Tag / friendship

by Jennifer Wells

The Substitute: Part 2

Almost a year ago, I wrote a post called “The Substitute” about a friend who subbed in for another friend in the middle of a long difficult trial. It was a very well-received, shared, and talked about post because it seemed to strike a nerve with everyone just as the lesson struck a nerve with me, which compelled me to blog.

I have an update to that post, and it is truly amazing. My friend, the one who was enduring the unending trial, the one who was faithful in the face of very little hope over years of waiting, that precious friend who was tired and weary but straining to hope? That sweet friend has gotten her miracle. Since her friend subbed in and prayed like the trial was 1 day-old instead of thousands of days, the Lord has completely turned the situation around.

My friend’s life, and her family’s life, is forever altered. The seemingly impossible trial is ending in the most miraculous way imaginable. We have seen the victory that my friend believed and waited for over those difficult years. It is humbling and impressive and worship-inspiring to witness.

And I have to wonder, and God only knows, how much the prayers of the friend who subbed in at the point of exhaustion unlocked the miracle.

This summer is already long and hot, and many are facing daunting personal trials. People around us are tired of waiting and hoping and praying. Their eyes are straining from watching for their desperately longed-for miracle.

Maybe they need a substitute.

And maybe that substitute is us.

I believe more than ever that the time we spend subbing in for the ones around us is eternally valuable time. We get to be a part of God working miracles on the earth – turning the impossible into the incredible. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Substitution works.

Lord give us eyes to see the people around us and the burdens they are bearing. Impress upon us the value of intercession. Use us to give people comfort and lead them to You. Use us for your great glory. We don’t want to waste our lives on what is seen, but we want to make a difference in the unseen eternity that awaits us. Thank you for the privilege of prayer, for the privilege of community, for the privilege of intercession. Thank you that our prayers matter even in seemingly hopeless situations. 

by Jennifer Wells

I Will Praise Him.

Something amazing happened this week. A friend reached out to me with a pretty strange request. She wanted to come meet with me and pray with me in our home. She knew the Lord was telling her to do this and when she called me, I knew the Lord was telling us to do this. I gathered my sister to join us, and called a couple of women around the country to join with us in spirit. We didn’t know what the Lord was going to do – but we knew He had something to do.

All day I felt a sense of anticipation and excitement.

We gathered and prayed – walking through our house. These precious women lifted each member of my family and our struggles to the Father as they walked. They prayed over our home, over our stuff, over where we sleep and eat and live each day.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

We sang in gratitude. We cried in need of God. We spoke scriptures of truth and power over each area of our life and over the center of our home.

Every crevice of our need, and every inch of our house, was bathed in prayer and lifted before the Father.

It was powerful. It was grace. It was church.

This morning the grace continued. Our Pastor preached from Daniel on the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (the three men who were told to worship a false God, but they refused because they were faithful, so they were thrown into a fiery furnace by an evil king. But the fire did not burn them, and when the king looked in to see why they did not burn, he saw a fourth man in the fire. The king pulled them out, repented, and worshipped God because of what he had seen). It was good to be reminded of the fourth man in the fire – Jesus Himself. Our Pastor wept before us as he talked about how near Jesus is to us when we are waiting, in the fire, for rescue.

God not only sees us in our pain, but he joins us there.

But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Isaiah 43

Justin and I both were moved by the service. We can testify to this truth. We have waited, and while we have waited, Jesus has been near. This week, and that prayer time, was another example of His faithfulness and love for us.

I don’t know why this week is different, but I know it is.

I don’t know how it is a turning point, but I believe that it is.

And I don’t know what the Lord’s plans are for us, but I know they are good.

I know we are loved with an everlasting love.

I know we are free and we have power and grace available to us to have victory in what we are facing.

I will praise Him.

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. “I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banished them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so the they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them; I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.  I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.  Jeremiah 32: 37-43