Being a Christian, The Power of Prayer and God’s will
This is from our member Gary B. I believe this is an example of prayer and being a Christian. Pastor Bob
I am not a writer, and yet to tell you a short spiritual journey of mine is burning to be shared with you. I have grown up in the church and always knew of Jesus and the miracles that happened. I was ‘growing’ in my faith and know that after my dedication to Christ, was saved. I walked through what I thought was ‘the Christian walk’ reading the bible and going to church, singing in the choir and being pianist.
Then God through the Holy Spirit woke me up 2 years ago. At the age of 45 I realized just how asleep in the faith I had been. I was one weak Christian and a pew warmer. I rededicated my life to Jesus and began studying the scriptures and began a stronger prayer life, I met a young lady that was very strong in her faith and Christian walk. I was on a new strong path and then a test came along.
My friend’s son and wife to be were expecting a child. All things looked good, but during delivery her heart stopped from a 1 in 80,000 chance. It was named an amniotic fluid embolism. They did an emergency C-section and got both mother and babies heart started. Now for the real test in faith, the doctors said that both mother and baby had brain injury from the lack of oxygen and that they were in a coma. Test after test were to show that very little brain activity in either one of them and that they would not ever return to us as normal. Doctors did the speech of “you should think about stopping life support” I was not a member of family and could only be in the waiting room to hear the family update, But I got on the phone and started calling for prayers and to pray for God’s will be done.
I was trying to work and get updates from the family and on the 2nd week God’s miracle happened. The mother woke up from the coma. She has a long path of rehab ahead of her, but now 8 weeks later the baby is at home with the dad and grandmother, still praying for a miracle that she can have her brain rewire and function as normal as possible, The mother is in a rehab center, relearning how to walk, and regain her balance, how to talk, and eat with no gag reflex working correctly, and basic memory exercise to help in short term memory.
HOWEVER GOD has shown us a miracle. I was on the day this happened saying to myself ‘Why did God allow this to happen” How weak did I become in a flash after something bad happened, but I didn’t give completely in and started prayer chains, Now 8 weeks later I see glory in why this happened. Across the state people who had no idea who these 2 were, began praying. The prayers went up and reports from churches around the area have said that more people have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior after hearing about the miracle of the mother and baby waking up from the coma and doing more than Doctors ever thought possible.
God is in control, and we are to praise his name and to pray for his will be done. To see this miracle happen is a experience no words can describe, and I pray that we can as Christians really get to our knees and pray for more miracles to happen. That a cure for cancer, aids, and other health problems, or for peace to come to the areas of war. IF we can call upon God and truly ask for things and also for all things to be to his Glory, then prayers ARE answered. We know that not all things we pray will have the answer that ‘we’ want, but as we pray for it to be God’s will, then the blessing will come and multiply, even if we don’t see the result personally.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 pm
First I must say Praise God for your testimony! I too have played the pew warmer, mostly when bouts of depression set in. My list of praises are long. God shows me something everyday. I am on a personal journey, be still and know that he is God. I pray often and I talk with God throughout my days. I speak to him in my mind and I often feel his presence, I feel that God has recently put me to a test, two tests really. First being that a man I didn’t even know posted a blog on the internet. He was asking for help. He was admitted into the hospital two weeks prior to the post. The man had his cell phone with internet connection and made his plea. He posted “help been in the hospital 15 days and read the same book three times.” I immediately felt God speaking to me, I didn’t ask why, I asked what do you want me to do? The next morning I responded to his post, I asked him what hospital he was in and what kind of books he liked to read. He replied “mystery and true stories.” I went to the book store in search for books I thought he might like. I must have picked up 5 or 6 books, I started talking to God and asked him for guidence, to lead me to the book that he wanted him to have. I knew it just as soon as I seen it! A small book full of inspirational stories. Then I asked for a hand with the others, I placed only one book back. I wrote a small note in the inspirational book, all things are possible through he (Jesus Christ) who gives me strength. And I signed it, Your Friend Shannan. He wrote me to thank me. The next day he wrote me again, he told me that he was just amazed that a total stranger would do such a nice thing. And that he read the “Faith” book he called it. He said that he cried uncontrolably for about an hour. He confessed his sins to the Lord and asked forgiveness. God gave it to him! He then sent me a email asking if I would talk with him about my church and my faith. I said ” I would be honored too.” God is at work here, with me and my new friend. He has been in church almost every Sunday! He glows! God is Awesome!
The second test isn’t complete, I have only done what I was told. God is still working out all the details. I am asking for prayers that God’s will be done, and that I stand strong before my family. My family tells me all the time that my Christianity s fake and that God doesn’t look on me as his child. I know these words are the work of “satan”. They still hurt very much! When I chose Jesus to be my Lord and Savior, I was so excited! I wanted to share him with my whole family. And I did. I asked the Lord to forgive me for not raising my children in a Christian home, and I asked for a second chance. He gave it to me! Halleluia! I took my children, my grandchildren and my niece and nephew to church every Sunday! I begged my sister to come also, she has a couple of times. My sister is in an abuse filled relationship, to the point he has threatened to kill her, her children and me. I have prayed very hard for God to please protect her and the children. It seemed as though I was all alone (humanly) when God placed it upon my heart to take action against my sister. The children’s father and myself spoke to a lawyer, Thank God again! Our attorney is a good God fearing man. He jumped into action and we took immediate guardianship of the children. Like I said God is still working here. But please be in prayer for me, I pray for God to keep me strong. Satan too is working here, my brothers, my sister and my uncle said that I am dead to them and nothing I say would ever change that. I am ok with that, because I did what God told me too! Keep the children safe. I pray that my family come to know the Love of Jesus Christ and to claim him as their Lord and Savior! Amen
June 2nd, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Jesus said to for sake all and follow Him,You can trust Him for every thing, to be your Farther,Sister,and Brother,and Your Mother.Jesus said what soever you sake in my name I (Jesus) will do it,because I go to the Father.The book of Hew. tells us He is our High Preast at the right hand of God our Father. Jesus said ,My sheep hear my voice.So go when he tells you to go,and stop when he tells you to stop.Its better to be in the will of God than the will of man.
You that is reading this have you made Jesus your Lord ?
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be save.
Please call on him today,Just say “Jesus come into my heart and be my Lord,and forgive of my sins”.
In Jesus name Amen.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Get to know your body
Greetings bro and sis in Christ, this is my first time reading these messages. i am so inspired by them already. i love to talk, more than that, i love to talk about God, and how good He is and what He has done for me, i do not get tired of doing this, and i do not get sleepy when i’m doing it, i just wish, that i could get people to listen to me 24/7 and take heed, you know. i could warn alot of people i have been down some rough roads, high mountains, and low valleys. but i thank God, He has blessed me, through it all. if we faint not, He will come. at the age of 12 i believe it was the first time, i asked Lord to save me and to come into my life, i can’t rememeber the exact age it was that i gave my life to Christ. but by the time i was 15 i begin to struggle with my faith, not because i was not sincere, but because i was serious, and then the pastors son, was the drummer, and i liked him, but i did not want to give up my virginity, but if you do not have anyone, who encourages you to obstain, or teaches you the ways, or steers you in the right direction, you will give into sin, and temptation, i begin to hate this guy, because he was relentless, and he was the pastors son, i could not figure out, why he wanted to sin so bad, i did not. i truly wanted to keep my body until i married. but before i reached the age of 16, i violated my own belief, and it beat my mind up so bad, that i walked away from the church, and God, i felt why did God not keep me and help me. i did not know really anything about a free will. all i know is that, after that, things got worse, because i could not get close to God again, i could not accept the fact that God could forgive me, it seem that every time i went to church and ask God to forgive me that i would just do it all over again. i hated myself. then i got beat with this one. “if you are ashamed of me before men, then i will be ashamed of you before my Father” don’t ask me how that one got thrown into there, probably because i felt so guilty for my sins, that i could not face other people. but oh one day, many, many years later, because i was so stubborn, after being in hell, i found out the truth, that i do not have to be torment and live that way any longer, and at the age of 40 i recieved my revelation that at 12 or 15 i did not really give my life to Christ. that was a trick of the enemy for me to believe that i was saved, so that the enemy could trick me into thinking that i had backslid. i was confused for many years. because i tried to be saved.
i tried to be good. but it was not until 2004. after all the hell, after all the devastation, after losing my baby at 9 mos due to kidnapping, and my other 3 children due to being lied on and accused of abuse, not to say that i am totally innocent, but to say that i was not intentionally abusing my children, i was a single parent, divorced in the armed forces and the way that they told the story about me made me out to be a serious criminal, i was lied on by a boyfriend at the time who at first did not want our baby, then decided that he did, for child support payments i will say. because we both were in the arm forces he was getting kicked out for lying and cheating the government and no one believed me when i told them, but when they found out for themselves they came to me for help, by then he had kidnapped the child, and moved from state to state, then he dropped her off, with other people while he ran on. it hurt me so bad, it was only a few days between the time that CPS child protective services and said that they were keeping my children, to check them out, then, i think it was too days later, when they said to me, oh we are sorry, we made a mistake, that gave him all the time and leverage he needed, my heart was broken, i could not believe that someone could lie on a person and mess there whole life up like that, i was not abusing my children, i did discipline them, the way i was with a belt, and boy i went through all kinds of stuff for that. it turn my life upside down, anyway. let me get back to my testimony, i love my children, i always have, in fact i felt that i would die for them. and i think that what God allowed in my life was an education that i would never forget. My day of wonders came 4 years ago, i learned that i would die for my children but i would not have died for God, and so He took away what i loved, what i cherished, what i worshipped. i broke my heart. but that did not stop me, i mean i was a strong woman, i had everything, good looks, money, men, and favor, i am not bragging, i am telling you the truth, the way i thought year ago. but i had gone all the way down, the party life was over, i never really did have a lot of friends i was always a loner. but one day when i was home, i was worn out, i lost the bonding relationship with my children, the 3 that i had left many years ago, i felt numb for the remainder of the time, after i went through that ordeal with CPS, like the man said, i did not know Christ, and i did not raise my children up in a Christian home.
but in November 2004 i had contemplated suicide, i had been on medications for mental illness for over 10 years, in and out of the mental hospital, called crazy and everything but a child of God, i had smoked me some marijuana, snorted me some cocaine, drank me some liquor and had me some beer and a pack of newports, i was in my recording studio, feeling so down, i had failed miserably in life, never got my music off the ground, but gave away some of my greatest material, to artist, and producers even danced to some of my music in the clubs, i had all this golden material and some even stole it because it was good, i wrote my own lyrics and all that, but i could not even recieve that any one would really like it. i had low self esteem. God has given me so many gifts, like dancing, poetry, writing, speaking, just plan favor, i wasted it. but you know what, the Spirit of God came to me, anyway, that day and ask me a question, or rather i heard the Holy Spirit say to me “Get to Know your Body”. i was tripping, because i knew that the only other person that was around, was not in the studio with me, but in another room, and this was not his voice. i was locked up in here, in this room. i looked around, it did not take me a long to figure out, it was something beyond what i had ever heard. and i quickly knew it was God, i was not hard to figure out things this time to get that answer, i heard like a whispering in my ear, or my minds eye, which flash me back to a time, when i was about 5 years old, when i sat in a pew at church with my mother, when i heard a message that would mean everything to me. something was planted in me a long time ago. i heard a preacher say, “we don’t own no body, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave” immediately, i was literally scared straight! because for the first time, i recognize who i was. “Satan, or the devil” however you want to put it. in other words i knew that i was the enemy of God. i use to blame Adam and Eve, and Pointus Pilate, and anyone else except my self. but that day, i repented, and i did not think that i was saved. i knew that i was saved.
God changed my whole life, gave me a new heart, and a right spirit, so i don’t have to guess and say, at 12 or 15, i am sure that at the age of 40 years old, i was born again, i been going into all the world (anywhere i go) preaching, teaching the good news about Jesus Christ. and i am glad for that, all these years i was looking for love in all the wrong places, i told the Lord when i was young, Lord, give me children so that i can love them and they will love me. because i didn’t feel loved at home. but you know what, my children has always loved me. and i have loved them, but you know, i missed alot of years, because i was afraid to love them, after CPS turned my life upside down. so i just want to say to someone out there, where ever you may be or who ever you are, please, don’t let the devil torment you, because he did it to me like this, i couldn’t figure out for the longest, even though i knew the scripture said, God is married to the backslider. i could not figure out how to slide back. and the truth is, there is not way to slide into the kingdom of God. you and i must come to God through faith, when we come to know the truth, we are sorry for our sins against God, let us truly repent, because we need Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord, Our Heaven Father is waiting, we can begin asking, believing and recieving. So i ask you today, do you know who your father is? Get to know your body. God is doing some wonderful things in my life since then, He saved me, gave me a husband who loves me, not one who will cheat on me, one who has been preaching for 34 years. and raise me up and put me in high places really quick, just like He said He would. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, i tell you, this is not easy, just today, my faith is tested buying a vehicle. i wanted to walk before i crawl, in other words i did not want to get in, where i fit in. but i must realize that, although God does supernatural things, His will will be done, His way. “i wanted it here, this way, and now” that was a hard lesson to learn about my pride, that i did not know made itself manifest, until my husband pointed it out, and it humbled me. i was used to having things my way, but God has allowed me to lose somethings even now, to see how i will react. But to God be the glory, i have the victory. pray for me, thank you so much, and i love you all. So when you hear me say, get to know your body, don’t think that is all too it. it is a daily check everyday, to see who we are allowing to use us, and who we are the children of, i preached a message 2 Sundays ago, about the wedding, where Christ is looking for His bride, doesn’t matter if you are male or female, to God we are His bride, and that doesn’t make any of us gay, the parable is talking about the king sent out His servants and invited his friends to the wedding, none wanted to come, so he let destruction come, just like he did to me, so who is the Man in your house, see, the man knows that as the head of the household he is in charge of that household, or that body, so remember. the man, your father. is he the big G or little g. the big F or the little f. i’m glad my is the Big G (God) the only true God. and the Heavenly Father. that i am certain. do you know Him. You need to. He’s is all the help we need. He has come to supply your need. I know Him, i have a personal relationship with Him, now. and i am happy about it, because i know that no matter what i go through, i can go through it with Him on my side and me on His. Amen. God forgive us all. We need you. Save us, keep us. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen.