One evening when my parents, my husband and I were having
dinner at a small family restaurant, I witnessed a scene that became a powerful
object lesson. Initially, the atmosphere in the restaurant was warm and
friendly, alive with the laughter and conversations of parents and their
children.

Suddenly it changed. Conversations ceased as all eyes were
directed toward a young child—a very LOUD young child, who was protesting with
pitiful sobs as she watched her mother leave the table and go into another
room.

 Listening to
the toddler express her dissatisfaction, I had my usual “professional”
response. I tried to analyze the thoughts and feelings she was undoubtedly
experiencing: “Mommy isn’t with me” (feeling of loss); “Is she
coming back?” (feeling of doubt); “I need my mommy now!”
(feeling of fear).

Then something happened to change the whole scenario. The
little girl’s father stretched his hand across the table and took her hand in
his. The child wrapped her fingers around his thumb, and he gently rubbed the
back of her small hand. As he continued to soothe her, the sobbing turned to whimpering
and soon died away.

No words were needed—just a touch from the father’s hand.

When the child’s tears subsided mine began to flow. I felt
as though God had allowed me to witness this tender moment as a natural
demonstration of a supernatural reality: When God’s children are hurting, all
they really need is a touch from their Father’s hand.

As a Christian psychologist, I frequently examine human
behavior. In my personal practice, as well as in my public observation, I have
noticed a saddening trend—a lack of physical expressions of love between family
members, particularly during times of stress. Just when a person needs
expressions of love, those who can meet the need abandon him or her.

One example of such behavior occurs when parents distance themselves
from a child as a form of punishment for the child’s acting up. “Get away
from me” or “Stay away from me until you can act right” are
commonly heard phrases.

This type of behavior is often displayed in interaction
between husbands and wives. When disagreements occur, some spouses attempt to
manipulate their mates by withdrawing physical attention.

Ironically, medical studies continue to show the importance
of human touch in determining a person’s health and wellbeing. It is a
well-documented fact, for example, that newborn babies who receive little or no
physical affection do not progress physically. The medical terminology used to
describe the condition of these infants is “failure to thrive.” The
babies fail to grow and eventually, if they do not receive life-giving touch,
they die. If the babies are put in an environment where they are held, cuddled,
rocked and given the proper physical attention, on the other hand, their bodies
begin to respond and grow.

It is the same with all of us. We need that life-giving
touch—of love, comfort, of care and concern—to survive and grow. But we can’t
always depend on other people to give it to us. We must reach out for the touch
of the Father’s hand.

As God’s children, we are never alone. We have a heavenly
Father who knows our need to be comforted. It was to fill this need that Jesus
sent the Holy Spirit to us: “I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you
that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
but if I depart, I will send Him unto you” (I John 16:7, KJV). We have the
Comforter with us. We can thrive and grow in His loving arms.

If you need a touch from God’s hand, then close your eyes.
Imagine that you see Jesus, stretching His arm toward you and gently taking
your hand in His. Feel the soothing touch of your heavenly Father. Sense the
loving presence of the Comforter. Allow your feelings of loneliness and doubt
to fade away, and let God’s “perfect love [cast] out all fear” (1
John 4:18).

“I will turn [your] mourning into gladness.”
Promises the Lord, “I will give [you] comfort and joy instead of
sorrow” (Jer. 31:13, NIV). Trust Him to fulfill this promise as you reach
out for His hand today.

PRAYER POWER FOR THE WEEK OF 4/4/2011

This week open your
heart to receive the Father’s touch by faith and pray for opportunities to
carry His presence and touch others with His love and comfort. Continue to pray
for those suffering from the effects of earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and
Japan’s nuclear reactors. Pray for those risking their lives to bring disaster
relief to these areas. Pray that God would give President Obama and his
administration wisdom in dealing with Israel, the Middle East, our troops, our
economy and our national security. 2 Cor. 1:3-4; I Tim. 2:1-4

Reggie Dabbs had a rough start in life, but learned that although he couldn’t
change his past, he could make a difference in the future—and that’s just what
he is doing now every day. Dabbs speaks to 2.5 million young people a year, and,
with John Driver, he tells his story in Reggie .

Dabbs was born to a 16-year-old unwed mother who already had three
children. In order to feed them, she felt compelled to accept the offer of a
male friend who said he would give her $20 for sex. As a result, she became
pregnant and knew she couldn’t handle raising another child. It was then that
she remembered a caring former schoolteacher, Mrs. Dabbs, who had said to her
students, “If you ever need anything, call me.” And she did. 

Mrs. Dabbs and her husband had six grown children, but took the
girl into their home and cared for her until baby Reggie was born. They served
as his parents until he was in fourth grade and then officially adopted him.

When Dabbs was in second grade and learned of his adoption and the
back story to his life, he was stunned. “Despite the love I was given, the
knowledge of my story and the shame of it all still managed to seep into my
bones,” he said. “I felt alone. Abandoned. Unworthy of love.”

Seeing life as “the sum of your choices,” he learned not to let the
past that wounded him define him. “Now I am defined by God’s love that changed
me,” he said. 

Though it still hurts sometimes, Dabbs is thankful he did not
become another statistic. “You can’t change your past, but you can change your
future by changing your present reality. The reality you have the potential to
experience is not someone else’s either; it is designed to fit you perfectly as
if a master Italian tailor has taken your exact measurements and produced a
personal masterpiece that is just your size. That is what I want for those who
hear me speak.”

Dabbs challenges kids and adults not to feel “sidelined” by their
past or their weaknesses. “They can become the very fuel to a God-ignited fire
that will blaze through your family, community and world,” he said. “That’s what
He did in me, and that’s what He’ll do in you.”

Reggie is both humorous and thought-provoking, as Dabbs
tells his own story and of encounters he has had with young people. An acclaimed
saxophonist, he has played with Whitney Houston and CeCe Winans, and found music
has opened doors for him. He has spoken at Promise Keepers events, and has
traveled with popular speaker Dave Roever, who, he writes, “was a key component
in the forging of my identity as a national speaker.”

Click here to purchase this book.

For most of us, envisioning how God wants to use us is easy.
The real work comes in faithfully taking steps each day in the direction of His
will.

At times, the way seems clearly laid out for us.  But at others we feel confused,
unprepared and inadequate.

You’ve undoubtedly had the experience of ministering to
someone and coming away thinking you had utterly failed.  But a few days later you encountered
that person again, and she told you your ministry was an answer to prayer!

Admittedly, my greatest foe in pursuing God’s purposes has
been my own fear of my heart’s intentions.  The Scriptures say we can’t fully know why we do what we do
(see Jer. 17.9).  There have been
times when I’ve decided to “err on the side of caution” rather than risk
offending God because I acted out of impure motives.

But God brought powerful conviction to me through the story
of the “wicked, lazy servant,” who failed to invest what his master entrusted
to him because he was afraid (Matt. 25:26; see also , 27-30, NIV).  In The Message His behavior is characterized as “criminal” (v. 26).

Look at the reason this servant offered for being
unproductive:  “Master, I know you
have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make
no allowances for error.  I was
afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your
money.  Here it is, safe and sound
to the last cent.” (vv. 24-25).

According to this passage, the servant feared and blamed his
master.  He saw him as cruel,
demanding, unmerciful and evidently powerless to undo any mistakes the servant
might make.

My personal anxieties are similarly rooted in a narrow,
distorted view of God’s love and grace. 
Once I embrace certain misconceptions about Him, it becomes necessary
for me to play it safe in order to protect myself.

But I’m not commended by God for avoiding risks.  The unfruitful servant’s careful
behavior angered his master, whose verdict on his behavior was swift.

“’Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked
most.  And get rid of this
“play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb.  Throw him out into utter darkness’” (vv. 28-30).

At the close of her online Bible Study, Believing God, Beth Moore declared that God credited righteousness
to Abraham because of His faith—not
his perfection.  She concluded that it is better for us
to believe God and act on what we believe than to remain within our comfort
zones “faithlessly.”

The secret to running a strong Christian race is walking
with God in faithful obedience, trusting Him with the outcome of every
step.  Often the safest thing to do
will appear to be the most risky. But don’t ever be afraid to “go out on a
limb” for God.

PRAYER POWER WEEK OF 3/28/2011

This week ask God to reveal more of Himself to you so that
you would develop an accurate view of His love and grace. Declare His Word over
your life and tell Him that you trust Him with every aspect. Repent of any fear
that has kept you from doing what you know He wants you to do. Continue to pray
for Japan and other nations recovering from natural and man made disasters.
Pray for our troops serving in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq. Pray for Israel and
lift up President Obama and those working with him as they tackle challenges at
home and abroad. Pray for a united effort among Christians to stand together in
one accord for the purposes of God. Jer. 33:3

Laura Story: An ‘Indescribable’ Life

Imagine a 19-year-old college student looking out the window while driving through Asheville, N.C. She goes home and writes a song about how she felt. Years later the song is on the radio, sung at her college and heard around the world.

If that sounds odd, imagine how Laura Story felt. She wrote “Indescribable” and was more surprised than anyone that the demo she sent to Nashville, Tenn., ended up in the hands of Chris Tomlin, who eventually recorded it. “All of a sudden we started hearing the song everywhere,” says Story, 33. “It wasn’t anything I was looking for … that’s the story of my life.”

Story lacked so much confidence in her musical ability—namely, her singing—that she’s still surprised to be leading worship at her Atlanta church and at events around the country: “I grew up listening to people who could do all these vocal acrobatics and I knew I couldn’t do that. I have a decent voice, and I sing in tune most of the time. But when I realized this was something maybe God wanted me to do, I wasn’t going to shy away from it.”

Kari Jobe: Changing the Atmosphere

Kari Jobe doesn’t just have a soft speaking voice and gentle demeanor. The 29-year-old worship leader is also blessed with the singing voice of an angel. And it’s the combination of these qualities that often allows her to help people lower their guard, release their burdens and truly worship God.

“When David played before Saul it caused the tormenting spirits to leave. I’ve always loved that,” Jobe says. “When you ask the Lord to come, He does come and it changes the atmosphere. That’s how it was for me. That’s what worship is for me.”

Not that Jobe is any different from the rest of us. She finds it difficult at times to fully lay down her burdens before the Lord, and sometimes those experiences become songs—as in the case of “You Are For Me,” which she wrote while in an anxious “season of waiting.”

“I felt like I could see some things that God had promised through a chain-link fence, but I couldn’t get to them yet. God was teaching me that His timing is perfect,” Jobe recalls before quoting Psalm 27:14: “‘Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart.’”

Lincoln Brewster: Rockin’ a Baptist Hymnal

Never the churchgoing type, Lincoln Brewster grew up in Alaska and California surrounded by domestic violence and drug abuse. His stepfather was a gruff fisherman now known to millions as a boat captain on the reality TV series, Deadliest Catch.

“The fact that I’m married with kids and a worship leader at a church? That’s the miracle story,” says Brewster, 39. Even more unbelievable for Brewster—who, at 19, was former Journey frontman Steve Perry’s lead guitarist and had a mainstream record contract—is that one of his songs was recently published in a Baptist hymnal. “If you had my background, you would’ve been voted least likely to be a worship leader. So to have a song in a Baptist hymnal? It’s God having a sense of humor.”

“Leading worship is not what I thought I’d be doing, and it’s not what I wanted to do,” says Brewster, a staple on Christian radio and a worship pastor at a church near Sacramento, Calif. “But when God got a hold of my heart, I realized that this is what I was born to do.”

Chris Quilala: The Night That Changed Me

As a teenager, Chris Quilala asked God for one thing while attending church camp: freedom in worship. “That night, during the worship service, I lifted my hands for the first time. At that moment I felt His presence so strong,” Quilala says. “It was such an intense experience in which I felt the love, peace and fear of God all at the same time. From that moment on I knew that God was such a huge, loving and real God.”

Today, as a worship leader with Jesus Culture, Quilala helps people experience the same freedom. “My prayer over the past few years had simply been, ‘God, more than anything, I just want to know You.’ For me, worship is [an] intimate opportunity to express the love and burning passion that’s in my heart.”

Leeland Mooring: Worship in a Lincoln Town Car

Leeland Mooring, frontman for the band Leeland, is only 22, but he’s already preparing for the day when he no longer performs before big crowds and receives the attention that follows. Maybe that’s because his second home was once his family’s Lincoln Town Car. His parents had a band,  Majestic Praise, and traveled with two evangelists, conducting revivals around the country. 

“We did that for 2-1/2 years. I was 11, my brother was 13, and my sister was 9,” Mooring says. “We weren’t sure whether we’d be able to pay the bills, and it was then as kids that we began to see the sufficiency of God, the power of God.”

Mooring’s parents eventually started a church in Baytown, Texas, with Leeland as the unofficial youth-group worship leader. These days his band has the ability to make a leap into mainstream pop music, but Mooring says of the group: “Ultimately (praise and worship) is what comes out of us.” And as for all the attention? He could live without it. “If all this was taken away, I could go back to Baytown and continue to pursue God’s purpose in my life.”

Brian Doerksen: Close-Up

Moment you knew you were called to be a worship leader: I was a teenager and my dad took a group of us to a Petra concert. Toward the end of their set, they did some songs that were … more about drawing us into the presence of God. I was touched by God and wanted more!

Hardest thing about music ministry: Doing your best in a way that’s deep, transparent and vulnerable—and it being dismissed. 

Best part about your life: Getting a hug from my 11-year-old son, Isaiah [who has Fragile X Syndrome and doesn’t speak]. He knows life is about giving and receiving love!

Why it’s better to live in Canada: Our politics are more peaceful, and we are a bridge culture between Europe and the U.S., so we get the best of both!

Worship is … Surrender. Sometimes we forget that’s what the word means … and don’t realize the most profound expression of worship may be the times when we are willing not to play or sing.

Misty Edwards: Writing With the Holy Spirit

As a leader at the International House of Prayer, Misty Edwards is charged with staffing and encouraging those involved with the 24-7 prayer room. “Keeping it going … is a lot of work,” she says. “It’s the primary place I pour out my energy.”

But despite the demands, Edwards  is  able to write songs and lead worship because of the Holy Spirit, whom she calls “my closest friend.” 

“Worship-leading and songwriting with Him is exhilarating,” she says. “When we pray and sing the Scripture, He actually teaches us—often through our own lips.”