{"id":1267,"date":"2017-08-03T13:56:25","date_gmt":"2017-08-03T18:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/?p=1267"},"modified":"2017-08-03T13:58:53","modified_gmt":"2017-08-03T18:58:53","slug":"bettys-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/2017\/08\/03\/bettys-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"Betty’s Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/h6>\n
This is a fictional story I wrote today.\u00a0It demonstrates the heart of a little girl who loves God and has questions. She prays and God answers her. When we pray from a pure heart and wait in the presence of God\u2026He will answer us too.<\/h6>\n
Sitting quietly\u00a0in a park, a little\u00a0prays.<\/h6>\n
Lord, it\u2019s me, you know, Betty. Yeah even my name is insignificant. But I was named for my grandma Elizabeth and I really don\u2019t mind. It\u2019s a beautiful name. Lord I\u2019m only ten years old. I\u2019m just a plain-Jane kind of kid. My arms and legs are skinny and my teeth aren\u2019t very straight. I\u2019m taller than most of the girls my age, they call me, Skinny Lizard. My mama\u00a0doesn\u2019t have time to fix my hair for me she’s pretty busy. But Lord I\u2019m real clean. I brush my crooked teeth and I wear clean clothes even if they aren\u2019t name brands.<\/em><\/h6>\n
I\u2019ve been going to Sunday school all my life and I\u2019ve learned a whole lot about you. But Lord I just don\u2019t understand some things.<\/em><\/h6>\n
Like why don\u2019t more people understand about your great love? I don\u2019t understand things like why people are so full of fear and don\u2019t trust anyone. Why are they suspicious and why do they hurt each other? Why do colors of skin matter so much and why in the world do people get so angry with each other?<\/em><\/h6>\n
I heard someone say that a family who lives\u00a0at the end of my street abused their children and was arrested and their kids were put in a foster home\u2026and I heard that a man was found dead from an overdose of pills. What\u2019s wrong with people Lord? Why doesn\u2019t someone tell them about Jesus and that they don\u2019t have to live like that. Maybe I could tell someone before it\u2019s too late.<\/em><\/h6>\n
I don\u2019t know any famous people. I see them on television but it seems in their real lives they are very unhappy. I don\u2019t make straight A\u2019s in school. But I do alright. I read and write and I\u2019m getting better all the time in math. I don\u2019t live in a big fancy house or ride in a new shiny car. I reckon I\u2019m about the poorest kid in school. But Lord I know my mama and daddy love me. We\u2019re just simple folk. My mama bakes cookies for the elderly in the nursing home. My daddy helps the neighbor cut his grass. He doesn\u2019t even get paid for it. He says it pays to be kind to others.<\/em><\/h6>\n
But my best friend Sally says my family is rare. I wonder why that is, Lord? Why don’t more people care. A missionary came to our church and showed a video of poor, hungry children and I thought we were poor. We are rich compared to them. But most people just don’t care. They say it’s not their problem and that they have their own problems. Where are the good Samaritan’s like the one in the Bible? I just don’t understand Lord.<\/em><\/h6>\n
Betty sits real quiet for a few minutes and listens\u2026she hears birds chirping, a car races by and a dog barks in the distance.<\/h6>\n
Then suddenly a sunbeam shines through the trees over her head and onto the ground where she is sitting. A warm feeling comes over Betty and she hears these words spoken to her heart.<\/h6>\n
Sweet child of mine listen. Oh that my children had a heart like yours. I don\u2019t see your poverty. I don\u2019t see your crooked teeth or skinny arms and legs. I don\u2019t see the clothes you are wearing or the house you live in, or the car you ride in. Every time I look at you Betty, I see my beloved child. I see a heart that\u2019s compassionate and full of my Son\u2019s love. I see kindness and peace and I see concern for others. When I look in your heart Betty I see a reflection of the one I love. Don\u2019t ever get caught up in this world\u2019s distraction of hate and evil. Keep your heart tuned to my Spirit. Keep your eyes fastened on me. Listen with the ears of my Spirit and never let the enemy lead you down the wrong path. Your wisdom and insight is beyond your years and most people never attain it. There is good and there is bad in the world\u2026but I use it all to draw people to me. Some will listen and accept my love. Others will not and will suffer greatly because of their choices. Yes you are a rare jewel. I would never call you Skinny Lizard\u2026I call you Elisheva, (Elizabeth)\u00a0in Hebrew it means, \u2018my God is abundance.\u2019 I will go before you all the days of your life and I will lead you in paths of righteousness for my name sake. I have called you and I have chosen you to be my hands and feet to be used in the lives of many people. Famous or not\u2026I will take you to places you\u2019ve never dreamed of and I will put my words in your mouth. Because of your pure heart and love for me I will open doors that others only dream of walking through\u2026Stay humble and true and you will never walk alone. Receive the blessings and gifts I am pouring on you. Study my word and keep them in your heart. There will always be wars in the world. But in the world to come, there will be peace and life forever. ~Yours always, Papa God!<\/em><\/h6>\n
I love it that in the scripture below God calls Jacob a worm, little Israel<\/strong><\/em>\u2026because Jacob was brought low and insignificant but God raised him up\u00a0to be a great nation. God is so awesome!!<\/h6>\n
~Marla Shaw O\u2019Neill August 3, 2017<\/em><\/h6>\n
Isaiah 41:10-15 New International Version (NIV)<\/em><\/strong><\/h6>\n
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.<\/em><\/h6>\n
\u201cAll who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel<\/strong>, do not fear, for I myself will help you,\u201d declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. \u201cSee, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth<\/u>. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a fictional story I wrote today.\u00a0It demonstrates the heart of a little girl who loves God and has questions. She prays and God answers her. When we pray from a pure heart and wait in the presence of God\u2026He will answer us too. Sitting quietly\u00a0in a park, a little\u00a0prays. Lord, it\u2019s me, you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8aPxH-kr","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1267"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1270,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267\/revisions\/1270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}