Janet McHenry, author of 27 books, is a specialist on the place of bible reading and prayer in a Christian’s life. Her latest book, Looking Up: Finding Joy as You Read and Pray Through the Bible, releases. Oct and is a composite of 365 devotions that will both lead you through reading the Bible in a year and highlighting specific thoughts and take-aways behind each Scripture section. Here’s a taste of what you can look forward to in her book, Looking Up.
Rolling Stones
By Janet Holm McHenry
They asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. – Mark 16:3-4 NIV
For two hours on the drive to my mom’s place, I rehearsed my arguments out loud. My almost-97-year-old mom and I had an appointment with a bank officer and in a phone call the night before, that officer kept using a lot of contractions: “We can’t . . .” and “We don’t . . .” and “We won’t . . . “
With argumentation skills learned as a paralegal and high school English teacher, I was determined to show the bank representative all the mistakes the bank had made.
But as I drove down the western slope of the Sierra into Sacramento, a conviction slid into my conscience: I haven’t prayed about this. So, for the next hour I prayed, asking God to move the mountain that seemingly was Mom’s bank.
Prayed up and pushing my mom in her wheelchair, I approached the bank officer, who greeted us warmly. And then she immediately acknowledged the bank had made mistakes setting up the account. So, the can’t/don’t/won’t language became, “Yes, we can.”
Sometimes situations seem like immovable mountains . . . or stones. As they approached the tomb where Jesus lay, the women who had followed Jesus worried about who would move the stone that sealed the tomb. But when they arrived at the scene, the stone had already been moved. And they quickly learned Jesus had arisen from death.
It’s easy to fall into worry or frustration over seemingly impossible situations. But when we turn those challenges over in prayer, we can know that even if the problem isn’t erased, we have our Lord’s presence to see us through whatever is ahead.
Father, thank you that I am not alone when I need a mountain or a stone moved. Thank you for your peace-giving presence. May I sense your resurrection power that belies the difficulties I face. In Jesus’s name, amen!
God is looking for those with whom He can do the impossible. – A. W. Tozer
Who is Janet McHenry?
Janet McHenry is a national speaker and author of 27 books—eight on prayer including the bestselling PrayerWalk and two new ones this year: Praying Personalities and Looking Up! Janet leads the prayer ministries at The Bridge Church in Reno and is on the California leadership team for the National Day of Prayer. Janet is the creator of the online Teachable course called Prayer School and loves connecting with others through social media or her website: janetmchenry.com.
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