Category: Prayer

The Victory

11/17/2014

All of us have or will have to experience times of difficulty, hardships, and defeat. Sometimes, when you are going through this pain it is a brutal thought to realize God allowed it. He allowed your body or the body of a loved one to be injured or have a horrible sickness. He allowed you to lose your job. He allowed you to be in a car accident. Or maybe he allowed even the loss of someone you hold dear.

Oh, and it is so difficult at these times to power through on a faith in our God. A faith that He is doing all things for good. A faith that there will be victory in this time of extreme defeat.

Its been a hard thought for me, for sure. During that rough pregnancy, the early birth and various sicknesses of our twin girls, and the continuing hardships I clung to an idea that faith would preserve me and prayer would protect me...but it didn't keep the things I feared away from me. I still gave birth early, lost a child, and had my world tossed and turned into complete insecurity.

Oh, it hurts that God did not stop it.

My perfect, holy, and loving God allowed it.

And then this morning I came across a story that put it all into new perspective for me. It was the story of Lazarus. (John 11) Jesus was told of Lazarus' sickness and chose not to go to him until Lazarus was already gone. But the death and subsequent resurrection of Lazarus was a powerful demonstration of God's power, glory, and love. Jesus, though it hurt him deeply to allow such pain for Lazarus and his sisters, knew what he was doing.

And in the end, he did all he promised to do. He saved Lazarus from death.

Then I realized that God's glory has been shown. Even in these times of hurt I have victory. And the funny thing is, to me the victory has been faith. Having survived things that could easily pull families and lives apart, we are stronger now than ever before. And then I saw it...

Faith preserved me.

Prayer protected me.

My heart was not hardened through the fire but has an even greater ability to love.

Isn't that a miracle?

My faith, though challenged dearly through this super-long and painful year that my sister accurately has dubbed "The Job Year", is just as strong and maybe even stronger.

But what brings tears to my eyes is the fact that I didn't do this. I know I didn't. There were hours of completely darkness, terrible days of weakness, anger, and despair. I did not keep myself from falling away from God.

No.

God kept me close to him and didn't let me fall.

"For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock."
Psalm 27:5

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The Expert Grumbler

4/24/2014

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Each one of us is an expert grumbler, a professional complainer, a bonafide pessimist. We're so good at it that we can spill forth those negative words and complaints without having to give it a second thought. We're so adept at throwing around our misfortunes that we can do it without thinking, looking at life through muddy lenses instead of rose-colored glasses. It is just so natural.

And it is ridiculously sad.

I'm so guilty of this. Ask me three months ago what my ideal day would be and I would have told you that I would love an entire day in bed to read, write, and nap to my heart's contentment. Then came the doctor's orders: Bed rest and I'm upset at my predicament. I have been given the order to rest until the babies come and I feel like I'm in prison.

Oh, Lora, you are such a child still. God has so much pruning to do of your heart and soul.

And I can't spend dozens of weeks viewing my life like this. I can't be constantly looking at my life and feeling useless and scared. I can't. I won't. Because as Christians we are more than conquerors.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Romans 8:37

We are to be more than conquers in whatever situation God places us. That means we are not just to survive, but to work with God to turn it all into examples of beauty and growth.

After praying about my grumbling attitude this morning I took a deep breath and decided to conquer and rise above the predicament life has placed me in. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop following doctor's orders. No, it means that I am going to grow with this and let it all begin to show God's blessings. No more grumbling. Time to practice a different skill--praise, thankfullness, adoration.

Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves."
John 6:43

In what situation have you become an expert grumbler? Have you a job that seems to get under you skin? Are your children going through a difficult phase and you just want them older? Have you been injured or fallen sick and pain and inconvenience threaten to steal your happiness? Perhaps you've lost a relationship and life feels low and sad. I challenge you to be more than a conqueror. Don't just survive. Let your heart and life move you beyond disappointment so you can see how beautiful are God's blessings.

Photo by CGP Grey

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God is a Hard Taskmaster

4/16/2014

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God, help me to not worry. Show me how I can learn and grow. Teach me to rely on You. Help me strengthen my faith.

I've prayed that prayer thousands of times over the years. I've been a professional worrier since I could toddle. So concerned with the "what ifs" of life I had ulcers around the time I was ten years old.

And as I grew up I realized how great a sin worry is and how desperately my heart needed to be purged of such unfaithful habits.

Slowly, but surely, I did start to change, started to change habits of worry into habits of faith. But, I am still very good at over-planning, over-thinking, over-analyzing problems to the point that I can make myself sick. And with my imagination I don't just consider possibilities, sometimes I even live through them in my head. I can imagine a situation in such detail that I'll be in tears over something that hasn't and might not ever, happen.

Worry is the crack in which the devil hurts me the deepest.

And, I kept praying and praying for God to show me how to change, how to shield my heart and mind against the attacks that I keep inviting into my life.

Well, God is truly a hard taskmaster. I am now getting moment-by-moment lessons on faith. Every second the reality of possibly losing my unborn babies is thrust before me and yet there is still hope that several weeks from now I might hold two healthy baby girls in my arms.

I cannot live but to focus only on what today brings me and not live in fear of what tomorrow might hold. Prayers constantly cross my lips, heart, and mind and a habit that I once thought impossible to learn has now become a necessity for survival. As Jesus said, I must not "worry about tomorrow for today has enough worries of its own." God is teaching me how to live for today and have faith that he will get me through all tomorrow will bring.

I love my Teacher. He has taken a firm hand in making sure I learn and grow. He has listened to my pleas and daily teaches me lessons that strengthen my faith.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
Matthew 7:7

Photo by Leland Francisco via Flickr

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Inspired by a Young Author

4/15/2014

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A young woman recently contacted me, wanting to share her story on my miracles blog. Her life-story is beautiful. She had a rare sickness as a child and grew up with a strong Christian faith as she dealt with things that some adults would have trouble surviving. I asked her to write her story and introduce herself on my blog. I look forward to reading the Christian Fantasy Novel that she has published and am blessed to meet another Christian sister.

              I Prayed for the Words.
                    By E.J. Norris

I begin telling this tale by saying that we serve an incredible God; he who the mountains obey and he who parts seas is very much alive in all of us. Every day I praise him for all he has done for me.

When I was about ten years old, happy and carefree, my family and I were startled by the symptoms of a rare medical condition. On the night of the occurrence I was playing happily when suddenly my mouth filled with blood. Terrified and frantic, I rushed to the bathroom and spat into the sink, staining the pearl white red. But more blood gushed out faster than I could spit. My sister ran for my mother who was a trained nurse and managed to hurriedly stifle the bleeding. After she had calmed me she and my father got me into the car and we drove off into the night. I recall that we sang all the way to the emergency room,

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice,

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice,

Rejoice! Rejoice! Again I say rejoice,

Rejoice! Rejoice! Again I say rejoice!

Once surrounded by the white walls of the doctor’s office I was examined by the doctor on call at the time. We explained to him the stunning events of the evening and he was just as puzzled.

        “I can see she bled.” he said. Indeed it was obvious because of the stains left on my shirt. “But I can’t see anything wrong.”

There was no reason to keep me there so we returned home and I, in my child-like mind, was content to forget it. But my mother was not. After all, one doesn’t begin bleeding profusely just because. In our family, God is at the head and she prayed. She received a single, clear answer, “Call the dentist.”

She called my dentist and he said,

        “If it happens again, bring her in. We’ll leave the office open for you.”

Sure enough, what I was content to forget happened yet again. It was a winter evening, as the first incident had been, and I was eating dinner when that same ominous taste came. The second bleed was not as dramatic as the first, but just as troubling. We dropped everything and off to the dentist we went. I expected to sit and wait for awhile like we had in the emergency room, but we were ushered in immediately. X-rays were taken and the dentist looked, observing a shadowed area beneath my molars on the lower right side. Praise God that he realized that this mysterious ailment was beyond his expertise! He put up his hands and said,

“I’m not touching her. I’m sending you to an oral surgeon.”

I was listening, uncomprehending. Oral Surgeon? What’s that?

        It was another waiting room, another office, and another doctor to try and decipher the strange problem. But I know God brought us there because when he examined my case he was stunned and exclaimed that he had just finished a book on this subject that very day! Then, for the first time, the ailment had a name: Arterial Venous Malformation. For treatment he sent us to the expert, the author of the book, in Boston, Massachusetts. That began a cycle of treatment during which I leaned on the Lord as I continued going through school and coping.

        Then came the summer of 2011, the summer before my junior year of high school, I began seeking what the good Lord meant for me to do. I wasn’t sure. Others around me were planning for college and prosperous careers. At that point my greatest love was writing. It was such fun to invent worlds and people and that summer I wondered what would happen if I let God take hold of my pen. What if I prayed for the words? So, I prayed saying,

        “Lord, the pen is yours. What do you want me to do?”

When God leads amazing things happen and within just a few days a Christian based plot came to mind with a fire unlike any story that came before it. After two or three tries at a beginning it came to life on the pages of a large, black journal and it flowed as easily as water. Nothing slowed its progress and it was encouragement and help in my healing as the condition continued. While recovering from a surgery, rather than being

swallowed by my circumstances I waited in anticipation for the anesthesia induced fog in my head to clear. Every morning I would say to myself,

“I wonder if I’ll be able to write today.”

Now, as of April 1rst 2014, that story, The Mirror and The Sword is officially a published novel. How it has grown amazes me! I am nineteen years old and an author! The story continues, for The Mirror and The Sword is just the beginning.

        In sharing this with the world around me it’s my hope that God uses it to touch the lives of all who travel through its pages and if any doubts come to my mind about the future I will try to have faith like a mustard seed and keep in mind my favorite verse.

         “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

                                                  Philippians 4:13

                          God bless you all and keep a smile on.

                                                                                 E.J. Norris

Biography

E.J. Norris was born on July 16, 1994 in Blue Hill, Maine. While hop-skipping between home school, Calvary Chapel Christian School, and Bangor High School, writing evolved from a mere hobby to an obsession. It was inspired by personal beliefs and a struggle through complex medical problems. Through its publication, the author hopes that the adventures of Tenny and Anna will encourage others through difficult times. E.J. currently resides in Orrington, Maine.

Find her book at
https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-62902-118-8

Or Click on the link below to buy a paperback copy from Amazon.

The Mirror and the Sword

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God's Olympians

2/12/2014

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I watched that beautiful 15-year-old girl, Yulia Lipnitskaia, skate in near perfection. It took my breath away and even made my eyes fill with tears. Then, after the awe wore off, I recognized a deeper feeling within me that had fanned to life as I watched someone else use a God-given gift to recognize an amazing potential. That feeling was hunger. Because I know I'm not there yet. I'm still training, still learning to listen to His voice.

But the hunger stays and women like Yulia remind me that road to great things are usually long and difficult. We can't give up when we don't get what we want in a week, month, or year and then assume that such dreams were not for us. And we definitely cannot give up when God has given us that hunger. Hunger to be who he has planned us to be.

Even when I was little I had a strong desire to show the beauty of life to other, to express it, to let others feel it the way I did. I've dabbled in sketching, painting, music, and writing. When I began writing novels ten years ago I felt something bloom within me. Like a girl with a secret garden I began cultivating an ability to show life through stories. And I've known ever since that it was God's path for me.

I'm so glad I had a chance to watch some of the Winter Olympics this year. My novel writing has been non-existent since we came home to the States. I've pushed it to the sidelines as I've concentrated on all the rest of life going on around me. But, it is time to get back to it. I'm praying for God to show me ways to find the energy and time to work on those stories. I'm hungry for it. I'm hungry to do the work God has made me to do. He made me to be a mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend too and I am ever thankful for how rich my life is.

I think that each and every Christian out there, daily training to listen to His voice and follow His plans, are God's Olympians. That's an exciting thought for me. That in my little corner of the world I can be in God's front line, be the very best at His specific plan for me. And that hunger is ever present, insuring that I strive for excellence, that I strive for a unique potential, a life full of Him.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
Ephesian 3:20

Photo by The Department of Culture, Media and Sport

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Ha! A New Year Resolution After All

1/24/2014

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Yeah, I've ALWAYS had a New Year's Resolution. Always. But this year I ushered in the New Year with only a hearty desire for some extra hours of sleep. Pregnancy and all the other life changes me and my family are going through right now made any promises for the new year seem laughable. And I didn't give it another thought, not even one. Until a sweetly written article popped onto my computer screen that rocked my world.

It was a woman's invitation to join her as she memorized verses from the gospel John. But it wasn't her challenge that rocked me, it was the reason behind me that brought tears to my eyes and had me bowing my head in shame.

She said, in the most humble way, that she wanted to be a Jesus-adorer, not a Jesus-user.

Oh.

I sucked in my breath as mountains of prayers I've shot out in the last month came back to me. I'm always asking of God, requesting of God, relying on God. And while none of this is bad, what is shameful is that my heart rarely rises to a feeling of honest worship for my Great Father and for Jesus who brought it all for us to have.

The need to reverse this selfish pestering of God came to me in waves. Oh, how I long to reach out to God with a heart that reflects even a fraction of the love he bursts upon me daily.

Daily, his generous blessings are received.... and received... and received. I do remember to thank Him, usually with as much feeling as I give to someone who passes me a dish at the kitchen table.

God, forgive me. Create in me a new heart, one that blesses you, that adores you, that worships you first. First of all and everything.

And, I don't even want to down-grade this quest of mine by calling it a resolution so that it can be cataloged along with promises to eat healthier and publish books or change bad habits.

Ann Voskamp has introduced a powerful idea into my heart that God is using to change the very core of me. I feel it already. My verse this week was from John 1:5 "Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

He shines in me. In me. And He shines in every one of us who has invited Him into our hearts.

Do you want to do this with me? Go on this quest to change your heart?

Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:5

See Ann Voskamps article Because it's Never Too Late to Find Your Wings. Blessings to you.

Image by Devin Young

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Finding God...Again

1/13/2014

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These days I feel like everything I begged and prayed for the past few months has been coming to pass. I’ve been home for the Holiday season for the first time in years. I’ve filled many days with beautiful moments. I got to be there when my newest nephew was born and was there to share that precious miracle with my sister. I got to spend comfortable days in the home of my parents, clean and cook for them, and share in the joy and laughter as my daughter gets to know her grandparents. I’ve got to see the excited and love-filled look in the eyes of my husband’s family when we shared the news that we are welcoming another child into the world sometime next fall.

All these things… ALL these things… I have prayed for and rejoice and thank God for his wondrous blessings.

But in these days, packed with wonder, I have put something even more precious to the sideline.

Quiet.

It sounds simple and perhaps unnecessary, but it is essential to my walk of faith--Quiet time with God.

That’s when I pray, deep and simply, and wait to hear is voice.

That’s when I let life pause and feel the deep strains of God’s spirit tug me to His will.

That’s when I am renewed.

In the Bible, Jesus went away, alone to the garden and prayed. For hours he prayed. And it wasn’t the only time. Jesus went and searched for His quiet time alone with His Heavenly Father on many occasions.

It is vital.

It is important.

It is what keep the path illuminated, keeps us hearing His voice beating strong in the deep strains of our hearts.

That is where our strength comes from.

Photo by VinothChandar

Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them.
Psalm 32:6

When and how do you find quiet time to spend with God? Perhaps your experiences can help some of your brothers and sisters in Christ begin to spend daily time, alone with God. Please, go ahead and share.

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Miracles Happen Everyday

The Victory

The Expert Grumbler

God is a Hard Taskmaster

Inspired by a Young Author

God's Olympians

Ha! A New Year Resolution After All

Finding God...Again

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