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Will God answer my prayer? Five keys.
26 MarWalking by Faith, Not by Sight
Janet Perez Eckles
I sat beside a delightful lady at a recent prayer gathering. She related with passion each of the steps of her healing from a devastating car accident.
“The healing was miraculous,” she said.
Broken bones healed with no need for casts, cuts on her face healed with no scars. And doctors said she would lose her teeth as they had turned gray because they began to die due to the severe impact. But God healed them as they turned white before her eyes, leaving the doctors stunned.
We all listened in awe. But after the astonishment subsides, do we sometimes wonder: Why aren’t our own prayers answered and why do miracles seem to pass us by?
I imagine Joni Erickson might have wondered the same from time to time while spending her life, paralyzed in that wheel chair.
But even when we question, God still insists for us to bring our requests before Him. (Philippians 4:6)
And when we do, here are five steps to make sure He will answer them:
- Readjust our priorities. If we seek the answer to our Prayer with more passion than we seek God Himself, His patience rather than answers is what will be at work. (Matthew 6:33)
- Resist the temptation to recite memorized, perfect prayers, with lovely words and deep insight. God simply wants the genuine expression of our heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)
- Recognize that sometimes we don’t know how to pray or what our requests should be. So we can freely ask for Him to show us what to pray for. (Psalm 139:23)
- Remember that His answer is always in His timing, not ours because a thousand years in God’s sight are like a day that has just gone by. (Psalm 90:4)
- Relish in the fact that while we wait, He’s working in us, in our heart, in our situation. He has the answered already prepared. (Ephesians 2:10)
Why follow these steps? Because “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14–15).
Visit Janet’s blog to read more: Will God answer my prayer? Five keys. | Janet Perez Eckles
IN THE NEWS
Sometimes God says “yes,” sometimes he says, no,” and sometimes He says, “not yet.” The key is to trust Him no matter what the answer. My dear friend and I prayed for God’s hand to open doors in places where only He can. And this time His quick and clear “yes” left us in awe. I received an invitation to minister to women in Quito, Ecuador. I’m packing lots of gratitude in the suitcase of my heart.
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March is a Lion
24 MarOn the Porch
Onisha Ellis
I can’t believe March is flying past. We decided to depart Florida early to address a mud slide issue on our property in North Carolina, as well as get a head start on greening up our neglected grass. The first week we were here was spent enjoying time with our daughter and visiting the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. After she left we began to plan how we were going to address our issues.
Phone calls were made, lists were started, prices were checked and then we seem to have stalled. One of our projects was to have a walkway poured from our drive to the front door. We have stepping-stones but we want to be proactive, should either of us need a walker in the future. It turns out that folks who create walk ways are not fond of returning calls. Fortunately we have a Plan B. Today my husband and I removed the stepping-stones and stacked them to repurpose into stairs to husband’s shop.
We did receive call backs on Wednesday from two contractors but their price was too high for our shallow pockets. Fortunately, we know a handyman who works at an hourly rate. Our current plan is for my husband and the handyman to build the forms and pour the concrete themselves. So hopefully, we will have a lovely new walkway before we return to Florida.
We have yet to buy fertilizer, lime and grass seed. We made a trip into town to buy them at Ace Hardware only to discover the local Ace does not carry them. We had priced them in the Georgia town that is south of us when we were down there for breakfast. We held off on buying and spreading the seed due to a cold snap. We hope to have them purchased and spread by Monday.
Of course the most important project, the mud slide has yet to be figured out. Our last plan is to rake the mud area smooth and plant Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue and hope it will hold the hill. I am wondering if those stepping-stones we moved could be used here in some way.
All of this must be wrapped up in one week. I feel as if March came in like a lion and is going out like a lion. The only lamb in sight is the Holy Lamb of God whose resurrection we will be celebrating this Sunday.
UPDATE 3/28/2016
After writing this my husband’s nagging cough turned into a full blown sinus infection. On the bright side,the weather here in the hills is beautiful with highs in the 60s, coaxing buds and blossoms from their winter’s slumber. The high 80s and possible 90 degree temps are going to be a shock to my senses when we return to Florida.
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Review Or Die! (Not you, the Reader — the Author) | Elk Jerky for the Soul
22 MarI tend to keep separate the book marketing side of my world and the blogger side, but today I am merging them. Mary Findley wrote this entertaining and informative post on why emerging authors need you to write a review.
It’s a pain to write reviews. If I liked a book, I liked it. I don’t need to review it. Maybe I’ll tell some friends. Maybe I’ll lend the book to someone else. And it sounds stupid to say, “This book was great! I loved it!” What good does that do anyone? Other readers don’t care about reviews. They pick a book because they get pulled in by the cover, they’re a fan of the genre, or a friend or some bigshot blogger they follow recommended it. Who cares about my little dumb reviews?
Honestly, I can sympathize with those reasons for not writing a review. But I’m still going to shoot them down and give you some help to understand why every time you read a book but don’t review it, you are sucking just a little bit of life out of that author. If people keep taking these attitudes and not writing reviews, eventually, those authors will die, in a publishing sense. Their books will receive little attention and that’s death for a book and for its author. He really can’t keep his story alive by himself. He needs your help.
- “It’s a pain to write a review.” No, it’s not. It’s easy. I even gave you a pattern in a previous blog post. Take a look, follow the steps, and voila! The review is done before you know it. Here’s that link. https://elkjerkyforthesoul.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/how-to-write-a-book-review-the-author-will-love/
- “Maybe I’ll tell some friends.” Please, please, do. But imagine how many friends you can tell if you write your opinion down. You can widen your influence and the author’s if you just take those few minutes and write that review.
- “It sounds stupid to say. ‘It was great! I loved it’” Maybe it does to you, but it sounds like music to the author. It’s like water on brown grass. It’s like food to an author’s empty stomach. Be that water. be that food. Say whatever you can say. Write whatever you can write. Just go there and do that review thing!
- “Other readers don’t care about reviews.” You might be surprised by how many do. Many people read reviews before deciding to buy a book. If there aren’t many, they might skip on to one that has some.
- “Who cares about my dumb little reviews?” But there’s another reason to give an author reviews. It helps give his book reality and credibility with sites where he might want to promote it. Real, genuine reviews are like seeds. They multiply opportunities for an author to get known, get read, and get more sales. You can help in this way that costs you so little. You can help a lot.
I, as an author care about your reviews. They’re not dumb. They’re your thoughts and feelings. People who put their thoughts and feelings into writing a book welcome feedback. What’s the point in writing a book if no one cares enough to share their thoughts about it? I look at my beloved children, my books that I worked on to produce. I think, when some have ten or more reviews, and some have one or two, or even none, that nobody loves those children. Nobody cares about them, so it must be nobody cares about me either. And I wither a little. I get thirstier, and hungrier, and I die a little.
I failed to mention one thing about reviews. They don’t have to be good ones. Sure, parents want everyone to love their kids, but if you’ve got constructive criticism on why a book isn’t what you hoped it would be, put that down, too. Don’t think all we want is a string of fives and maybe a few fours. Lay it out there — what you liked and what you didn’t. If we think our books are perfect, we need your humbling. We need your honesty. Help us be better authors. Even if we don’t do a rewrite of that book, it might help us do the next one better.
So help us. That’s what reviews are really all about. We are flowers. Water us, feed us, encourage us, pinch off our dead blooms and help us grow new ones. Don’t let our books and our fire to write die in discouragement and dim corners. Shine a light on them. we need your help. We can’t do this alone. We are only the authors. You are the readers.
When you write a review, you become a “patron of the arts.” and you don’t have to donate $100.00 to be listed -Onisha
Source: Review Or Die! (Not you, the Reader — the Author) | Elk Jerky for the Soul
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The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 6
20 MarSUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
After we found “the door,”
we walked some more of the town and found a Jewish area that included a garden and some tombstones. We took pictures of some of them. We had never found this area before in all the times we had visited there.
When we lived in Germany, we were occasionally stopped by Germans on the street and asked for directions – in German! Apparently we looked the part! Made us feel pretty good, not to be ugly Americans. All that to say that, as we walked out on the “Pinocchio” part of Rothenburg, I heard “Entschuldigen…Entschuldigen!” (Excuse me…excuse me!). A German couple wanted directions to a café. They seemed a bit put-off when I said – in German – that I only knew it a little German. After they moved on I turned to Fred and said, “we’ve still got it!” Yea!
Rothenberg is part of the “Romantic Road” through southern Germany…”linking a number of picturesque towns and castles. In medieval times it was a trade route that connected the center of Germany with the south. Today this region is thought by many international travelers to possess “quintessentially German” scenery and culture, in towns and cities such as Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl and in castles such as Burg Harburg and the famous Neuschwanstein.” (courtesy Wikipedia)
Again from Wikipedia: In March 1945 in World War II, German soldiers were stationed in Rothenburg to defend it. On March 31, bombs were dropped over Rothenburg by 16 planes, killing 37 people and destroying 306 houses, 6 public buildings, 9 watchtowers, and over 2,000 feet of the wall. The U.S Assistant Secretary of War John McCloy knew about the historic importance and beauty of Rothenburg, so he ordered US Army General Jacob L. Devers not to use artillery in taking Rothenburg. Battalion commander Frank Burke ordered six soldiers of the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division to march into Rothenburg on a three-hour mission and negotiate the surrender of the town. When stopped by a German soldier, Private Lichey who spoke fluent German and served as the group’s translator, held up a white flag and explained, “We are representatives of our division commander. We bring you his offer to spare the city of Rothenburg from shelling and bombing if you agree not to defend it. We have been given three hours to get this message to you. If we haven’t returned to our lines by 1800 hours, the town will be bombed and shelled to the ground.” The local military commander gave up the town, ignoring the order of Adolf Hitler for all towns to fight to the end and thereby saving it from total destruction by artillery. American troops occupied the town on April 17, 1945. After the war, the residents of the city quickly repaired the bombing damage. Donations for the rebuilding were received from all over the world.
We walked back to the bus and drove back to Würtzburg.
As it had been a rather long day, I decided to go back with the bus to the ship, while Fred toured the Würtzburg Residence. Fred said later that, while it was most interesting, there were a lot of stairs, and I would have been uncomfortable. So, again, it’s a good thing I did not go on that excursion.
Dinner with the Richard, Judy and Lucy again. 10 o’clock to bed.
~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~
Here are some interesting shots of Rothenburg:
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How to fight fear, three steps.
19 MarWalking by Faith, Not by Sight
Janet Perez Eckles
Sometimes the biggest obstacle is the fear we pack in our suitcase when we travel through life.
We stood at the doorway of the hotel room. “Is there anything I can do for you?” the lady who picked me up from the airport asked.
“Well…thanks,” I said, “only one thing…can you go in the bathroom and tell me which is the shampoo and which is the body lotion?”
Strange question, isn’t it? Well, when you are blind and the hotel room is a foreign place, a bit of navigating is needed to get familiar. But the tough part, the really tough part is determining which is which among those little containers lined up on the bathroom counter.
I learned the hard way. I’ve shampooed with body lotion. And yuck, I have spread shampoo on my body, assuming it was body lotion. I’m okay with that because all that’s part of the adventure when I travel to speaking engagements.
But, this true story made me think twice about staying in a hotel room alone:
Some years ago my husband was traveling in Europe, and he would leave me alone with only my maid in a large house, far from neighbors. One night, after my habitual reading of the Bible and prayers, I went to bed. As soon as I entered our room, I saw, in the mirror, the reflection of a man hiding behind the wardrobe. I was terrified and thought of screaming for help, but I knew it would be useless.
Determined to trust in God, I walked with trembling legs, and with as brave a heart as possible, took my Bible that was on top of a small table and sat in the chair nearby. I started to read in a loud voice chapter 53 of Isaiah, and then knelt down and started to pray asking God for His protection against thieves and every kind of evil.
Then I got up and sat in the chair again. I felt a hand touch my shoulder and a voice saying: “Don’t be afraid. You are safe. I came here to rob this house, but this chapter is the one my mother used to read to me, and your prayer reminded me of her prayers. I am going away now. You don’t need to be afraid of anything.
She saw the shadow, but being blind, I’d never see one. But know what? Fear never moves in with me in any hotel room or anywhere. And it won’t with you either if you believe in these three promises in Isaiah 41:10.
- God’s presence is with us: “Fear not; for I am with you…”
- No intruder is a match to His power because He says, “…be not dismayed; for I am your God…”
- He will come to our aid when fear tries to make us weak. He said, “I will strengthen you…”
- He will come to our aid when fear attacks our thoughts. He says, “I will help you…”
- His protection is stronger than any outside force. He promises, “Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.”
No matter where you travel, I invite you to make a reservation in the hotel of His grace. That’s where fear dies and faith grows.
Visit Janet’s website and sign up for a free gift: How to fight fear, three steps. | Janet Perez Eckles
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The Cat Walk
18 MarFrom the Heart
Louise Gibson
Cats are territorial
They love to mark their space-
But the way they’ve taken over
is truly a disgrace!Quick and nimble,
Sly as a fox-
They’ve claimed my whole yard
As their “litter box”
They love to mark their space-
But the way they’ve taken over
is truly a disgrace!Quick and nimble,
Sly as a fox-
They’ve claimed my whole yard
As their “litter box”
A concrete walkway
was formed for Me-
to allow a path that was dirt free.
Designed to have “eye appeal”,
as well as being practical-
Whoever dreamed the cats would think
that my plan was so radical!
The morning after cement was poured,
I went out to check the walk.
Tiny pawprints were everywhere-
Believe me, CATS CAN TALK!
Now my Window Wonder is,
as I look out at my view-
“Dear Lord, Did you send these cats
so I would “keep in touch” with YOU???
Source: Reflections of the Heart: The Cat Walk
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Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
14 Mar
My Take
DiVoran Lites
Yesterday, you did something you haven’t done in a long time. You wanted to go to the beach, so at last, you went. As you drove the long road east to Playalinda, you felt stress building in your chest. You didn’t consciously ask me to help you, but I was there anyway. You are always in training, so I don’t expect you to get everything right immediately. You did well to take note of how you felt.
In younger days, you were at that beach up to your shoulders in water, and a surge caught you. Suddenly there was no bottom to stand on. You can swim, but you panicked. In your case a taller man was standing right there and put his hand out to you. He then walked you back to where you could stand on your own and left with your deep-felt thanks. On this day on the way to the beach you also had the memory of a recent accident in your extended family where a much beloved young man died after getting caught in a riptide in another state.
Now, as you drove, you were trying to listen to a book on cassette that you just bought at the library sale. The reader spoke with an edge of fear in his voice, and it made you even more nervous, so you pulled over to get your I Phone out of the trunk so you could listen to music. For an instant before you got out of the car you were afraid the gears would slip and the car would roll into the canal that ran next to the road. Isn’t it exciting to discover the deep fears that you carry around with you? That’s all right. As I have promised, when you resist the devil, he will flee from you. Now that you have asked for this healing I will heal you. Working with me is resisting the arch enemy.
The music was lovely, but the discomfort didn’t entirely go away. The cars that whizzed around you as you drove the speed limit generated more fear. You were afraid it made the other drivers mad that you were in their way. You hate to displease people, and that can be another pervasive fear.
As you arrived at the Canaveral National Seashore you needed to use the convenience. The small cement block building had scraps of toilet paper on the floor and smelled dirty. The flush mechanism didn’t work. You understood that park maintenance was most-likely short-staffed. As you snapped the deadbolt another fear sprung up. You wondered if you’d be able to get out. Your mind flashed back to the time when you were a child and ended up locked inside a service-station-bathroom. Your parents’ restaurant next to the garage didn’t have one, so everyone had to use the filling station for an emptying station. While you were locked in the bathroom, the only person within the sound of your voice was “Old Arnold” whom your mother had warned you not to speak to or take candy from. You didn’t want to disturb him to let you out so you looked around and saw the window that opened into the station’s garage. You were small enough to fit through it, so you got up on the back of the toilet, climbed out and hopped onto the hood of a car. Back in the restaurant you told your dad that you had left the door locked. He knew just what to do. He took you back to the garage and gave you a boost onto the car and into the window saying, “Now push against the door with your shoulder and slide the bolt open.” Of course it worked. Dad knew how to fix things. You slid out and exited by the back door. Old Arnold didn’t notice because he was snoozing in the gas- station chair.
Dear one, hearken to me now. Do you recall when you were afraid to let go of fear because you were afraid that if you didn’t have it to protect you something would go wrong and you wouldn’t be ready for it. You developed a habit of trying to predict bad things that might happen. It’s all right to think and plan, but you overreacted. Other things then happened, not the events you had predicted. A lot of people live like that. It doesn’t work, because it’s not my way.
I want you unafraid. Much of the time you are content and satisfied. You have peace and joy. You, however, have, at times, gone from anxiety to fear to terror and needed prayer from the family of God and strong intervention from me. You don’t want to live like that anymore. We are now ready to retrain your mind and replace your toxic thinking with the mind of Christ.
“He was there all the Time”
Switch on Your Brain, by Dr. Caroline Leaf
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The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 6
13 MarSUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
Wednesday, we arrived in Wűrzburg, Germany.
We were up early, showered and dressed. At 7:30 a.m. we went to breakfast in the restaurant. Richard, Judy, and Lucy joined us just about the time we had finished our meal. We stayed and talked with them for a while. Judy and I compared piano stories, such as when I was playing for Margaret Nikol (concert violinist; see my post on October 7, 2012) and my sheet music began to fall. I had to stop playing and place both hands on the music to make it stay up. Margaret was on a long note, and just continued to play. When she was ready to move on, I was ready, as well. When I apologized later, she told me that no one noticed. And she was right! Even Fred, who had heard me practice so many times, didn’t notice. Judy said that happened to her, except that the piece of music fell to the floor and she just looked down at it and kept playing!
We had some time before our first excursion, so I transferred the pictures of Miltenberg from our camera to the flash drive I had brought with us. And it’s a good thing I did – we took a LOT more pictures!
At 9:45 a.m. we boarded a tour bus for the 75 minute ride to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
While on the bus, the guide told us about part of Rothenburg’s history. Rothenburg has always been one of our favorite German cities. It is a medieval walled town, and there is a 1.5 mile walkway at the top of the wall that encircles the town, that is still walkable. According to the info sheet: “The wall connects five medieval gates, complete with guard towers that date from the 13th to 16th centuries.” Fascinating!
When we arrived in the town center, there was an impromptu brass concert going on, with the players all dressed in German outfits. They were quite good, and we enjoyed their music.
At 12:00 all of those on the Viking tour that had taken the Rothenburg excursion, met for lunch at the Gasthof Glocke.
It was a neat old eatery, and they were open just for us.
Unfortunately, they only had one menu: bratwurst, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. I know it was easier for them to only serve one menu for that many people, but we were really looking forward to schnitzel. Fortunately, since Fred doesn’t touch sauerkraut, he was able to get his without the sauerkraut. It was still a good meal. We sat at a table for four, kind of in a booth. We didn’t get the names of our table mates.
After lunch, we were on our own to explore Rothenburg. We found a shop we had seen on the tour, and purchased a Christmas table runner. We found Käthe Wohlfahrt’s Christmas shop – a favorite place to shop for Christmas ornaments. We purchased three Christmas brass ornaments for Christmas gifts.
We walked around and found “the door” that we had been looking for (please see my post on December 13, 2015 titled “The Door”)
~~~~~~~~~~Part 6 – To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~
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Improvise
11 MarFrom the Heart
Louise Gibson
“Nothing on earth can stop the man with the right mental attitude
from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with
the wrong mental attitude.”
Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States
“Ageless Body, Timeless Mind”
Deepak Chopra
Think happy – be happy
Our thoughts affect our chemistry
Positive Mind, Healthy Heart
Two nuns were on their way to the hospital where they worked when their car ran out of gas. They walked to he nearest service station, which didn’t have gas cans. Then one of the nuns remembered they had a bedpan in the trunk. They filled it at the gas station and carried it carefully back to the car. As they were pouring the gas from the bedpan into the car two men happened by in a truck. Staring in disbelief, one said to the other, “Now that’s what I call faith”. And were they surprised when those two nuns
passed them on the freeway. : – )
Lesson: You need to locate the ability that lies within you to respond
creatively. Be flexible. When things don’t go your way, improvise.
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Old Things R New 