When God shows up in a gathering of women, it is an awesome thing.  The tender hearts of  women can  clearly be visuable during a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit, and it is a beautiful sight to see.   No artist has ever been able to capture the spiritual beauty of a woman as she celebrates her love for her heavenly Father as the first tear spills from her eyes and onto her cheeks.   I am thankful God wired us that way. 

A 9:30a.m. Sunday morning gathering of women at Grace Fellowship demonstrated this point completely.  The Holy Spirit, by the power of God, showed up.  The way was prepared through praise and prayer as women pressed heaven’s gates with the needs of women in the room who longed for a touch from the Father.  It was such a sweet example of women caring for women. 

A young woman in the group had recently experienced God’s healing touch in her life and had been asked to share her journey of faith.  She had suffered from a hearing loss that came on almost instantly with little warning.  The doctor’s report said she had lost 75 percent of her hearing in her left ear.  One would think that compared to other horrible and debilitating health threats that a hearing loss certainly comes near the bottom of the list.  But this woman has a beautiful gift and it cannot be used without her ability to hear___she is a singer.  And what a beautiful voice she has that just spills out in soul, passion, and love for the Lord.

As she began to share her story, she opened by singing the song, “What Can Separate You?”.  The song declared what God’s Word confirms- that nothing can separate us from Him.  Then she shared the testimony of healing that only God could have done for her when the doctors declared, “Your hearing loss is permanent and nothing short of a miracle will bring your hearing back”.  There were other women in the room who needed a miracle of healing in their lives as well.  Mother’s with hurting hearts from rebellious teen-agers, women who suffered from serious physical ailments, women who were recently widowed, and women suffering rejection in marriages.  But the testimony this vocalist spoke demonstrated God’s Word clearly for every need, Nothing is impossible with God.

Every woman in the room celebrated  the speaker’s healing, and she gave hope to their lives as well.  She finished her testimony by singing a song that was the icing on the cake, “My Life is in Your Hands”.  Each woman breathed a deep sigh then released their burdens and spontaneously did just as the song reminded them, to lay their lives in God’s hands. Did I mention that it is an awesome thing when God shows up in a gathering of women?  

about the word STOP.  As a matter of survival there are times in our lives when we should stop.  When we move beyond the line that separates us from safety into danger it is certainly time to stop.  I call this a defensive stop.  It is a stop we make after we are already experiencing danger.  However, I believe there is an offensive stop as well.  This is a deliberate stop we consciously make while we are in safety and it places us in a position to victoriously live our lives.  I believe planned prayer is an offensive stop.  When we stop to pray as a matter of obedience and love for God rather than waiting until a problem or disaster strikes… it is then an offensive stop.

The Women’s Ministry began its first official prayer gathering Wednesday, April 23rd and have officially named it, STOP, an acronym for Strong Tower of Prayer.  As our small gathering came before the Lord we started with praise and worship and the Holy Spirit quickly began to show His pleasure with us.  We sang Holy, Holy, Holy, and went spiritually uphill from there with other song selections and we sensed the sweet presence of the Spirit.  His presence revealed to us 2 Chronicles 7:14 and immediately as we read this Word we began to pray the mind of God.  It was a powerful time of praying for our country, our military, the election, political leaders, our children, teens, schools and colleges, the economy, and gas prices.  Then the powerful praying of the Word began to settle into sweet, tender prayer close to our hearts.  We prayed for churches, our own Grace Fellowship, our staff, Pastor Tony, and the desire to see the body of Christ here at Grace experience every spiritual blessing that God has for us.  We could not hold back shouts of “Hallelujah” and “Thank you Jesus”, and tears spilled like the tears of Mary as she sat at the feet of Jesus and anointed Him with sweet perfume. 

We each were so glad that we took the time for STOP.  We established a strong tower of prayer with the Father as we shared the things that threatened our future…because the future is all too soon today.  I believe the third Wednesday morning at 9:30 each month is a good time to STOP and have an offensive moment with the Women of Grace and our Father.