Heart Hope by Olga

Have you ever stopped to think that the way we pray might make the difference in how the prayers are answered? I questioned this after hearing the following story. Three years out of work can seem like an eternity. The job search, phone calls, networking, interviews, resumes get old after a while. That's where my second cousin was after being laid off from her job. We had all been praying for what seemed a very long time in our finite minds, but God's mind is not always like ours. So as Carol waited patiently or maybe a bit frustrated at times, God was indeed at work behind the scenes, but what was He trying to teach everyone during this long stretch in the desert? Could it be patience, trust, dependence or something entirely different? After the weeks, months and years of Carol's job hunting my cousin Jane, mother of the unemployed, woke up one morning and had her quiet prayer time with the Lord. As she prayed she recalls asking God for two important ...

Our final words can be so important. I have shared my Daddy's final words often and so since tomorrow August 2nd would have been his 86th birthday I thought it would be fitting to share them with you, so they can offer hope and encouragement:  My once healthy father lay sick in a hospital bed when just a few weeks before he had been the picture of health… until he suffered from a collapsed lung. Daddy had acquired the unthinkable while in the hospital to have the lung repaired—a staph infection. When I traveled from Texas to Mississippi to visit him, the diagnosis had not been made, but we did know that he was something was terribly wrong. My beloved father was a man of integrity, loved by all who knew him, and every night I would see him kneeling beside his bed in prayer, but he never talked about his faith. It always bothered me that he would ask if I had been to the dentist or if I had been to have my eyes checked, but he never asked me about my relationship with the ...

Have you ever sent a text or an email to the wrong person? Well, I must admit that I have. I have also received texts that I had no idea who they were from and was unsure if I should call them to find out if it was meant for me or just let it go. During the recent Priscilla Shirer simulcast they had us write down our prayer requests and place them on the altar to be prayed over or we could text them to the number provided. Since I would be the one gathering the requests from our church and praying over them I decided that I would text mine to the prayer line so I too could have others praying for my concerns. As I hit send on my request I had a warm feeling that many people who are a part of the Lifeway conference ministry would be praying for me. It was late when I arrived home and I took the prayer requests and spread them across my bed, picking each one up as if touching each woman while praying over their needs. Prayers for the salvation of loved ones, prayers for ch...