ONE GUTSY LADY!

“I’m a screamer,” a small, mild lady confessed. “Ever time the least little thing goes wrong in my family, I become loud and shrill.” For a church leader to admit such a human failing, convinced me she was one gutsy lady. Most community leaders have learned to present their best face to the public and leave their negative side behind the closed doors of their home. But this lady didn’t want to pretend she was happy any longer. She would get angry with her family, then fly off in a screaming fit. Why did she make such a confession? We don’t’ fix something that isn’t broken. She believed that she could not be set free from screaming rages if she continued to hide them. She didn’t take out an ad in the newspaper or have a billboard erected to announce her flaw. That wasn’t necessary. She found a Christian Counselor in whom she could safely confide. An accountability partner who is committed to keeping a confidence could also help. In the past, she had been unable to change her behavior because she had denied that it existed or that it had any negative impact on her family. Once the words were spoken and she claimed them as something she needed to change, she was able to begin a program of Prayer Therapy, just like this one, that helped her overcome her out-of-control behavior. She gave it to God to control and so can you. Remember, (1) pray the prayer printed below three times a day. (2) Wait at the end of the prayer for a sense of God’s presence. (3) Go about the remainder of the day knowing that God has heard your prayer. Let us pray: “God of Love and Life, holy and precious is your name. I ask that you fill me with your holy presence that the Kingdom of God may come and include even me. Today is the day, Father, when I lay my anger at your feet. Cast that anger as far from me as the East is from the West and never let it return. Forgive me for not trusting you before with my anger and may I forgive others of their anger as you have forgiven me. Lead me away from things that provoke me and place me within your open arms. In the name of your son, Jesus, the Prince of the Peace I seek, I pray. Amen” Doris Copyright 2012 Doris Gaines Rapp “God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”