One of the Cloud Series: “Letters from Prison, Part 3”

Be sure to read parts 1 and 2 of this amazing testimony before today’s continuation.

“One book in particular was sent to me by my friends. As I read The Secret Things of God, by Dr. Henry Cloud, step by step and chapter by chapter, something in my heart and mind began accepting a power greater than myself. After a few chapters, this book walked me through praying - turning my will over to the Lord, accepting the sacrifice of His Son for my forgiveness, forever.

“[I made] a tenuous commitment; I wanted the Lord to show me something. And, oh boy, did He! A few extraordinary things happened during a short period of time after the Lord opened my eyes and my heart.

“I was still known as someone who would likely partake in drug use. I was approached by my cell mate and asked if I wanted to ‘get in’ on a gram of meth. We had been planning on partying over the days of Christmas. I had no will power of my own and told him in a half-hearted way that ‘I didn’t really care about getting the dope, but I would cover my end if it came up.’ So, you see, I didn’t have the strength to say ‘no.’ But I began to pray: ‘Lord, I need your help here. I need you to find me a way out of this, please. I am not strong enough.’

“Oh man, it sucked when my cellee came back with the dope! I knew in my heart the last hope I had was gone, but I continued talking to God. ‘You know if this is the way it’s going to be then I guess that’s how it is. I was hoping for a different answer.’

“It was around 7 or 8 pm and I was already ready for bed when he came in with the dope. He said ‘Hang on to this; I’ll be back.’ So I threw the baggie on my shelf and began getting dressed and making my bunk up again, knowing we would be up for a couple of days. Pretty soon he came back and said, “’Where is that? I’m going to go get a better deal.’

“God is so awesome! He took that miniscule amount of faith it took for me to even ask for His help, and walked a bag of dope, I had already decided to do, right out the door. My cellee never scored a better deal. In fact he came back empty handed! And that boosted my courage. My faith - all that I am - changed in that minute. Again. From that very moment He instilled a strength in me to stand up to temptations and has continued to develop a strong sense of self-control in me.

“I couldn’t list the prayers He has answered in my life every single day since that moment. My relationship with Him has grown into something so awesome. He took this torn, tortured, twisted psyche, and showed me I didn’t have to do anything but rely on Him. That is the greatest blessing in my life. God is in control! The ugliness that I was and the destruction I caused – He forgave and forgot. ‘Behold I make all things new’ (Revelation 21:5, NKJV).”

See tomorrow’s post for the rest of this powerful testimony.

#learningtoprayinprison #mustardseedfaith #nodopebuiltfaith #helpintemptation