My family has been going through some very difficult hardship for almost two years now.  It’s an incredible story that actually started about four years ago.

In a nutshell, we’ve been pretty viciously attacked by someone we once called friend.  As all vicious attacks, this one too is filled with lies and cheats and grave defamation of character.  It’s almost like I’m writing a page of a novel, but instead of reading it we’re actually living the nightmare.

Perhaps some day I’ll get in with the specific details, but just for today I’ll go over an insight I received from my great teacher.

Before I get into the light bulb that’s been turned on, I need to give another background.

About three years ago, I agreed to join the executive board of Wheels of Hope. Patrick and Lynda Rimke gave us both “The Prayer of Jabez” and “Beyond Jabez” written by Bruce Wilkinson.  I’ve never really read either books, even though I had started both of them once before.

A few weeks back when we went to NYC via train, I decided to take just “The Prayer of Jabez”.  Typically when I am anticipating a very long ride or appointment, something to where I will be  doing a lot of nothing, I load up with a whole lot of somethings to do.  This time, I said “I always overload and never get through a fraction of what I bring, so this time, I’ll just bring one.  If I finish, then I’ll reread it.”  That’s exactly what I did; just brought one ’something’ to do.

Needless to say, I didn’t finish it and we’ve back a few weeks now.  Tonight I just finished chapter 4.  So far the longest chapter of a very short book.

Tonight was about enlarging my territory.  I started that chapter on the train ride home, but I could never really sink my teeth into it to get through it.

Tonight I reached the end of that chapter.  Here is what Mr. Wilkinson had to say on page 43 as he nears the conclusion of Living Large for God.

“To pray for larger borders is to ask for a miracle (Caveat; on my train ride home I kept thinking over and over again~praying for God to “expand my territory” is to settle our situation and give us a much bigger place than a tiny efficiency for the three of us to live in)–it’s that simple.  A miracle is an intervention by God to make something happen that wouldn’t normally happen.  That, and nothing less, was what Jabez had to have to transcend his name and transform his circumstances.

Do you believe miracles still happen?  Many Christians I’ve met do not.  I remind them that miracles do not have to break natural law to be a supernatural event.”

Then he goes on to say in page 44

“The most exhilarating miracles in my life have always started with a bold request to expand God’s kingdom a lot.  When you take little steps you don’t need God.  It’s when you thrust yourself in the mainstream of God’s plans for this world–that you release miracles.  At that moment, heaven sends angels, resources, strength, and people you need.

God always intervenes when you put His agenda before yours and go for it!”

It was at that moment that dawn had come upon me.

I needed  a miracle.  Not a miracle from God to take away our pains and suffering we’ve had to endure that last two years, but the kind of miracle that surpasses understanding.  I needed to pray the Lord will save P*.  P* mocked that we think the “Almighty will save us”.  Well almost correct.  Actually the Almighty already saved us.  When he died on that cross, He was saving us.

I finished that chapter and dropped everything right at that moment.  I had prayed for God to comfort P* who’s taken so much of his time, energy and money to attack us in a mighty way.

I’ve been saying God is bigger than this whole situation and bigger than P*.  While that IS true, but there was something I’ve been overlooking.  God is bigger than ME!  While I haven’t completely negated my faults in all of this, it still didn’t warrant the severity of the web of lies and deceit.  Being busy with the day to day grunt of “what he’s doing to us” and yadda yadda, I’ve been limiting God beyond the borders that I could see.

God can heal all of us in one hand.  I’ve been having my hurts cloud P* needs.  He needs the Lord just as much as I do.  The Lord loves him just as much He loves me!  I need to be praying for the miracle that P* would come to know the Lord as his saving grace.  And yes, the Almighty can save him while He’s saving me too!

The Lord wants us to pray for our enemies.  Not so that we could prosper, but so that He can prosper.  So that His kingdom would be known.  If P* could come to depend on God instead of the riches of this world and all it has to offer, he could find greater joy.  If he already has come to trust in the Lord, then I pray as fellow Christians, that we can smooth our differences over a cup of coffee.

So I prayed for a miracle.  That God would touch him.  That he wouldn’t be angered anymore.  That if The Lord wants us to be instrumental, that we’d be opened to it and we’d be available for it.

So pray for your enemies and I pray you too can pray for your territories to be expanded.

–Jen (Jeff’s wife)