A Moment of Hope

by Marilynn Chadwick Even after the birth of a beautiful daughter and a strong son, I still felt like our family wasn't finished. We had agonized through years of infertility before having our two children. People wondered why we would put ourselves through more anguish and expense when we already had a daughter and a son. I could only describe my feelings by explaining that  it was as if someone...

by Marilynn Chadwick "When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, 'I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel'" (Luke 7:9 NIV). Jesus was amazed at the man's faith. What was it about this Roman army officer—an outsider—that inspired Jesus to marvel at his faith? This centurion happens to be one of my favorite characters in the New...

by Marilynn Chadwick "Jesus repeatedly left the crowds...stealing away into the wilderness to pray" (Luke 5:16 VOICE). Nothing about the word wilderness sounds appealing to me. Rather, I imagine it to be empty, lonely, and barren.  Yet Jesus found the wilderness to be full of fruit —spiritual fruit. Jesus withdrew often to talk with his father in the wilderness. The Son of God, with divinity downl...

by Marilynn Chadwick "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV). Triggered. That's what happens when my normal train of thought is interrupted with a sudden reminder to pray for someone. I'm prompted to intercede and offer a quick prayer for them. That's why I have all kinds of prayer triggers that nudge me to pray for friends, family, and beyond.  Prayer triggers take my prayer life out of...

by Marilynn Chadwick "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful" (Colossians 4:2 NIV) Why pray? I can think of lots of good reasons.  Prayer helps us stay connected to God. It's how we get to know him, enjoy his presence, and answer his call. Renowned nineteenth century theologian, R. A. Torrey, in his short but power packed little book, How to Pray, addresses this question. "Why is...

by David Chadwick We are on day five of learning how to pray. If Jesus taught it in Scripture, I should be teaching it to those under my care. You've learned about keeping a prayer journal, persisting in prayer, using prayer to build faith as you wait, praying the Lord's Prayer. Today's lesson – pray your day! I have found this to be a simple, yet profound way to better your prayer life. As you st...

by David Chadwick How do you pray? Jesus taught us principles in his Word and I want to share what I have learned from him with you. Keep a journal that reminds you of your history with God. Persist in prayer, even when it's hard. Learn to wait and build your faith muscles. Today's tip? Pray the Lord's Prayer. This may sound simple, but Jesus gave us an outline in Matthew 6:6-12 for a reason. Beca...

by David Chadwick How do we pray? So far we have learned about praying through journaling and about persistent prayer. I finished yesterday's teaching on how to pray by saying this: I believe  persistence allows your heart to keep believing as you learn to wait upon the Lord. What's today's tip? We learn to wait. Waiting. It's not easy, but it strengthens the core of a person. It tests us. It chal...

by David Chadwick Prayer. It is such an important tool in our Christian walk. It's a skill we must tend to and cultivate. Learn and develop.  Jesus saw such high value in teaching people how to pray. In Matthew 6, he goes into great detail of when to pray, how to pray, principles of prayer and so forth. He even saw the wrong ways people could engage in prayer and warned people of the dangers of pr...

by David Chadwick How to pray. It's a topic Jesus cared deeply about. He knew that prayer was the only way to maintain communion with the Father and to remain dependent on him. Jesus also knew that prayer is how God chooses to involve his children in bringing heaven to earth. To see his kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). This week, I want to help teach yo...

by Marilynn Chadwick A small, worn bookmark in my box is another "Ebenezer Stone." It tells the story of my very first mission trip to Africa.  Yet another reminder of how we find joy when we step out in faith to answer God's call. David and I had close friends who had been missionaries in Ethiopia, an African nation with a turbulent history. They approached us about coming to speak at a large con...

by Marilynn Chadwick Continued from yesterday... …The day of our mission trip finally arrived. We boarded the plane to the Himalayas and I settled in for what would be a forty-hour journey, including layovers. We then flew by helicopter to the remote village to visit the new school our church helped build. Eager parents had assembled around the courtyard where the opening ceremony was to be held. ...

by Marilynn Chadwick Continued from yesterday... …Suddenly, I snapped back into the reality of sitting on the airport shuttle van. The conversation between the construction worker and the van driver continued. I caught a word or phrase here and there, still not paying much attention. That is, until the older man said something to the young driver about how  "you just gotta be willing to try a new...

by Marilynn Chadwick A frayed white silk scarf in my Ebenezer Box is a rather odd-looking souvenir. Yet it reminds me of the time I got to see the Lord at work in a very dramatic way. During this mysterious encounter, God also broke the back of a troubling fear. When it was all over, the world seemed much smaller, and  my confidence in God grew to new heights. It all started on the way to catch a...

by Marilynn Chadwick After the events of 9/11, I felt compelled to pray for a world in trouble.  I specifically asked God to break my heart for the things that break his . One by one, he put different nations on my heart for prayer. A few weeks later, after reading about the massive genocide of Christians, I put the Sudan on my list. In my Ebenezer Box is this excerpt from my journal dated October...

by Marilynn Chadwick A staggering 400 million people in India have never even heard the name of Jesus!   Some people worship over 300 million gods. They are often overwhelmed by fear, bondage, and darkness.  If I ever wondered whether the spiritual forces of darkness are real, I became thoroughly convinced after I met Pastor Jay, a church planter in a remote village in central India. One small pho...

by Marilynn Chadwick Life was exciting at the large, southern university I attended in the 1970s. I was more absorbed with fun, football games, and finding myself than I was with finding God. But when I accepted Christ the summer after my junior year, my whole world shifted. Until then, I had dated a number of perfectly nice guys. But now I began to yearn for a man who had a passion to serve God....

by Marilynn Chadwick To hold onto hope, we must learn how to guard our minds against "hope killers"—those pesky predators that seek to destroy our God-given dreams as well as our peace of mind.  One of the most troublesome hope-killers is anxiety. Like a slow leak, anxiety drains our faith. It fills us with a low-grade dread that steals our joy. Mental health experts are disturbed by the growing n...

by Marilynn Chadwick Back in 1976, after I made the giant leap from unbeliever to believer, I was surprised to find  I could actually sense God's presence—he was real!  What's more, I discovered that if I was alert, I might catch tiny glimpses of his work all around me. The Bible calls these signs. The word sign means "direction, evidence, working" or even "fingerprints." Signs reassure us that Go...

by Marilynn Chadwick I don't know about you, but my faith grows when I hear stories of God's power. And when I personally experience a miracle, my faith soars! Over the years, I've collected mementos of my own spiritual victories—I call them my "Ebenezer Stones." Photos, small artifacts, scraps of paper, pages of my journal, little bits of "this and that" all point me back to times when God showed...

by Marilynn Chadwick Resist him, standing firm in the faith...  (1 Peter 5:9 NIV). A man who had just returned from visiting members of the underground church in China was asked how the believers were able to cope with continued trials. "These brothers and sisters know this is not the end of the story," he explained. "They expect God's glory to come at the end of their trial. And they do believe t...

by Marilynn Chadwick I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one  (John 17:22 NIV). If we want to grow strong, we need to stick together. We are better and stronger when we're part of a team—a body of believers.  Who would dream of fighting a war alone, or playing against an entire basketball team by ourselves? I heard a statistic recently that made me pause. G...

by Marilynn Chadwick May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus...  (Romans 15:5 NIV, 1984 version). I love going to the beach. Everything about a trip to the ocean inspires, refreshes, and amazes me! Of all the oceanic animals God created, I am most fascinated by bottlenose dolphins, the most intelligent creatures in th...

by Marilynn Chadwick If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31 KJV). We've been exploring practical ways to grow strong in the Lord. Earlier, we saw how King David strengthened himself after a devastating attack by the Amalekites. He got alone and "strengthened himself in the Lord" (1 Samuel 30:6 ESV). Then he courageously obeyed God's instructions.  David had experienced God's power i...

by Marilynn Chadwick Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed (James 5:16 NIV). God loves us when we are weak, but he delights in making us strong.  His power shines most dramatically through our weakness. We've been exploring the various ways God strengthens us. Last week we saw how structure and order can help us free ourselves from the things...