Last weekend was my church's annual ladies fall retreat. We stayed a little closer to home this year with a new location in Choteau, Ok. Camp Christian had plenty of room for our 26 ladies and even had good ole' Amish cooking! How can you beat that?
This year I had the honor of speaking during one of the devotion times, the final slot of Sunday morning to be exact! My pastor requested I read the classic "A Woman After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George. Well I waited too close to the retreat and had to finish it while on the retreat! I wanted it to be fresh in my mind which meant I had to rely more so on the Lord to show me what to share out of it. Let me just tell you....the book is still relevant today!! When I finished, I started to make notes on what I wanted to share and God stopped me quick....I was going to try and share everything I had highlighted.....which was a lot! I crumpled that paper up and let the Lord speak. Share what you got out of it....what ministered to you the most is what I heard the Lord say. And do you know, the ladies ate it up! I was so worried it wouldn't be powerful enough! Silly Jennifer! It so was and I'm so thankful that several ladies are now reading the book! And I had no idea that after this book that the author wrote other books that are more in depth like "A Wife After God's Own Heart" which I bought yesterday and can't wait to get into it! So I highly recommend Elizabeth George!
One of the best things about our retreat is personal ministry. We've invented the "Hot Seat". It was actually started on one of our mission trips to Mexico! If you need prayer for anything or just want prayer then in the Hot Seat you go. Saturday after our Holy Hoe Down (we had a costume contest for best cowgirl/pioneer woman get up and did some line dancing! Total fun!!), we got the Hot Seat time started and then after I spoke the next morning we gave the ladies one more chance. All but 2 had a round in the seat with a few going twice. And here's the reason I'm writing this today( & so I can remember!)................God used me in prayer time more than He ever has before! It was unbelievable how much I was able to just keep pouring out. God showed up mighty! And I'm so thankful that those ladies wanted me to have a turn. My spiritual confidence was more than renewed and confirmed for me. Especially when the hand of God touched me. One of the ladies had touched the top of my head when they started praying for me but as they kept praying I felt like the hand got a little bigger and I opened my eyes and she wasn't touching me anymore.....more praying....opened my eyes again and actually touched my own head to confirm that there was no human hand on my head! My friend who was in front of me knew something was up and actually said... no one is touching your head! Ahhh.....I have no words! To have the Almighty confirm that you are His powerhouse with His hand.....well it's a turning point for sure! And I'm so thankful!! What a great work God is doing in me and for me! And for all our ladies too! I can't wait to see God work!
And guess what else? God wasn't done. He's never done! At our Monday morning prayer time my pastor gave me a word from the Lord! More confirmation of what He is doing in me! Overwhelmed might be an understatement! Actually I think God was replenishing my reservoir. Read Jeremiah 17: 7-8. We must be storing up always so that even in drought we never fail to bear fruit!!
Praying the Lord is replenishing you today!!
