Did you know God could do this?

(Edited and revised)

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to Murrieta Hot Springs to spend a beautiful weekend there on a Ladies retreat with my church.
It was amazing! Such a beautiful place.

I had gone on a retreat almost a year ago with my church and God spoke loud and clear to me while I was there, I came back a changed person!

That first year things were not going so well in my marriage. My husband and I weren't really even talking to each other. I almost didn't even go to that retreat. I didn't feel right leaving my kids in an unhappy environment. Mommy guilt was running in overdrive.

But I knew that it would probably be best if there was some space between me and him for a weekend and I wasn't going to let the enemy keep me from spending this long awaited time focusing completely on God.

The retreat was amazing. And while I was there praying for my marriage God spoke to me loud and clear. "You need to go to bed with your husband."

Now, this girl hates going to bed early. My husband gets up for work at 4am so he goes to bed at 9PM. Having to go to bed early feels like I am being punished and sent to my room. I feel like a little kid.

But I didn't argue with God's command. I knew it must have been long overdue. I started my first night back home. At first it was awkward. My entire family all went to bed at the same time. (My kids, older teenagers, don't like being up without mom and dad) No one even asked me why I was doing it, LOL. That's the weird part.

Going to bed early means one thing. Waking up early.   
What is there to do early when you get up at 4-5am? Not really a whole lot, so I decided to make that my Bible study time. I spent 2-3 hours studying the Bible from that point on every weekday morning, and then I began craving more so I started doing a weekend day here and there as well.

I had never had a consistent time in the Word before. I never really took the time to make it a habit. But now I was so enthralled with the Word of God, it was new and exciting and I was learning things I never knew were in there! I began to learn more about who God really is!

(It's been almost a year now, I still don't like going to bed so early but I do love my quiet mornings. And I do need to go to bed early now. I am tired enough to sleep by 8:00!)

SO....

When this year's retreat came up I honestly didn't expect to get much out of it.

I was/am still kind of feeling that mountaintop experience I got last year because I am still loving God's word and how God is changing me through it!

So I went for the fun of it. For the fellowship, with hopes of growing new friendships. But never really expected to hear from God again so clearly.

I figured I got my amazing moment last year. This year there were so many new ladies coming with us, it was their turn, right?

Oh, you just wait...
With our retreats how they are usually done is, you go into a room and you decide which bed you want. In it, there will be a tiny envelope with a special Scripture  card just for you. Everyone has a different verse. Then on Saturday morning you also get a "Letter from God" that is just for you. These cards were prayerfully placed upon each bed before anyone arrived. And we were instructed to pray before choosing our letter from the box. 

So I read my verse on Friday afternoon. "Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God."  

I honestly had no idea why this was my verse. It didn't "speak" to me or bring anything to mind. But I decided I would dwell on it later.

So Saturday came along and we got our letters. I tucked mine into my bag to read later. After getting our letters we are encouraged to find a place to be alone when we read them and spend some good quality time with the Lord. After all, that is why we were there!

So I found my nice cozy spot  in front of a peaceful waterfall. I opened my Scripture verse and decided to dwell on it a bit. I wrote it out. I looked up the definitions of many of the words. I decided that God must be telling me that I need to pray more about the things in my life rather than sit back and wait for things to happen in my life.

"Okay, Lord, I got it. Pray more. I will. Thank you."

Can you tell I wasn't really taking this seriously at this point? Remember I wasn't expecting God to do much with me this year. 

Now on to my "Letter from God"

I open up my letter and before I even finish reading it my eyes are tearing up! seven times in a fairly short letter I see the word, "PRAY" and in the middle of all of it "Prayer is your most powerful resource."    WHOA!

I could not believe it. Here I was thinking I would not get a blessing this time because God would be busy working on others this time. I was putting God in a teeny tiny box. Did you know God is capable of reaching EVERYONE at the same time?  Well, I thought I knew that. I doubted it tremendously without even realizing I was doing it. And he just knocked me upside the head saying "Don't you know how far my arms can reach?"

WOW-WOW-WOW! God, you are so amazing! Perfect and mighty above all things!

Did you catch the number of times I said I saw the word "pray"?

SEVEN.

The number of perfection/completion.

a year ago I had heard God's voice speak to me loud and clear.
The rest of the year I was hearing him talk to me through his Word.
But for the most part I wasn't devoting much time at all to talking to him. He was doing all the talking. What kind of relationship would it be if only one person did ALL of the talking? Not a very PERFECT or COMPLETE one, would it?

Seven times. Pray. My relationship cannot be complete if I don't start talking.

So I encourage you to do the same. You don't need a special scripture card or a "love letter" from a special box to get you started. You don't need to go on a retreat either.


Retreat to your own private place. A park, a tucked away place off of a walking or hiking path. A corner of a library or even your own bedroom or prayer closet will work too. God can reach us anywhere! 

Your love letter is your Bible. God spoke every single living Word into that precious treasure of books all combined into one book. It is His love letter to us. And when you get into it you can hear God speaking directly to your heart. 

But before opening that book, pray. Seek God's direction. Ask Him to highlight the verses specifically meant for you at this very moment in your life. 

He may show you answers. He may show you direction. He may reveal a sin in your life that you never knew was there! And with each word you will grow to know more of who He is, and more of who YOU are. What a beautiful relationship that will be.