Christian Family Services Ministry

POST ON PRAYER

07-16-2013 – Indeed this has been of the Lord’s doing. How even from the beginning of days he has turned the tragic into blessings for many. How the Lord uses the weak, and impotent to accomplish His will.

07-15-2013 – I hope I have recounted enough to reveal the importance of listening to the Lord and grasping a sense of the power of the Lord when we ask Him and then give Him the credit.

07-13-2013 – Tony goes after the driver I go to the passenger side. In my peripheral vision I see Tony dragging the driver out of the car. When I jerk open the passenger door the suspect is reaching for a weapon under the seat. Both are arrested. The Lord loves justice and hates murderers. They were delivered into our hands that very evening.

07-12-2013 – We follow the vehicle while we notify other elements to back us up. The suspect vehicle is then lit up and pulls over to the side.

07-11-2013 – I cannot remember the details of the bulletin. I just know the person is wanted. Dispatch has no information so the station is queried and told to get the tag number off the bulletin. It comes back. Yes it is the vehicle.

07-10-2013 – I pointed to the vehicle and told Tony to follow him. Calling dispatch I asked for what is called a “rolling stolen” on the tag.

07-09-2013 – Tony was my partner that evening. We left the station and had not gone 3 blocks and I looked up and saw a vehicle meeting the description in the bulletin.

07-08-2013 – I prayed, “Lord deliver this person into my hands, for your namesake.”

07-06-2013 – “Suspect is a black male, 8-1-66. Driving a brown 1984 Chevrolet. Tag number 014-PBQ”.

07-05-2013 – My eyes were drawn to this one bulletin. The subject was wanted for a double murder. To this day the bulletin is still burned into my memory.

07-04-2013 – On this occasion I was drawn to the bulletin board in the police substation giving information on subjects who were wanted.

07-03-2013 – One last story to emphasis the attribute of justice with the Lord. Most of the time before going on duty I would ask the Lord for a clear mind, and the ability to act quickly to protect others.

07-02-2013 – Learning to listen and obey the Lord are critical attributes for the Lord’s people.

06-29-2013 – This is not the only time someone tried to kill me. It occurred three other times on the streets of South Dallas. In each circumstance the Lord protected me.

06-28-2013 – Halfway done the dark passage I hear the Lord say in my mind. “Stop.” I stop. “Draw your weapon.” I draw my weapon. “Aim to the left.” I turn and aim to the left. I can see nothing. “Turn on your flashlight.” It lights up the suspect holding a large ax over his head ready to strike. Immediate obedience saved my life.

06-27-2013 – I get out to chase him and tell my partner to drive around to the other end of the apartment complex. I jump a short fence and chase the suspect. He runs down this long narrow hallway. All of the lights have been knocked out and it is pitch black.

06-26-2013 – The next lesson is the importance of hearing and obeying. It is early morning, perhaps 1 am. We turn the corner and see two men fighting in the street, one with a knife. My partner stops and the suspect runs.

06-25-2013 – The object of this story is to underline the importance of fearing the Lord. If one does that, puts Him first and fears Him then nothing else in life can overwhelm you.

06-22-2013 – The scene was indescribable. Several card tables set up in the yard were overturned and several victims lying on the ground. Some were wounded, some dying, some already dead.

06-20-2013 – 06-20-2013 – As we approached the scene the major suspect in the shooting was leaving. We did not know that at the time.

06-19-2013 – Seconds later the Emergency Signal goes off again! The dispatcher notifies us that shots our being fired and four other elements are assigned to the call as well as us. By now we are approaching the scene and can hear the gunfire. It is at this very moment the Lord chooses to remind me of the article that I had just finished on “The Fear of the Lord,” and how you cannot fear but one thing at a time. If you fear the Lord nothing else can frighten. I experienced an immediate sense of peace.

06-18-2013 – Half a minute later the radio emits an Emergency Signal. The dispatcher notifies us that our call is now a Code 3 which means red lights and siren. We stepped it up.

06-14-2013 – The dispatcher again calls and notifies us that several calls have been received and we need to step it up. We acknowledged the request.

06-11-2013 – It was summer time. Four o’clock in the afternoon and my partner and I had just gone on duty. The dispatcher asked if we could take a call and we acknowledged that we could. She then gives us an address and the remarks stating there was loud arguments taking place. We started in that direction.

06-10-2013 – I chose to work in the high crime area of South Dallas. So my first 17 years on patrol was filled with domestic violence calls, shootings, cutting, kidnappings, rapes, robberies, murders, car chases, all sorts of violent crimes.

06-08-2013 – Now to be honest I am rated a marksmen. I had never fired a perfect score before that but have several times after that experience, but never under those circumstances. Never practically blind and in a rain storm. He cares about our emotional state.

06-07-2013 – On the way home I ask the Lord why He did that. He told me because He loved me and knew I needed the encouragement.

06-06-2013 – Now it makes no difference if it is night or day, hot or cold, rain or snow if you were there to qualify. You had to do it. I had double vision and it started to rain. I could not see much more than a white blob, the target. When the course of fire was over I went down to the target to watch it scored. The instructor graded it and told me I had shot a perfect score!

06-03-2013 – The first firing position was from the 25 yard line. I looked at the target or should say the two targets. And then a miracle…it started to pour down rain! My vision worsened.

05-31-2013 – I was notified that I had to report for qualifications. Driving out to the range I was experiencing double vision. It was difficult to focus. I hoped it would clear up.

05-28-2013 – I am a reserve Officer with the Dallas Police Department, and have been for 35 years. The department requires that you qualify on the firearms range. At that time it was every 6 months.

05-27-2013 – In 1984 I discovered that I had diabetes. One of the symptoms of high blood sugar is double vision. At the time my blood sugar was running in the 500’s.

05-25-2013 – First of all, the Lord cares about our mental, physical, and emotional states.

05-24-2013 – But there is another part of my life where the Lord has been a constant companion. I have chosen three incidents that reveal His presence, protection, and sense of justice in that world.

05-23-2013 – All of the publications on the website are the result of prayer and direction from the Lord.

05-22-2013 – Mary and I celebrated our 49th anniversary on the 7th of February.

05-21-2013 – I and two friends had been approached to apply for the newly formed Green Beret program which was open to air Force personnel. All three of us applied. They were accepted within a month. My paperwork had been lost. Repeated attempts to find out about the paperwork failed. The Lord lost it.

05-20-2013 – I do know like a winding river He guided my path. In one instance He intervened and lost critical paperwork that would have taken me in a much different path.

05-18-2013 – I do know as I was leaving I reminded the Lord of His word in Matthew 7:7 and He promised on the spot that indeed I would marry her, I knew He would keep his word. He always had. I did not know how.

05-17-2013 – But from the moment I laid my eyes on Mary I knew I wanted to marry her. How that could ever happen eluded me. It seemed improbable since we were separated by some 300 miles.

05-15-2013 – Before closing these things out on prayer I want to address the issue of my marriage. As I said earlier unwillingly I went to the get together where I met Mary. I had never been on a hayride and I am allergic to hay.

05-14-2013 – Job 33:14 says he communicates through dreams, and visions. In teaching others to recognize the Lord’s encounters I discovered checks and balances to help a person recognize the difference between a persons own thoughts, thoughts placed by Satan, and those by the Lord. It has been a most interesting journey.

05-13-2013 – Yet Once the door was open I discovered many other forms of communication. In fact just the other day it was apparent that the Lord interacts with this individual I just met through pictures. Astounding! I had not thought of it in that manner.

05-11-2013 – As time has gone by I have come to realize the many varied ways in which the Lord communicates with His children. For years I only knew of the one way.

05-11-2013 – Now I had never heard of this before. I am not sure ADD was even a topic during those years. However a couple of years ago I was studying some technical material on ADD and how they had found that having the student divide study material up and spend only 10 minutes on each section allowed the student to accomplish more. Forty years ago the Lord told me this!

05-08-2013 – The Lord told me to set my school books out in a semicircle and read for ten minutes then go to the next set of books.

05-07-2013 – I mentioned the Attention Deficit Disorder. The Lord did something about that or I would not have been able to study.

05-06-2013 – Nope, “I see here that you made straight A’s in Hebrew.” I thought to myself I did not the Lord did. “I need someone to grade papers and teach class when I am out of town.” Yes, the Lord got a real laugh out of that one!

05-03-2013 – Dr. Jack Lewis, the very person I was going to avoid, introduced himself. Dr. Lewis took me to his office. He sat down and picked up a folder with my records and I thought here it comes, I hope.

05-02-2013 – I said yes? He said “I need to talk to you.” Instantly I thought, “What have I done now? I bet they figured out I do not belong here. That would be wonderful.” Hope filled my heart.

05-01-2013 – Chapel was over and with the “Amen” I was out the door. I made it 15 steps and I heard someone call my name. I thought it was a mistake. It came a second time so I turned and observed this short little man.

04-15-2013 – I did not want to meet anyone. So I went in early to look the place over. I physically measured the distance from the last seat to the exit. It was 3 steps. I would be out before they could finish an Amen. I did not know anyone, did not want to be there and was terrified.

04-10-2013 – The first day of classes I got to school early. I had been told they always started the day with chapel.

04-09-2013 – I did not want to go. I really did not want to go. He said go. We arrived at Memphis with practically nothing. In fact we lived in a state park in a tent for a while because I had no job nor money.

04-08-2013 – The recruiter made it sound like it was such a wonderful experience. I wanted nothing to do with it. He spoke of this wonderful teacher who had doctorate degrees from Harvard University and Hebrew Union insisting that it was wonderful being in his classes. I told myself I would be sure and avoid him and his classes like the plague.

04-06-2013 – During the last semester I was again faced with what I was supposed to do. A student came from Harding Graduate School to recruit for the Graduate School. Again mother insisted that I go on for graduate studies.

04-04-2013 – So I memorized Genesis 12:1-4. I got to class. The test was handed out and every thing was from Genesis 12:1-4. I made a perfect score on the final. I lived to regret that prayer!

04-03-2013 – What Lord is going to be on that test? He said “Genesis 12: 1-4”. That is all He said.

04-02-2013 – Now it was time for the final and I knew I just did not know the material very well. So I asked the Lord for help for I knew that He knew Hebrew.

04-01-2013 – The final semester in Hebrew was very difficult. I had learned to write Hebrew on my windshield to memorize on my drive to school. But it was difficult. No let me rephrase, it was indescribably impossible. Part of the problem was the ADD and the inability to pronounce the letters. Sounding out the words are an important part of learning.

03-30-2013 – The Lord did have a humorous way with me. I suspect He got a real laugh out of this one.

03-28-2013 – Easy classes? No, courses like Greek and Hebrew! During that time I was working 40 hours a week at an airport refueling aircraft supporting my family and to add to the burden my first child was born! Is anything to great for the Lord? The Lord God Almighty did that. Little wonder that I trust Him.

03-27-2013 – That next semester and every semester thereafter I was either on the honor roll or the Deans list! I took 18, 19, 20 hours a semester finished a 4 year degree in 2 years and 7 months and graduated with honor!

03-26-2013 – My first semester in college, only taking an easy 12 hours, I did poorly. Now I did pray. Earnestly, I fell on my knees before the Lord and told Him if he would remove the emotional barriers to learning any degree earned would be used in His service.

03-23-2013 – In the beginning, perhaps because of my introversion, my focus was on the very personal nature of prayer. I did not really pray for others, rather about others. As time has gone by I find that I pray more for others. Exceedingly so!

03-21-2013 – Do you see why I trust Him so? It is not that I ever feel special or entitled. My sins have been so great. My weakness so bewildering.

03-20-2013 – I never told anyone, not even mother but just kept it in my heart. Fifteen years later she died. The Lord was faithful.

03-19-2013 – So I prayed and asked the Lord to add 15 years to her life. He said He would. I immediately thought why not ask for more? The answer came quite quickly, no 15 is enough.

03-18-2013 – Even now in my minds eye I can see myself walking to work thinking about it and then this passage in Isaiah came to mind. I thought if this worked for Hezekiah why could it not work in these circumstances?

03-15-2013 – This incident in scripture has a very personal meaning to me. In the midst of the first year in college mother fell seriously ill. Subsequently, her health deteriorated and she was hospitalized. I was devastated. Her prayers on my behalf, her faith, her wisdom, I could not stand the thought of losing her.

03-12-2013 – Do you hear the desperateness in Hezekiah’s voice? Hezekiah is probably 39 years old. It has always been interesting to me that it was because Hezekiah begged the Lord for his life that 15 years was added to his life.

03-11-2013 – “Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5“Go, and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.”

03-08-2013 – It was at this time the Lord again stepped forward and answered a cry of despair. One of the favorite passages from my youth is Isaiah 38. “In those days was Hezekiah sick and near death. Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him,“Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you will die, and not live.’” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, and said, “Remember now, Lord, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.”Hezekiah wept bitterly.

03-07-2013 – I did not pray about it…what was the use, I knew I would fail. But I did obey and registered at Oklahoma Christian University.

03-06-2013 – It came about in this manner. A year after the military, with no hint of a direction in life, my mother told me that I should start college. I shuttered! I reminded her of my poor grades and my failures in school. She prayed about it and said that regardless, college is what I should do.

03-05-2013 – 03-05-2013 – I was plagued with ADD, and little intelligence. My poor showing on the military entrance exams, and the ACT testify to this. Even as I think of it I am overwhelmed with the Lord’s doing with someone so weak.

03-04-2013 – Now comes and absolute miracle. Something highly improbable.

03-02-2013 – I was shy, and introverted and that hardly seemed good for me to go into the Air Force. I asked mother to pray. She confirmed the answer. I joined the Air Force. The answer to that prayer turned out to be a way the Lord could bless me all of my life. Even to this very day. God’s word promises, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God”. James 1:5.

03-01-2013 – I graduated high school at 17. I did not have any idea what I could or should do. My grades had been poor at best. College would not even be a possibility. So I asked the Lord what to do. He said, “join the Air Force.”

02-27-2013 – Six weeks later I was walking home from school. Taking a short cut across and open field and the thought came to mind, “Do you want me to be your Father?” The question was a direct statement and came as a thought in my mind. I knew immediately the source. I had become very familiar with it. I said that I did. He did. (See article “Blessed are they that Mourn.”)

02-25-2013 – I was not close to my father, he was partial to my sister, my mother was partial to my twin brother. I will spare the reader the details; however his death was like a death sentence for me.

02-23-2013 – I started to cry I knew something had happened. She hung up the phone, turned and said, “Your father has died.” He has been dead several days. We will be going to Oklahoma City the next day.

02-22-2013 – In mid September 1956, late one evening the phone rang. I was twelve. We were just getting ready to go to bed. Mother answered the phone and said almost nothing.

02-20-2013 – After my hospitalization at 10 I remained with my mother until I left home at 16. Mother taught us the Word of the Lord diligently. During the time from ten until twelve some of the more important lessons on prayer took place.

02-19-2013 – From the age of four when my parents divorced, until the age of ten, we were moved from one foster home to another. All were abusive in one manner or another. The moves were interspersed with short stays with our mother often a few weeks or at the most a few months. The abuse, physical, mental and sexual resulted in some difficult consequences in my life.

02-18-2013 – I did not originally intend this to be autobiographical. However I see that it is not possible to relate what God has done unless I show you how desperately I needed Him to do something.

2/15/13 – As my mother later told me it was the second time she had ask the Lord to intervene and save my life. Not only did he accomplish that but there were no long term effects save one.

These were the first instances that formed my education on just how powerful prayer could be. How, in fact, impossibly powerful our God is.

Thus the purpose of the posts are to share just a few of the wondrous deeds the Lord has done. I can not even start to tell you the things this all powerful God has done in my life and in the life of others in this life time.

2/12/13 – As she later described it she rushed me to St Anthony’s Hospital in Oklahoma City. By then I was semi-conscience. I remember them putting me on a gurney and shoving me in an elevator, pulling my pants down a nurse on one side and a doctor on the other giving me shots just as fast as they could. I past out.

Later I woke up and had an IV in my arm. The diagnosis was polio encephalitis. I was in isolation for some time.

2/7/13 – I must digress for a moment. Jumping ahead seven years. This is Mary and I’s anniversary, the 49th. How it came about was, yes you guessed it, by prayer. I was in the military at the time and had come home on leave. Mother suggested that I go on a hayride that was being held in conjunction with a church in Norman, Oklahoma. I, to say the least did not want to go. Out of deference for her I did.

I ended up sitting by a beautiful young girl whose father was an elder in Norman. I immediately fell in love with her. As I was leaving that evening, turning left on Western towards Oklahoma City, I reminded the Lord of His words in Matthew 7:7 and told Him I wanted to marry Mary. He assured me in that moment I would but I had some maturing to do. We shall return to this subject and the prayers.

2/5/13 – The next major event was not of my own doing. In the early 1950’s the United States was engulfed in an epidemic of polio encephalitis. It was a constant fear among parents. In a community the disease could quickly overwhelm a population of both young and old.

I was ten years old in 1953. I was living in an abusive foster home. Looking back I can see that I had given up hope and wanted to die. Late one afternoon my ‘caretaker’ called my mother and told her to come and get me I was running a fever of one hundred and six. My mother just laughed at her and told her she did not know how to read a thermometer. She came out and took my temperature. It was one hundred and seven.

2/2/13 – I did and the thought came into my mind “yes, it would.” I told her the answer and she told me that she received the same answer. It did heal. The pattern thus was set. If praying together I would give her my answer, and she confirmed it if she received the same answer.

2/1/13 – Upon arrival mother asked me if I wanted to know if I would lose my sight. I told her I wanted to know. We went into the bedroom kneeled down beside the bed and she explained to me what to do. She told me to pray and ask the Lord if my eye would heal.

1/30/13 – The second major event and really the beginning of my own prayer life occurred when I was about seven years old. I was involved in a rock fight with Chris our neighbor. Struck in the right eye, and bleeding mother rushed me to the hospital. After extensive testing the doctors told her they did not know if the eye could be saved. They sent me home after bandaging it.

1/29/13 – Now I know it is not likely, however I clearly remember times during that first year mother rocking me in her rocking chair and singing softly the hymn, I Come to the Garden Alone.” But perhaps the Lord wanted to make sure I never forgot. I have not.

1/24/13 – In fact from the beginning mother was warned that survival was not likely. Sickly from the beginning the inability to provide enough milk, further complicated the situation. finally, hospitalized, mother was told I would not survive the night. She prayed, I did.

1/21/13 – So beginning at the beginning where has prayer brought me? The first prayers began with my mother during the first few years of life. Born a twin two months premature in the midst of World War II meant limited abilities to meet the medical needs of an infant.

1/16/13 – One may believe or disbelieve in this type of communion. Entrance into heaven will not be determined by an individual’s belief on this subject. But after years of study and reflection, I have concluded that those who desire the experience of this type of prayer life should have it.

01-13-2013 – This disdain for speaking to others about prayer reached a peak in graduate school. I was sitting in a class one Wednesday evening, and the topic of prayer came up. One lone individual began to verbalize his experiences with prayer. It was what I had been taught and practiced all my life. Everyone in the class started criticizing and demeaning the person. I sat in silence. My silence reflected my fear of what people thought. Later, I was ashamed of my silence. I felt I had been disloyal to God.

01-10-2013
This incident introduced doubt into my prayer life. I struggled for several years wondering if prayer was a two-way conversation. Then I discovered a little devotional book called Prayers of a Modern Mystic. As I began to read, I was amazed at the author’s descriptions of his prayer life. It was just as my mother had taught me. Thereafter, I believed and practiced what I had been taught. However, I did refuse to talk with other Christians about prayer.

01-06-2013 – I went home and told my mother about the conversation. After hearing what had happened, she gave me a warning. “It is best,” she said “not to talk to people about prayer. Few desire to believe deeply enough in the Lord to want to commune with Him.” She had some very stout words about Christians who pray and yet do not believe.

1/3/13 – For years, until I was in my mid-teens, I thought that talking with the Lord was as natural as breathing. One Sunday in Bible class, the teacher mentioned praying about something. Naively I asked, “What did the Lord say?” The teacher’s reply was, “God does not talk to people.” I said, “He talks to me.” The teacher’s response, characteristic of the unbeliever, was that I must be crazy.

01/01/2013 – My mother taught me about prayer. She was the most godly woman I have ever known. Many who knew her would agree and depended heavily on her prayers. Her first lesson: Prayer is a reciprocal conversation.