Winter is the best time to read!

Of course, the other three seasons are perfect as well. I once had a woman ask me how I ever found any time to read. But reading is like breathing to me—it’s pretty high priority.

I finished God on Mute by Pete Grieg. I loved it. I loved his honesty, and the truth he presented in a very doctrinal, rational way, but still extremely accessible and clear. How do you handle it when God doesn’t answer your prayers the way you think he should?

I recommended this book to a lot of people. I got some negative feedback. One said that she felt her hope for God to answer her prayers diminished, that it seemed to throw cold water on her faith. I didn’t feel that way at all.

I think one of the greatest models for miracle faith is found in the biblical story of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. What did those boys tell the most powerful man on earth right before they were thrown into the fiery furnace? “We believe our God CAN deliver us, and we believe He WILL deliver us. HOWEVER, even if He does not, we still won’t bow down and worship your image.”

Their confession of God’s ability to miraculously deliver them, and that they indeed believed He would was FAITH! In fact, it was GREAT FAITH! But their final statement was a kind of greater faith, a deeper faith. In their statement of “even if He does not” they were proclaiming that they would continue to serve and worship Him alone. They were acknowledging that they were willing to worship beyond their understanding. And incidentally, they did get their prayers answered! They did get delivered. Their faith did prevail. It was essential that they “go for it.” If they had just acquiesced to their fate, if they hadn’t believed for a miraculous deliverance, it most likely would not have happened.

I praise God for the strong faith heritage I have. I thank Him for all the incredible answers to prayer I’ve seen, honest to goodness miracles. I could, and probably should, write a book about the things I’ve seen our great God do. I thank Him for the ways He has delivered me when there wasn’t a chance in the world. I believe in GOING FOR IT!

I believe we have a mandate as believers to do that—to pray for the sick and see them recovered, to believe God for impossible things. The Bible says we are to pray without ceasing, and I’m praying more than I ever have in my life. My faith is bigger than it’s ever been, which is the way it ought to be—constantly increasing. However, I’m honest enough to admit I don’t bat 1.000. I don’t get every single one of my prayers answered the way I think it ought to be!

But I also believe that, as God’s children, we win even when we lose, that He is able to make all things work together for good for those who loved Him and are called according to His purpose. A great model for unanswered prayer is King David, who fought for his infant son’s life with fasting and unceasing prayers, but who, when the baby died, got up, worshipped God, and went on with life. He continued to trust and have great faith in his Father God. He was willing to worship beyond his understanding, and I am too.

I’d love to discuss the book with anyone. I’m three chapters into another great book, Water from a Deep Well, by Gerald Sittser. Each chapter is a historical overview of a different era of the church and what it can contribute to the Body of Christ today. The author makes the great point that every generation has made mistakes, but not the same ones. We have the advantage of coming along afterwards and can learn from what they did wrong but also what they did right. So far the book has been fabulous…but I’ll leave it at that for now!