My husband and I were discussing prayer and whether to pray over and over for the same situation or to pray believing when it’s in line with the will of God, that we would only ask once. I believe we pray to get an answer and do have to ask repeatedly for an answer at times, but to me, that is different, than if we ask something in line with the will of God. We both strongly believe in the prayer of agreement with other believers. We didn’t come to a conclusion really, on fervent prayer. He brought up the passage in Luke 18, where it speaks of the widow who continually goes before the judge. I remembered that the judge was not a just judge, but the woman was righteous. I didn’t see her praying so much, as continuing to appeal to the judge, so I studied it today and decided to share my study of the Greek words. This still doesn’t mean that I’m right, and those who ask over and over for the same thing are wrong, it is just how I view this particular situation, and where my faith is. Jesus told us to pray, “Our Father who art in Heaven… your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven… ” This is a point we feel many miss about this prayer, IF we are following after Jesus as our Savior, we Are commissioned and we Are to Call things into Earth as they Are in Heaven, not to Beg for them to be so, because it IS God’s will for earth to submit to heaven and be like heaven. We as believers are His heaven, heaven is not a place in the sky, but a place where Christ dwells. We are to bring heaven TO earth.
Luke 18:1-8“Then he spoke a parable to them that men always(pantote – in every situation)ought to pray, and not lose heart(ekkakeo – lose courage)saying: “There was in a certain city a judge(krites – umpire appointed by people – Not God) who did not fear God nor regard(entrepo – respect) man.Now there was a widow(chera – a woman without a husband) in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me(edikeo – execute righteousness & justice) from my adversary.’ (antidikos – opponent in a lawsuit)And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,yet because this widow troubles(kopos – grieves me with Christian virtue) me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming(telos – fulfillment of a matter) she weary me.’” (hupopiazo – wears someone out)
Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust(adikia – unrighteous) judge said.And shall God(edikesis – who is full of righteousness & justice, who vindicates from wrong) not avenge His own elect(eklektos – chosen, preferred, selected*) who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long(makrothumeo – has patience, endures, waits) with them?I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. (2 words here — en – amongst them & tachos – in quickness, swiftness, & with speed) Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, (erchomai – comes & goes; as in his people seeRomans 15:29) will He really find faith(pistis – firm persuasion, based on hearing, not sight, reliance on the Word of God, seeHebrews 11:1) on the earth?” (ge – creation)
*Eklektos is also the root word for the word eclectic. I thought they sounded similar, so I looked up the root word for eclectic out of curiosity, knowing the meaning of the word. Of course, the body of Christ is many members, even though it says ‘chosen’ this means a variety of backgrounds grafted into one vine. The word eclectic means: selectingorchoosingfromvarioussources. A good synonym is ‘inclusive.’ When we follow Jesus’ example of Perfect Love, we are inclusive.
So let us pray in every situation claiming on earth as it is in heaven, set apart as Jesus was, one body of many members fit together to reach many. Never ceasing to seek God’s direction in everything we do, let us always pray.
I hope that by sharing my story, those who know me and see me as ‘normal’ will help drop the stigma that goes with the word seizure. It makes me vulnerable to share this, because the moment I tell this… I am open to people’s limited views and preconceived ideas, but if you read on, you may learn things you didn’t know. Recently I’ve read some of Lisa Genova’s work, who I highly recommend as an author. She writes on the topic of Neurology and the neurosciences in a novel format telling stories of people who’ve had challenges with early onset dementia, autism, or those who’ve suffered with a brain trauma. I think there needs to be more awareness about neurological problems that people experience. People need to know that highly intelligent people can have neurological conditions and not be looked down on or outcast from society. They are still contributors to life!
There are people who doubt that God exists, those whose lives have been fraught with hardships or sorrows. Or those who haven’t had “enough proof” to believe. They don’t see how God could allow bad things to happen to good people; therefore, in their minds… God must not exist. I have been through horrific things in my life. What I am about to share is one of the less horrific things to me. It is my hope that people will realize that we all have things we deal with that are hard in life, but there is always hope.
When I was younger, I did have doubts in my faith, I’ve been there before in my life. But I don’t live there any longer, because I know who I am in Christ. I am Chosen. I am Loved. I am His beloved. God has given me peace. The way you get to the same place in your life, is by having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Then you need to read the Bible daily, and ask that the Holy Spirit reveal the truths in it to you.
“But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.” I Corinthians 2:10
There are some things about me only few know. I don’t want sympathy and this is why I don’t usually share my story, but I feel others might benefit if I share some of the things I’ve gone through in my life. When my son was a toddler, I had dizzy spells for several weeks. I went to the doctor and was given pills for vertigo. After three months, I couldn’t walk a straight line across my living room. My doctor decided I should get a CT Scan of my brain and said he would have the results in a week. The very next day he called to say he wanted me to have an MRI and had already scheduled an appointment for that afternoon. They’d found a mass. I saw a neurosurgeon the day after the MRI. The neurosurgeon told me it was an inoperable tumor, the size of a dime in circumference and three inches long in the deepest portion of my brain. He said he couldn’t biopsy it without doing severe damage, and he wanted to monitor it through multiple MRIs. My family panicked and while I didn’t exactly like the report, I prayed about it. God gave me the most indescribable peace. I felt like he told me “Don’t worry, I’ve taken care of it.” I have walked in that faith and that peace ever since, no matter what circumstances have arisen. This was about eighteen years ago. There wasn’t any change until I had a near-fatal car accident in 2001.
I was traveling to my son’s school when I was t-boned by a woman who was doing 85 in a 50 mph zone. Out of eight windows in my Volvo, only two were still intact. The frame was bent, both axles were broken, and the front passenger seat was in the driver’s seat with me. I was unconscious for four hours. I woke up in the ER with several doctors and nurses working on me. They gave me pain medication and I passed out again. I had a concussion, and a head full of glass where I had broken the windshield. I was wearing my seatbelt. Five months later, I required spinal surgery to replace three discs in my neck, and knee surgery from my knee slamming into the dash. My doctor told me the only reason I was alive was because I was driving a Volvo. I told him it was because God spared me.
Volvo Nov 01
Nine months after the car wreck, I was trying to return to my landscaping business. I had planned to start with a light day of spraying roses for a client. My son, was with me and we stopped for breakfast at a McDonald’s drive-through. As I pulled in to pay, I put my truck in park, which I never do. The next thing I remember, I was on a gurney being loaded into an ambulance. One week later, my son described in detail what happened, he had been so traumatized by the events he couldn’t talk about it before. I had lost six months of memory and I had dysphasia; I would think one word and another word would come out of my mouth, beyond my control. What my son described was a grand mal seizure. I had never had any type of seizure in my life! I later found out that the car wreck had shifted my tumor into the area of my brain that triggers seizures. My speech straightened out after a couple of months, but I never regained the memory I lost. I keep a calendar of those months and two years surrounding that time-frame in a file in my desk, because it is still mixed up in my memory.
Three weeks later, I had a second grand mal, and I was put on medication. People who have seizures usually have what is called an ‘aura’ or warning, that indicates a seizure might be about to happen. Before the first one, I didn’t have any warning, but I did before the second one and all subsequent ones. To me, it sounds like I have gone into a tunnel, noises are very muffled, or non-existent. My seizures are unique, because most of them are triggered by sounds. Only five percent of all seizures are auditory, they are very rare. They fall into a class called “Partial Simple Sensory” meaning my awareness to my surroundings is maintained. Sensory means that one of the five senses is the trigger, vision is the most common, touch, taste, and smell are equally second. In my case, it is hearing, the least common (sounds trigger them). Less frequently, I have Petit Mal seizures, where I do lose consciousness, without convulsions. I have not had a grand mal seizure since the first two, twelve years ago.
A few years ago, I went to a celebration dinner for the people who voluntarily give of their time in the church I was attending. On the way home, we were sharing our testimonies, and I shared some of my story with the people in the car. I can’t work or spend time in places that have beepers, doorbells, scanners, loudspeakers, two-way radios, or drive-throughs because the frequencies they emit can trigger seizures. I found this out the hard way. I’m supposed to take it easy for a day or so if I have a seizure without loss of consciousness. If I have seizures where I lose consciousness, I cannot drive for six months. Because the type of seizures I have are so rare, even the neurologists know very little about them. I have done quite a bit of research on them and I was the one who figured out why that first seizure occurred in the drive through, it was the frequency of the radio at the drive-through. I later starting figuring out that certain frequencies were triggers, we have our doorbell dismantled, because it is a major trigger. One of the most unusual sounds that bothers me is when someone sneezes. Thankfully, I don’t have any more grand mal seizures, that would be awful when someone had a cold! Also, it is only when someone else sneezes, not my own sneezes! You have to find humor somewhere.
Currently, I am on hiatus from driving, because recently I had a seizure that I lost consciousness. But even in that, I find peace. It is a time for me to step back and look at what is important. It is a time to weigh things out and spend more time with God. I can put my house in order, both physically and spiritually. I can taste, and see that God is good! I pray that you learn also to live in His peace.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. — Galatians 5:24-25 NLT
I find that many ‘Christians’ live antithetical lives in many facets of their lives. They live one way at work, one way with their buddies, another way with their families or at home, and still have another personality to take to church. What an exhausting life they must lead keeping all of these alter-egos intact! How can you say that you are saved and believe in Jesus Christ and live like the world lives? Of course, we then could argue whether these self-proclaimed ‘Christians’ have truly experienced a life-changing salvation or true repentance. But we all see it, the co-worker that behaves pristinely at work and goes home and gives their family hell. Or those who go out boozing and partying during the week but turn up to church stone-cold sober. Then there are the ones who watch shows (Uh-oh, I’m gonna step on toes here…) full of debauchery, satanic fantasy, murder, and hatred towards their friends & family. I’m speaking of the shows full of illicit sex, adultery, vampires, zombies, and horror. How can anyone who is truly sold out to God watch them? How can darkness co-mingle with light? How do they not have nightmares? … Actually, some have confessed to me that they do. Then they expect God’s peace? Christ said he would give us peace. If he left us the Holy Spirit, our comforter, our peace, aren’t we negating it by viewing these shows? The Bible says if we belong to Christ we have nailed our passions and desires to the cross, but if we are consuming garbage, aren’t we nailing Christ back to the Cross? I probably lost a few of you at this point, but for those who are brave enough to read on, the Bible puts it in plain text:
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 NLT
It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom. Galatians 5:19-21 The Message
You may be asking, “how is it possible to know the ways of God or to do what is right?” We cannot do it of our own will. Sure there are people in this world who are ‘godly’ who live nearly unblemished lives by the world’s standards. But there is nobody that is perfect and there is nobody who can know God’s ways without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The only way we can live a truly Christ-centered life is to submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives daily. It is a choice but the more we make that choice, it becomes a habit. It becomes our new nature. Christ said the Holy Spirit would lead us in truth. It is not sin-consciousness, but God-cognizance that will lead us into living a holier life. When we are not focused on the sins , but instead are focused on God, we have no desire to follow after sin. To know God more and better is to become more like Jesus and the example he set for us.
He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. John 14:17 NLT
He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. Romans 8:4-6 NLT (my emphases)
Katie Storme 