The Power of Prayer Read online

  Scott smirked and scoffed, “Wow, you must take this God thing seriously.”

  JD turned serious eyes on Scott. “I do. God has had a hand in my life – from day one, and when I follow Him, things always go better for me.”

  Scott tilted his head, “Can I ask what you mean?” There was no condescension in the words, just an honest question.

  JD smiled and laughed. “Where do I begin?” He pointed to a nearby table with chairs, and the two men sat. “Well, I guess at the beginning. My mom was 15 when she became pregnant with me. When that happened, everyone told her to have an abortion because she was so young and having a baby would ruin her life. One day, she met my father at the coffee shop where she worked. As he had opportunity, he spoke to her about God. Then he told her how he and my mother wanted a baby more than anything but couldn’t get pregnant. One day, after several conversations, he invited her to church and explained to her who Jesus was and what He did for her. She accepted Christ as her Savior and decided to let my father and mother adopt me.

  “That was the first time God intervened in my life. Later on, when I was twelve, I was hit by a car. The accident should have killed me, but after a policeman helped me up, I barely had a scratch on me. I gave my life to God that very day and committed to follow Him from then on. However, years later, when I got to college, I met a girl. I knew she wasn’t a Christian and that God didn’t want me involved with her, but I ignored Him. Soon thereafter, my life fell apart when I got involved in drugs, drinking, and partying. Then I flunked out of college and of course the girl I fell in love with, well, she ended up breaking my heart. At that point, I was at the end of my rope; realizing I could not effectively govern my life; I went back to God and then joined my father’s company. As I began to pray for its success, it grew in size. Next, I began to pray for something bigger to be involved in and God put a calling on my heart to establish pregnancy counseling centers. Therefore, given my level of success in prayer so far, I’m going to pray about this location and ask God to bless it.”

  Scott sat back in his chair and raised his left eyebrow. “So, because you had one bad relationship you think God was punishing you?”

  JD smiled and shook his head. “No, He wasn’t punishing me. God has a plan for all believers and when we don’t follow His plan, we won’t receive the blessings He wants to give us. I decided that I’d rather be blessed than suffer from fighting against Him. Besides, I want to honor Him in all that I do.”

  “So, are you saying that if you follow God, He will make you rich?” Scott placed his hands on his knees and leaned forward.

  JD laughed. “No, I said blessed, not rich. Being blessed isn’t about money; blessings can come in many ways - for the rich and poor alike. The company I represent is one blessing; the feeling of peace I have when I wake up every morning is another. God can and does bless His children in so many glorious ways one cannot begin to count them all. We need to look for them to see what they are.”

  “Well, being blessed does sound good to me,” Scott leaned back in his chair. “But how do you know when God is calling you? I’ve been to church a few times, but God never spoke to me.”

  “God works in many different ways to call people to salvation. He works through preaching, through print, radio and TV media, and through a one on one witness from a believer. Unbelievers come to Christ when they are convicted of their sin through one of these means and realize they need Him to be their Savior because they cannot save themselves.

  “Once a person becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit, who fills the hearts of believers in Christ, often uses a still, small voice when He speaks, so a Christian has to read the word of God, pray for guidance and be quiet long enough to sense His leading. That’s the hard part. Sometimes God even moves in your life by reminding you of something you need to do. It might be something your mind keeps coming back to, like starting counseling centers has been for me. I’ve been thinking about this goal and looking into it for a few years now and even though I couldn’t do anything about it previously, the thought has always been there.”

  Scott nodded and rubbed his chin with his right hand. “I think I’d like to know more about what it’s like to be a Christian. Can we get together in a day or two for coffee?”

  Warmth flooded JD, and he smiled. “Of course, I’ll be staying in town until the project is done. Would you like to meet on Thursday, say at 10 am, at that coffee shop right over there?” He pointed at the Cup O’Joe across the street.

  Scott opened his satchel and grabbed his schedule book. He flipped a few pages and nodded “Sure, it looks free, so I’ll see you then.”

  Sighing, I pushed open the door to my apartment. It had been another long day, and though I didn’t stand all day, my feet still managed to ache by the time I got home and tonight they were throbbing fiercely. Dropping my purse by the couch, I shuffled into the kitchen to boil some water for tea.

  When the tea kettle whistled, I turned the stove off and poured the water into my cup of tea. Enjoying the warmth, I carried the cup to the living room and lounged on the brown suede couch to rest my weary feet and read. I set the tea cup down on the end table and picked up my Bible. The crinkling sound of the thin pages brought a smile to my face.

  As the pages separated, my eyes landed on Ecclesiastes 3. “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

  The words reminded me of a time months ago when JD had told me that everything happened for a reason. I hadn’t believed him then, but I knew now that I probably wouldn’t have given my life to God if I hadn’t gotten pregnant. He had taken that mistake I made and turned it into something wonderful. As I rubbed my belly, I thought back to the time I had spent with JD. I wonder what he’s doing now and if I’ll ever see him again. I sent up a short prayer for JD wherever he was and then resumed my reading.

  Chapter 15

  I entered the doctor’s office at 9am. Butterflies tumbled in my stomach; today was the day I would find out for sure the gender of the baby.

  “Morning Callie,” the perky brunette receptionist greeted me.

  “Good morning,” I smiled back, signing in on the sheet.

  “Are you ready for the ultrasound?” the receptionist asked.

  I touched my stomach, smiling as the baby moved against my hand. He or she had started moving a few weeks ago, and I still couldn’t get over the sensation. “I sure am.” Though I’m pretty sure I already know the gender of this one. I sat down in a brown chair and waited to be called back in the room.

  “Are we waiting on anyone?” the technician asked when I was called back.

  “No.” I raised my shirt and lay back on the cold hospital bed. “It’s just me.”

  “Okay,” the blond technician pushed her glasses up her freckled nose. She grabbed the tube of gel from the tray by the bed. “Sorry, this will be a little cold.” I flinched as the cold gel hit my stomach. The technician grabbed the wand and began spreading the gel around. “So first, I’m going to take pictures, and then maybe we can determine gender if you want, and if this little one cooperates.”

  Grainy black and white images began to appear on the screen and I drew in a quiet breath. While I wasn’t sure what each picture was, I could easily pick out the baby’s head.

  I glanced at the technician and weighed whether the woman would be offended by the question I wanted to pose, “Can I ask you a question?”

 
“You want to know what everything is?” the technician laughed. “Everyone does.”

  “Well, yes, but that wasn’t my question. It’s kind of personal I guess, but I wanted to know how anyone can look at an ultrasound that clearly shows a baby like this and then choose an abortion.”

  The technician stopped for a minute, lowered her voice, and leaned in. “It’s not my area, but I honestly don’t know either. You see this here?” She pointed to a grayish part at the top of the picture, “That’s your baby’s brain, fully formed and full of pain receptors like ours. And here?” she moved the wand, “baby’s feet. Ten perfect toes by the way. I know some people say fetus, but I’ve done so many of these; they are all babies to me.”

  I smiled at the young blond. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell your secret.”

  “Would you like to know gender now?” the technician smiled back.

  My heart sped up as I nodded eagerly. “Well, I’m 99% sure it’s a girl, but I wouldn’t mind the verification.”

  The wand circled some more and I held my breath. “Well, it’s always a little harder to determine with girls, but I’d say your inclination is correct.”

  “Does everything look okay? I mean is she okay?”

  The technician patted my arm. “She looks great, and I’ll print out some pictures you can take with you.”

  As she stepped out the room, I wiped the rest of the gel off my stomach and returned my shirt to its proper position. Relief flooded me with the knowledge that the baby was okay. My hand touched my stomach again. A girl. I knew it would be a girl. The technician re-entered with several black and white photos of the little life that was inside me. As I held them, a warm sensation spread from my head all the way to my toes. I studied each one carefully, marveling at how much I could see. Hands, feet, heart, brain, profile. There was no doubt in my mind now; this was a baby. My baby. My Hope.

  About the time I was beginning my ultrasound, JD was meeting with Scott at a nearby coffee shop.

  “So what did the big man upstairs say?” Scott joked as he poured his tall frame into an empty chair. The shop was relatively slow, so they had their choice of seats.

  JD smiled and sat across from him. “Well, I prayed, I listened, and I’m ninety-eight percent certain this is the right building for us.” He lifted his cup and took a sip of his coffee.

  “Only ninety-eight percent? Why not one hundred?” Scott cocked an eyebrow.

  “I would never confess to know one hundred percent of God’s plan. There is still a lot of my old ways in my head that try to mislead me, so even though I try hard to make sure I’m hearing what He is saying, I can never be completely sure I’m not at the same time influencing myself a little.”

  Scott raised his eyebrow and leaned forward. “You really are into this God thing, aren’t you?”

  JD smiled and took a sip of his coffee. He could tell that Scott thought he was a little nuts, but he was used to that. “God has been there every time I needed Him. And besides, it’s nice to know where I’m going when I die.”

  Scott blinked and took a sip of his coffee, “What do you mean?”

  JD set his cup down and leaned back in his chair a little. “Well Scott, there’s only one of two places any of us can go to after death. Those who have a relationship with Jesus will get to fellowship with Him in Heaven - forever. Those who don’t . . . well, the Bible says that when they stand before God He will say: ‘Depart from Me, I never knew you’ and that statement will earn a non-believer a one-way ticket to a place that is nowhere near heaven. It’s a place where men and women will forever be separated from Him.”

  Scott’s mouth fell open before he could catch himself. “Do you really believe in a Heaven and Hell, JD?”

  “I do, and believe me, the Bible’s description of Hell is a place no one would want to go and that’s why we believers work so hard to tell people about Jesus.”

  Scott narrowed his eyes and glanced around the coffee shop. JD followed his gaze, but the coffee shop was just getting busy and no one seemed to be listening. “So, you’re saying, if I don’t choose Jesus, I condemn myself to Hell and you are trying to help me prevent that by telling me about Him?”

  JD nodded and picked up his drink again. “I think everyone deep down inside knows that God exists, Scott. I mean, how else did we get here? Scientists don’t even buy the whole amoeba theory anymore because they can’t recreate it. No one can because God made us in His image, according to the book of Genesis. So, whether anyone talks to you about Jesus or not, you choose to reject Him by default, because you do not follow your suspicion and try to find out about Him for yourself. You did not pursue the truth to see if He exists. You simply choose to ignore Him and continue to follow the world’s thinking on the matter and thereby, you turn your back on God and you must live with the consequence of that decision.”

  Scott leaned back, sipping his coffee. JD could tell that his words were having an effect, but he wasn’t sure what effect. He wished, not for the first time, that he could read minds. “So, are you telling me that almost everyone today is wrong?” Scott finally said.

  JD held up his hands, palms out. “Look, I’m not to judge; only God can do that. I’ve done a lot of things in my past that I’m not proud of, but what’s going on in our country today is not what God wants for America. As a nation, we removed Him from schools and kids started killing each other. We allowed sex education to be taught in schools, and now we hand out condoms instead of teaching kids to wait until after marriage to have sex. Scott, this country was founded as ‘one nation under God, indivisible,’ but we have become divided because we as Christians haven’t been standing up against the atrocities that have been occurring over the last several decades of time. We let them continue and hoped that somebody else would do something about it, but no one has. God destroyed earlier cities for practicing things we praise today, and I don’t know how much longer He’ll keep watching all of the evil we are not confronting before He feels the need to cleanse the Earth again.”

  Scott gripped his cup tighter. His eyes darted around again. JD’s words were obviously making him uncomfortable “You don’t really believe He will wipe the Earth out, do you?”

  “Actually, I believe He can and someday will. You see, God had the Bible written to tell us about Him; about what has happened, and will yet happen. While He hasn’t told us when the end will come, He has told us to be ready for what will precede it- the rapture of God’s children – the removal of believers from the earth will occur first. Then the world will be thrown into seven years of horrible tribulation. After that, there will be one thousand years of peace on earth because Jesus – the Son of God will for that time period reign over everything. God did reveal some signs in the Bible that let us know when the end time is getting close and some of those signs are happening now. There’s a lot of debate about the signs and what they mean, but one or two that are very clear are that the world will have the power to destroy itself, which we do now with all our nuclear weapons, and there will be worldwide communication because, at one point, two prophets of God will be killed and will lie in the streets for three and a half days for the whole world to see them.

  “Now the world hasn’t been introduced to these prophets yet, but we’re technologically advanced enough that when they die, they will be seen by everyone in the world at once. Plus, Christians will be persecuted, and that also is happening now. Finally, Jesus said that once these signs begin, the generation of that day will not pass away before He returns to govern the whole earth. Now, of course, we aren’t sure how long a generation is in God’s eyes, but it seems that if these prophecies can now be fulfilled - they soon will be.”

  The color drained from Scott’s face, and his shoulders dropped as he leaned forward. “So what happens to the rest of the population when the believers are taken from the world?”

  “Well, no one knows for sure, but did you ever read the Left Behind books?”

  “I’m not much of a reade
r,” Scott admitted, “more of a football fan.”

  JD could tell Scott was trying to make light of the situation. “Hey, I like football as much as the next person, but this is about eternity. I’ll tell you about the books someday or loan you mine; I tend to think something along those lines is what will happen. First, many will die in crashes because driving believers will disappear. Airplanes will spin out of control or crash for the same reason. Second, those who live will see other signs. They will see a man claiming to be God and doing miraculous things, and they will have to decide whether to take his mark on their body or chose to follow God instead.”

  Scott scratched his chin. “So, people could still get saved during that time?”

  “I believe so, but Scott, please don’t wait. What if you are left behind and you die because believers who were responsible for you have disappeared? That’s a lot to hedge a bet on.”

  Scott nodded and sipped his coffee. His eyes stayed focused on the beige cup in his hands and JD couldn’t gauge his reaction. He held his tongue as the seconds ticked by, giving the man time to think.

  “You’re right.” Scott raised his eyes. The humor was gone from them, replaced with a serious expression. “You’ve definitely given me a lot to think about.”

  Relief flooded JD. This was always the hardest part of being a believer – sharing with non-believers. He didn’t like telling people they might be wrong, but he didn’t want their souls on his conscience either. It had taken him years, but he was finally feeling more comfortable sharing the word. “Look, let’s sign the papers, and then why don’t you find a church nearby and we’ll go together this Sunday?”

  “Deal,” Scott agreed.

  I tapped the steering wheel, impatient at the long line. Rotating my wrist, I glanced at the face of my watch. Ten minutes left. I was going to be late, and I hated being late. If I wasn’t sandwiched between two cars, I would have just backed up and foregone the drink, but a car had pulled in right behind me, and now I had no place to go. My thumbnail returned to my teeth. I had to kick this nervous gesture before I chewed my nails completely off. Maybe if I texted Tina, she could stall until I returned.