”

They then said, “You need to get under the pool table with the others because it’s not over. The tornado hasn’t passed yet.” I decided not to do so as I couldn’t expect anymore could possibly happen. The men, who earlier had been out golfing, stood by the back windows and watched the tornado pass.

A nice lady followed me back to Dallas in my demolished car. It took several years for me not to shake all over when a storm would come up. I remember getting back to Dallas and hearing about the Oklahoma City bombing that day. I trust God was near to those and revealing Himself to them in their time of need, accomplishing His purposes in the midst of great tragedy.

I was reminded of my “hailstorm” story tonight because we’ve had a hard night. And I needed to remember God’s power. This story came to mind, and I shared it with my children. In our deepest need, He is enough. The truth of who God is and His gospel message goes deeper than we can begin to imagine, said our new pastor this past Sunday on his first Sunday. “An atheist is in all of us,” he surmised. We don’t believe all that God is and can do.

This is the God who gave comfort to Corrie Ten Boom in her years in a Nazi concentration camp, who spoke closely to her, spared her life, and used her to tell His gospel message to the world. I’m so enjoying her book Tramp for the Lord right now. He was with her in the midst of great suffering. He is real and He is truly all we need. I pray we’ll know Him and His power, His mighty power to save, His mighty power to deliver at the very deepest core of our being.

Ephesians 3:20-21: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

A Life of Service — to give LIFE

Carolyn

Today, January 22, marks the 26th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion.

At my children’s school, the Vision is to propel students for a life of service to Christ, and our hope is that these children will ultimately engage their culture for Christ with articulate, winsome voices of truth. William Wilberforce, who led the campaign in Britain to abolish slavery, is the example that we point to for a life of service to Christ. I cannot think of an issue in our day with more striking similarities to slavery than abortion.

I’ve been thinking about what this Vision looks like for me both as a Christian and as a parent who will set an example for my children. I’ve been praying for eyes to see God’s heart on issues in our world and the opportunities He has for me to engage the culture for Christ.

I was blessed with an opportunity this last week to spend a couple of hours at the offices of CareNet. CareNet has been working for 27 years in DuPage County offering pregnancy services ranging from abstinence education in schools to emotional, spiritual and practical help to mothers of unexpected babies, both during and after the pregnancy.

The statistics on abortion are staggering. The facts are compelling. Truly God’s Word is right and true when the psalmist declares in Psalm 139, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Perhaps much like Wilberforce in his day, we as individuals, families, or even a school, might find ways to engage our culture for Christ on this issue, to see our churches become more actively involved, and to support ministries like CareNet that are reaching out to help women and men impacted by abortion, while working to save lives and show that there is hope. We could start right now with a prayer and see where God leads.