Kissed by the Spirit

“After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”

1 Kings 19:11-12 (NIV)

Elijah, the prophet, was in a cave hiding out, depressed and waiting to die. Overwhelmed with fear and grief after Queen Jezebel killed all the prophets, he was now the only prophet left, and her assassins were out searching for him. 

While hiding in the cave, Elijah was emotionally exhausted and prayed,

“I’ve had enough, Lord, take my life; I’m no better than my ancestors.” Then he fell asleep, but God sent an angel to wake him up twice, to force him to eat and drink, which shows us how much the Lord not only cares for our mental, emotional and spiritual well being, but for our physical health and nourishment as well.

Looking outside his cave, Elijah observed a powerful wind, followed by an earthquake and then a fire, but God did not speak through any of those dramatic forces of nature. Instead, He came to Elijah, speaking in a gentle whisper that swept over him like a comforting  breeze. The whispering voice asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He told God that all the prophets had been killed and he was the last one left. Then God told him to “Go back…” 

God sent Elijah back to the chaotic world he was running away from, and informed him that he was not the only one left, that there were 7,000 other believers besides him. God intends for us to find others who share our common faith, to know that we are not as alone as we think. Elijah left the cave, found those other believers, and the brutal leadership of Jezebel and Ahab was soon replaced by a good and just king, named Jehoshaphat. 

The Soul whisperer let Elijah know that things were not as bleak as he once feared, and that a change was coming. He also learned that he was never alone, and the situation was not as hopeless as he perceived it to be.

It reveals the tender heart of God, who comes and whispers to us while we seclude ourselves in our cave of desperation. He comes to us with a gentle whisper, inviting us to go back and resume the place we were meant to be in this world. Then He promises to walk with us, to restore us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The same divine Soul Whisperer embodied Jesus, who invites us to come to Him when we are weary and heavy laden, and He will give us rest.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed by grief or discouragement, but just when we think we have no strength or faith left, the Spirit comes and whispers new hope to our souls. 

When I once felt spiritually depleted, the Holy Spirit whispered to me through some Christian music I was listening to. I felt His Presence, and His words within my soul. Though it wasn’t an audible voice, He was saying to me, “I want you back,” and then something changed within me, giving me new hope, faith and strength to go on. 

I believe the love of God comes like a gentle breeze, whispering to every person in whatever emotional cave they are currently in. Caves and mountain tops are great places for prayer or meditation, but they aren’t meant to be permanent dwellings. The Soul whisperer calls us out of our cave and away from mountain tops, to lead us back to the chaos of the real world, to be with others, and walk with Him on our journey of faith. 

Sorrow and grief can make us feel we may never walk with the same vigor we once had, but the Soul whisperer says, “Walk with whatever you have left, and I will be with you the rest of the way.” He equips us on our journey, showing us new mercies each day, and it all starts with a whisper within our soul.

Lord, help us to hear what you are whispering as you nourish, heal and draw us out of our cave, revealing your new mercies to us each day. Amen

“But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.”

Luke 10:33-34 (NIV)

I once heard a speaker tell a story about his son, Joseph, who got lost in the woods at 4 years old.

While looking for Joseph, his dad spotted a nearby pond, and fearing the worst, he vigorously searched the shallow water, for his son’s body, but found nothing. He prayed and said, “God, you have blessed me with so much in my life and I thank you for everything, but you can take it all back, if you would just please give me back my son.” 

Little Joseph was terrified and sitting under a tree in the woods, crying the whole time. His family searched all over until they found him safe and unharmed sitting under the tree. 

The father recalls how in his  desperation to find his lost son, he was ready to give anything to get him back. That whole experience made him more aware that the essence of the gospel message is about God, a Father who also wants His lost sons and daughters back, and is willing to pay any price for them, which He already did through Jesus.

The gospel message is so much more than a list of moral guidelines or beatitudes to live by. It’s a story of the bold and boundless love that God has for all of us. When I heard the story of the lost boy in the woods, I related to it right away, because I was also once lost in the woods at the same age as Joseph.

When I  was four, my family went on a vacation and we stayed in a cabin in a wooded area of Michigan. I also wandered off and got lost in the woods. A very kind family saw me wandering and took me into their cabin, until they found my parents, who were searching everywhere for me. I vaguely recall that the people who took me in, were kind and spoke gently to me, calming my fears. They kept me safe until the reunion with my parents. 

God is still searching through the woods of this world, for all of His lost sons and daughters. He is relying on some good neighbors like us, who may be in a nearby cabin, to show kindness to them when they cross our path. He hopes we will show the same kindness and speak calmly to prepare them for a future reunion with their Heavenly Father. 

Jesus described the Good Samaritan as being moved with compassion, who then did something to help the wounded man. Compassion will move us to action, according to our own capacity. The lost sons and daughters of God cross our path for a reason, not by coincidence. God knows what we have to offer them and He sends people our way according to His purpose. God may simply be asking us to be present for someone, to speak calming words, as they did for me when I was lost.

So who are the lost sons and daughters in our lives that we can help? They may be coworkers, relatives, friends, neighbors or total strangers. We each have a unique role in God’s search and rescue mission for the lost. People may enter our lives for a moment, or for a season and others for a lifetime, but it is God who places them all there.

God also sends people to care for us if we lose our way. He sends people into our life to give us what we need, to prepare and lead us closer to God someday. It might have been a parent, a grandparent, a teacher, a friend, neighbor or a total stranger.

Lord, thank you for the goodness you show us through others, and give us compassion for those lost sons and daughters you send our way. Amen

“Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.”

Isaiah 49:1 (NIV)

There’s no doubt that it makes us feel special when someone knows our name, especially when we least expect them to. Isaiah said it more than once, that God called our name while we were in the womb. Jesus said that He calls us, His sheep, by name, and then leads us out. Where did He lead us out to? The very first place He led us out of, is the womb, on the day we were born.

Not every scripture is to be taken literally, but what if God really did call our name while we were in the womb. It’s too bad we have no memory of it, but we can still imagine how it was. Think for a moment that at some point in your prenatal development, the voice of God spoke your name, while you were floating around blissfully in amniotic fluid. 

Then the day of your birth took place, which was a stark transition from the comfort and security of the womb to the bright lights and cold atmosphere of a delivery room. Suddenly, there were new sounds and shadows of people outside the womb, which is unpleasant at first, in contrast to the warmth of the past months. You let out your first cry and then ‘life after birth’ begins.

From then on, we hear our name called by parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, a spouse, and others. Years erase the memory of the prenatal voice of God, as we learn to discern the inner voice of His Spirit, who guides us in non-audible ways. He speaks through our conscience, and whispers in our heart, in prayer, or by reading scripture, through music, and by the words of others who inspire us. 

We may even feel at times that something is missing because we subconsciously long for that divine voice we first heard in the womb. 

When we see our name on a note, a greeting card or banner celebrating a birthday, graduation or anniversary event, we naturally rejoice. Jesus once told us that having our names written in heaven, is reason for the greatest rejoicing. (Luke 10:20)

I have a story about once seeing my name written, where I never expected to see it. After settling in my current home in 2019, I searched on a website to buy the right painting to hang on a long bare wall in my living room. To make it even more meaningful, I specifically looked for a landscape scene of a particular area of Greece where my father grew up. 

I found a painting on canvas, showing the Peloponnese mountains in the background, with six boats docked in the foreground. It was 5 ft long and would fill in the wall space perfectly, so I ordered it. 

When it arrived, I was looking at the details up close, and each boat had a name on it, but the letters were partly covered, except for one boat. To my surprise, on the fourth boat from the left, I saw my first name in Greek. (Μαρία) It was as if God was saying ‘hello’ to me, through that picture. My name was the clearest one to read on any of the boats. A painting I ordered to fill in a blank wall, turned out to be an unexpected blessing. 

The voice of God who first called our name in the womb is the voice we now hear with the ‘ear of our hearts’. He will call our name again one day, when He leads us from here to our eternal home in heaven with Him.

Lord, remind us today that you are always speaking to our hearts in various ways, whispering our name to guide and comfort us with your divine Presence. Amen

“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression

of the remnant of his inheritance?

You do not stay angry forever

 but delight to show mercy.”

Micah 7:18 (NIV)

Most people consider living a long life as a blessed life. Longevity is a blessing, but it is not the defining feature of a blessed life. The people who are blessed are those who receive the grace and mercy that God offers to all, whether they live 20, 40 or 100 years. 

The thief on the cross couldn’t have been very old, and though his life was short, he received the promise of being in paradise with Jesus the day he died. Some might think that he wasted many years before that day, but the one righteous deed he did was in asking Jesus for mercy before he died. It was enough for God to receive him into heaven, which makes his short life a blessed one. 

Someone may be dwelling on what they have lost, or what they are about to lose, but God is focused on giving all people the blessing of His salvation, and He does it through a million chances. Whether we lose health, a relationship or financial stability, God is always trying to draw us closer to Him. He not only desires all souls to be in heaven with Him, but to recognize His love here and now, in our present lives as well. 

When our cross seems too much to bear, He is sanctifying us through that cross. If we were to ask God why He allowed a particular event to happen in our lives, His likely answer is, “Trust me, you cannot see what I see.” 

Even when we fail to trust or believe, we have not used up our last chance, since God offers us a million more. It’s what abundant grace and unconditional love is all about.

Speaking of a million chances, I recently learned the life story of a contemporary Christian singer named Jamie Macdonald. Her story is not what one would expect of someone who writes and sings chart topping songs in the Christian genre.

Jamie’s journey to faith began when her parents divorced before her teen years. Her mother remarried, and her stepfather was mean and abusive, kicking her out of the house at age 15. Jamie went on a downward spiral, dropping out of high school, and becoming addicted to drugs. 

She went to LA, and as young as she was, she lived in homelessness for about six years. After seeing many of her friends die of overdoses or be sent to prison, she remembered a time in her childhood when she believed in God, while at a church camp when she was 12 years old.

In the place she was at, surrounded by drug adducts, Jamie fell to her knees one day when she was 21, and cried out to God, asking Him to help her, and He began to do great things in her life. She finally left the drug scene in LA and received help to overcome her addiction. She always dreamed of a career in music, since she wrote and sang her own songs. While living in Kansas City, MO, she found work singing the songs she wrote, in local coffee shops. In 2025, she released her first chart topping single, ‘Desperate’, which was voted the break out Christian song of the year, which earned five music award nominations.

Jamie is living a totally new life in Christ these days, and although her first 21 years seemed to be wasted years, she has a deeper appreciation of God’s grace which gives us a ‘million chances’. She feels her life is blessed to sing only for Jesus, who inspired her to write and sing a song titled, ‘A million chances.’

Jesus once said that ‘the one who is forgiven much, will love Him much.’ May we all be able to see our life as blessed, in spite of the years we ever considered wasted or lost. Nothing is lost where God’s grace intervenes.

Lord, thank you for your abundant grace that gives us millions of chances to receive mercy, and your love that so powerfully transforms people. Amen 

“When you pass through the waters,

 I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.”

Isaiah 43:2 (NIV)

‘Mayday’ became a universal distress call because it’s easier to hear over the radio than ‘SOS’, since the ‘S’ often sounds like an ‘F’.

As air and water travel increased in the 1920’s, the Royal Air Force developed the word “Mayday,” which originates from a French phrase for help me, ‘m’aider’, which evolved into the word Mayday.  According to protocol,  “Mayday” is required to be called out three times in a row.

In 2009, a US Airways Flight 1549, collided with a flock of Canadian geese. They hit the plane shortly after take off from LaGuardia, disabling both engines. The seasoned pilot, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, was a US Air Force fighter pilot before flying commercial, and was known by his nickname, ‘Sully.’

When Sully saw that both engines were disabled, his quick thinking used the best chance of survival by avoiding the Manhattan skyline, and  steering the engineless plane into the waters of the Hudson River. Sully made the Mayday call 22 seconds after the birds hit the plane. In less than four minutes from his Mayday call, he glided the plane into the Hudson River. 

The force of the plane spun violently in the water, but rescue boats quickly arrived, saving all 155 people on board. 

It happened almost two decades ago, but I once heard a survivor share his story on a Christian TV show. Fred Beretta, in the weeks prior to the accident, had been in a phase of renewing and deepening his faith in Christ. He decided to take along a Christian book to read on the flight. He was reading before and after the plane took off, when he glanced out the window and saw the engines in flames. 

Captain Sully told the passengers to prepare for an emergency landing, after calling in the Mayday. Within seconds, Fred wondered if the book on his lap, was the last book he would read?  Then he surrendered himself into God’s hands and braced for the end. 

To his surprise, he survived, as did every person on board the plane that day. Thank God for Captain Sully’s skills to steer the engineless plane into the Hudson. God also heard that Mayday call and kept everyone on board safe. 

News coverage and articles were written about this event, which rightfully credited Sully with his 20,000 hours of flight time, quick thinking, calm demeanor, and four decades of flying experience. 

There were still many factors that Sully could not control, like the flock of geese hitting both engines of the plane, or whether there would be ice on the water that cold January day.

Captain Sully also couldn’t control the violent spin after the plane hit the water, or whether there would be other boats nearby, but there were no other boats on the water that morning. Sully used the skill he had acquired over time, while God controlled the uncontrollable factors. 

Sully had many flight hours of experience, just as we have flight hours of faith.  Flight hours of faith come from daily communication with the Lord. We learn over time and experience that trusting God means being faithful while leaving the things we have no control of, in His hands.

Life at times, can feel like we are flying an engineless plane, as the troubled waters of life spin us around, but we send up our Mayday prayers to God. Then we hold on to what we know to be true and trust God with the uncontrollable details, believing His promise, that the waters will not sweep over us. 

Almost two decades later, the news recently reported that Captain Sully was just diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. We pray that God will hear his Mayday call once more, show mercy and heal him. 

Lord, help us to trust you with the details we cannot control, as we send our Mayday calls up to heaven, and keep us all safe as we pass through rough waters that come our way. Amen

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

(Hebrews 13:2)

Today is just another day to most of the world’s population, but in the history of Christianity, it is a day that commemorates the Archangel, Michael. The other archangels that we know of are Gabriel and Raphael. God created the archangels for a purpose as leaders among other angels, so today, I am writing once again on the theme of angels.

Scripture tells us that we may encounter an angel without knowing it, and I have three true stories to share, from three honest, sound minded men, who might have once encountered an angel in disguise. The angels didn’t appear with wings, wearing shining white clothing, but looked like regular human men, ministering to people in a time of need. Here are the three stories.

A Christian doctor from a small town in the southern U.S., once flew to Chicago for a medical conference. When he arrived, he chose to take public transportation to the downtown area, instead of a cab. 

He boarded the city’s el train and unknowingly got off at the wrong stop. He stood alone lost and appearing vulnerable on a street in a dangerous Chicago neighborhood. While standing there holding his briefcase, he wondered what to do, when he realized he was being watched. 

A nefarious looking gang of men began walking towards him, and the doctor had a feeling something bad was about to happen. Suddenly a cab pulled up out of nowhere and the driver said, “Get in, you don’t belong here.” He got in the cab, and escaped the glaring onlookers just in time. He was driven safely to his downtown destination, and after thanking the driver, took his briefcase out of the cab, and turned to pay the driver, but the cab was gone. 

God once allowed Elijah to see an army of angels dispatched all around him, who were driving chariots, all to protect him from his enemies. (2 Kings 6:17)  If angels could drive chariots to protect Elijah, who is to say they couldn’t drive a cab to protect that doctor.

Another Christian man who is now 92 years old, tells the story of how he lost his job in the mid 1960’s and went through a really hard time financially. Many other trials were happening in his life at the same time, and his faith was being tested. 

As he was driving one day, he saw a pitiful looking hitchhiker, and decided to pick him up. The hitchhiker didn’t say much but seemed poor and homeless, so he gave him $5.00. Compared to the 1960’s, $5 is equal to $55 today. It was a sacrificial gift considering his own circumstances but he felt God was presenting a challenge to test his willingness to give. He dropped the hitchhiker off at his destination and the man thanked him as he got out of the car. 

While driving away, he glanced in his rear view mirror, but the man was nowhere to be seen. He stopped the car and backed up, looking in all directions but the man could not be seen anywhere. Could it have been an angel disguised as hitchhiker? It’s up to us to believe it or not. 

Another man told me that many years ago, he was driving on Route 83 in Mount Prospect, when he stopped at the railroad crossing. Since no railroad lights were flashing, he and the car in the next lane were about to proceed across the tracks, when a stranger dressed in white clothing ran in front of them, waving his hands, telling both cars to stop. 

The men stopped and got out of their cars to learn why the stranger was stopping them. The man in white said that the warning lights were not working. Before they could ask how he knew the lights weren’t working, a speeding train came and rushed past them. The two men looked but the stranger was gone. He disappeared as quickly as he appeared. The man who shared the story with me, believes it was an angel. Science relies on proof but faith resides in the heart of men. 

God may send angels to test our response based on our faith, or to protect us from danger, and other times, just to encourage us to keep going in the right direction to lead us closer to God.  (Hebrews 1:14) 

Angels work along side us every day, without our awareness, in a totally invisible realm. Once in a while someone meets an angel in disguise, in order for God’s purpose to be accomplished in the lives of His people.

Lord, thank you for the Archangels, our guardian angels, and the regular people who either act as angels, or are angels in disguise, sent to fulfill your purpose in our lives. Amen

“Cast your cares on the Lord

 and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”

Psalm 55:22 (NIV)

Whenever I read quotes of various authors, martyrs or ministers, I occasionally run across one that stirs my curiosity to want to learn more about the writer, and gain a deeper understanding of the one who made the quotes.

One such writer and speaker who I searched was Elisabeth Elliot, who was a 20th century missionary in Ecuador, along with her husband, Jim and daughter Valerie. One day in 1956, Jim and four fellow missionary friends went to befriend a tribe living in eastern Ecuador. Jim and the others didn’t get very far when they were all speared to death by tribal members.

Elisabeth, newly widowed, with a young daughter, decided to stay in Ecuador after befriending and earning respect from people during the time there. She eventually met and forgave the men of the tribe who murdered her husband. She spoke about the faithfulness of God, the blessings of obedience, joy in the midst of sorrow, and the call to love one’s enemy. 

In her own words, “To love God is to love His will. It is to wait quietly for life to be measured by One who knows us through and through, and to be content with His timing and His wise appointment.”

Elizabeth served in Ecuador for two more years as a missionary, until she felt God leading her back to the USA. She started writing and putting all the things she learned into books. She wrote over 20 books, while touring and speaking all over the United States. For thirteen years she had a daily radio program called “Gateway to Joy” in which she opened her show each day with the following words:

‘You’re loved with an everlasting love and underneath are the everlasting arms.’

In the 1950’s when most women, newly widowed, would lack the confidence to do all that she did, she  trusted God to keep His promise and supply all her needs, as she said, “What we don’t have now, we don’t need now.” 

Though she did remarry later, God provided for her and her daughter through her writing, speaking and radio ministry in those early years. She passed away in 2015 at the age of 89.

Her quote that first got my attention was “Everything, if given to God can become your gateway to joy.” Elisabeth truly gave everything to God, and He opened many doors, revealing a new purpose in her life, which left an impact on all who knew her. I’ll close with one of Elisabeth’s prayers:

Lord, Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. Let me hear your word, give me grace to obey, to build steadily, stone upon stone, day by day, to do what You say. Establish my heart so that floods have no power to overwhelm, for Christ’s sake. Amen

“Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.”

Psalm 30:11 (RSV)

Only the Lord can turn our mourning into dancing. Living in a Nursing Facility can be a dark and lonely existence for people. For residents who require 24 hour care, and have no assets or family to care for them, they have no option other than living in a Medicaid funded Nursing home. Most of them have no visitors and live in constant loneliness. For some, their mourning is turned to joy, when they are fortunate enough to be discharged to go live with a family member.

I knew of three residents in my first year of visiting the Nursing home, who were discharged after a period of rehabilitation. They all resided on the same floor as my son, Jon.

Tawana was one of those residents.  I befriended her in 2023, when Jon was first admitted. She was there to recover from surgery for a cancerous brain tumor.

Tawana is a Christian lady who radiated joy and faith. She never felt sorry for herself, but seemed to live to cheer others up. One day, she introduced me to a resident who came into the community Day room from a different floor. He walked into the room and stood still, placing one hand on a column in the room, while enjoying the music playing on a nearby speaker. Tawana told me his name is David and he is totally blind. That’s why he was holding on to the column while listening to the music. 

The old song by the Four Tops was playing, called “I can’t help myself.” Tawana got up and invited David to come closer to the music, as she danced near him. He let go of the column and started dancing with Tawana and then I joined them. We all sang along, “Sugar pie honey bunch, you know that I love you.” 🎶 

We had fun, but David was elated. His face lit up as he danced and said, “I love this group participation!” I think it was the first time David ever had someone sing and dance with him. We all couldn’t stop smiling. 

That moment caused me to make up a verse, though it’s not an actual bible verse, and would be, 

“I was blind and lonely, but you sang and danced with me.”

A simple act of dancing and singing joyfully to a classic oldie, brought a ray of light into David’s dark, lonely world. A Nursing facility cares for a person’s medical and physical needs, but it takes regular people to provide social interaction and bring joy. David was blind, but he could hear, so music had been his only friend, until one day when two ladies joined him in a song and dance. 

His circumstances didn’t change, he was still blind, living in a long term care facility, with no one to visit him, but God saw David and led him into the community room that day. The Spirit of God inspired Tawana, who in turn, inspired me, and together we brought a little joy into David’s life. 

Life consists of a series of moments, and we all have the potential to bring a special moment to others. Tawana was discharged two years ago, to live in an assisted living facility near her three adult children in the South Chicago area. I recently heard that she is still doing well and cancer free. 

The joy we bring to others will come right back to us. The best remedy for overcoming negative thinking is to look outside of ourselves and find a way to bring joy to someone else, and joy certainly has a ripple effect. 

God doesn’t ask us to change the world, but we might change one person’s world, as Tawana did while she lived in that Nursing home.

Lord, show us how we can spread joy to those who are living a dark, lonely existence and use us to turn someone’s mourning into joy. Amen

“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Luke 11:1 (NIV)

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He gave them the Lord’s Prayer, which is also a template for all prayer. Jesus often told us all things are possible, to persist in prayer and never stop knocking, seeking and asking. 

So, we know He wants us to be diligent in prayer, but only once in scripture did Jesus tell us ‘how’ to pray, and that was through the Lord’s prayer. 

If we look at each line recited by Jesus, we can uncover the mysteries of how prayer will get us through the most emotionally exhausting trials in our lives. The more we examine His words, the more the Holy Spirit will give us insight into what Jesus was teaching. 

    Our Father who art in heaven;

It starts with ‘Our Father’, because through Jesus, we all share the same Heavenly Father, who sees us as part of His family. We approach God with the humility of a child, because ‘Our Father’ knows what’s best for us. A child doesn’t need to earn a father’s love because a father loves his children from the day they were born, long before they could do anything right or wrong. God also loved us first, before we knew Him. 

     Hallowed be Thy name;

Jesus told us that His Father’s name is hallowed, holy, sacred and worthy of the highest honor. It’s amazing to think that such an awesome mighty God desires a close and intimate relationship with each of us. I love the contrast of the first and second line in this prayer. It’s something to remember every time we pray, that God is holy, but also a loving Father, reaching toward us with open arms.

     Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven;

This line reminds us that there is more to come and our life in this world is not all there is. God has a coming kingdom, and until that kingdom comes, He desires that we permit His will to be done in our lives. He gave us free will, but when we align our will to His, we verbally seal it by telling Him, ‘Let your will be done.’ It’s called surrender. Then we trust Him to do the rest and that’s called peace of mind.

      Give us this day our daily bread;

The Lord’s prayer frames all other prayers around the truth of who God is and who we are. We ask our Father for daily bread, focusing on this day’s needs, not the future’s. It’s easier to trust Jesus one day at a time, than to get stressed out over tomorrow’s problems. Jesus called Himself the living bread of heaven, so we seek first, the One who satisfies soul and spirit.

      Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; 

We are reminded that forgiveness needs to be a two way street. He told us that to be forgiven by God, we must forgive others. It’s the biggest challenge in the entire Lord’s prayer. Jesus reminded us many times about forgiveness through his parables. There’s an old Irish proverb “We bury the hatchet but mark the spot.” Forgiveness is easier if we have a short term memory, and forget where all the hatchets are buried. 

       Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

The previous parts of the Lord’s Prayer pertain to things which we  can take control of, by aligning our will with God’s, seeking what we need for the present day, and forgiving who we need to forgive. This last part of the prayer is asking for what only God can do, which is to keep us from temptation and deliver us from evil. He is a good shepherd, protector and deliverer. One old testament title for God is “El Gibor,” which translates to, “God, our hero.”

After all is said and done, we realize prayer is basically an intention of the heart, and God reads all hearts. We may go through difficult times, when emotionally, we cannot utter a word in prayer, but God still reads our heart. Sometimes it’s better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.

Jesus saves the best line for last, the conclusion that God, being our true hero, deserves all “The kingdom, the power and the glory, now and forever.” 

Lord, thank you for loving us as your children, so that we can love and trust you as our Father. May your words always dwell in us and remind us how to pray. Amen

“For He will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways.

On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.”

Psalm 91:11-12 (RSV)

If we receive a gift from someone, we show our gratitude by opening it and using what we were given. Scripture teaches us that God has given us angels to guard and protect us. Since angels are God’s gift to us, we should show our gratitude by using the gift He has given.

I believe we can ask angels to give our doctors, lawyers, plumbers,  electricians and anyone we hire, the guidance, skill and wisdom to solve problems and make good decisions. 

I have told this story before, but I’ll never forget the time I called a plumbing company that I never used before. They dispatched a plumber to check a leaking pipe in my basement. I specifically prayed for God to send an angel along with that plumber, to give him the skill and wisdom needed to solve the problem with honesty and of course, at a reasonable cost. 

The doorbell rang, and a young man was standing at my front door in a work uniform, wearing a name tag that read “Gabriel.” I thought, Really? Of all the plumbers that work for the company, they sent one that day who wore the name, Gabriel!?

 Not a coincidence.

I took that as the first answer to my prayer. He then efficiently solved my leak problem, which is still good six years later, and he did it at a very low cost, which was the second answer to my prayer. I assume that Gabriel the plumber, was a human man, not an angel, but I am confident he was certainly guided by one. When I called to request Gabriel for a different plumbing issue after that, I was told that he moved out of state. 

There was a story on the news a few years ago which is another example of angelic intervention. An Ohio man  was approached by police with an arrest warrant, and with his nine month old son sitting in his car seat, the man decided to bolt, and took off at a speed of 100 mph down the highway, causing a police chase. 

The back door of the van was never securely shut, so the door swung open and the baby was thrown from the van while strapped to his car seat. The baby bounced several times on the grassy side of the highway, but since it was dark, no one saw where he landed after being thrown from the van. 

The man was apprehended, and about an hour later, the baby was found on the side of the road, still strapped to his car seat. He was very cold but without any injury. No doubt that baby was protected by angels, who kept him unharmed. Even the news reporters called it miraculous.

Another memory comes to mind regarding angels. As a young child, my mother told me that I used to talk  about my friend, Maren. I vaguely remember it, since I was four years old, and my mother said there was no one named Maren that she knew of. So she inquired of my preschool teacher and Sunday school teacher, but found no one named Maren in any of my classes.

Years later, as an adult, I wondered about it and prayed one day, asking God to let me know if ‘Maren’ could possibly be the name of my guardian angel. The next day, I got in my car and was pulling out of the apartment complex, when a car cut sharply in front of me. As I braked, my eyes went straight to the license plate which read, ‘MAREN’. I took that as an answer to my question. 

There is no limit to how angels can interact with human beings, even occasionally appearing as a human person. Scripture says we may meet a stranger who is an actual angel, in disguise, without knowing it. 

(Hebrews 13:2)

Their job is to protect and lead us all closer to God. If we stop to think about ways that God’s goodness and mercy was with us in times past, an angel was probably involved. Angels must get tired of hearing people refer to their work as “luck” since they work nonstop to guard us in all our ways. 

We thank God for the gift of the invisible realm of angels who constantly surround us, and if we take a moment to meditate on them, it will strengthen our faith for the problems or struggles that we are currently facing. 

Lord, we praise you for the many times your heavenly angels act as  our protectors, to guide and care for us, even when we were unaware of it. Amen