No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.  And I will raise him up on the last day.  John 6:44

Hi yal (you are loved)

The title of lesson 4 from my 31 days of prayer, Its not a trick, comes from a story about my Daddy. I was able to take care of him in his last few weeks of his life.  Five weeks, to be exact. I am so grateful for that time.  It showed me and reminded me of the beauty of God’s grace and mercy, and how no one is ever too far gone that the love of God can’t reach them.

My dad had prostate cancer that metastasized to the bones which we knew would happen since he refused treatment, as we all knew he would.  He had no desire to be on this earth in the state his physical body was in.  My Dad lived hard, he was also hard headed and a trickster.  Anyone who ever met my Dad was easily charmed by him.  He was hard not to like and love, from afar; he was prickly up close though until his last days.  As his body started shutting down and his pain increased he was getting more confused and not as lucid as he had been.  He was talking with my husband one afternoon and told him that he wish he could help him fix the hole in the ceiling.  My husband was confused and said “what hole?”  My dad became agitated and said “the huge G.D. hole in the ceiling, right there!” as he pointed up and then he began to laugh and said “I don’t mind you playing tricks on me, I just want to be in on it.” My husband shared this story with me and I knew physiologically what was happening: toxins were building up in his kidneys making confusion set in, metabolism and other functions were slowing and the medication was causing haziness and sedation. He wouldn’t really make much sense after that day but I would remember that interaction in the next few days when I was called into his room to pray.

A few days before my dad passed away I was sleeping downstairs on the couch to be close to him.  I was medicating him every two hours to help with breathing, anxiety and pain.  It was helpful that I was trained as a nurse twenty years before so I would be able to care for him kindly and lovingly.  I was woken up and knew I needed to go into my daddies room.  There was such an evil presence but I knew in my spirit I was to go in and pray.  I wanted to cover my head with the covers and go back to sleep, and I knew I could do that, but I also knew that this was an answer to a prayer that has been prayed for him since as long as I can remember, so I went.  I was so afraid, my voice cracked and squeaked as I confessed out loud “I am the righteousness of Christ in Jesus (2COR:5:21), no weapon formed against me shall prosper (Isaiah 54:17) and the same power that rose Jesus Christ from the dead is the same power that lives in me (Ephesians 1:19-21).” As I spoke scripture, I became more bold and courageous.  I knew that my God goes before and behind me (Deuteronomy 31:8) and I needed not to fear because He was with me.  365 times the word of God tells us not to worry because He is with us or some version of trusting him as being the reason not to fear.  And since He created all and knows all and sees all I can rest and trust that He knows what He is doing and has already planned my rescue.

So, I walked into his room.  turned worship music on from the TV and began to pray, I began to worship how great my God was for allowing me to petition the throne, advocate for my dad and tell him everything I was too afraid to share with him because he never seemed to be in the right spirit to receive.  I’m aware that we can continue to sense and hear even when we are unresponsive.  He was a captive audience and I was ready to tell him everything that I wasn’t sure he had ever heard.  I told him that none of us deserve God’s grace and mercy but because He is Love that is all He can have for us.  I told him that Jesus really was that good and He only wants the best for us. He double downed on the expectation of the law.  He said that no longer is it good enough that you don’t kill but that you can’t even have hate in your heart! (Matthew 5:17) I told him that the worker who comes early in the morning gets paid the same amount as the one who comes right before quitting time (Matthew 20:1-16). I told him he was a good dad.  I told him how I learned to be generous from him and I learned not to take life so seriously and to have fun and live life to the fullest.  I told him , “It’s not a trick daddy- He really is that loving”.

I am visual learner so I see pictures in my minds eye.  this night I could see Jesus on one side of my dad and the demons and gremlins and smoke and clawing was being done on the other side.  I could sense that my daddy could not imagine this gift.  This love that Jesus died for him to have.  This freedom he died to set us free for- oh it is not a trick! It sounds too good to be true, but it’s simple.  God told the Israelites so many years ago before the Spirit of God actually dwelled in us:

I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. Deuteronomy 30:19

It really is that simple and God’s unconditional, grace filled, lavish making love is not a trick.  He sets before us life and death.  He has a good plan for us, he has a rescue plan before we even know we need it.  Our God set eternity in our hearts so while we are searching for Him with cheap imitations of acceptance, connection, hope and trust in what the world tells us will satisfy-worldly distractions:  Money, success, popularity- setting our sites on the gifts that God gives us instead of on God himself- will always leave us unsatisfied and satiety.

I pray over each of you reading this, I pray that you would love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and I pray you would love your neighbor as yourself.  I have prayed this prayer at least weekly since January of 2021, I believe this is the single most effective prayer I have ever prayed.  Test it out for yourself and see if you don’t begin to hunger and thirst for more love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness and self control than you have ever had!

Blessings! You are loved! like and follow the Facebook page -signal for help ministries.  I will be doing updates and live posts of encouragement to empower you in your life!