My challenge to anyone reading this is to just try fifteen minutes of meditative prayer every day this year. If fifteen is too hard, try ten. Five is better than none. Meditative prayer has made all the difference in my own life. Connecting with God this way has healed me emotionally and spiritually. It has tapped me into a joy that I didn’t even know was possible. I have watched close friends heal from trauma and abuse after they began practicing meditative prayer. In my case, I have been completely healed from depression for over 23 years now. It works.

The most important thing was that Moses obeyed, just as the LORD had commanded. He didn’t argue or say, but why, God? This doesn’t make any sense! He obeyed. God’s ways are higher than ours. There are so many things we don’t understand. But if we follow Him, we can have faith that He does indeed have a plan, a holy perfect plan, even when we have no clue…

Jesus asked Bartimaeus, the blind man, the exact same question He had asked James and John, “What do you want Me to do for you?” James and John had asked for positions of power. Bartimaeus asked only to see. Jesus had refused the disciples’ request. But he healed Bartimaeus and gave him sight.

In my case, I knew I was completely innocent. I did everything I could to resolve the problem but it was beyond my control. My situation was painful, but mostly petty understanding. Some people pay a much higher price. Jesus was executed because of false accusations. There are times when we must just fix our eyes on Jesus and know that justice WILL come eventually when our Savior returns.

This morning I received what I believe to be a prophetic word from God directed to the leaders of the Protestant Church in America. This is the first time I have ever received a prophetic word directed to someone besides myself. I pray that I have faithfully recorded this message from God.

Don’t worry about the glory! Instead seek Jesus. Be serious about your own walk with Him. When we focus on God and drawing nearer to Him, we have no time for bickering amongst ourselves or craving personal glory. All the glory goes to God!

The boy’s father cried, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” I LOVE this prayer! It is a good one for us to pray often. And that is all it took. Dad wasn’t there yet in the faith department but all of the sudden he understood that he needed Jesus’ help. Dad still had a long way to go. But just that tiny shift from ‘IF’ to ‘HELP’ was all that was needed. Jesus commanded the demon to leave the boy and he was healed.

YOU determine your level of intimacy with God. HE is all in. He wants to be at lover level. So the depth of your relationship is on YOU. The more time you spend with Him, the deeper your relationship will become. You will learn to hear and recognize His voice. He will open your heart, mind and soul to enter ever more deeply into His mysteries, His joy, and His peace. There is no end to the depth of this amazing relationship. As long as your pursue Him, He will keep taking you further.

The disciples were still mentally living in the physical world. Jesus has shown them that the physical world does not really matter. Five loaves of fish multiply to feed five thousand. Blind men see and lame people walk. Obviously, Jesus was never constrained by physical limitations. He continually tries to gently but firmly shift the disciples from their physical mindset into the spiritual.

I find it so interesting how Jesus healed different people. He first put His fingers into the ears of the deaf mute man. Then He spit on His finger and touched the man’s tongue with His saliva. Okay first of all, gross. But actually I think it’s kind of wonderful, like a holy kiss from Jesus! Then Jesus said, “Be opened!” and the man was completely healed.