“When you Pray Big, you receive Big”

Posted by admin in Blog (Weekly), Blogs

Aug
2

pray big

I spotted the “PRAY BIG” sign on the wall when I visited my friend Karen’s “Heaven on Earth” Healing Center on my trip to Rhode Island. I had to take a picture of it because it reminded me of what happened to my ex-husband and I over 35 years ago. We stepped out in faith because we heard God say to us,

“If you take big steps with me, I will take big steps with you.”

I believe that when I PRAY BIG, I will also RECEIVE BIG. I asked myself, “What does it mean to PRAY BIG?” First of all, I think it means that I need to know what I want and I must be willing to ask for it. It means to stop playing small and praying for just enough, whether that be enough money, clients, friends, happiness, peace, health or success. To ask for what I want, I must feel deserving and worthy to experience abundance in every area of my life. I must be willing to RECEIVE all that God wants to give me.
The tricky part of this is to be grateful, accept and love where I am and what I have in the present moment, while looking ahead to the future and what I want to manifest. It is important to know how to let go of the outcome and trust God for everything that is in my life now. I believe that the best is yet to come and Spirit wants us to expand to our fullest potential and grant us our heart’s desires.

Here is the chapter “The Sky God Speaks” from my book, Simply a Woman of Faith.

“My husband complained about his sales job for many years. He hated what he was doing. He felt stuck in a dead end job where there was no satisfaction or fulfillment. I could see the toll it was taking on him as his depression worsened. He didn’t want to do the things he used to enjoy and watched TV all the time.

Every weekend, he’d spend hours scouring the newspaper looking for jobs, but to no avail. He sent out resumes and had some interviews, but nothing ever panned out. I felt powerless to help, but listened and tried my best to be supportive, encouraging him not to give up. I knew something would come along if he kept trying. I wasn’t totally surprised when he asked to speak with me after dinner about something important.

“I’m thinking about going into business for myself,” he nervously blurted out. “Oh. What kind of business?” I asked God,I know he’s going to say a Christian bookstore. “I want to open a Christian bookstore.””I knew you were going to say that,” I answered.”How did you know? We’ve never talked about it before. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, but didn’t have the guts to bring it up to you. I didn’t think you would go for it.” “I don’t know how I knew, I just did.” “What do you think?” he asked. “I’m not sure. I’m not against it, but we don’t know anything about running a bookstore. Where would we get the money? Would you quit your job?” There were so many questions and my mind wouldn’t shut off.

“I don’t know the answers yet, but I’ll do some research and see what I can find out,” he answered.”Okay, I’d like to pray about this and make sure it’s God’s will.”We agreed to pray and discuss it in another week or so. A week later, I could tell by the look in my husband’s eyes and the quivering in his voice that he had something to tell me. I waited anxiously until the children were tucked into bed and he was ready to talk. As we sat next to one another on the big sofa, he grabbed my hand and said, “We have to sell our house if we want to go into business.” It took me off guard and I gasped. “What? You must be kidding.” “No, I’m not. I went to the bank to see about a loan. We’re not eligible. The only way we can finance a business is to sell our house.”

“There must be another way,” I said as the tears rolled down my cheeks. The thought of selling our home and moving when I was pregnant with our fourth child seemed out of the question. I loved our home and that was the last thing I wanted to do.The pain and despair in his eyes prompted me to ask,”Where would we live if we sold our home?” “We would have to find a nice place to rent,” he answered. I wanted to be open and I desperately wanted my husband to be happy and fulfilled, but I didn’t want to move. Every time we broached the subject I kept repeating, “This is such a big step, we have to make sure it’s God.”

I prayed about it daily, but no answers came until we attended our weekly prayer meeting at the church. After the singing and praise, the church got very quiet as we waited to hear the prophetic word. Directly in front of us sat a man we had never seen before. He spoke loud and clearly, “If you take big steps with me, I will take big steps with you. If you take small steps with me, I will take small steps with you.”

My husband looked over at me as the tears streamed down my cheeks in disbelief. He gently squeezed my hand and smiled at me. We both knew God had spoken and answered our prayers. We couldn’t stop talking about it on our ride home from the prayer meeting. Although we weren’t ready to speak it aloud yet, we both knew deep down what we needed to do.

The next day my husband called the real estate agent and we put our house up for sale. We didn’t know where we would live, but we trusted God would guide us as He promised in the prophecy. We wanted to find a townhouse to rent. I joked with my husband and said, “It wouldn’t surprise me if God was building brand new town houses nearby.”

The next week as I read the newspaper, savoring my flavorful cup of chai, I spotted the full page ad in the middle section of the paper.”Joe, come quick,” I called out. “Look what I found in the newspaper. It looks perfect for us.”

GRAND OPENING – TOWNHOUSES FOR RENT OR SALE

We packed the three children in the car and off we went to the neighboring town. As we drove up the long windy driveway, we couldn’t wait to see what the townhouses looked like. Dozens of people walked in and out of the model townhouses. “How may I help you?” asked the saleswoman who greeted us at the entrance of the model. She smiled as she noticed my obvious big belly and our three young children tagging behind us.

“We’re interested in renting a three bedroom townhouse,”my husband answered. “I’d be glad to show you around. We’ve already rented several of them today. Aren’t they beautiful?” the saleswoman commented.”Very,” I answered. I loved the large rooms and the patio. I imagined our children playing in the small back yard.”When will they be available to occupy?” I asked. “Some are ready now. We’re still building on the other side of the street and they’ll be completed in the Spring.”

My husband and I walked outside to discuss whether to put a deposit down on the townhouse. Even though we just put our house on the market the week before, we thought it would sell quickly and we needed a place to live when it did sell. The timing seemed perfect and we loved the townhouse. We could afford the monthly payment and it was close to everything. We put down a deposit that day with the understanding that when our house sold, we would move in.

As expected, our house sold quickly and amazingly we got almost to the penny what we needed to open the business. Everything ran on schedule and according to plan. Several months later, we moved into our new townhouse.”

As we follow God’s plan for our lives, miracles happen. When we PRAY BIG, we will RECEIVE BIG. Do you know what you want? Do you feel deserving to receive your heart’s desire?

DREAMING BIG