Prayers at the Bank

Friends,

Warm greetings to you all, and special thanks to those who joined us at our recent GARDEN PARTY. It was a lot of fun together with you and celebrate the release our new book His Eye is on the Sparrow: Encountering God’s Intimate Care. If you were not able to join us that evening you might consider this coffee table style book for your own enjoyment or as a Christmas gift for family or friends.

Our annual silent women’s retreat (COME AWAY) is just around the corner and still has spaces available. Also, please mark your calendars if you want to join us for our annual Christmas event – the SILENT WALK-THRU will take place December 5,6 and 7 this year.

Prayers at the Bank

Yesterday a phone call from Nova Scotia lifted my spirit and encouraged me to keep listening and helping others to do the same.

Annemarie was given our book (Your Ears Will Hear) from a friend and brought it with her on a flight across Canada. When she opened it and began reading, tears began to flow as she read about the heart of God and how he speaks so intimately.

Learning to hear God and growing in intimacy with God is close to her heart. As we talked yesterday, she cried again and it moved me as I pondered the truth that all of us need to hear the voice of our Creator. We hear differently and uniquely, and so it was fun to listen to someone I’d never met tell me some of her journey of listening.

Annemarie told me about a day she had an interesting listening experience in a bank. She was ready to meet with the bank manager, and just before she did, Annemarie felt God prompt her to ask the woman a question. It was not a typical question you’d ask in a bank meeting, but she found courage to ask it part way through their meeting. “Do you pray?” The answer came quickly, “No” – but with it there was an openness and curiosity. “Why would you ask me that?”

As the conversation continued, Annemarie had another impression. This time the question seemed premature, but the prompting was strong so Annemarie ran with it. “Would you like to accept Christ into your heart right now?” She immediately responded, “Yes!”  Tears began to flow as the woman reached across her desk to grab Annemarie’s hand and dive into a prayer that would change her life.

As I spoke with Annemarie, I enjoyed hearing her say when she got the first prompting to ask the woman if she ever prayed – “it felt like something I could do.” I’ve come across this again and again and its always refreshing when I hear it. It seems that God asks people to do something, often something small, and its doable. And it often leads to something far greater than any human could orchestrate.

Steve Klassen