Tag Archives: healing

May 5, 2014 · 8:01 AM

The Mom Who Was Granted Grace

I want go focus on mothers in the Bible this week. Today, Hannah comes to mind. She was the mother of Samuel. Her husband had another wife named Peninnah. She had blessed her husband with children, but Hannah had not. She struggled with infertility. I’m sure it bothered her all the time, but each year when they would travel to Shiloh to worship God, it would become a major issue. Her husband would give a portion of the sacrifice to Peninnah and to each of her children. To Hannah, he only gave one portion. Peninnah would taunt her and make fun of her for not having children.

I’m sure that Hannah struggled daily with not being able to have children. The voice in her head constantly tormented her making her feel like she was somehow less of a person because she couldn’t have kids. She must have felt like God was punishing her or that there was something wrong with her. Every time she saw a mother with their children, it was like a knife in a wound reminding her that she was barren. Having the other wife taunt her and make fun of her was just salt in the wound.

Her husband would say things like, “Aren’t I worth more to you than ten sons?” Men really don’t understand what a woman goes through. We aren’t wired the way a woman is. Instead of doing something consoling, we say something stupid. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her husband, she wanted fulfillment that only a child could bring. Her husband’ swords weren’t meant to hurt, but spoken out of ignorance, they did more harm than good. She would have preferred he prayed for her there while we sacrificed.

Since he didn’t, she did. She went into the sanctuary to pray. She began to weep as years of pain, suffering and mental anguish released. When she ran out of tears, her body dry heaved as she tried to pray. The words wouldn’t come out. Her mouth was moving, but the prayer was coming from her heart. Eli, the priest, saw her at the alter. He assumed she was drunk by her behavior. He called out to her, “Must you come here drunk?” Sobbing she replied, “I haven’t been drinking. But I am very discouraged and I was pouring my heart out to The Lord.” He said, “In that case, go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”

She went away happy and began to eat again. She believed the word from Eli. She conceived and gave birth to a son. When he was old enough to be weaned, she took him back to Eli and gave him to The Lord. She left him there as an offering for God answering her prayer. She gave back the thing she wanted most. When I looked up the name Hannah, it meant “grace”. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines grace as “an unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration.” God gave Hannah grace just like he gives it to us. When Samuel was born, Hannah became a new person. She was free of the thing that haunted her. God is still in the business of answering our deepest desires and granting us grace when no one else understands.

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September 17, 2013 · 7:57 AM

Out Of The Hole

It’s hard for me to believe that next week I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the lowest point of my life. I know it seems odd to celebrate such an event, but for me, it was a turning point in my life. It was the moment when I refused to go any lower than I was and made the decision that I would claw my way out of the hole that I was in no matter how much effort it took and no matter how long it took. I’m still clawing my way out of that hole, but now I’m starting to see daylight.

Ten years ago, there was no light at the end of the tunnel. There was no hope of ever recovering from what I had been through. I was hurt, embarrassed and alone. Sure I had a few friends around me, but no one truly knew the depth of my pain or what I was struggling with. I made a conscious effort to never think about that time in my life. I felt that if I could pretend it was a bad dream, the pain would go away. I thought that if I never spoke of it again, then I could put it behind me.

I moved on with my life pretending that I hadn’t gone through a painful divorce, filed for bankruptcy, lost my business or ran away from those who cared most about me. I figured that the best way out was to start my life over fresh and new as if none of it never happened. The problem was it did happen. Underneath everything I was still a mess inside. I was still hurt to the core. I was mad at God for letting me walk through that. I was mad at others thinking my failures were somehow their fault. It all boiled down to bad decision making by me.

Once I was able to take responsibility for the things that happened, I began to move forward. It’s not easy to look in the mirror when you know the pain inside is caused by the person looking back at you. I know other people played roles in delivering the punches that knocked me down, but I made the decisions that put them there and put myself in that position. I left myself open for the gut shots that took the wind out of my desire to live or move on.

I hid the pain for over seven years as I moved on with life. It was then that God spoke to me through Dave Roever that I needed to expose the wounds and face them head on. Since that time, I have begun to share my story being open and honest about what happened. I have found healing for the wounds that were so deep. I still feel the pain like I did every time I open them up, but I know that through my wounds others can find help, hope and healing for theirs.

I don’t know what you’re facing today, but I know what it’s like to hit rock bottom and feel like there’s no way out. I know what it’s like to think that there’s only one way out of the pain and anger. I can tell you that there is another way out. I found it. It was through forgiving myself and others who hurt me. It was in finding forgiveness through Jesus for the unthinkable wrongs I’d committed. It was over the course of years, hard work, dedication and never giving up. If I can make it out of that hole, you can too.

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August 21, 2013 · 6:52 AM

Friends Who Won’t Quit

This morning I was praying for a friend’s daughter who recently had a stroke. I saw my friend’s Facebook post wishing she could hear her daughter speak to her again. I could hear the desperation in her voice through the printed words on my screen. I began to call out in desperation with her for God to hear her prayer and to answer it. As I prayed, my mind went back to a scripture that God took me to this morning in Ephesians 3. The Message puts verse 20 like this, “God can do anything, you know – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!”

As I continued to pray, I asked, “God, I know you can do anything. How do I get you to go from can do to action?” I know God has the ability. I need Him to not just have the ability, but to actually do. I then though that I have the ability to do so much, what motivates me to move into action? It’s usually when someone or something demands my attention the most that causes me to put it at the front of my action items. It’s when something becomes the most pressing thing that I usually act.

My mind then went to the story in Luke 5 and Mark 2 of a paraplegic man who needed healing. He didn’t have the ability to get into God’s presence on his own. He had the desire, but lacked the strength. It was four of his friends who carried him to Jesus. When they got there, the house that Jesus was in was so crowded that no one could get in or out. I don’t know how long those friends tried to get in or if they tried to reason with others that their friend had a more desperate need to see Jesus than they did. What I do know is that they weren’t going to sit idly by and let there friend remain that way. They weren’t going to wait for Jesus to come out of the house.

Instead, they carried him to the roof, pulled the roof off tile by tile until they were above where Jesus was. They then lowered their friend into the presence of Jesus who had the ability to do far more than they could imagine in their wildest dreams. They caused Jesus to act. They caused Him to turn His attention to that friend and to say, “Get up. Take your bedroll and go home.” He was moved from can do anything to doing something because the friends wouldn’t quit.

We all need friends who are willing to carry us into the presence of an all mighty God who can do anything. We need friends who won’t stop or stay at the back of the line when we are in desperate need for a touch from God. We need friends who when the door to the Throne Room is blocked and the area around Jesus is crowded that will not give up and go to the roof of Heaven, tear back the tiles and put us at the feet of Jesus. Jesus said where two or three are gathered, I’m with them. This man had four friends gathered to put him in the presence of Jesus.

You may be on that mat today without the ability to get in front of Jesus. You may need some friends to join with you in your desperation to put you in the front of the line where you have Jesus’ full attention. If that’s you, comment below. Tell those who read this what you need prayer for. We can be those friends who carry you to Jesus when there seems to be no way into His presence. We’ll tear off the roof and lower you down to where He is. We won’t stop until Jesus goes from can do to action. If you’re reading this and have the ability, I’m asking you to join me in prayer today for those who don’t have the ability and are in desperate need for a touch from God.

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August 13, 2013 · 8:00 AM

The Great I Am

Last week a friend posted on Facebook, “Please say a prayer for my family right now.” I happened to look just as it was posted. My day was beginning, but I knew inside something was going on that was serious. I stepped out into the hall and not knowing what to pray for simply prayed, “God, this family needs you right now. They need you to be the Great I Am. If they need you to be their healer, be their healer. If they need you to be their protector, be their protector. Whatever they need you to be, I ask that you would be. Right now they need you to be their very present help in a time of need. Be their I Am of what they need.”

With that, I had to return to my work. I continued to lift them up throughout the morning. As I did, I kept thinking of that Initial prayer. I haven’t really prayed that before. Something began to click as I thought back to Moses in the wilderness. God had asked him to go lead the Israelites out of their captivity in Egypt. He protested to God in Exodus 3:13, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you,’ they will ask, ‘What’s His name?’ Then what should I tell them?” God responded, “Say this to the people of Israel: I Am sent me to you.”

He went on to say other names to tell them too, but that one has always stood out partly because I never really understood. I always thought, “What did God mean by ‘I Am’?” I believe He meant that He is who they needed Him to be. They needed Him to be their deliverer that day. They needed Him later to be their guide. Still later on, they needed Him to be their provider. I like how the Amplified version records what God said. He said, “I Am who I Am and I will be what I will be.”

Today, wherever you are, whatever you’re facing, God is who He is and will be who He will be to you. If you need a fortress from your circumstances, He will be that for you. If you need peace, He will be your peace. If you need hope, He will be your hope. If you need healing, He will be your healer. If you need help, He will be your very present help in your time of need. If you need provision, He will be your provider. If you need strength to face the day, He will be your strength.

I can tell you that my friend needed God to be healer for a family member. Her father in law had what looked like a stroke. During the time of everyone praying, God became his healer. There are no more signs of the stroke or effects. God came down in that situation as He said He would and restored him to who he was before the stroke came. If God did that for him last week, He can meet your need this week. He still listens to our prayers and is still the Great I Am.

Who do you need Him to be for you today? I’ll pray with you.

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August 7, 2013 · 7:57 AM

Who’s Report Are You Believing?

I’ve got the story of Jarious on my mind this morning. In Mark 5, his daughter was sick so he went to get Jesus. After telling Jesus about his daughter, a woman touched the hem of Jesus’ garment for her healing. Jesus stopped and asked who had touched Him. While Jesus was speaking to the lady, a servant came up and said, “Your daughter is dead. Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” I’m sure Jarius felt like he was too late. All the what if’s started to pop into his mind.

It can happen to any of us. We have a urgent need that requires Jesus’ attention, but we delay in bringing it to Him. Or we take it to Him and He is delayed in responding to our request. Either way, when we take our needs to Jesus, He is able to help and to heal. In this case, the worst possible thing happened. I wonder if Jarius started to blame the woman with the issue of blood. Did he blame Jesus for not moving quickly enough to heal his daughter?

How do we respond when the worst possible thing happens? Do we turn and walk away? Do we stay with Jesus and ask for Him to intervene anyway? Do we listen to the reports of others? In sales, I’ve heard it said, “Never take a no from someone who can’t give you a yes.” In faith I say, “Never believe the report of someone who doesn’t have the power to change it.” Jarius didn’t. He stayed with the One who had the power to change the report.

In verse 36 of the New Century Version it says, “Jesus paid no attention to what they said. He told the synagogue leader, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just believe.'” Jesus had the power to change the report so He paid no attention to it. I’m sure Jarius was starting to believe it so Jesus spoke to him about his faith. He then took 3 disciples with Him to the house. When he arrived, there were people crying and wailing over the child. Jesus spoke to them with confidence that the girl wasn’t dead. They didn’t believe His report so He threw them out of the house.

Jesus then took those who believed His report over the report of others into the girl’s room. Jesus took the girl by the hand and told her to get up. She opened her eyes and stood up. Those that believed His report got to witness the miracle. Those who didn’t were not given the opportunity to see. Jesus is the one who has the power to change the report that has been given to you today. He’s the one who speaks peace after a bad report is given. He says, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.”

What report have you been given? Are you believing in the one who doesn’t have the power to change it? Or are you believing in the One who does? It’s our faith that causes us to stay with Jesus after a bad report is given to us. It’s the enemy who says, “Don’t bother Him anymore. There’s nothing He can do.” As Joshua said, “Choose you this day whom you will serve (believe). As for me and my house, we will serve (believe) The Lord.”

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August 6, 2013 · 7:22 AM

Helping The Hurting

One of my prayers each day is that God would allow me to be His hands and feet to someone else. I had the opportunity to do that last week on the flight home. There was a man beside me on the plane that was clearly anxious. When the crew began their pre-launch emergency speech, he looked at them intently. A few minutes into it, he looked at me and said, “I don’t understand. I don’t speak English.” He indicated he spoke Spanish, so I translated for him.

In flight, I asked where he was headed. He said he was going home to Mexico. I then asked if he knew how to navigate the Houston airport to get to his next flight. His anxiousness turned quickly into worry. I offered to walk him to his connecting flight. As we walked through the maze of corridors, took the tram to the other terminal and navigated our way to his gate, he stopped and said, “I would have never found this without you. There were too many barriers in my way.”

I wonder how many people are on the pew beside us each Sunday who need help navigating this life. I wonder how many times they walk through the corridors of our church, through the maze of our services and classes and then walk out confused and lost. How many times have I gone to service just to sit in my seat, hear the message and then head out the door without helping someone? Too many I’m sure.

There are people placed in our path each day who don’t speak the language of the kingdom. They’re lost and anxious not knowing where to go for help. They don’t know how to navigate the troubles this life brings or who to turn to for help. We see them, but don’t take the time out of our day to help them because we’ve got other things to do. We pass on the other side like the priest in the parable of the good Samaritan. We look the other way and pretend not to see so it doesn’t cost us anything.

I love that my pastor says, “Our church isn’t a museum for the saints, but a hospital for the hurting.” If it is a hospital, we are the nurses and doctors who have the remedy. We are the ones with the prescription for pain. We shouldn’t pretend we have it all together. We need to be honest and let them know we’ve been where they are. We were once confused in this world, lost without hope, disease ridden with sin and were brought to life. There isn’t one of us who are perfect so we shouldn’t pretend to be. It’s in our imperfections that we’re able to empathize and help them.

Who has God placed in your path lately? Who sits on your pew each week that you ignore? Don’t worry about trying to be perfect or to say the right thing. Do the right thing and say hello. Ask how they are really doing. If it’s beyond your ability to help, get someone else involved who can help. Introduce them to others. Help them navigate the twists and turns of this life. You never know what an impact you can have on someone else just by being you. When the man and I parted ways, he said, “I believe God put you in my path today.” Whose path has God put you in today?

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July 4, 2013 · 9:00 AM

A Prayer of Restoration

While my pastor was dismissing our service this past Sunday, he asked, “How many of you pray for our country and president?” It was rhetorical, but still hit home. It’s easy to sit and talk about what’s wrong with our country and about politicians we don’t like. If we spent the same amount of time and energy as Christians praying for both, our country would be in a much better place. I’m going to use today’s post to pray for both our country and our leaders.

Father,

Thank you for the blessing of living in the land of the free. I recognize there are so many other places in the world who are not afforded the luxuries and freedoms we enjoy here. Help us to not take those things for granted and to be better stewards of what you have blessed us with. Help us to use what you’ve given us to help those who are less fortunate.

Today, we are a nation deeply divided over what we perceive to be right and wrong. I’m reminded of the words Abraham Lincoln said: “My concern is not whether God is on my side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” Help us to be more concerned with being on your side than being “right” in these arguments. Heal the divide that our nation has.

Your Son Jesus said that a nation divided against itself cannot stand. We are fighting against each other rather than working on what you want. We are squandering the blessings you have given to us rather than using them for your glory. Bring revival to our country. Call us out of the darkness we are in. Bring us into your marvelous light. Send your Spirit across this nation calling us to repentance. Restore us to right standing with you.

I lift up our president. I ask that you give Him wisdom in how he handles the affairs of this great nation. Give him understanding of how to govern according to your ways. I ask that you put Christians around him who will give him godly wisdom and help him to make good decisions for our country. Show him what path to take this country down. Give him the courage to make an about face in the areas that are against your will and the strength to continue on the paths that are aligned with your Word.

Protect him and his family from those who seek to do them harm. Guard them with your angels. Keep them in perfect peace. Let his family find their strength and salvation in you alone. Send pastors and teachers to them who will share your Word with them. Give them boldness to speak what you would have them to speak. Open the heart of our president to hear what you have to say. Draw him to your side.

I pray for all of our other politicians in Washington D.C. and across the country. I ask that from the smallest town the largest city those who govern them would seek you and your Word for wisdom. Let them come to know you and find common ground in the Bible. Let them live justly, walk humbly and love mercy. Help our congressmen and our senators to work together to bring us out of this recession using the precepts you have given for getting and staying out of debt. Give them wisdom in how we should be reaching out and helping other nations who are in turmoil right now.

This nation was founded on principles from your Word. Help us to return to those principles that have stood the test of time. We as a nation have sinned and left your path. Forgive us. Wash us white as snow and help us to turn from our wicked ways. Cause us to walk in right standing with you once again. Let us see you as our healer, savior and guide.

I ask that you would turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Restore families in our nation. Not only is our government divided, our families are too. Bring them back together and bring healing in our homes. Help us to raise godly children. Show us how to put your Word in their hearts so that when they’re old, they won’t depart from your paths.

Thank you for hearing this prayer and for answering it quickly. We need your hand of providence to touch us and guide us once again.

In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen

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May 28, 2013 · 9:23 AM

The Grace of Transformation

One of the earliest definitions of grace I ever heard was: God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense. That acronym helped me to remember it all through the years. Because that became my definition of grace, it limited my understanding of grace. I always thought of grace as what God used to cover my sins and nothing more. I’m learning that while that is part of it, grace is so much more.

I’ve been reading “Life with God” by Richard Foster and that book has really challenged what I thought about grace. Grace is what enables to have a relationship with God. It’s what empowers us in our walk with Him. It’s more than what covers our sins. For me, it is like air in my life with God. Without it, I would not survive.

We each need grace daily as Christians. Whether it is to cover our sins and to make up the difference in our short comings or to propel us forward in our relationship with God. Richard Foster described it as the road beneath our feet in our walk with God. Psalm 37:23 says, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Walking in grace is what it is to be directed by The Lord.

I love the other part of that verse that is rarely quoted. God delights in the details of our lives. He’s not someone who has left you alone and doesn’t know what’s going on in your life. He’s intimately familiar with every aspect of your life. He knows what you have going on today. He knows about the challenges you face and the things that are stressing you out. That leads me to another thing that Foster mentions about grace: it’s what forms us.

Difficult circumstances, tragic loss and other things we face are what God uses to shape us. They aren’t necessarily a punishment from Him. They are used to form us into who He needs us to be. No one I know is truly excited about going through the times that form us. I’ve been there. I’ve hurt so bad that it would have been easier to die than to deal with the pain. I’ve cried so many tears that I ran out of them.

When we look back on those times of formation, we can see God’s grace in it. While we are in it, we are blind to what God is doing. We want to blame Him, accuse Him or turn from Him in that blinding pain. We really just want out of what we are going through and to find an escape from the pain. But once we’ve endured, grace makes us stronger than before. Grace allows us to help others who are walking through the darkness of formation.

I’ve heard it said that we are either in a time of formation, just coming out of a time of formation or about to go into a time of it. Where are you? If you’re in it, hold on. God has not forsaken you. He’s there with you even though you feel blind right now. If you just came out of it, recover and learn how God wants to use that time in your life to help others. If you’re about to walk into it, trust in God’s grace to get you through it. Decide now that you will trust His grace even when you can’t see it.

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May 9, 2013 · 7:12 AM

You Are Not Forgotten

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I was talking to a friend last night at church about how he was doing since returning from our trip to Haiti. He, like many of us who went, has had a hard time readjusting to life here. He said, “In the first few days back, I kept trying to process the poverty and devastation that I saw there. It was overloading my mind and I couldn’t take it. I finally had to quit trying to process how people just like you and me live in that devastation and still get up, get dressed in a shirt and tie and go to work.”

He’s right. I’ve been to a lot of third world countries and seen poverty. Haiti was somehow different. I don’t know if it was the worst I’ve seen or that it just seemed like the worst because most people there seemed to have no hope. The unemployment rate is above 50% and the ones that do have jobs only make between $2 and $5 a day. Most of us make more in an hour than they will all week.

With hopelessness comes the thought that God has forgotten you. People here experience that. I know I have. You probably have to at some point in your life. If you are there right now, you’re not alone. Not everyone has been in your exact circumstance, but plenty have felt that they’ve been forsaken by God. Jesus felt that way too. When He was hanging on the cross, he cried out, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?”

I’ve never given much thought to Him saying that on the cross because I knew what was going to happen 3 days later. He wasn’t forsaken and neither are you. He had to go through that so that He could identify with us when we feel forsaken. I Peter 4:1 says, “Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like Him.” He knows what it’s like to think you’re alone in this world and to even be forgotten by God.

Since He knows what you’re feeling, He won’t leave you in that place. What I learned in my own life is that had I not gone through that time of thinking He had forgotten me, I couldn’t fully rely on Him now. Psalm 139:7 tells us that there is no where on this earth that we can go to get away from God’s presence. Even if you can’t feel or see God, He’s there with you in that dark place. He has not forgotten you. He has not forsaken you. Rest in the hope that He will bring you out of that valley and bring you into His marvelous light. He did it for Jesus. He did it for me. He will do it for you.

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May 1, 2013 · 7:06 AM

Shoveling Through a Mountain

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I haven’t been able to get this image out of my head. What you see is the same picture, but one is a close up. That is a man shoveling through that mountain one spade full at a time. We encountered him on the road from Port au Prince to Gonaives on our second day. Ever since then I have thought about him and the work he is doing. At first I felt sorry for him. Tackling a mountain with a shovel is a huge task. He may never get through it, but that isn’t stopping him from shoveling.

Each of us face mountains in our lives. Few of us have the faith it takes to say to that mountain, “Move and be thrown into the sea.” So we sit in the valley and wait. We lack the strength or courage to go over it. So we don’t accomplish what God has for us to do. We make our home in the darkness of the valley. We forget what life in the light is. We forget what joy is. We loosen our grip on our faith and wonder where God is.

Not this man. He looked at that mountain and said, “I may not have the strength or ability to go over you, so I will go through you!” He picked up a shovel and started digging. I imagine it has taken years to get this far. For him, the first few shovels, the first week, first month and year may not have seemed like he was making progress. I’m sure all he could see was that mountain and not what he’d moved.

Recovery doesn’t come quickly. Healing is a process that can take years. There will always be scars from our past. We can choose to embrace them or we can keep them hidden. Jesus didn’t choose to hide His scars, so why do we? In fact, He encourage others like Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound on my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” Others find hope in your scars. They find faith in your wounds.

If God has brought you through a mountain of pain, share your story to help others believe they can make it. If you’re shoveling through your mountain right now, don’t give up. You are making progress that you may not be able to see from your perspective right now. If you are camped in the darkness, looking at your mountain thinking, “I’ll never get through this,” there is hope. God’s Word is your light in that dark place. Speak scriptures out loud. Look in Psalms and read there. David went through some dark times too.

Your life is precious to God and others. Don’t let that mountain block your vision of what God has for you. He is greater than that mountain and if He is with you, what can stand against you? Certainly not that mountain! Let hope arise in your soul today. You are a child of God made for victory. You’re going to have to pick up that shovel though and start digging. It takes time and effort. You can do this. You can shovel through this mountain.

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