In Touch

The 5/17 verse for today is 1 Thes 5:17, "Never stop praying."  (NLT)

When my dad was 70 years old, he accepted Christ as his Savior while watching Charles Stanley on television.  My mom had been praying for him their entire married life.  I am so thankful for my mother and her faith and love for the Lord.  I'm sure Daddy is really thankful too, as he now spends his days with the Lord in heaven.  She never gave up and kept on praying.  I know it was God's will that my dad would come to know Him, so, that, along with Mom's persistence in prayer, finally melted my dad's resistance so he could make the choice of a lifetime.  The Lord is so good and was so patient with Dad all those years as Mom sought Him in prayer.

There was another time in my life, where prayer was all I had and God used Charles Stanley to minister to my spirit through his radio broadcast.  Dr. Stanley and the Lord have encouraged me like a tag-team more than once.  I'm glad Dr. Stanley was in touch with God through a prayer relationship.  I can attest to the harvest from the sweet fruit of that relationship.  The situation I'm referring to was when my marriage was on the rocks and I had to give everything over to God.  Through long road trips for business, I prayed and listened to Dr. Stanley on the radio.  His words were like manna from heaven; I knew they were God's words for my heart.  Before long, God miraculously turned my marriage around and saved my husband.  Oh Happy Day!

Some years later, my husband, now serving as a pastor (I told you the Lord was good!), went on a conference to Andy Stanley's church.  Charles Stanley is Andy Stanley's father and was going to be the speaker at the last session of the conference.  I got so excited!  I planned on writing Dr. Stanley a letter to tell him how much his ministry had personally touched my life over the years, and have my husband give it to him at the conference.  The fact that his ministry is called "In Touch" has real significance to me.  I never did get the letter written, but I told my husband, along with his co-workers, that I had been praying that Bill would meet Dr. Stanley and have a chance to speak with him.  I told everyone that I really thought the Lord was going to answer that prayer.  They all thought I was crazy, because thousands of people would be at that conference and chances of Bill getting to meet Dr. Stanley were almost laughable.  But I was praying!

When Bill and his co-workers got to Atlanta, where the conference was, they were having lunch at P.F. Chang's restaurant.  Bill soon called me and said, "You'll never guess who is in the restaurant!"  I guessed, "Charles Stanley...but don't go over and say anything to him!  You'll ruin the whole thing!"  A little disappointed that he couldn't go before God, Bill reluctantly said okay.  We hung up, but he called me again 30 minutes later.  He told me I would never believe what happened and gave the phone to a co-worker so he could tell me what went down.  Charles Stanley had walked right up to Bill, introduced himself and had Bill introduce him to everyone else.  He said something like, "Tell me who you are, where you're from and what you're doing here."  Everyone at the table had their jaws dropped at this point.  They had all but laughed at my audacity to say that I thought God would answer my prayer and now that answer was standing right in front of them, talking to them.  As this guy was relaying this story to me, all of a sudden I heard, "Hold on just a minute...."  Charles Stanley had walked back up to the table and told my husband he thought he was supposed to talk to him some more.  Bill told him a little about my dad and that his wife had prayed he would get to meet Dr. Stanley.  Bill said something like, "Will you talk to my wife?" All of a sudden, I heard that unmistakable southern drawl saying, "Young lady, first of all, I want to make sure you're this man's wife!"  Full of awe, I confirmed that I was and went on to tell him how his ministry had touched my life and that I had prayed my husband would get to meet him.  He said, "That just goes to show you the power of prayer, doesn't it?"  Oh, yes, it did!

That's just another one of those things I call God hugs, but it came about through prayer.  I'm so glad I am "In Touch" with God through prayer.  It's one of the most exciting and fulfilling experiences a person could ever have in this life.  So stay in touch, Friends, and keep on praying!