The Phone Call

My Phone Call

 

When God wants to inspire you, get your attention or just wants to hang out with you a while he has a variety of avenues to do it. A friend, your wife, an incident . . . a phone call, whatever it takes. When he does it, you can be assured the message will be loud and clear.

This week one of the brothers called and left a message on my phone. I was pretty busy with stuff and unable to retrieve it immediately. Finally, I had a moment to listen and I must admit to being completely preoccupied with it since then.

You have to know this brother to get a feel for the sincerity he displayed in this message. He's a pretty deep guy when it comes to God (you know the kind of guy that knows the meaning of the word of the meaning of the word), a faithful man, a devoted husband and caring father, sincere to the core, but most of all a girded up warrior I would proudly stand shoulder to shoulder engaged in spiritual warfare.

So, here's the message he left, (though it was more of a question soaked with spiritual wisdom and godly challenge). "What is the biggest, largest, most immense prayer request you ever requested before God and was it granted? Did you make any promises in the process like, God, this is a big thing I'm asking of you so if you do this, I'll do this? I'm just curious, I'm getting ready to do something big for God and was just wondering".

At the moment of this writing I have not responded because I wanted to be able to see him face to face when I did. I am not delaying the response, but only wanted to be man enough to speak with him as a brother as he was brother enough to seek me out. We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses and in that alone we should always remember that even this phone message is a means of iron sharpening iron. I was greatly moved by his desire to go before God seeking greater things, but inspired by his trust in God to do greater things. This brother is a faithful man that believes much and complains none. He has trusted God when friends and family have said he was crazy.

So to answer your question, yes brother I have made many large and what man would say was a great prayer request before God. Yes each time it was granted except for one. And yes I did at least once make a promise to Him in an act of desperation. It wasn't that I didn't think He would do it for me, but I was just so very tired of waiting and my flesh kept insisting I could no longer wait. After being divorced for a while the need for companionship swelled inside me to a point that I thought I would explode. It wasn't a sexual need, but the pain of being alone would sometime be overwhelming. In this mental/spiritual battle I also knew I just didn't want to be hurt or be the one to ever hurt anyone again as long as I lived. I don't know about other men, but I know in my soul there are still scars from the that battle. One day I walked inside my front door and literally fell down on my knees, then my hands, then my face and cried out unto the Lord and made this request. Lord, please send me somebody!

Though men pretend to be many things, they cannot pretend to be happy when they are alone. This is not how God made us or intended for us to be. I promised if he would do that for me then my eyes would always look ahead and not away from her. Now at my age, after being in a war, being overseas for over 11 years, living through two other wars and seeing people live and die I can say this to you whole heartedly. God doesn't see it as a big or a little prayer request. What he sees is a son asking his father for something. Then, believe it or not, if you have done all you were suppose to, you know like, clean your room and take out the garbage, but in this case believe, trust and obey. Then, he will give you the desires of your heart.

Yes he granted my prayer request and what of the other he hasn't granted yet . . . he hasn't granted it yet. But I trust Him and will continue to wait through service to and for others until he does.

Brother, trust God.

Believe God.

Though the brother had called me for inspiration, it was I who was inspired. Go before the Lord with great things, He will do great things. Go before him with all the supplications of your heart, he is a prayer answering, life changing, generation moving God. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Ask and it will be given, knock and the door will be open. Not cracked, but open wide. Brother, let God open up a window and poor out blessings on you and your family. Ask him for that great thing that is upon your heart and if you have a need to make a promise to Him for this thing you ask, then know this. The promise you make is not for Him, the promise is for you as an act to repay Him for what He does and to show how much you will and do appreciate what He does.

 

Be blessed.

Brother James