Friday, July 8, 2011

The Power of Prayer




I am in awe of the miraculous ways The Lord provides for us and I wanted to share a testimony with you in hopes of encouraging your hearts and inspiring your belief in the power of prayer.

Marko and I really could not afford to go to Brazil. A year ago we had planned on traveling to Brazil as a family but made the hard decision not to go based on the economy and the cost of plane tickets. Originally I was asked to direct an ESL Program for the Brazilian Students that would be attending the i2Training. Due to the massive amount of homework that goes along with the training course, my English course had to be canceled. This was confirmation that the kids and I really didn't need to be there. We decided to postpone our family trip to Brazil, sending Marko alone to support Josh in the Ministry. We were disappointed, but felt peaceful about our decision. This year we felt something beyond ourselves propelling us towards Brazil, and yet money was tighter than ever.

We sold the last of our 401k in order to purchase plane tickets which had gone up significantly since our last trip out of the country. We knew things were going to be tight, but we also knew that we were supposed to go on this trip. We had a peace and an excitement about traveling back to Brazil. We knew there was a purpose in our being there which was confirmed over these past two weeks.

Upon returning home from Brazil on Wednesday, we were aware that our checking accounts were running low. When I went on my daily prayer walk yesterday morning, I prayed specifically that The Lord would multiply our money (a prayer I frequently make). I also prayed that I would be able to buy a few groceries in order to get us by until pay day. My tendency is to worry about finances despite the fact that the bible promises The Lord will take care of us more than the birds of the air, and despite the fact that we have seen financial miracles consistently over the past 18 years! I think I am finally really "getting it" and really "believing it to be true." I truly believe that the Lord WILL provide as He promises. I am just a really slow learner!

Matthew 6: 25 says: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

After my walk, I hopped into my car and headed for Safeway. As I was walking down the isles, very carefully selecting items that I needed the most, Marko walked in with a big smile on his face. He met his boss in the Safeway parking lot to commute to work and had seen me pull in. He said "Hi Beautiful-I have a surprise for you!" He then handed me an envelope filled with cash! Marko's boss and friend, Tony, had sold our Honda Pilot. The most incredible part of this story is that our car sold for almost the exact amount of money that we spent traveling to Brazil AND it sold at about the exact time we were landing at Seatac Airport!

The Honda could have sold while we were in Brazil and Tony would have emailed us telling us that he deposited money into our account. We would have been comforted knowing that the money was there (we might also have been tempted to spend money frivolously with that knowledge). I think it is no accident that the car sold the moment we arrived in the U.S. It allowed us the opportunity to really rely on the Lord while we were in Brazil and trust that He would take care of our every need while we were there, as well as, upon our return.

I share this story with you because for those of you who are Christians, I want you to recognize that if you are "Called" by God to go somewhere or do something and if you are obedient to that call, regardless of how impossible it may seem, you need to step out in faith and believe that He will provide for you. He ALWAYS comes through-even if it is in the final hour which it often is!

For those of you are not Christians, I share this with you in hopes of encouraging you to believe, not only in the power of prayer, but in God and in His son, Jesus whom died on the cross for our sins. My hope is that you would believe that there is so much more to our lives than simply living day to day for ourselves. We each have a purpose under heaven and there is nothing than can keep us from that purpose if our mind and heart are set on heavenly things and not earthly things.

Be encouraged and believe in the power of prayer!!!


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