When I first learned how to pray effectively, I was (and still am) in awe of how God answered prayer. Sometimes it happened immediately and sometimes He was still working out the answer. Many times God answered the prayer in an unexpected way. Not bad, just different from what I had expected.
I learned early on that there are only three answers to prayer: Yes, No and Wait. While we rejoice in the yes answers, the no answers don’t keep me down because it only means He has something better for me and those I love. And the wait…well, that’s the hardest answer to bear, particularly if it’s a crucial need like a physical, financial or emotional need. And our family has had them over the years. Big time.
What’s exciting about it is that I’m in an expectant mood to see how He will answer it.
Some people think prayer is private and often it should be. Each person should sit with their creator and work out the details of their lives with Him. God loves us and He wants to hear from us. Whether it’s just a few words telling Him about your day or if it’s a more in-depth conversation about life events or personal issues. He wants to hear every detail of our lives, no matter how small. Remember He has the hairs on your head counted so if that isn’t detailed enough, I don’t know what is.
Over the years, my husband and I have prayed hundreds of thousands of prayers. Some corporately and some individually. But we try to make it a priority every day. It doesn’t always work out that way but we try.
Most of the time my prayers start out by giving Him glory. I move on to asking for forgiveness because I know I need it every day. I then pray for my family and friends’ needs, then my own needs and finally for global issues. God has been faithful over the years to answer my prayers so I will continue to pray to Him for the needs of my family & friends, church members and worldwide. Sometimes it’s daunting but I know God has called me to be a prayer warrior so that is what I will do.
Just this past Sunday we prayed for an individual who had severed a tendon and needed surgery. My husband and I prayed, and we were specific in our prayer: the surgeon would be a believer in Christ, that the surgery would be scheduled quickly and that the recuperation period would be minimal. The next day, I received an excited call. The surgeon who would do the surgery is, in fact, a believer along with his physician’s assistant and the surgery would happen today. Specific answers to specific prayers. This morning we prayed for God’s own hands to guide the doctor’s hands and that the surgery would go well without issue.
I could fill thousands of pages talking about how God answered prayer, sometimes, unbelievable answers! I try to remind myself on occasions of all the times He was faithful even when I was not.
These answers to prayer are what I call God Stories. I pray you have an abundance of your own God Stories.
Would you share one of your God stories with us and bless someone today?
It was a glorious spring day despite the chill in the air. The sky was bright blue with no clouds in sight. We traveled to Rothenburg because we had heard of Germany’s “Romantic Road”. The Romantic Road runs north to south for approximately 220 miles and passes through a multitude of gorgeous old towns and cities. Rothenburg is one of the many towns which is more well known and is a very romantic city that dates back to 950 AD. From where we lived this city was about an hour and a half away but there was traffic so it took us longer than we expected to the point and we were stuck in a tunnel, no less!
There are very few cars in the city because the roads are so small and visitors have to park outside the city walls and walk through one of the many arched gateways. My husband has trouble walking so when we arrived at the Marketplatz (the main market plaza) we took a bicycle tour of the city. It was amazing.
We then bought some souvenirs: a dish towel for me and a few puzzles for my two-year-old grandson. Spotting a bakery, we purchased two Schneeballen which is a Rothenberg specialty desert. They are deep-fried balls covered with different toppings. What is amazing about this dish is that they have been producing it for over four hundred years!
Let’s look at the context for the book of Joel and today’s verse. Joel was one of the twelve minor prophets in the Bible. The Bible doesn’t tell us anything more about him other than his father’s name, Pethuel. Sometimes the Bible gives the reader enormous detail about certain things and other times, it does not. If the Bible repeats something many times, it’s important and the reader should note it.
This wasn’t the only instance in Israel’s history where there were swarms of locusts. In the book of Exodus, we see swarms of locusts when Pharoah would not let the people of Israel leave Egypt. In 1915 a devastating plague of locusts covered what is modern-day Israel and Syria. The first swarms came in March, in clouds so thick they blocked out the sun. The female locusts immediately began to lay eggs, 100 at a time. Witnesses say that in one square yard, there were 65,000 to 75,000 eggs. In a few weeks, they hatched, and the young locusts resembled large ants. They couldn’t fly yet and got along by hopping. They marched along 400 to 600 feet a day, devouring every speck of vegetation along the way. After two more stages of molting, they became adults who could fly—and the devastation continued. And we will see, this same devastation in the time of tribulation in the book of Revelation which mirrors the time of Exodus.
The middle east is not the only place where locust devastation has occurred. The U.S. had its own devastation back in the 1870s. Here is a link to a great article on U.S. devastation: 
In Genesis, God promises Abraham that He would make Abraham the father of nations. This verse shows that God kept His promise to Abraham and the children of Israel. Generations had passed from the time of Abraham to when the book of Hosea was written. God is the same, yesterday, today and forever. We can trust in His promises. Hold His promises in our hearts.
The most recent example of the genocide inflicted upon the children of Israel was the Holocaust in Germany during World War II. We visited the death camp, Dachau, when we lived in Germany. That camp was the model for all other concentration camps. The Germans were told these camps were to rehabilitate. They were not told the Jews would be used for various and inhumane medical experiments or that they would die horrible deaths in gas chambers. When Dachau was finally liberated in April in 1945, there were thirty thousand Jews in a camp designed for only six thousand. I stood in the massive compound where Jews stood for hours on end and cried. This cruelty has been inflicted upon the Jews throughout the centuries.
But God has always kept a remnant of His people. And He will continue to protect His people regardless of the political climate. His word tells us they are His people. He will bless those who bless Israel and He will curse those who curse Israel. We need only look at the influx of the children of Israel to the land of Israel over the last thirty years. God is bringing His people back to the land He gave Abraham. They have come full circle. His word is true.
Let’s look at the context of the book of Daniel and the verses preceding the verse for today. The book of Daniel is a fascinating book and full of prophetic visions. In verses, 1 through 3, the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, conquers Jerusalem and takes the people into captivity.
Today’s verse defines how the Babylonians sought to exploit the talents of those they brought into captivity and make sure they were indoctrinated into the Babylonian lifestyle.
Let’s look at the context of this verse within the first book of Ezekiel. In verse 1, Ezekiel was among the captives and receives a vision from God. In verses 2 and 3, the word of God and His hand came upon Ezekiel—an in-depth description of God’s calling upon any of the prophets in the Bible.
Today we see tornados and we think disaster. And there are disastrous consequences of today’s tornados. But we also see God’s infinite mercy and love when we see a baby protected in a tree during a storm of such magnitude that the cement block home he had been whisked away from crumbled beneath such an onslaught of nature’s fury. How could it not have been God’s protection?
Sometimes the worst times of our lives where we feel overwhelmed, where we feel like nothing can protect us, is the time when God is holding us in His loving arms. Most of the time, we don’t see it until the storm has passed. The key is to remember He’s with us when the storm rages all around us and bask in His grace and mercy.
While God is speaking about Jeremiah, this tells us God knows each one of us before we were formed in the womb. A comforting thought. He also tells Jeremiah, He has ordained him to be a priest. Jeremiah existed in the mind of and plan of God before he ever existed in his mother’s womb.
Forty years ago, I wrote a novel. I sent it in for publication. In those days, manuscripts were typed on a manual typewriter, publishers accepted novels directly from the writer, and those aspiring authors received physical rejection letters. Not today. While some publishers accept a manuscript from a writer, most of the time, a writer needs an agent to navigate the perils in publishing, and often aspiring authors get rejection letters. Most of the time, the publisher and/or agent doesn’t respond unless you have a personal relationship with them. And it takes an enormous amount of effort to find the right agent.
If you’re young, hold on to your dreams…and if you are older, keep dreaming. Life is too short not to follow the path in your heart.
Isaiah is one of the major prophets in the Bible. His name means “Salvation is of the Lord”. In Isaiah’s day, Egypt, Assyria and Babylon surrounded the tiny country of Israel, much like today, Israel is surrounded by Egypt, Iran, and Syria. In his day Israel was in the center of wars between those nations. Again, much like it is today.
God wants us to repent from our sins, but isn’t that what we should do in our daily lives and not just toward God but toward our fellow man? We should cease to do evil. Whether in our homes, our workplaces, community or our nation. Taking stock of who we are and shining a bright light on our frailties as humans is difficult. It’s terribly difficult. We don’t want to do it. We don’t want to see how far we’ve come from that child-like innocence to corrupted adult.
And we will struggle with it for the rest of our lives but turning to Him is the only answer. He loves us. He loves you. All you have to do is ask. God sees it all, anyway. 
Who says there’s no romance in the Bible? This book negates that notion. It’s a testament of the deep, abiding love and romance between a man and a woman.
Detailing a couple’s story from their first meeting to courtship and then their marriage, the book isn’t in chronological order. Instead, we read the magnificent snapshots of the man and woman’s romantic and sensual human love. Their desires are God-given, and they are committed to one another throughout the book.
When my husband and I were about to be married, we went through marriage counseling even though we were seasoned adults. What struck my core was when my husband said to me, “Honey, I’m only middle management. I have to answer to God if I mistreat you.” Talk about a man who understands his position within marriage. Those two little sentences emphasized how we would succeed. Side-by-side with Jesus central to our marriage. My husband lifted me up when I was down and I did the same for him when necessary. We’ve practiced being one another’s strength for almost twenty years. We’ve had our bumps in the road but through it all, we both knew Jesus was the strand that kept us bound and influenced how we’d move forward.
Fashion. From fringe to leather to velvet and classic styles like Coco Chanel’s easy pieces. Anything and everything goes in today’s fashion houses. But certain styles return…from the 30s & 40s, the peep-toe shoes, to the 60s mod styles and bell bottoms. While there is a twist in some of these styles, it only proves everything old is new again like the verse says.
called “salt box” style homes in the early years of our country. In the 1970s, this style was resurrected once again, with modern materials and conveniences, not to mention the sizes of these homes are much bigger than the ones back in the day.
This one is interesting. On Facebook, I’ve seen modern takes on old-time stoves. When pictures are displayed, you’d be amazed at how many people would love to have that modern “antique” appliance in their kitchen.