IT'S AN AWFUL, BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, LIFE

Greetings O Ye Fans of Life. Is your life WONDERFUL...full of WONDER, or is your life full of hopelessness, a constant stream of disappointments, and one dream after dream short circuited by situations, circumstances and derailments?

GODISNOWHERE. As you view this phrase...you will either see GOD IS NO WHERE...or you will see GOD IS NOW HERE. It all depends on your point of view. How you view what is happening in your life...will determine how you will deal with your life.

As I do a voyeuristic journey in Facebook...looking at pictures...reading comments...you can get a limited feel about your "friends" views of life. Some are positive, upbeat, lovin' life...while others whine, complain, grouse, about every little thing in their lives...and I am sure...a lot of it is warranted. As noted in the title of this Rambling..."IT'S AN AWFUL, BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL LIFE..I have added the words AWFUL and BEAUTIFUL. One of my favorite songs is by Darryl Worley...whose song AWFUL, BEAUTIFUL LIFE has the line..."I love this crazy tragic...sometimes almost magic...awful, beautiful life." Add in the title from the movie It's A Wonderful Life...and you have an interesting perspective...that depending on how you view GODISNOWHERE...will as we said...will determine on how you deal with life.

Well...Tis Da Season...when one of my favorite movies is dragged out of the CHRIST-mas closet and makes it's rounds on T.V...IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

The movie IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE originally had it's roots in a short story called THE GREATEST GIFT by Philip Van Doren Stern...that he made into a Christmas Card and sent to 200 friends and family members in 1943. Though a series of events...THE GREATEST GIFT fell into the hands of Frank Capra...who saw the potential to make a movie. It was made into a movie in 1946 that was initially considered a box office flop...even though it received 5 Oscar nominations (no wins). It became a Christmas Classic and is a personal favorite of Wayne "Zuzu's Petals" Berry.
NOTE: Have yourself a Berry Berry CHRIST-mas.

The liner notes in the IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A NOVEL states:

"Here is the timeless tale of George Bailey, a small town nobody who wants to make a difference without realizing that he already has...In its poignant and sensitive way....IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE encourages us to asks the question...what would life have been like wif we hadn't been born? During one CRISIS FILLED night, in the little town of Bedford Falls, circa 1945, George Bailey--father, husband, and president of the Bailey Building and Loan--facing the prospect of scandal ad ruin, finds out. With the not -quiet an angel Clarence (Angel 2nd class...no wings)...at his side to show him...George is given a gift anyone might wish for...to see the world as if he had never lived in it. As if he had never met his wife, saved his family's business, rescued his brother from drowning, or single-handed freed his lovely town from the greed and selfishness of a rich, old man (Mr. Potter).

George Bailey received a gift of a different perspective on his life.

George went from having dreams of a life...with constant interruptions and distractions where he becomes trapped in his not so wonderful life... to the point of despair and hopelessness...to the point of suicidal ideations...to the intervention by an angel...that was moved into motion by the prayers of those who loved George Bailey...to the point of reaching bottom...and crying out to God. The cause and effect of all of this was restoration to his family...and the realization that as Clarence wrote him..."Dear George...Remember, no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings! Love Clarence."

Well...what a wonderful movie...with wonderful thoughts. Oh if we could only see beyond where we are...to see who we are in Him. Oh if we could only see smack dab in the middle of stuff that is happening to us...that God causes ALL THINGS (the good, the bad, and the ugly), to WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD...to him/her who (1) loves the Lord (2) are called according to HIS PURPOSE. (Romans 8:28) If we could only see...as Phil Keaggy's song off of his LOVE BROKE THROUGH album..."DISappointment...HISappointment."

GODISNOWHERE. Depending on how you view it...this AWFUL, BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL LIFE...can be lived to the fullest in the moment...even when bad is surrounding us. As I tell my patients when they don't FEEL...or SEE any improvement..."You are to close to your situation... and you can't see the progress that you are making." Family, friends, and in my case the Speech Pathologist...sees from a different perspective.

Love and Wonderful Life Kisses
Rodney "God is NOW Here" Boyd

PRAYER ACCESS: Showers Of Blessings

Greetings Prayer Warriors...how's your prayer life?

Years ago...at Second Touch Coffee House in Columbia Tennessee...the Mule Day Parade was over...and people were streaming by the Coffee House and one of the guys working there was asking people... "Parade over?" The phrase had a double meaning...as he asked would you like to be..."Prayed over?" He actually had a few takers of the prayer.

Prayer is either the psychological gymnastics of a desperate people who have invented a Deity to invoke prayers to...to ease their guilty conscience and confusion about life...OR...it is a direct connection to the Creator of the universe...whose heart is moved by his creation coming to him.

I love the first picture of my son Phillip...saying a prayer...practicing what Jesus wanted the disciples to do...to WATCH...and PRAY. As you check out the photo...let us have a collective..."Awwwwwwwww."

Many people approach the Creator of the universe many different ways. The other day...I went into my shower...standing there with the hot water cascading on my head...and I began to prayer..."Father...I come to you...in the name of Jesus..."

It dawned on me that this is the standard formula that I use whenever I pray my prayers.

Of course...God can hear you if your back is against the wall in the face of another impossibility in your life... and all you can do to enter His presence is open your mouth and scream out:

HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He can also hear you when you are at your weakest moments...with no strength to barely get out of bed...and eek out a weak...heeelllp. I am always encouraged when I read the incident of the children of Israel...who were in bondage in Egypt...under the hand of the tasks masters...via the rule of the Pharaoh...as they "sighed/groaned because of the bondage...and they cried out; and their cry for HELP because of their bondage ROSE UP TO GOD...SO God HEARD their GROANING...and GOD REMEMBERED His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, ad Jacob. And God SAW the sons of Israel...and God TOOK NOTICE of them." (Exodus 2:23-25)


Prayers can be prayers of blessings...like Bruce Coble prayers over the people of Kenya...or prayers of practical needs...or prayers of desperation...or just intimate conversation with God...not asking for anything.

Now...back to me...praying in my shower. I love my Prayer Shower...kinda like a Prayer Closet with running water. "Father...I come to you...in the name of Jesus..." I began to think in terms of teaching...and breaking down this beginning to my prayers.

1. Father: Jesus taught His disciples to pray that way in what has become known as "The Lord's Prayer." Jesus said...pray this way..."OUR FATHER...who art in heaven..."I began to think how my Dad...passed away...but I still have a Father. I have a Father who cares for me....who has interest in what is going on in my life...and wants me to come to Him. I recently was working with a patient who happened to be of the Jewish faith. I noticed that his child would talk to him...by calling him "ABBA." I asked her about the name Abba...and she told me it was a term of endearment...and at the same time a term of respect. Whenever she would call him Abba...he would give her his attention...and respond appropriately to her. So does our ABBA FATHER.

2. I: Not only is the Creator of the universe...OUR ABBA FATHER...He is MY ABBA FATHER.
When Jesus was quizzing the boys about who other people were saying that He was...they responded by saying...some say you are John the Baptist, others, Jeremiah/Isaiah or one of the prophets. Jesus said...Who do YOU say I am? Peter responds...You are the Christ...the living Son of God. We are all...individually faced with that question...WHO DO YOU SAY I AM. I am the one coming in...via my prayers into His presence.

3. COME TO YOU: I may want Him to come down to my level...but really...before He comes down...I come to Him. He has already come down in the form of Jesus..."In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...and we beheld His glory as that of the only begotten Son of God." (John 1:1; 14) Now because Jesus came down...and experienced the D.B.R. (Death, Burial, Resurrection...nothing more.. nothing less)...we have access...the right to enter into His presence. As we choose to enter in...this PLEASES God...because we are entering by FAITH...and "Without faith...it is impossible to PLEASE Him... for he who COMES TO GOD...must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who DILIGENTLY SEEK Him (not those who passively inquire)." (Hebrews 11:6). So...I alert Him that I am coming in...Father...I COME to you....

4. IN THE NAME: A NAME...is a point of IDENTIFICATION. The identification is what you know about the one who is named what they are named. Jabez...whose name meant pain... called upon the GOD OF ISRAEL..because he knew that that name...the God of Israel...represented what he needed...ANSWERED PRAYER. He could have called on many polytheistic gods...who could do nothing for him...but he called on the GOD OF ISRAEL...the ONE AND ONLY TRUE GOD...who had MANY NAMES to identify His character and dynamic ability. Just the compound names alone...like Jehovah-Shalom (I Am your peace)...
Jehovah-Raphe (I Am your healer)...Jehovah-Jireh (I Am your provider)...all speaks of the nature and character of the God...who is OUR...and MY Father...and who I can come into his presence. The access...is by the NAME of someone.

5. JESUS: Jesus...God is Salvation...Emmanuel...God with us...is the KEY of access into the presence of God...because that name...the name above all names...the only name by which all men may be saved...the name that represents the way, the truth, the life...and the fact that no man COMES to the Father except by Him...is the name that I speak forth to start my prayers. (Philippians 2:9-11; John 14:6; Acts 4:12)

This access into the Father's presence...is by the blood of Jesus. "Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS, b a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through THE VEIL...that is...HIS FLESH (D.B.R.)." (Hebrews 10:19-20)

Once I am into His presence...I can have conversation with my Father...with expectancy that He will speak to me...give me insight and wisdom...answer my prayers...etc.

NOTE: Don't be like Jimmy Stewart...in the movie...It's A Wonderful Life...as George Bailey... (see the last photo) and wait until your back is against the wall...before you pray. The opening of the movie...is a wonderful scene of people praying for George Bailey...as you see the prayers leaving planet earth up into the heavenlies...with the cause and effect of things set into motion for the answer.
Just like when the children of Israel prayed...and their deliverer and deliverance was already set into motion...so was in the movie. The answer was on its way...when George could not see an answer...and it even got worse before it got better (but that's for another time...another Rambling).

FINAL THOUGHT FINALLY...NO REALLY...FINALLY...

I am getting ready to get in the shower...and on purpose....to pray. Father...I come to you...in the name of Jesus.

Love and Showers of Blessings Kisses
Rodney "Talking To Abba Father" Boyd

Bedford Falls versus Pottersville

Many Seasons Greetings....Merry CHRISTmas...Happy HOLYdays my dear friends. Made any good choices lately? In the book of Deuteronomy (5th book of the Old Testament)...we have been given the choice of blessing or curse...life or death. Let me throw in another choice...choose this day....Bedford Fall...or Pottersville. One will be a life of family and peace...the other will be one of nightmare and unrest.

Of course I am referring to the movie IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. There are always some Ramblings about this classic movie during this season. This movie is in the TOP TEN RUMINATOR RECOMMENDED MOVIES.

Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey...who has been trying to escape Bedford Falls for years...but something...someone...some circumstance always seems to circumvent his dreams, his plans, his perceived destiny. His frustration leads him to the point of suicide...when his world as he knows it falls apart.

As a result of multiple, collective prayers...Clarence (Angel 2nd Class with no wings) has been sent to save our hero. Clarence gives George the ability to see what Bedford Falls (the town and the people) would have been like...if he had NEVER BEEN BORN.

Of course the WONDERFUL LIFE...becomes IT'S A MISERABLE LIFE...when George's presence and goodness is taken out of the mix...and Mr. Potter (the bad guy in the movie) is allowed to run rampant with his greed and hate. Pottersville is Bedford Falls GONE BAD.

Pottersville is what this world will be like when the believer is taken out of this world...as if we never had been BORN AGAIN. The world will turn back to IN THE BEGINNING when the world was formless, dark, void...CHAOTIC.

George eventually comes to his senses and realizes that he REALLY DID HAVE A WONDERFUL LIFE...in spite of the stuff that was happening. He prays to to be able to return...return back to his wife, his children, his friends. The events that drove him to the brink of despair...had NOT CHANGED...BUT....his perspective had changed.

GODISNOWHERE You may see GOD IS NO WHERE....or GOD IS NOW HERE...it all depends on your perspective. Well, George had a new perspective.

I love it when the movie opens up ...with people praying...as the camera pulls back and upward...as the prayers begin to swirl heavenward for George Bailey. it is a picture of COLLECTIVE INTERCESSION...for a man who can only breath out...a drunken prayer in Martini's Bar. These prayers...again...sets into motion DELIVERANCE.

As with real life prayers...versus celluloid prayers...there is a time gap between the point of prayer and the point of provision. I like to call this gap...the land of nitty gritty. This is a land where we WALK BY FAITH...not by sight (things revealed to the senses Hebrews 11:1). A land where on the surface...things actually may appear to get worse. It is the type of gap experienced by Daniel when he prayed a prayer...and the angel rolled in 21 days from the point of the original prayer....saying that the prayer was heard on the first day...but the prince of Persia (a spiritual entity)...had been battling to keep the angel from arriving.

Take a look around you. Stop at work...and see the people that you are working with...and the people you live with...and the people you go to church with...and the casual friends...and those you pass by everyday as you drive from work. Imagine what their lives would be like if you were NOT IN THE MIX. Imagine what if would be like if you were not praying, loving, giving words of encouragement...living out your faith in a real practical manner.

Stop and RUMINATE. You ARE IN peoples lives. You are NOT AN ISLAND of ISOLATION.
Sometimes we act as if we were never born....and avoid the very people that need us. Oh we may not consciously do it...but when we ignore or become numb to people, situations, circumstances...and just walk around with automatic pilot on and don't realize that God is using imperfect people to manifest himself in this lost and dying world. I want to wake up to the fact that I AM IN THEIR LIVES...and I CAN HAVE INFLUENCE...and I MAKE A DIFFERENCE in this world. Darrell Worley has a great song called AWFUL BEAUTIFUL LIFE that talks about the mix in life of the good, bad, and ugly...is what makes up our lives....but when you have a different perspective...it may be awful at times...but overall...IT'S A BEAUTIFUL LIFE. This is especially true...when we LOVE GOD...LOVE PEOPLE AND SERVE OTHERS. It really is a WONDERFUL LIFE...that we need to be sharing with others...in JESUS CHRIST...and His yoke destroying, burden lifting, oppression removing, healing power of the Holy Ghost.


Now a break for a commercial.

At Smyrna Assembly (MY CHURCH HOME)....LAMPLIGHTERS THEATER is presenting a play called IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE ( A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry). This is not your typical "church play". This is a church play...on steroid. BAM!!! This is a wonderful opportunity to see a RADIO VERSION of the movie. I love OLD TIME RADIO.

"Set in the Golden Age of Radio...this delightful retelling of the story of a man who believes he has nothing to live for...and an angel who just wants to earn his wings, will enchant and entertain every member of the family. Five actors performs the dozens of characters in the play as well as producing all of the sound effects."

You DON'T want to miss this opportunity. If you are in the are...make a night out of it. Get a date...take out your wife...bring your family...kick off the reason for the season.

WHO: You
WHAT: Lamplighter's Production of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY
WHEN: December 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th...and December 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th
WHERE: Smyrna Assembly 12119 Old Nashville Highway Smyrna, TN 37167
WHY: Why not?
HOW: For ticket information go to http://www.smyrnaassembly.org/ or call (615) 459-3421


THANKS AND A TIP O' DA HAT TO LAMPLIGHTERS THEATER FOR TAKING BACK THE ARTS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!!!

FINAL THOUGHTS....FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It rains on the just and the unjust...storms/rain/winds blows on houses built on sand and storms/rain/winds blows on houses built on the rock. In Jesus it really is a WONDERFUL LIFE....even in the midst of the storms.

Love and Wonderful Life Kisses
Rodney "I Love Old Time Radio" Boyd

DESIRES, DREAMS, VISIONS

Greetings loved ones. I LOVE this time of year. There is a shift in the atmospheric condition as the seasons change from summer to fall. Leaves change colors, there is a nip in the air, and there are echos of Thanksgiving leading to Christmas. One of the ripples in the echo pool is the classic movie...IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (IAWL).

IAWL...is a 1946 "slice of Americana" by Frank Capra. The movie is based on a short story called THE GREATEST GIFT by Phillip Van Doren Stern. Stern originally mailed out the story/plot to his friends as a Christmas card. The movie stars Jimmy Stewart/George Bailey (fresh out of the military), Donna Reed/Mary Hatch/Bailey (her first starring role),Lionel Barrymore /Mr. Potter(resident curmudgeon on the silver screen), Ward Bond /Bert the cop(future wagon master on Wagon Train), Frank Faylen/Ernie the taxi driver (future father of Dobie Gillis), Henry Travers/Clarence Oddbody (angel 2nd class/no wings), and Thomas Mitchell /Uncle Billy...and a recurring star in all of Frank Capra's pictures....Jimmy the Raven.

The plot of the movie is a despondent man...who had his DESIRES, DREAMS, and VISIONS...put on perpetual hold...so others can realize their DESIRES, DREAMS and VISIONS. He reaches a breaking point...after years of getting stuck in Bedford Falls...and attempts to commit suicide...that is thwarted by PRAYER...and a gift of seeing how his world would be without him being born. He eventually sees that he really does have a WONDERFUL LIFE... that was manifested in his friends and family. NOTE: The next play for LAMPLIGHTER'S THEATER at our church is a RADIO PRESENTATION (like Old Time Radio). I CAN'T WAIT. What does this have to do with ME...and you. Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to but ME in bold leaders and you in small letters.

God does have DESIRES, DREAMS and VISIONS for us...and sometimes it seems as if we have entered the GEORGE BAILEY ZONE. This is a TWILIGHT ZONE experience of spinning our wheels on this spinning ball called planet Earth. God has a solution for the DELIGHT DESTROYERS in our lives.

What do you do when EVILDOERS and WRONGDOERS...seem to be getting out of BEDFORD FALLS...and experiencing your DESIRES, DREAMS, and VISIONS?

The key is found in Psalm 37...and specifically in Psalm 37:5.

"DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD AND HE WILL GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART." (Psalm 37:5)

This verse is in the context of EVILDOERS and WRONGDOERS seemingly getting away with murder...and having the things that you DESIRE. The whole chapter has a plethora of ACTION words....that you can DO while you can't SEE God moving.

NOTE: Take time and circle and underline all of the ACTION WORDS...and the CAUSE & EFFECT of your ACTIONS in the face of your DESIRES, DREAMS, and VISIONS not coming in to instant fruition.

Psalm 37:5...has the solution...(1) DELIGHT yourself (2) in the LORD (3) and HE (the Lord) (4) will GIVE you (5) the DESIRES
(6) of your HEART.

1. DELIGHT: aw-nag'= to be soft, pliable, effeminate, luxurious, delicate. Delighting as a verb is NOT jumping up and down, clapping your hands together and saying..."I'm deeeeeeeeeeeelighted." It is a yielding...being pliable (to the Lord) not the circumstance. It is yielding our will to His will...and not be hardened in our hearts towards circumstances, evil/wrong doers, and God.

2. THE LORD: We are not delighting in the circumstance. The circumstance may seem impossible. The circumstance may not seem fair (at the time). The circumstance is in constant flux...and may seem unchangeable. But the Lord is ROCK SOLID. He never changes. Circumstances must conform to the Lord...not the Lord conforming to the circumstance.

3. HE= The Lord will DO something...IF you DELIGHT yourself in HIM. It's called the FAITH CAUSE AND EFFECT.

"Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title-deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality--faith PERCEIVING as REAL FACT what is NOT REVEALED TO THE SENSES." (Hebrews 11:1 The Amplified Bible).

4. WILL GIVE YOU: Much like Jabez...when He prayed five specific things in his prayer...GOD GRANTED WHAT HE REQUESTED.

"If you live in Me--abide vitally united to Me--and My words remain in you and continue to live in your HEARTS...ASK whatever you will and it shall be done for you." (John 15:7)

"And this is the confidence---the assurance, the [privilege of] boldness--which we have in Him; [we are sure] that if we ASK ANYTHING (make any request) ACCORDING TO HIS WILL (in agreement with His own plane) He LISTENS and HEARS us. And if (since we [positively] know that He listens to us in WHATEVER WE ASK...we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we HAVE [granted us our present possessions] the REQUESTS we made of Him" (I John 5:14,15 The Amplified Bible)

5. THE DESIRES: mish-aw-law'= a request, desire, petition. Good will (1) give in the sense of planting those desires in your heart
(2) and will bring to pass what he planted in you.

6. OF YOUR HEART: labe=the feelings, the will, the intellect, the CENTER of anything. Deep in the core of your being...in your spirit... in your place of intimacy with Him...in your inner man...is where your DESIRES, DREAMS, and VISIONS are BIRTHED...INCUBATED, AND DELIVERED...way before you actually SEE THEM. You see them first within...where your human spirit is intimate with the Holy Spirit.

"So too the (Holy) Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer no how to offer it worthily as we ought, BUT the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groaning to deep for utterance. And He who searches th HEARTS OF MEN...know what is in the MIND OF THE (HOLY) SPIRIT---what His intent is--because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints ACCORDING TO AND IN HARMONY WITH GOD'S WILL. We are assured and know that [God being a PARTNER in their labor] ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER AND ARE [FITTING INTO A PLAN] for good to those who love God and are called according to {His] DESIGN and PURPOSE." (Romans 8:28 The Amplified Bible)

NOTE: The design and purpose...are linked with the DESIRES, DREAMS and VISIONS that he GIVES/PLANTS in us.

NOTE TO THE NOTE: There are well orchestrated schemes and attacks against us and the seed of the Word planted within our hearts to STOP production of crops in our lives. (See Mark 4; Ephesians 6; Genesis 2-3)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY!!!!!

Timing is everything...and eventually...you will experience what God has in store for you...if you become focused...and don't try to escape from what you feel is your prison..either Bedford Falls or your circumstances.

Love and Bedford Falls Kisses
Rodney "Can't Wait For The Lamplighter's Production" Boyd

P R A Y E R

Greetings friends. I would like you to do a few things for me...right now.

1. Take a deep breath
2. Slowly exhale
3. Say the name...GOD.

What you have just done is initiate a prayer.

"Be unceasing in prayer--praying PERSEVERINGLY" (I Thessalonians 5:17)

In Jack Hayford's classic book on prayer he lists various reasons...and needs for this thing called prayer.

(1) People addicted (2) Bound by destructive habits (3) Businesses shipwrecked on rocks of economic reversals (4) Marriages with the love wrung out of them
and society asserting that divorce is the answer (5) Medical reports silently screaming CANCER (6) Children exploding into unpredictable behavior patters
(7) Bills towering above an overdrawn checkbook (8) Jobs disappearing and unemployment offering a way to nowhere (9) Long-term hopes dissolved
(10) Constant pain from a physical problem that knows no reprieve
(11) Recurring frustration with a personal deficiency that can't be overcome
(12) Blockades on the highway to happiness (13) Bulletin boards affixed with blank papers (14) Wondering what to do next (15) Having tried anything and everyone (16) Futility (17) Face-to-face with IMPOSSIBLITIY---or what seems to be like it." (Prayer Is Invading The Impossible by Jack Hayford)

In the first collage of pictures...you can tell the focus is on PRAYER. The prayers are based on FAITH...the substance of things HOPED FOR (confidently expected)...the evidence of things NOT SEEN (Hebrews 11:1). There several pictures of Jesus...going to the Father in PRAYER...as He faced torture and death...and as He pulled a way from the hustle and bustle of his MINISTRY...to get recharged and get directions from the Father...since He never said or did anything unless he heard or saw it from the Father. Prayer was KEY to Jesus. A couple of the pictures are from the movie IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. The movie starts of with prayers swirling from various people of Bedford Falls....specifically for a man in desperation and trouble named George Bailey. The prayers left the lips of the praying people...up through the atmosphere into the heavens...and set into motion the answer for their prayers. (see the house picture). The picture of Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey...is of George...in a bar...trying to numb himself and figure out a way out of his problems. He prays to God for help...and the prayer was IMMEDIATELY ANSWERED...by George getting a fist slammed into his face. AMEN...THANK YA JESUS FOR THAT ANSWERED PRAYER! He left the bar...and determined that SUICIDE was the way out...BUT God had another answer already set into motion...an Angel 2nd Class (without wings)...named Clarence. (See the movie It's A Wonderful Life for full details on how the prayer was answered). Other pictures show dry and cracked land with no RAIN IN SIGHT....with Elijah (with whom we share the same nature)...and his servant on the lookout for the answer to the prayer.

"And the PRAYER [that is] of FAITH will save him that is sick...and the Lord will restore him; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess to one another therefore you faults--your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins; and PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER...that you may be healed and restored--to a spiritual tone of mind and heart. THE EARNEST (HEARTFELT, CONTINUED) PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN MAKES TREMENDOUS POWER AVAILABLE--DYNAMIC IN ITS WORKING." (James 5:16)

"Elijah...was a human being with a nature such AS WE HAVE---with feelings, affections and constitution as ourselves; and he PRAYED EARNESTLY...for it NOT TO RAIN and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months. And then HE PRAYED AGAIN and the heavens SUPPLIED RAIN and the land produced it's crops as usual." (James 5:17,18)

If you read I Kings 17 and 18...you will see this man who has the same nature as you...PRAYED for something SPECIFIC...and then had to WALK BY FAITH...NOT BY SIGHT. The EARNEST PRAYER process took SEVEN (7) times before a cloud the size of a fist rose up out of the sea. This speaks of the EARNEST...DILIGENT...TENACITY...of PRAYER.

The picture of the SKELETON praying speaks to me of the tenacity of prayer...DEM BONES GONNA RISE AGAIN. And finally...we see the picture of the group PRAY FOR RAIN with UMBRELLAS UP. Couple that with the dry, cracked waterless ground picture...and you get a picture of not only tenacity of prayer...but EXPECTANCY of an ANSWER TO PRAYER. Years ago...I remember how we were praying for and end to a rainless season in Tennessee and the surrounding area. I was struck with what I DID NOT SEE (including me). I did not see anyone CARRYING AN UMBRELLA...in expectation for the COMING RAINS.

Another aspect of this thing called PRAYER...is TENACITY. So many times we pray once...and are afraid that if we pray again we would JINX the prayer. It has been said by CHARIS-MANIACS...that if you pray TEN (10) times... then NINE (9) of those prayers were out of UNBELIEF. They say if you pray once...you don't pray again...but you can THANK HIM for the answered prayer.

Well...prayer and thanksgiving (before you see the answer) is definitely needed...but I believe that UNLESS THE LORD tells you to give up...then you NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP (Winston Churchill). You are like the frog in the pelican's mouth...with a strangle hold on the pelican's neck...as the frog refuses to GIVE UP. The mama hog...the sow...represents the tenacity of prayer. If you show harm to her little piglets...she will attach her teeth onto your leg...and NEVER LET GO. The Ruminator saying is..."YA GOTTA HANG IN THERE...LIKE A BITIN' SOW."

Perseverance brings success. Positive Thinkers....love to take a godly principle without submitting to the Lord of the principle. The bottom line...prosperity and success are linked to tenacity. Joshua knew the principle as God gave him instruction on how to BE STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS.

"This book of the law shall not depart OUT OF YOUR MOUTH...but you shall MEDITATE (ruminate) on IT (the word)...that you may OBSERVED and DO according to all that is written in it...for then you shall MAKE YOUR WAY PROSPEROUS...and then you shall DEAL WISELY and have GOOD SUCCESS."

Biblical Prosperity is...having your needs met with enough to overflow to those in need (not necessarily monetary)...and Biblical Success is.. accomplishing what God has purposed in your life.

NEXT TIME: We will look at the KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON PRINCIPLE.

Love and Tenacious Kisses
Rodney "Bitin' Sow" Boyd