A Christmas Transformation

Christmas is now in our rear-view mirror, and I trust that you had a wonderful time with family and friends, and a time of reflection about what Jesus has done for you in coming to earth as a child, growing up to be a man, living a sinless life, and becoming the perfect sacrifice for our sins, to bring us into a relationship with God.   That relationship includes being able to come before Him and present our requests to Him in prayer.  Jesus taught in Matthew 7:
7"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.8For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

The old cliche says to "be careful what you ask for."  And, usually that implies a less-than-acceptable result.  For the believer, God wants us to align our hearts with Him and to be careful and thoughtful, led by the Spirit, in what we pray.  Then, as we come before Him consistently, we can have confidence that He will work according to His will.

There may be some obedience required on our part in order to see the answer, but as we are submissive to Him, He may use us in the process of seeing the answer to our prayer, or to the prayer of another.

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In James chapter 5, we can see a powerful template for God-honoring prayer:
13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.15And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.16Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

The Jackson family of Gurley, Alabama were able to return to their home on Christmas Eve, due to the generosity of the people of the city and what was termed a "Gideon miracle."

Here's the story, from AL.com: until recently, Andrea Jackson and her husband, Chris, had lived in the house where she grew up, along with their two sons and her father.  However, because Chris has multiple sclerosis, that presented a set of challenges.  The home was not wheelchair-accessible. and it did not have air conditioning, and the summer heat exacerbated Chris's disease.  Andrea's father had recently become wheelchair-bound, also, resulting in him moving in.  The rent rose to a level that was too great for the Jacksons.  They moved into public housing.

Enter Sue Hereford. She was leading a Bible study on Gideon at her home in Gurley. On the Thursday before Thanksgiving, she gave Andrea a ride home - their new place, not her childhood home they had vacated. On the car ride that night, Sue said that she and Andrea, "...started praying
the Lord would show up in this situation in a huge way, ...where this would be so obviously from the Lord."

Sue said she prayed about the situation constantly over the next few days, and woke up the next Tuesday morning and thought, "What about an extreme home makeover?"  She e-mailed a friend at a home construction company and according to Sue, it took her exactly 20 seconds to email her back and say it was a great idea.  As Sue related, "From there, it just exploded."

Another construction company worked to make the home wheelchair-accessible.  The first company reconstituted the electrical wiring and provided Christmas gifts for the kids.  A local landscaping company worked on draining issues, a local bank donated money to help cover costs, and a painting company repainted the home.  And there are more examples.  Private individuals have also donated money that has been used to buy necessities like lighting, bunk beds for the boys, a mattress.

Sue Hereford said, "It's been incredible." Other than the first friend she contacted, she says she has not asked anyone for a single thing. She added, "This is a Gideon miracle."

She says that for the Jacksons, the home means a renewed sense of pride and stability, and everything else that comes with home ownership. For those that worked on the house, the universal sentiment has been one of thankfulness to be involved in the project. Sue says,  "I've heard over and over how much more meaningful this Christmas is than any other Christmas...This is a time of great joy. It's the best Christmas ever."

The best Christmas ever - not only for the family that was on the receiving end of the generosity of people, but for those that helped out.

It all started with one woman's sensitivity to hear from the Lord.  She had been teaching a Bible study on Gideon, who won a major victory after drastically cutting the number of soldiers fighting with him to only 300 people.  That victory, you could say, was something that could only be attributed to the Lord.   Remember what Sue prayed, that the resolution to the situation "would be so obviously from the Lord"?   

I think that can be a great prayer for us - to ask the Lord to show up in such a profound way that He and He alone gets the glory.  Sure, God used people to accomplish His work, as He generally will, but the outpouring of support and compassion was a demonstration of God's mighty, guiding hand.

We can also recognize the importance of being sensitive to the needs around us.  Sue Hereford was in touch with Andrea's plight, and she responded in two important ways:  she prayed consistently for a resolution.  She also received direction from the Lord and walked in it.   Fervent prayer and corresponding obedience and powerful components in seeing the work of the Lord done.   

So, we examine our hearts.  We know that God responds to the prayers of His people, and so we can approach Him with confidence.  We can also be prepared to act in faith as He provides direction, not to help Him out, mind you, but to experience the incredible partnership of allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us to bring honor to God and God alone.