The Prince and His Ford

The Prince Charming arrived in his trusty, beat-up old Ford, the fulfillment of my lifelong dream of a happily-ever-after marriage seemed to becoming a reality.  The answer to so many prayers and declarations prayed over many years...  or so I thought.   Sam (not his real name) and I were talking about our future together, marriage, where we would live, and our exciting adventures of traveling the world.  I believed he was God’s man for me, and my hopes and dreams were evolving into images of our life together.    

More confirmation came at a ministry gathering, when a woman prayed for the two of us, even suggesting we hold hands, and she prayed, “Your marriage will be a testimony of a Godly marriage and unity.”  I knew the woman could see that I did not have a ring on my left hand, but apparently she missed that telling detail.  

It seemed that Sam was the answer to my prayers.  I decided that he was the result or outcome of the 40 Days of Declarations.  I thought Sam was going to be my testimony.  Then I could tell you that if you do what I did, then you too will see the handsome prince ride up on his white horse (beat up Ford), and carry you off into the sunset!   

After he severely found fault with my physical appearance, a story for another day, he drove off in that Ford sedan without me.  I thanked God for revealing the truth about Sam, but that blow was more painful than any I had experienced in the past.  Why did I need to go through that experience?  Now I see that I ignored a few red flags, and I tried to help God with the answer to my prayers.  

One thing I have learned is that God is not a formula god.  This blog & the prayers we pray are not a “do this, and you will get that” kind of thing.  God’s desire is to have an intimate relationship with us, and to refine us into people who love Him and trust His goodness, no matter what.   

The formula might actually be that every day, several times a day, you have a choice.  Do you believe God is good?   And are you going to choose to have faith in a Good God, or are you going to agree with the voices of fear and doubt?  

Will you choose to hope again, even when the blows of life and relationship continue to come.  

Today my prayer for you is from Romans 4:18 - that you like Abraham will believe in HOPE.....   

 “...Who against hope believed in hope...”  (Romans 4:18 NKJV)  

“When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do.”  (Romans 4:18 the Message)

May your hope be restored, and your heart be glad today!  

“…And they lived happily ever after…”

Greetings!  

My prayer lately has been, "God, please restore my desire according to Your plans for my life.... restore my desire for marriage."  

It aches.  But it is good.  

Are you ready to ask Him to restore your desire too?  

It is time to post again, and to pray again!  Are you with me?  I begin with a bit of my story...  

“…And they lived happily ever after…”

Joy was the word in all of our minds for the spectacular wedding, on a gorgeous July weekend at the beach.  My beautiful niece Cally married her handsome prince Marshall, and the celebration was filled with love, hope, joy, and promise for happily ever after.  

Let me share with you the context of their wedding related to my life...  My parents had just celebrated their 60^th wedding anniversary, and they have an incredible love story.  I am the youngest of four with a gap of seven years.  My sisters were married in their early 20s, my brother at 30, and between them I have twelve nieces and nephews.  Cally and Marshall’s wedding was the 6th celebration of one of my nieces.  Because good marriages were modeled in my family, I never doubted that I would marry early in my life and have a family, and I certainly never imagined that my nieces would be getting married before their aunt Barbara.  

By this sixth wedding I had gotten over the, “woe is me, the 47 year old aunt who has not been married, and I can’t even get a date for the wedding!”  Oh yes indeed, I did have fun!  No sulky aunt syndrome for this party girl.  Oh no, my siblings, parents, in-laws, nieces and nephews know how to have a great time celebrating the miraculous event of a wedding, and we certainly had fun.  

Perhaps the handsome man occupying my thoughts that weekend was giving me a bit of hope, even though he chose not to join me at the wedding.  We had been on a few dates, over a few months, and my imagination of the potential relationship caused me to leave the post-wedding family 4th of July celebration, and fly home early, because there was a slim possibility that I could maneuver a date with the pilot!  

My plan was going quite well on that 3rd of July, arriving at the airport in Denver just in time to see him in his dashing uniform.  We enjoyed candlelight cocktails on his balcony with fireworks in the distance, but then..... his plans did not line up with MY plan!  The pilot chose his friends over me on the night of the 4th, which was a big disappointment because I was home alone on the 4th of July night... again.  I understood, he had other plans, and I quickly turned my attention to prepare for our big date the following night.  I was scurrying around, getting ready for a romantic mountain adventure, when the pilot called.  He quickly said, “I don’t think we should go out again, I just don’t feel a deep connection.”  

Wham!  Wallop!  Ouch.  

Rejection... again.

Disappointment... again.  

Hope deferred.... again.  

The pilot was not the source of my pain, he just represented all of the other guys who were not my Prince Charming.  I had been praying for over 20 years for a husband, and a lot of other people had been praying for me too, including the 3 year old daughter of my niece.  

“Hello!  God?  Oh YOUUU-HOOOO!  Are you forgetting about me?  I think it is my turn now?  I don’t want to be pushy, and I think learning patience, endurance, self-control and all that stuff is great, but I think my character is building just fine now.”  

With each passing wedding, and each man who chooses another, once again I felt like the fourth grader who was the last one picked for the kickball team at recess.  

Through the years I’ve learned that I have a choice in how I respond.  My response to the pilot’s rejection, and the disappointment was not to wallow in despair, I did not get mad at God and lose my faith (OK - I was frustrated with God for a bit.)  I chose to trust Him, and thank Him for closing the door to a man who looked good on the surface, but who was not good enough for me according to my Father God.  The tall handsome pilot was not the man God had planned for me to marry. 

My personal disappointment transformed into frustration at the whole unmarried situation - not just for me, but for the many other women and men who are aching to be married to the right person.  I have friends all over the world, from London to Argentina, to Hong Kong, who are praying for the person God has for them to marry.  Is there a reason that so many delightful, attractive, passionate, God loving people are not finding their marriage partner?  Only God knows the answers to all of our questions.  

After the pilot episode, in my spirit and my mind I heard the whisper of a phrase, “40 Days of Declarations”, and I knew that I was to commit to 40 days of prayer for Kingdom marriages.  It was an unction to fight the scheme of the enemy to disable God’s people through disappointments, preventing us from being the powerful people we are meant to be.  So the prayers were not just any prayer, I made a commitment to 40 days of speaking and declaring God’s truth, His powerful Word, out-loud over my disappointments and into the future for His Kingdom to come, and His will be done, on earth as it is planned in heaven.  I invited others to join me, and a small army emerged of both women and men making declarations over Kingdom marriages, and the testimonies of marriages continue to emerge.  

The 40 Days continued into a blog, and 8 months later I met a man!   

The story will be continued.....   

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!!  

First of all, I encourage you to treat yourself to some flowers and chocolate if you are not expecting any deliveries today.  I did!  

Enjoy this box of Chocolates!  

In the past few weeks I have been feeling a nudge.  No, it is more of a wooing, a drawing, an encouragement to set my focus on the Love of God.  Not a striving focus, but sinking into a relaxing, yummy bath topped with rose petals kind of submission.  Relinquishing my barriers and control to His extravagant love for me, and enlarging my heart to love Him more than I ever have before.  

I felt that God was inviting with His still, small voice, “Take a break from looking for Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome, and let Me fill you with more of My Love for you.  As your eyes gaze into Mine, you will be saturated with My perfect Love, and surrounded by My Favor.  Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome will find you!”  

On Sunday, I believe God spoke again through my new friend Lynette when she said, “God is grounding you [before releasing the blessings.]”   It was a phrase that has not departed from my mind, and I immediately thought of Ephesians 3:17, that we are to be “rooted and grounded in love.”  God’s Love!  

Yesterday was the beginning of Lent, and I’ve been thinking about the blog my niece Elizabeth began 6 years ago (Long To Love - please take a look at her very first post!)  It is my aim, for the next 6 weeks in preparation for Easter, to indulge myself in the multifaceted Love of God, to be rooted and grounded in His Love, and “to pray to love the Lord your God more than you pray to breathe your next breath.”  (The advice Beth Moore gave to Elizabeth!  Read the story is in her blog post above.) 

This Valentine’s Day, and for the next few weeks, I invite you to pray and declare Ephesians 3 with me, as I pray for you, and for the many people longing for romantic love in a Kingdom Marriage:  

“My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. 

I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. 

And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love (rooted and grounded in LOVE!), you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. 

Reach out and experience the breadth! 

Test its length! 

Plumb the depths! 

Rise to the heights! 

Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. 

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”    Ephesians 3:14-20, The Message

AMEN!  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2013

William and Megan, and the testimony of answered prayer!

William and Megan 

and the testimony of answered prayer!

William and Megan - Married January 19, 2013

William is a friend of mine who has been diligently praying with "1 + 1 = One" since the beginning.  He was so encouraged to know that there were women all over the world praying for Christian men, and praying for Kingdom marriages.  This is his testimony:  

"After many years of divorce and being a single-Dad, there were a lot of times I had given up hope of finding that special woman that would open my heart to a future marriage.  There were many days where it was just difficult to see the future, and fully trust God with the present...
I have just been blown away by the woman God had for me all along.  Her story is so wonderful, about the difficult waiting she went through as well, and how gradually it became so clear that we were just meant to be a couple.  It has been romantic, and easy, and so close... and has just felt the incredible presence of God through the entire relationship.  So worth waiting for!
 
What is so nice is how many prayers I have prayed for her over the last few years, and how many she had been praying for me, and how all of this waiting had a story and a purpose all along.  But, isn't that what we should just naturally expect from such a loving and caring God?   I so often forgot, or just didn't trust enough that God had my story all taken care of, and all I had to do was to listen and follow.  But, my own broken heart from past relationships, expectations, failures, and rejections had just hardened my heart to that side of God that it took some VERY tough love to breakthrough.
 
But, I'm SO glad He did!  As we are looking toward our wedding day, and thinking about this person who I'm starting to be with as the partner for this next chapter of my life, I'm so thankful.  I am so grateful for the friends (both men and women) who have stood beside me and encouraged me, and for the many people praying.  The men and women on this list and others who have been so faithfully praying for Christian marriage.  Thank you!
Thank you God for answering my prayers, and the prayers of all my friends and family and the Kingdom Marriage network!   
This time last year, I was limping along lonely, broken, and almost BANKRUPT.  Now, I need to build bigger store houses!!!
 
AMAZING!!!"

William and Megan have a testimony!  And from their testimony, we can have hope for our future.  

Kris Valloton, in his message called "HOPE, the Divine X-Factor", says this:  

"What do I do when I feel hopeless about a situation?  I pretend it is not happening and ignore it; I don’t do anything with it.  But to restore hope, look at Lamentations 3:21, 'This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.'  

'I remember what God did for me' is a prophetic declaration about what He will do next time.   

Faith and Hope and Testimonies are a corporate garden...  To have a testimony, you must go through the test.  A testimony is when I have gone through a test and God came through.   

In Revelation it says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.   

Therefore, whatever He did for you, He will do for me, because God is no respecter of persons.  So I can remember what God did for me, or I can take what God did for you and take it as a prophecy for me.  
It is history for you, and it is prophecy for me!"  

Allow the testimony from William and Megan give you hope for today.  I don’t yet know Megan’s story yet, but I watched as God pulled William up from a desperate, desolate place, restored his career, and brought his wife to him.  Their testimony, and the other testimonies from this past year, are a prophecy for YOU!  

You might be in the test, but God will come through for you, and and He will come through for the person He has chosen as your Kingdom Marriage partner.  Remember, that other person is in the test right now too, so pray for your spouse (future or current), as William and Megan prayed for each other years before they ever met.  

My prayer for you:  

“May the God of your HOPE so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope!”  (Romans 15:13 Amplified) 

Pray this for yourself:  

Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:
The faithful love of the LORD never ends!  
His Mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness; 
His mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my inheritance;
Therefore, I will HOPE in Him!’
The LORD is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for Him.”  (Lamentations 3:21-25 NLV)

Be encouraged!  Speak to your soul and declare that you will hope in God, because great is His faithfulness! and expect to be amazed, just as William and Megan have been amazed at God’s goodness and faithfulness!  

AMEN!  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2013

Double Weddings!

"Job 22:28 says, 'You will decree a thing and it will be established for you; and light will shine on your ways.' As Believers, it is our mandate to see the heart of God, and then to decree His justice and His goodness on a hurting, dying world."   Bobby Conner

Happy New Year!  

Have you ever heard this time of year called the January Blahs?  Who wants to start a new year in blah?  For me it is the January AHHHs!  I am excited and expectant for the new year, and I feel this way every January.  But this January - 2013 is especially exciting because I am in between two breakthrough weddings, of people who have been praying with 1 + 1 = One!  

Tierra and Kevin, married January 12, 2013 

Megan and William, will be married January 19, 2013 (more about them next week!)  

Since I was born on a 13th, the number is particularly meaningful to me, but it is usually associated with bad luck.  Not so when you are walking with God!  Nothing about Him is bad, and He is not about luck.  A few years ago while researching the number 13, I found a source who said that 13 is the number of DOUBLE BLESSINGS!  (click here for more on that biblical number source),  and this first month of 2013, back to back weddings, is evidence of Double Blessings of love and marriage.  

Every year as I cross into the new year, I listen and watch to see what the people of God are saying about the year ahead.  I think you all will be encouraged by this word from Joan Hunter:  

“This year is going to be better than the former – like as in 12 cookies, we get a baker's dozen (13) – He is throwing in some extra for us. More than enough. Abundantly, above all that we could ask, dream or imagine. (That is a lot in my book!)

Let's look at what God says about the number 13. The best example is 1 Corinthians 13 – that is the chapter on love. God is going to pour out His love on us in 2013. This is going to be a year of restoration. Restoring us to our first love of Him first, then others. He is going to restore families, estranged children, lost children and relatives. This is a time of them coming into the Kingdom faster than we could ever fathom.

This is a year of those who have prayed for God to send a mate – this is the year of that prayer being answered.” 

Let’s shake off the dust of past disappointments, and the long wait-times some of us have been experiencing.  Be expectant!  And I believe that as we pray and declare, with our focus on the God of the impossible, many of us will meet our Kingdom Marriage partner THIS YEAR!  

Precious Lord, we declare as Mary did that NOTHING is impossible with You, God.  Nothing.  We choose to agree with the words spoken by Your people, that 

• 2013 is the year of Double Blessings!! 
• 2013 is the year of love and restoration
• 2013 is the year that those of us who have been praying for a Kingdom Marriage partner will see the fulfillment of the desires of our hearts!  

We declare (Isaiah 61:7), “Instead of our [former] shame we shall have a twofold recompense; instead of dishonor and reproach [God’s people] shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in our land WE shall possess double [what we had forfeited]; everlasting joy shall be ours.”

Thank you Lord for double weddings this first month of 2013, as a sign of your double blessings, double restoration, and double honor to replace all shame and disgrace.  Lord God, BLESS the two marriages, exceedingly abundantly above all they can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20), and give them a double portion of Your gift of romance and love.  

“Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick...

But when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life!”  (Proverbs 13:12, The Message and The Amplified versions.)  

Thank you LORD for the end of hope deferred, and the fulfillment of the desires of our hearts in 2013!  

AMEN!  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

Merry Christmas and Blessings for our True Loves

On that day in history, Simeon found the Light at the end of his tunnel and he declared that Jesus was a light to lighten both Jew and Gentile (see Luke 2:32). The word he used for light here is "phos" (Strong's #5457) and has some remarkable meanings. First and foremost it is anything emitting light like a lamp, a fire, or a torch. Other things that are included in this word search are heavenly lights – such as what surrounds angels when they appear on earth, and a star. The definition of the word goes on further saying that light reveals truth and knowledge, and enlightens the reasoning process of our minds thus bringing understanding, especially regarding moral and spiritual truth. His Light brings the power to understand His Truth!

“And SUDDENLY there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’”

On this day of Christmas, we give our True Love ...the gift of Life and Light.

Glory to God in the highest!  Thank you LORD that we can celebrate today the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ!  

• Jesus, please invade the lives of those who are called to join us in Kingdom Marriage.  Break into their hearts, and into the messes of their lives in a new, miraculous way.  

• We speak NEW DIVINE LIFE & LIGHT to the dreams that have died, and pray for new dreams to be given and imparted to their spirits, minds, and hearts today.  

• We speak NEW DIVINE LIFE & LIGHT to all areas needing the Light of the World to expose doors that need to be closed, and shine Your light on the new doors that are ready to be opened.  

• Give them the Keys to the Kingdom on this Christmas Day.  

• Fill them with the Gift of more of You Jesus today.  

• Give them new gifts of Your Divine hope, joy, peace, and Your perfect love.

• Give them the expectancy of a child this Christmas morning, and eyes to see clearly Your BEST gift for them.  

And thank you Great God for all of your gifts today, and that next year many of us praying today will be with our True Love for Christmas 2012!!  

AMEN!  It is firmly, truly so!

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2012

DISCERNMENT - The Twelve Days of Christmas Blessings for Our True Loves

(This is a repost from 2011, and there is an update about the Sagacious Gentleman following the post.)  

Every day Match.com sends me a selection of men they have chosen for me on that particular day.  It is sort-of like the “ShopItToMe” emails I receive with all the great designer fashions that are on sale, based on my preselected criteria. It’s all shopping!  Anyway, the nice looking “Sagacious Gentleman” caught my eye, not as much because of the way he looked, or that he is a big skier - no it was “SAGACIOUS” that caught my eye.  I must confess, I had to look up the word, and I am glad I did.  

SAGACIOUS:  

• Keen in sense perception.  
• Of keen and farsighted penetration and judgment: discerning.
• Caused by or indicating acute discernment.
• Synonyms:  discerning, insightful, perceptive, prudent, wise, sage, sapient.

The Sagacious Gentleman is looking for a woman with “acute discernment and a keen practical sense.”  Discernment is a much more valuable trait to look for in a person than, “a woman who can look great in a LBD, and jeans.”   no really, I see that all the time.  

The discerning of spirits is one of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and one I would like to send via UPS to the man God is leading to me, day by day.   My friend Jack Sera wrote a book called, “Revealer of the Enemy.”  Jack places a high value on a woman’s discernment in marriage:

“...”The purpose of my new book, 'Revealer of the Enemy', is to bring enlightening revelation to the major role of wives within their marriage. That role is, "Helpmate." Satan has been attempting to hide Gods intended role from Christian wives ever since the fall in the garden. Helpmate, in Ancient Hebrew, is translated as Revealer of the Enemy. That's right! This message, when understood and lived out, will free up wives and husbands to begin to take back what the enemy has stolen."

On the eleventh day of Christmas, we give our True Love ...the gift of Discernment.

Thank You Father God for the sagacious gentlemen and ladies You are preparing for each of us, and for Kingdom Marriages.  Please Unite us by the Power of Your Spirit, and send them an increase of the supernatural gifts of discernment and wisdom.  

Just as the Wise Men were able to read the stars, and know a King was born, give our spouses the wisdom needed to know the next steps in their journey.  

• Give them spiritual and natural eyes to see, and ears to hear Your voice saying to them, “This is the way, walk in it.”  

• Impart to each person sensitivity in their Spirit, to know Your best when presented with a choice.  

• “For you (my beloved) have not been given a spirit of fear, but of Love, Power, and a sound mind.”  (Sound mind - the word denotes good judgment, disciplined thought patterns, and the ability to understand and make right decisions.  It includes the qualities of self-control and self discipline.)  

• Give our beloveds an increase of Your wisdom, and the good sense to ask You for wisdom daily.  

• Give our beloveds the Mind of Christ, to know their true identity as the King’s heir, child, and loved-one.  

Thank You dear Lord, for the anticipation we feel today; the expectancy, and hope.  Thank you Jesus for Hope.  

AMEN!  It is firmly, truly so!

P.s.  I did meet Sagacious Gentleman.... ask me "off-line" for the story, but God did some amazing things in that man's life.

  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2012