activated_2011_01_en

change your life. change your world.

Vol 12 • Issue 1

THE PARCEL God’s Special Delivery

Why Not?

“Unanswered” prayer

Addicted to Prayer

Feel the rush

Vol 12, Issue 1

P ER S O N A LLY S P E A K I N G If you use the Internet, you know what a quick and easy source of information it can be. Instead of trekking to a library to pore over stacks of books and other printed material to locate something, you can find what you need right from home or work by simply using an Internet search engine, typing a few key words, and clicking “search.” Instantly, links to a multitude of websites related to whatever it is you’re looking for appear on your computer screen. Admittedly it is hit and miss, and you may still need to skim quite a bit of material to find the specifics you’re looking for—like you used to have to do with those stacks of books—but the Internet puts a world of information at your fingertips.

Wouldn’t it be great, though, if instead of merely supplying you with information, the Internet could actually solve your problems, answer your really deep questions, help organize and direct your daily life, and satisfy your emotional and spiritual needs? The Internet will never be able to do all those things, of course, but God can. Not only that, but God is even quicker and easier to access than the Internet because He included all the needed hardware and software when He created you. You can reach Him anytime, from anywhere, for free, and it’s never a hitand-miss process. He always knows exactly what you need.

All you need to power up your system is faith. You get that faith by reading up on your equipment in the maker’s manual, the Bible. Faith-building tips can also be found in firsthand accounts of people who are already powered up and enjoying the benefits, like the articles you’ll find in this issue of Activated.

Connect with God, and you too can receive, enjoy, and benefit from all He has to offer—which is everything.

Keith Phillips For Activated

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Browse our website or contact one of the distributors below to enjoy the inspirational, motivational, and practical help offered in our books and audiovisual material.

www.activated.org

Activated Ministries P.O. Box 462805 Escondido, CA 92046–2805 USA Toll-free: 1–877–862–3228 Email: info@actmin.org www.activatedonline.com

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Editor Design

Production

Keith Phillips Michelle Lavigne Stefan Merour Jessie Richards

www.auroraproduction.com © 2010 Aurora Production AG All Rights Reserved Printed in Taiwan by Ji Yi Co., Ltd. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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THE UZZLE

By Bonita Hele

From the early-learning wooden or foam variety to intricate 10,000-piece or 3D types, puzzles are a proven way to develop problem-solving skills, as well as a pleasant hobby for all ages.

When I was 11, I became fascinated with jigsaw puzzles.

My mother and I would relax together at the kitchen table, piecing together increasingly complex puzzles. We would cover the unfinished puzzle with the tablecloth at mealtimes, then remove it afterward and get to work at finding that next piece.

It has been a while since I’ve had the time to assemble a major puzzle, but my toddler is learning to put simple ones together. I can take one look at the pieces and easily tell where they will fit, yet my little boy sometimes struggles to find the proper place for the piece he is holding. When he gets stuck and frustrated, he turns to me and I give him a suggestion or a clue.

Eventually he figures out where each piece goes and is happy. I love that look of accomplishment that he gets when he has completed the puzzle.

Sometimes we face complicated situations where there appears to be no way out or through. It’s often during those times that we realize “resorting to prayer” is our best option. How like children we are, trying to piece together and make sense of difficult situations ourselves, when God is ready, willing, and able to help.

Like a parent, He enjoys helping us work on the puzzle of life. From His vantage point He can easily see which piece needs to go where, and what should come next. He doesn’t put the puzzle together for us, because we wouldn’t learn much if He did. But when we get stuck, He can give us hints. He works with us piece by piece, and piece by piece we see the picture come together.

Bonita Hele is a member of the Family International in India. ■

THE ANSWER MAN God knows what we need even before we ask,1 but He usually waits for us to ask. Sometimes our own pride and independence get in the way. We don’t want to ask for help because we don’t want to admit that we don’t have the solution. So we try to do it ourselves to the point of frustration, when all we need to do is ask and receive His answer.

If we’re smart, we’ll be like the fellow who said, “I may not know all the answers, but I know the answer man.” He is the answer!— David Brandt Berg

1. Matthew 6:8

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PRAYER PRAYER

POWER POWER POWER POWER

By David Brandt Berg

PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER

POWER

POWER

The Lord leaves a lot up to us and our concern and prayer. If we only pray halfheartedly, we only get half an answer. But if we pray with our whole heart, we get a wholehearted, strong answer. Like a beam of light focused on a mirror, a prayer will reflect or be answered with the same intensity that it was prayed.

The game of pocket billiards, or pool, also makes a fitting analogy. There are a number of variations of the game, but all are played on a six-pocket billiard table and have the same basic object: to use a cue ball to knock other balls into the pockets.

The player controls the original force and direction in which the cue ball is set in motion, and that determines everything else that happens. Prayer works much the same way. The position of each of the people or situations involved has a bearing on what happens next, but the way in which we pray for them also helps determine the outcome. The way we word or express our prayer and the way we ask God to answer are like the way we hit the cue ball. The force, the angle, and the spin we put on it all work together to help determine the outcome.

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The lead player is God. He made the break shot that scattered the balls originally. Shot by shot, He and you and the other players keep changing the position of the balls. The only difference is, God is not trying to beat you. He’s actually trying to help you win, if you’re on His side.

It’s like playing doubles: Your partner is God, and your opponents are the Devil and his ilk. Your partner, God, tries to set up your next shot for you.

But of course, no matter how well God sets things up, if you don’t shoot straight, it won’t do any good.

And no matter how good your aim is, that target ball (the person or situation you’re praying about) has to be in a position where you can hit it right.

Let’s take radio waves for another illustration.

Say you’re going to send a radio message via satellite, for someone on the other side of the world to pick up. First of all, your transmitter won’t have any power unless it’s plugged into the current.

Next, your transmitter has to be in good condition.

If it’s faulty or out of whack or tuned to the wrong frequency, it won’t transmit properly and it won’t get the message through clearly. Also, the antenna

has to be aimed so that the message is beamed in exactly the right direction to hit the relay satellite.

In this illustration, you are the transmitter and antenna, the Holy Spirit provides the power, and God’s will is the satellite. If your set is automated so that the Holy Spirit is in control, then it’s automatically tuned just right—power, beam, direction, everything—by the Lord’s own computer, and it can’t miss. But if you’ve been fooling around with the dials and the settings, you can mess up the whole works by trying to do it your way. Also, the satellite of God’s will has to be in the right position to bounce it down to the intended recipient, and the recipient has got to be in the right position and have his receiver turned on in order to receive it.

Prayer depends on these four principal factors: your position, God’s position, the position of the person or situation you’re praying for, and the way you pray.

In the pocket billiards illustration, it depends on the positions of the cue ball, the target ball, the pocket, and the way you shoot. You don’t control the outcome completely, the person you’re

praying for doesn’t control it completely, and God has specifically limited Himself not to control it completely, but to let it be affected by these other factors.

In the radio transmission illustration, the position of His satellite is set, but how it is used depends on you and the recipient. In other words, God has set the position of His overall plans, but how you fit into the plan depends on your position, the position of the person or thing you’re praying for, and whether or not your beam is aimed right to hit the satellite.

So God has left a lot up to you and a lot up to them. He will always do His part. If it’s according to God’s will—what He knows is best for everyone concerned—and you and the object of your prayer are in the right position and you aim straight, your prayer will hit the target and have the desired effect.

Prayer Power was excerpted from God O nline , a booklet in the Mountain Streams series, available from any of the addresses on page 2.

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SURROUNDED BY PRAYER

By Eldora Sichrovsky

When my older sister Evelyn was 16, she suddenly began experiencing excruciating pain in her lowerright abdomen. As the pain intensified, she began running a fever and vomiting. I remember the anxiety and desperation we all felt as my dad rushed her to the nearest hospital.

A doctor in the emergency unit discovered a large gangrenous cyst in Evelyn’s abdomen. The cyst had twisted, cutting off blood circulation and causing the extreme pain. Time sped by in a blur as she was hurriedly prepared for emergency surgery. At home, the rest of us prayed fervently, asking Jesus to protect, comfort, and surround her with His loving presence.

It was nearly midnight when Evelyn was wheeled out of the operating room. The surgery, it turned out, had been performed just in time. The cyst had already begun to leak toxic fluids and destroy the surrounding tissues, but she was alive and safe. We thanked Jesus for that.

During the five-day hospital stay that followed, I wished I could be there around the clock to help in some physical way. But I found that even after visiting hours were over and I had to go home, my prayers could do more for her than my physical presence could have.

For example, when Evelyn suffered serious allergic reactions to the intravenous painkillers, I believe my prayers were much more of a help to her doctors’ finding a solution than whatever comfort I might have been able to give her had I been there.

Our family’s and friends’ prayers surrounded her every day until she returned safely home, and they continued throughout the weeks of her recovery. “I always knew you were praying for me,” she told me after

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the ordeal was over. “That gave me strength for the difficult things I faced, as well as peace that Jesus was in control.”

Do you know someone who is struggling, whose load can’t be lifted with human hands? Do you have a loved one who is hurting, whose pain you cannot ease by human means? Do you long to be there to help care for them, yet you don’t know how? Then pray.

Jesus hears, He cares, and His power—activated through your prayers—has no limits.

You hold amazing power to help those you love, to span the gulf between you, and to bring them the best possible support and care. Surround your loved ones with prayer.

Eldora Sichrovsky is a member of the Family International in Taiwan. ■

Why Not? For the New Year when I was six, what I wanted above all was to move to the mountains. Over the Christmas holidays my family had visited relatives who lived in a mountainous area, and it was the first time I’d experienced the magic of so much snow. I’d loved every moment of it.

I prayed earnestly for our family’s relocation, starting around Christmas and continuing well into January. At first I was confident that it would take place soon, but it finally became obvious that no move was imminent. I eventually got over the childish fixation, but the question lingered in my mind much longer: Why had God not answered my prayer?

I realize now that God does always answer our prayers, but not always right away or always in the way we want or expect Him to. Sometimes He says “yes,”

sometimes He says “no,” and sometimes He says “wait.”

As children, we would see something we wanted in a store, or something that our schoolmates had, and we were convinced it could make us happy. Some of us still have this mentality and act as though God were a pharmacist filling prescriptions for us, or Santa Claus ticking items off our wish list. In fact, God doesn’t answer some prayers the way we want or expect Him to because He knows that what we’re praying for would not really be good for us or others.

When we don’t receive an immediate, favorable answer from God, instead of concluding that God hasn’t heard our prayer or that He has forsaken us, we should consider that maybe He wants to test our faith, to see if we will keep loving and trusting Him no matter what, which

By Samuel Keating

wouldn’t be evident if He gave us everything we wanted the moment we asked.

Other times, God may have answered our prayer, but we simply don’t like the way He did it. If we’ve already figured out exactly what we want and are just asking God to provide it for us, but our plan is not what He knows is best, then He is doing the wise and loving thing in withholding our request. We need to try to align our petitions with His much broader and better plans.

Oh, and in the years since I prayed that New Year prayer that didn’t seem to materialize, I’ve enjoyed many snowy winters in several countries and settings.

God’s answer, it turned out, was “Yes, in My time.”

Samuel Keating is a member of the Family International and an Activated contributing editor. ■ 7

HOW PRAYER

BENEFITS

By Julie Vasquez

There are so many benefits to spending time with God that you really can’t afford not to. He can help you solve every problem, answer your every question, heal all your heartaches, comfort you when you’re sorrowful, give you joy, and bring you closer to heaven. The list is endless.

Prayer changes things. It’s one means by which God gives His children what they need or want, as long as it’s good for them and others. “Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”1 Time spent in quiet reflection builds inner strength that will carry you through life’s toughest times. “In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul.”2 You will find rest and renewal when your spirit is sagging and your mind is troubled. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”3 Once you have committed a matter to God in prayer, you can have the assurance that He will take

1. Matthew 21:22

5. Psalm 147:3

2. Psalm 138:3

6. Psalm 94:19

3. Matthew 11:28–30

7. James 1:5

4. Romans 8:28

8. Proverbs 3:6 9. Jeremiah 33:3

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care of it as He knows best. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God.”4 You will find comfort in times of sadness and grief, reassurance when you’re down, and courage to go on when you think you can’t. Jesus will help you see your troubles in proper perspective, as He sees them, and give you peace of mind. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”5 “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.”6 As you receive and apply the things the Lord shows you, you will become wiser. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”7 Jesus will guide you through the maze of life.

He will help you know what to do when you face problems and tough decisions. He has promised to instruct you, establish your thoughts, and guide your steps. “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”8 He will inspire you with good ideas. “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”9 Jesus will

YOU prevent some problems from happening by warning you in advance, and give you solutions to others.

“Whoever listens to Me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.”10 You can be healed physically. “The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”11 You can be forgiven for wrongdoing. “I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”12 You will gain insight into the natural world as well as the spiritual realm. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”13 Prayer draws on the power of God, so you will be able to accomplish more, and do so more easily. “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. … Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”14

10. Proverbs 1:33

15. Philippians 4:6–7

11. James 5:15

16. Matthew 7:7–8

12. Psalm 32:5

17. Psalm 119:18

13. 1 Corinthians 2:9–10

18. Romans 8:26

You will have greater peace of mind. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”15 You can claim God’s supply of your material needs. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”16 Jesus will open to you the treasures of His Word if you will pray, as King David did, “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.”17 You can get the Lord’s help even when you don’t know what to ask for. “We do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us.”18 How Prayer Benefits You was excerpted from Prayer Power, a booklet in the Get Activated series, available from any of the addresses on page 2.

14. Isaiah 40:29,31 9

THE PARCEL

By Mercy D’Souza

How many times have most parents wanted to buy a toy for their child “just because”?

It wasn’t a special occasion or something the child needed or had even asked for— but the parent knew the child would enjoy it and wanted him or her to have it.

I faced such a situation with my 19-month-old son Logan recently. I’m not sure why I had set my heart on getting him a rocking horse. Maybe it was because his favorite video included a scene with children on rocking horses, or maybe it was because every time we went to a nearby toy store the salesperson would invite him to play on one of the

display horses, and he never fussed when it was time to go. To tell you the truth, he didn’t seem as attached to that rocking horse as I was, but I couldn’t stop thinking how nice it would be for him to have it.

The problem was that it cost more than I could afford. I tried telling myself that children grow out of toys quickly and that Logan might not even play with it much, but the desire to get him one persisted.

One evening Logan and I were looking at pictures of toys, and there was a rocking horse. On impulse I suggested, “Let’s pray for Jesus to give you a horse like this one.” After a short but sincere prayer, I felt I had done what I could, and I soon forgot about the matter.

A few days later, we got a large parcel from some friends who had said they were going to send some clothes for the children. I had expected a small box, but what came was massive.

I opened the box and started to go through it. Imagine my surprise when I saw, buried under clothes and small toys, a wooden rocking horse that was the perfect size for Logan. I could hardly believe my eyes. Then I remembered our prayer a few days earlier. God had used this incident to inspire our faith.

Every time I see the horse I realize once more how much God loves us—enough to supply not only our needs, but also our wants.

Mercy D’Souza is a member of the Family International in India. ■

Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.— Psalm 37:4 Logan rocking out 10

Answers to your questions Finding time for prayer

Q:

I realize that prayer is important, and I want to use it to connect with God, but it never seems like I have the time.

How can I fit it into an already busy day?

A:

It takes time to communicate with anyone, including God. There’s no way around it. It’s a mistake, though, to think of time spent in prayer as time that could have been better used to get other things done, because if you take time to pray, you’ll be able to get a lot more done than you would otherwise. It’s an investment, but once you start reaping the benefits, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it. Here are a few tips to help get you started: Make a conscious effort. Like forming any new habit, this will take consistent determination.

In time, though, you’ll find that you’re remembering to pray more, and forgetting to less.

Make prayer a priority. You always have time for the things you consider most important.

1. Proverbs 3:6 2. Matthew 7:7 3. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 4. James 1:5

Set aside specific times in your daily routine.

If you wait till everything else is taken care of, it will never happen. If you find that one time of day doesn’t work well for you, try another. If you miss your appointed times one day, don’t give up!

Try again the next day.

Set attainable goals. It’s not how long you pray that counts, but how earnest and sincere you are and how much you believe your prayers will be answered.

Take advantage of spare moments. You can pray during a coffee break, when stuck in traffic, while waiting for an appointment, while cooking, while taking a shower, while waiting for the baby to drift off to sleep, while walking the dog—almost any time, really.

Pray before starting each new task. “In all your ways acknowledge [God], and He shall direct your paths.”1 In many cases, a prayer of only a sentence or two is all it takes.

Pray at the first sign of trouble. Ask for clarity of thought, composure, strength, inspiration, or answers—whatever you need at the moment—and God will give it.2

“ P R AY W I T H O U T C E A S I N G ” 3 You don’t have to be on your knees, praying frantically for God to hear you. Prayer is something you can and should be doing all the time, no matter what else you’re doing—like thinking on your feet. If you pray as you go about whatever it is you’re doing and ask God for wisdom, He will give it to you.4 —David Brandt Berg 11

PRAYER POINTERS

By Natalia Nazarova

Variety is the spice of life. This certainly has proven true in my prayer life. Here are a few things that have worked for me at different times.

Prayer list. When I began taking a few minutes every day to pray for others, I simply prayed for whoever came to mind. I soon found, however, that there was almost no end to people and situations that needed divine intervention. To make the most of my prayer time, I needed to get organized, so I started keeping a written list. I don’t have time to pray for every item on my list every day, so I keep track by checking off each item as I pray for it. When I get to the bottom, I start over with another series of checkmarks. I also add new

1. Matthew 7:7 2. Matthew 18:19 12

items as new needs arise, and mark items “Done!” when God answers.

Prayer promises. I printed “promise” verses from the Bible—“Ask and it will be given to you,”1 for example—on small cards. As I pray for each item on my list, I draw a card from the stack and apply that promise. [Editor: A partial list of prayer promises, arranged categorically, can be found in the Get Activated booklet Prayer Power, available from any of the addresses on page 2.]

Meditative prayer.

Nowhere am I more aware of God’s love and care than when I walk in nature. As I take in the sights and sounds of His creation, I ask Him to guide my thoughts to people and situations that need my prayers, and then ask Him to take care of them as only He can.

Teaming up.

Sometimes I arrange with a friend to spend 10 or 15 minutes praying together. “If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask,” Jesus promised, “it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.”2 Pillow prayer. When I can’t sleep, I focus my thoughts on others and their needs, and pray for God to provide. Or sometimes I count my blessings in the form of short, specific prayers of praise and thanksgiving to God for His goodness. After a short while, I usually drift off to sleep.

Unloading. When I feel overwhelmed by problems or the task ahead, I sometimes unburden my mind and spirit by imagining each issue as a brick and handing it over to Jesus, in the form of a short prayer.

Variety. When prayer gets ho-hum or routine, I ask Jesus for a new plan or way to pray.

Natalia Nazarova is a member of the Family International in Argentina. ■

Addicted to Prayer POWER POINT

By Ariana Andreassen

The 19 th -century British preacher Charles Spurgeon said something that to me defines the role of a Christian in regard to prayer. “As artists give themselves to their models, and poets to their classical pursuits, so must we addict ourselves to prayer.”

I must admit, though, that at times I have had a hard time maintaining a strong prayer life. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to pray—to the contrary—I just had a hard time sticking to my good intentions. It seemed that whenever I’d try to pray, thoughts would flood my mind and I would quickly find myself embroiled in other things.

I finally decided that I had to get to the core of the matter. Why was I having such a hard time? Was it laziness, a lack of motivation, or difficulty concentrating? It finally dawned on me that it was because praying seems like inaction. I knew in theory that prayer was essential to a Christian life, but in practice, I just didn’t feel it. I’m an action-oriented person, and praying simply didn’t make me feel like I was doing anything substantial.

So I had to change my attitude and see things in a different light. For me, that meant that when I was praying for a sick child, I imagined that I was actually there, cooling that fevered brow. When I prayed for peace in Africa, I pictured myself in the midst of the fighting, begging for it to stop. Visualizing my prayers helped them to come alive. It helped me feel more involved, as if I was “doing” something.

I’ve also found it helpful to start a file where I keep track of the people and situations I pray for, arranged by topic. I regularly add prayer requests that I hear about, promises from the Bible that apply, updates, etc., and I keep track of which prayers have been answered.

Ariana Andreassen is a member of the Family International in Thailand. ■

Prayer is the most powerful form of energy that one can generate. The influence of prayer on the human mind and body is as demonstrable as that of secreting glands. Its results can be measured in terms of increased buoyancy, greater intellectual vigor, moral stamina and a deeper understanding of human relationships.

Only in prayer do we achieve that complete harmonious assembly of mind, body and spirit which gives the frail human need its unshakable strength.

When we pray we link ourselves with the inexhaustible motive that spins the universe.—Dr. Alexis Carrel (1873–1944)

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SAVED FROM

God Knows What Prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God’s standing challenge, “Call to Me, and I will answer you.”1 —Hudson Taylor (1832–1905)

“Grandma, why do you always pray before you drive?”

The question came from my eight-year-old grandson. He and I had been vacationing at the beach with his uncle and cousins, and we were about to start the five-hour drive home in the rain. My two grandsons, who are about the same age and had become inseparable, were traveling with me.

“Driving is the scariest thing I do,” I told him. “I wouldn’t think of driving without praying. I might forget to pray before I cook a meal or write a letter or go for a walk, but I never forget to pray before I drive my car. I really depend on Jesus to protect me and my passengers. You just never know what might happen.”

Our trip was going well and we were making good time, despite the rain. Then, only two miles from home, someone pulled onto the highway immediately in front of us. The driver was going too fast on the rain-slicked roads and lost control of the car, which spun around twice. The scene seemed surreal, like something out of a movie, and I only had time to breathe a silent prayer, flip on my emergency flashers to warn the cars behind me, and brake as forcefully as I could without causing an accident myself. The spinning car came to a halt perpendicular to the traffic, half on the highway and half off. I was upon it in a second or two, and just managed to steer clear of it by inches.

“Boys, did you see that?” I asked when I could breathe again.

“Yes, Grandma,” one of the boys answered. “We could have had a really bad accident! But I know why we didn’t—because you prayed.”

I think Jesus sometimes lets us see the trouble He spares us from to remind us that He’s with us every moment, watching over and protecting us in answer to our prayers. And heaven only knows what troubles He saves us from that we don’t see, whether behind the wheel or all through life. What a wonderful companion, friend, and protector we have in Jesus!

Joyce S uttin

1. Jeremiah 33:3 14

By Joyce Suttin

is a member of the

Family I nternational

in the

U.S. ■

A QUIET PLACE A spiritua l e x ercise

This exercise may seem more practical than spiritual, but it is a key to spiritual health and growth.

If there is a quiet, clutter-free space in your home to which you can retreat for moments of prayer or quiet reflection, or if you live in a moderate climate where you can sit outside in the quiet comfort of nature, you have a head start. The average home today is a hub of activity and noise, so finding a spot to spend a few peaceful minutes is a major challenge. Many people simply resign themselves to that situation, but it takes a toll on their spirit. In such an atmosphere it is easy to develop a dullness to the voice of God, because all that noise and confusion drowns Him out. But if you can escape to a quiet, peaceful setting on a regular basis and you use that time to connect with God, you will find your spiritual senses becoming sharper.

You may not be able to soundproof a room, but try at least to find a corner that you can designate your “quiet place,” where you can read, pray, and reflect with little or no disturbance. Make it comfortable, have good light for reading, and stock it with a Bible, other devotional materials, and a notebook and pen for writing down points that come to you in your times of prayer and meditation.

Find the best time in your daily routine to retreat to your quiet place, and make it a habit. Turn off your phone, and begin your quiet time by putting your problems and concerns in God’s capable, loving hands. Enter into God’s presence.

“When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”—Matthew 6:6

FEEDING READING Notable prayers in the Bible Old Testament: Moses’ at the burning bush— Exodus 3:1–4:18 Job’s confession of God’s greatness—Job 42:1–6 Hannah prays for a child— 1 Samuel 1:10–11—and praises God when He answers—1 Samuel 2:1–10 David’s prayer for forgiveness— Psalm 51 Solomon’s prayer for wisdom— 1 Kings 3:6–9 Elijah’s prayer at Mount Carmel—1 Kings 18:36–39 Hezekiah prays for deliverance —2 Kings 19:15–19 Hezekiah’s prayer when sick— Isaiah 38:2–5 Habakkuk’s prayer of worship and rejoicing—Habakkuk 3:2–19 Jonah praying in the belly of the whale—Jonah 2:2–9 New Testament: The Lord’s Prayer—Matthew 6:9–13 A sinner repents—Luke 18:13

The most important prayer... ...that you or anyone else can ever pray—the key to happiness here and now, and eternal life in heaven: Dear Jesus, thank You for dying for me. I now open the door to my heart and ask You to please come into my life and give me Your gift of eternal life. Amen.

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples— John 17 Jesus’ prayer on the cross—Luke 23:34 Some of Paul’s prayers— Ephesians 1:15–23; 3:14–21; Philippians 1:3–11; Colossians 1:9–12 15

LOVE H T I SW

U

JES FROM

I am here to help I know all about you—your gifts, your talents, your strengths. I also know your weaknesses, your idiosyncrasies, and all the funny things about you that make you an individual. I know about the nagging problems that you can’t seem to overcome and all the things about yourself that bother you. I know your heart’s desires and secret longings. There is nothing hidden from Me. I care about each of your disappointments and heartbreaks. I care about how you feel. I care about what you think. I care about the difficulties and hardships that you face. I care about your health. I care about your material needs. I care about your spiritual struggles. There is not one detail of your life that does not concern Me, and I am here to help.

Every time you look up to Me, I am there. I hear your prayers, and My heart is moved with compassion. I never get tired of listening to you. I am never distant. I am never too tired or too busy for you. I never turn away. I never sleep. I never hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on My door.

I always hear and answer your prayers. Sometimes I don’t answer in the way you ask Me to or think I should, and sometimes you don’t see the answer immediately, but I always hear and I always answer.