Our good friend Deborah King has an incredible testimony about answered prayer and sent us the awesome story below. It’s so inspiring to see God truly moving in someone’s life, and how He wants to fully heal us, redeem us and make us whole. Thanks for sharing, Deborah!
The Issue
Before I proceed, I pray that whoever you are, this testimony will bring a light onto your life. I hope that you realize that all of us are broken in each of our own ways, and that a step towards healing is to truly desire to be changed. The purpose of this blog is to provide an avenue for us to understand that we are not alone in our struggles and that there are those exactly like us, sometimes within arms reach. Although I am in no position to give advice on how to change, I can serve as a living witness of a broken person who has the desire to change, and now, I have the strength of the Father on my side.
The Questions to Ponder
How many times do we realize the sin that spurs inside us, yet we do nothing about it? How often do we let our thoughts, words and actions hurt others around us so that we can feel an unfulfilling sense of self-empowerment? How frequently do we mutter meaningless apologies after hurting another without truly feeling the sincerity behind our “sorry”? How many times do we say we’ll change for the better, but fail to understand the TRUE meaning of what it means to change or forget the TRUE reason we are changing? The answer to all of the above questions, for most of us at least, is too often.
As an adult who has gone through her share of ups and downs, I can honestly say that Sunday, January 10, 2010 was one of the most substantial life-changing moments of my life. By “substantial” I don’t mean being recipient to an overly generous gift, an honorary reward, or a life-long accomplishment, I am referring to the touch of God in my life so unique that I know, without a doubt, that it was meant just for me and that from that point onwards, my life is in good hands.
I am in the process of resolving the root of personal issues that have enslaved me for the majority of my life. One of these is to break my sharp tongue. For some time now, I have been experiencing relational difficulties. Without thinking or stopping for a moment, I would constantly blurt our words of hatred and contempt, words so hurtful that I knew if said to me, would wound deeply. Yet, after all that was said and done, I would feel terrible for the damage that I caused and attempt to make up for it with apologies. I struggled with wanting to be a better person, but was not able to control my words, thoughts or actions. This black and white, yin and yang battle honestly debilitated me to an unhealthy and dangerous point. On Saturday, after yet another episode of this, I literally got on my knees and cried to God for help. I remember saying, “God, I can’t do this by myself. I am too weak. Please help me! I give you full control!” This prayer was at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday, January 10, 2010.
The Message
After waking up, I immediately heard or felt (and I say “heard” or “felt” because there are no words to adequately describe what it was) something tugging at my heart and mind to open the Bible. Because I still had time before having to get ready for Church, I ignored this voice or feeling and tried to go back to sleep. This voice or feeling persisted over and over, until I opened the Bible and turned to James 3:1 through 12. I read the scripture, I sat in awe, and I immediately knew that this was the voice of God speaking to me and the answer to my prayers. To be brief, James 3:1 through 12 speaks about Taming the Tongue. It teaches us that our tongues are like fire that corrupts the whole person and sets our lives on fire. It says that we cannot praise the Lord and speak words of evil from the same mouth, just as fresh water and salt water cannot flow from the same spring. I knew that this verse was God telling me that I had to change my ways and that my hurts and hang ups were because of the damages caused by my mouth.
The Sermon
Turns out, God wasn’t done speaking to me. Amazingly, the sermon that morning touched exactly on James 3:1 through 12. Call this coincidence, an unlikely probability, or whatever you want, but of the entire Bible (which happens to be a large book filled with amazing testimonies,) the sermon was based on that same scripture. Needless to say, I listened very carefully and took notes. I wasn’t about to let God’s message slip away. As service progressed, I understood the reasons for the message: Reason one: God reaffirmed His presence in my life and assured me that this was not mere coincidence, reason two: God let me know that He was answering my prayers and that I was not alone, reason three: God made sure His guide to me was complete. He told me what to change, and how to change. The scripture teaches us to Tame our Tongue, and the sermon taught me how to tame my tongue. The pastor advised that we need to resort to sprit control and this could be done by:
- Yielding to God – Give God the right of way.
- Change and Cultivate your mind – We say what is on our minds, so we need to be wary of what we meditate on.
- Obey God’s word – As Psalm 119 says, the start of obedience comes from reading God’s word, the Bible.
- Rest
- Resolve Conflict
After service, I felt filled with the Holy Spirit and with a sense of peace and comfort that I hadn’t felt in a long time. This sense of peace and comfort reminded me that God didn’t forget about me, that He heard my cries for help, and that I was not left alone to face my debilitating problems. I also gained knowledge on what I had to change and how to do it.
Miracles continue
Several days later I was reading emails generated from the prior week. I opened up the Church’s weekly newsletter dated the Thursday before Sunday, January 10, 2010. Right there in front of me, it stated that that Sunday’s message was originally going to be on Isaiah 58, which addresses True Worship and Fasting and does not talk about Taming the Tongue. What does this tell me? That sometime between Thursday and Sunday’s Church service, something prompted the pastor to change his entire sermon. I truly believe that God heard my cry, and the cries of others, and spoke to the pastor to preach on a matter that would bring healing to our lives.
Realization
I realize that our Lord is a God of second chances. He is always there and will answer your prayers as long as you let Him. You are not in control of your own life. If you think that way, you are wrong. We live in a control-orientated and self-fulfilling society with our awards, recognition and business cards. We think we have our own lives under our sleeves, but when something diverges from its comfortable course, we panic and we point fingers. The truth is, we don’t know what is good for ourselves, and we too often let what we selfishly think is right trump what God has planned for us. With that, bad decisions are made, hurtful words are spoken, and damaging actions are done. Why don’t we try and relinquish full control to God? It probably won’t be an easy path, but I guarantee that it will be the most fruitful and fulfilling decision you will make.
-Deborah King
