On February, 2020, my friend Lisa Joyner asked me to be her prayer partner.
Lisa was starting a health and weight loss plan called "New Life Promise" by Isabel D. Price which is founded on the premise that God can renew our minds and create a new person in us, a person who is surrendered to God in all aspects of our lives, a person who understands that our bodies are God's temples, the place wherein He has chosen to dwell, and that it is His will that we take care of and honor His temples. Lisa asked me to start the plan with her and to be her prayer and accountability partner.
We had no clue what was about to happen in our lives...
We started praying together by phone on February 25, 2020 at 6:00am less than three weeks before our country began to shut down in earnest. Lindy, my husband, came home from Washington, DC about two weeks later and told me that everything in Washington was starting to close down as he was leaving that morning. New York's St. Patrick's Day Parade was cancelled. Then ours in Savannah followed. This was mind-blowing enough to get my attention. I had not really given COVID-19 much thought. I was one of those who was lulled into the false security of "it's happening over there, not here." On March 21st, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson's state of emergency went into effect mandating business closures and restrictions and limits on gatherings. On March 24th, Mayor Johnson issued a "shelter at home" order for Savannah. Our entire world changed in less than four weeks.
Lisa and I started praying together to help each other stick with a weight loss plan. So we thought... As usual, God had much bigger ideas. It became so much more and has literally changed both of our lives completely. God has shown us that it really is possible with our willingness and by His power to be "...transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- His good, pleasing, and perfect will."
We began in March to read YouVersion Bible App Bible study plans on prayer, and each more was more amazing than the last. Through these plans, God instructed us, encouraged us, challenged us, stretched us, pushed us to dig deeper, and used His Word to begin to transform and mold us. It has been a mind-blowing ride, to say the least.
Before long, another friend, Wende Chaille, and I began to pray together, too. I had never prayed so much in my life! Literally. A few weeks later, my nephew's wife Alex Lamb joined Wende and I during our prayer time.
We have been constantly amazed at what God is revealing to us in His Word. Some scriptures we've read many times but never saw what jumped out at us now. A LOT of new and less familiar scriptures that confirmed familiar promises or gave us new promises.
One thing we all saw over and over is that God is using this COVID-19 pandemic for His purposes to turn people's hearts the world over to Him. God is, always has been, and will forever be in control, and, according to Isaiah 46:9-10, His plans WILL be accomplished.
9 "Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’"
I have always loved these verses, especially the fact that He
declared the "end from the beginning." He started writing His
story with the end already written. Before He does or allows
anything at all to take place, He already has the outcome decided and established. Does that comfort you as much as it does me?
Romans 8:28 NLT
"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them."
We also know that it is His desire that every person - EVERY
PERSON - come to Him.
I Timothy 2:1-4
1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.
2 Peter 3:39 The Message
8-9 Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.
We can be confident in His Word. God is faithful. He always has been, always will be. We can have hope in these strange and scary times. He does have our best interests at heart. Always has, always will. He is the great "I AM," and He never changes. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is all that and more.
We can trust Him. He's proven Himself trustworthy. He's proven Himself faithful. And the best part of that is that it all depends on HIS FAITHFULNESS, not our measley, flimsy faith. It's ALL HIM. NONE OF IT DEPENDS ON ME! Or YOU! And I can live with that!
Psalm 27:8 NKJV
When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, LORD, I will seek."
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