At a very early age I learned the “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer which I said every night blessing those I loved and confessing the same sins. Never knowing that I had been forgiven the first time I confessed. God and Jesus were the characters in Bible stories I heard at Sunday school and church. I never doubted Jesus was the Son of God. I just never took Him off the pages of the Bible. I do remember at about the age of 16 looking up at the crucifix and asking God why He stopped talking since He had talked to Moses, Abraham and the other Bible characters. Many years later I came to know He has not stopped talking; I just didn't have ears to hear.
From my mid twenties until thirty three, I was extremely depressed. If you would look at my life, it was ideal. Perfect little family, loving husband, precious daughter and a lovely home. What more could one wish for? Prescribed happy pills with an occasional beer thrown in consisted of my coping mechanism, though with little relief. At this time our family moved to Florida and started going to a spirit-filled church. I attended communion every Wednesday morning and communion and Bible study Thursday morning. The lovely thing about the women in this Bible study was they were all so happy and talking about Jesus all the time. I know they knew I didn’t know Jesus like they did they, but they loved me as I was.
At this point I made an appointment for counseling with the priest. Rather than going to his office that afternoon, we went into the chapel. When we got there he asked my friend that was with us to kneel down at the altar and he prayed for her. She cried and then rejoiced in the Lord. For some reason, even though this was different, I felt all was well. Then as I knelt, he asked me what I felt. Out of my mouth came “hate”. I remember being surprised that I admitted it, but it seemed appropriate at that point to say it. He then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, demanded the spirit of hate to leave me. The demon was reluctant to leave but Al prevailed in prayer and it did leave. After this the Lord would reveal to me what Al should pray for next, and after about thirty minutes there was a peace in my soul.
At that point he asked me what I wanted. From deep within me came the words "the Holy Spirit". I had no idea at that time that I could have a relationship with the Holy Spirit. What I did learn was that when the Holy Spirit came into my life, Jesus came in also. All I had known of the Holy Spirit was you said "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" when you made the sign of the cross. Al said he was going to pray and I should pray the same words. He started to pray and then quietly left. I stayed at the altar and prayed in the Spirit. After I left the chapel, Al was waiting for me. My first words were, "when is confession?" I had never been to confession but the Lord had brought those words to my mind.
My friend had given me a Good News for Modern Man Bible that afternoon and I went home and immediately started reading it. Much to my surprise, I understood what I read. Many times I had tried to understand the Bible to no avail. This was awesome. One of the first things I did when I got home was write GLORY on my calendar. I was not as sure that Jesus was in me as I was that the devil was there no more. What joy that brought to my spirit!
Within the month, my husband came to the Lord and before many more days my sister-in-law, and then my brother. Now my whole family has asked Jesus into their lives and all are serving Him with mighty ministries. How awesome is our God!?
My life is full. I am now a widow, but the Lord has brought many people into my life to bless me and many that I have been able to share Jesus with. One of the things I love most is to be able to pray with people. I have been blessed to be part of Jesus’s healing prayer and encourage others in His ways. He has given me a spirit of boldness for His people and I rejoice in that. I am encouraged everyday when I read Jeremiah 29:11-13,
“'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.'”
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