There is power in your voice.
No, I’m not talking about your voice for various rights.  (I think we have heard plenty of those this past year.) I’m talking about the power of your actual voice, and not only your voice, but your touch and listening ability.
I’ve been reminded lately of how the sound of your voice can comfort and even motivate someone who is ill.  Whether your loved one is in a coma or confined to a hospital room for another medical complication, when they hear your voice things happen…good things happen.
One of my precious lifelong friend’s dad is in the hospital.  There are so many restrictions now due to COVID, that her father has been lying in his room alone.  Sure, there’s the occasional nurse and doctor coming in to do their job, but it’s not family.  The family was able to FaceTime my friend’s dad, after about a week of him being in the hospital with double pneumonia and Coronavirus.  It was heart wrenching to hear how this first encounter transpired.  His eyes were closed and all they could do was pray that he could hear their voices.  The next day, the father’s condition improved.  Yes!  He was even keeping his eyes open!  The family FaceTimed him again, his eyes remained opened and he knew who they were. Praise!  I believe he was wanting to hear the familiar voices of his family.
I was reminded of the heartache of so many who have parents and grandparents in nursing homes and hospitals during this pandemic.  The lack of communication, actual physical communication, was detrimentally absent for all parties.  Seeing the precious videos of folks chatting with their loved one being separated by a window, were sad, yet uplifting when you would see their faces light up.  
Encouragement.  We all can use encouragement in our lives.
Touch is a powerful sense as well.  I’m a hugger, so I love to touch.  I couldn’t imagine still being in the classroom now and not able to hug or give a pat on the back or something to my students.  It would feel so disconnected for me.  I’ve heard of patients who are in comas that when someone touches a part of their body, they can sometimes move it because they feel your connection.  That has got to be encouraging for the loved one sitting beside them.   Heck, even in a relationship…touch it vital.  If my husband went a day without touching me in some way shape or form, I may wonder why not.  You know those “inappropriate to others, but totally okay for you” touches that your spouse may give you…those keep a marriage going.
Let’s unify this concept with your walk with Christ.  
Throughout the Bible people heard God’s voice.  There was Adam and Eve, Moses, Samuel, and Isaiah just to name a few.  I personally have never heard the Lord speak audibly to me, but I feel His whispers in a song, through a sermon or conversation, through nature, etc., I can sense God’s speaking to me.  The best way to hear God is through His word.

Your word is like a lamp that guides my steps, a light that shows the path I should take.  Psalm 119:105 ERV

When Hebrews 4:12 talks about how God’s word is alive and active, boy oh boy do I believe it!  Yes, His word is a lamp that guides my steps and shows me how to live.  If you want to hear God, I want to encourage you to get into His word.  Diving into the Bible has been a saving grace for me in times of trouble, a comfort during a time of needing refreshment, encouraging for daily living, and has even kicked my butt a few times when needed too.
Another powerful way to feel God’s presence or hear from Him is to pray.  Prayer is communicating with God.  Above I mentioned how the sound of a family member’s voice to their dad and grandfather, and how the touch of a loved one caressing you while sick or just because was encouragement.  The Ultimate Cheerleader and Encourager is Jesus Christ.  He will hear you, respond, reveal things to you, speak up when you don’t know what to say, and be there for you at all times.

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 1 John 5:14 NLT

Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will search for me, and when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me.  Jeremiah 29:12-13 ERV

Also, the Spirit helps us. We are very weak, but the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We don’t know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself speaks to God for us. He begs God for us, speaking to him with feelings too deep for words.  Romans 8:26 – ERV

I want to encourage or even challenge you to reach out and touch somebody’s hand, make this world a better place, if you can…no, don’t sing the song by Dianna Ross, although you probably just did, and that’s perfectly fine…but really reach out to someone today who just may need to hear your voice, or feel you hold their hand.  Send a text, make a phone call, or go see them.  Yet, don’t let your communication only reside with someone else here on earth, but with God.  Chat it up with our Heavenly Father.  He is the best friend you could ever have!  He is always available for a conversation with you.  
Blessings to you and yours,
Stephanie
 
Actually…THIS coming Saturday, September 26th, is Prayer March 2020.  Franklin Graham says, “America is in trouble. Our communities are hurting, our people are divided, and there’s fear and uncertainty all around us. Let’s join together and do the most important thing: pray!”  Below are a few things to pray about.  While you’re at it, could you please remember my friends, the Bowden’s, and their precious daughter Lindsey who is fighting for her life after a serious head injury?  They appreciate and feel your prayers.
 
Prayer Points:
Here are specific ways you can pray for our nation, our families and all those in leadership at every level.
 

• Humbling ourselves in repentance and asking God to forgive our sins and heal our land.
• Our military, police and other law enforcement, firefighters, and their families. Security and peace for the nation.
• Salvation of the lost. Renewed strength in our families. Frontline medical workers and solutions to the coronavirus pandemic. An end to abortion.
• The president, the vice president and their families. All those who work in the White House and in the executive branch of our government.
• Compassion and kindness toward one another. Respect and reconciliation between races. Healing in communities torn by violence and injustice.
• Religious freedom. Boldness for churches to stand firm with the Word of God and to preach Jesus Christ in a troubled world.
• Our Congress and other leaders at the national, state and local levels. The Supreme Court and judges across the nation.

https://prayermarch2020.com/about/
When I j use typed the title to today’s journal entry, I am reminded of the song “There is power, power, wonder working power, in the blood of the Lamb.”  Yes!  There is.  Jesus is so powerful! God is all-powerful.

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