Author Archives: Nannette

About Nannette

Wife to The Sweetheart, Mom to the Fantastic Six, Nana to six of the cutest littles on the planet, Author, The Daniel Fast, A Devotional. UPCI ministers.

But Prayer…

4 Replies

I have unashamedly borrowed my title from my pastor’s message Sunday night. When a thought is that good it needs to be shared. I did not take notes, I just loved the title and the scripture lesson and I knew I wanted to write about it. I hope I can do it justice.

In the Book of Acts, the 12^th chapter, Herod the King is a little upset. The Church is flourishing, that is not on his agenda, so he has James, the brother of John, killed. And when he sees that makes him a pretty big guy with the Jews he then has Peter put into prison.

So I love this part, Herod is so afraid of the Church, or of Peter, or of SOMEBODY, that he has “four squads of four soldiers each” guarding Peter. It takes 16 soldiers to keep hold of one measly fisherman who is “fastened with two chains between two soldiers” and even “others stood guard at the prison gate”. Acts 12:6.

But while Peter was in prison, asleep, the Church was praying, the Bible said they were praying “very earnestly”. Suddenly a light shines in the prison and an angel of the Lord comes to Peter, strikes him on the side, raises him up and says, “Quick! Get up!” The chains fell off his wrists and the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals and your coat and follow me.”

Peter leaves the prison, following the angel but all the time he thinks he is having a vision! He didn’t realize it was actually happening. They pass the first and second guard posts and nobody stops them! The Bible doesn’t say why, it doesn’t say if they were seen or not but just says they passed by but the posts were surely guarded. Then they come to the Iron Gate leading to the city and this opened for them ALL BY ITSELF.

Once they walked through the Iron Gate, the angel suddenly leaves Peter and he finally realizes it is all real. “The Lord has sent his angel and save me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!” Acts 12:11. Peter probably thought he was to meet the same fate as that of James! He wasn’t expecting to be delivered and now it has really hit him that a real rescue has taken place.

So Peter goes to the source of the miracle, he heads to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where the prayer meeting was taking place. He knocks and Rhoda comes to open the door. She is so excited when she hears Peter’s voice that instead of opening the door she runs back inside to tell everyone he is there.

But they aren’t convinced. “You’re out of your mind!” they said. But when she keeps insisting, they decide it must be his angel.

Maybe they were praying for him to be bold and strong in the face of adversity or even death. It isn’t that they didn’t have faith to believe for a miracle, but they had just seen James killed for his beliefs and were probably sure Peter was next.

So, poor Peter? He is still out there knocking! Rhoda finally opens the door and they realize that their prayers have not just kept him strong in the face of adversity or ready to face martyrdom, but their prayers produced a miracle!

But Prayer!

Prayer made the difference! They came together, they travailed, they interceded, there was unity, there was power because they prayed!

Are we like that group that gathered for that prayer meeting so long ago? Are we desperate for our prayers to be answered?

What about those that are “chained” among us? Those with addictions, mental illnesses, “issues” that others don’t want to mess with?

Will we “go to bat” for them? Will we care enough to lose sleep over them, even lose a meal or two?

Do we see the power of united prayer? Of the meaning of “…where two or three are gathered in my name there I will be in the midst of them…”? Matthew 18:20.

Will our prayers mean enough that a light from Heaven will shine down and break those chains where they can stand up and not only be free but run past all of those addictions that have them bound?

Matthew Henry says “We that live in a cold, prayerless generation can hardly form an idea of the earnestness of these holy men of old. But if the Lord should bring on the church an awful persecution like this of Herod, the faithful in Christ would learn what soul-felt prayer is.”

The Waiting Room…

28 Replies

Winding down our week of celebrating…one more to go! Hope in the Healing has had a great year and one of the posts that readers loved the most was this one, The Waiting Room. Why? Because we have ALL been there. Blessings!

Waiting…Waiting…Waiting. You despise to wait. You are in the office. You made it to the appointment on time. You left work on time. You even fought traffic, battled for the last parking space in the lot and ran up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. But you made it.

Now you wait.

Why can’t they be on time? Have you ever wanted to send them a bill? Have you seen the sign in some professional offices now?

If you are more than 15 minutes late you will be billed for a missed appointment.

But yes, let us be fair, they have delays too. They have patients or customers that are late that put the next patient or customer late…and so on, and so on…

Even though our natural response to waiting is like nails on a chalkboard, it can actually be a time of growth if we let it.

“I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’” Lamentations 3:24 NIV.

Think of all the patriarchs in the Bible who went through extreme waiting periods in their life!

Abraham and Sarah – Waiting 25 years for a child.

Moses waited as a shepherd for 40 years before the Lord called him to lead the people of Israel. (Then he wandered another 40 years in the wilderness if we want to count that!)

Joseph waited 13 years as a prisoner, abandoned by his brothers, sold as a slave and then finally reunited in his role as one of the leaders of Egypt.

“We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.” Psalm 33:20 NIV.

In the Waiting Room we are listening for our name to be called. We learn to recognize His voice. We are quiet, we are sensitive, prayerful, so as not to miss Him. We want to surround ourselves with others who are like-minded so that we are not confused or disoriented as we wait.

What are we looking at in the Waiting Room? What are we filling our minds with while we wait? Is it pleasing to God?

[Tweet “Are we searching for an answer in the “things of God” or in the things of this world?”]

What are we “feeding” on?

What kind of impression are we giving out to others in the Waiting Room? Are we Christ-like as we wait? Or are we grumpy, irritable, impatient, letting our feelings be known? “Well, He is not on time and we are NOT happy about it!” “He has not answered, not called our name, where is He?”

“Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm 25:4,5.

Do we realize others see us in our period of waiting? That we are an example of Christ and no matter if it is a small matter or something of great importance, our reaction to the Waiting Room will have an impact on others? Especially on those that are not in relationship with the Savior.

Finally! Our name is called! The answer has come, He has sent someone for us, and it is our turn. What is our reaction in the Waiting Room? Is it one of “Well, it’s about time!” Or is it one of gratitude and praise, thankfulness for prayer that was answered?

Are we short and abrupt, just glad that it is over or are we truly appreciative and acknowledging the Lord, realizing that the outcome is the result of His hand on our lives? It does matter you know, people are watching. And more importantly, the Savior cares.

If you are in a Waiting Room season here are some things you can do:

Don’t stop praying! Ask others to join you in prayer for your situation.

“Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” Ephesians 3:20.

Make sure you are praying God’s will, not YOUR will.

Keep busy by ministering to others!

This is the best way to give back and focus your heart on serving.

“So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.” 2 Corinthians 9:12 NLT.

Don’t allow yourself to become discouraged.

Remember God’s timing is not ours!

It may seem like He is never going to answer but He will! And His will for your life is always the best design. Give it time and rest in His plan.

“Look among the nations and watch—Be utterly astounded!

For I will work a work in your days

Which you would not believe, though it were told you.” Habakkuk 1:5 NKJV

Sharing with Walking Redeemed, Word Filled Wednesday, Winsome Wednesday, Wedded Wednesday, Homemaking Linkup, Wholehearted Home, Homemaking Linkup, Thriving Thursday, Time Travel Thursday, Proverbs 31 Thursday, Thankful Thursday

Feel Worthy!

9 Replies

“Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:35, 36 NIV.

Do you feel unworthy of the love of God? Do you just feel unworthy period? Many struggle with feelings of unworthiness but God doesn’t want us to! He died for us, gave His very life for you and I so that we might have life eternal and as the verse above says, “…If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

I’ll be worthy if I can lose 20 pounds.

I’ll be worthy when I can get that promotion.

I’ll be worthy if my parents are proud of me.

I’ll be worthy when I am finally sober.

I’ll be worthy if we get that bigger house.

And the list goes on, and on, and on. But it doesn’t work that way. If it did we would never be worthy. And we would never be happy. The enemy wants us to believe the lie that our worth is based on our achievements! We would forever be oppressed! Forever without joy and forever de-pressed.

We do not have to earn the love of God. We cannot do one thing to make Him love us more or one thing to make Him love us any less. He just loves us. And He wants us to live victoriously in that love every day.

“His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to! Now all praise to God for his wonderful kindness to us and his favor that he has poured out upon us because we belong to his dearly loved Son.” Ephesians 1:5-6 TLB.

It is not what we have done for Him but what He has done for us! “Which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” The sixth verse in the Amplified version.

We have access to come to the Father any time because HE made a way through the cross! “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. This is the new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us through the sacred curtain, by means of his death for us. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s people, let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him.” Hebrews 10:19-21 NLT.

Another version says we can go “boldly” to the throne of grace! That doesn’t mean we march in demanding that fix everything that is on our list and oh, by the way, throw in a few nice extras for good measure. If that is what you are looking for you are really missing out.

This is about relationship. And when it is about relationship then you will learn what it is to have someone to turn to and someone to count on to be there in times of trouble and trial. He is a Way-Maker, the Comforter, Redeemer, Lily of the Valley, All Sufficient One, Peace Speaker, Almighty, Master, Lord Who Will Provide, Most High God, and our Alpha and Omega.

Feel worthy today, love Him, serve Him, and give Him your time, your talents and your life. He gave all for you.