Hi, I'm Arlene Wallace. This is my story of praise...I want to tell you about how truly blessed I am. I am the mother of three beautiful children -- two sons and a daughter -- and I have a loving husband who cares for us deeply. He has a good job with reasonable hours, we own a nice four bedroom home in the suburbs, and we have NO DEBT!
My life really is wonderful in every way, and it's all because of prayer. God has so many gifts for us to receive. We just need to use PRAYER to ask for what we need! God has a plan for our lives, and he wants us to have the BEST life has to offer.
It doesn't matter if you don't go to church very often or if you haven't been the best Christian. God gives his blessings to ALL his children. Once you know how to use prayer, he WILL come through for you!
Things couldn't be better these days, but it wasn't always like this for me...
A few years ago, the economy got bad and my husband lost his job. As you can imagine, things only got worse from there. Bills started piling up, we fell further and further into debt, and the bank was going to take our house away. This caused lots of stress for my family. My husband didn't handle it well. He spent a lot of time at the bar and would come home drunk every night until he stopped coming home at all.
I was on my own to support three kids. All I could think about was how to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads. The stress affected my health, but without medical insurance, I couldn't even see a doctor. I was miserable all the time, my children weren't doing well in school because of the turmoil at home, and it looked like there was no end in sight.
I tried everything to find work, but there weren't any jobs that paid enough and they all required long hours away from home. I was depressed, I felt hopeless, and I could tell that my children knew we were in trouble even though I did everything I could to hide it from them.
I searched everywhere for a solution. The economy was bad, but I also knew there were plenty of people who didn't seem affected at all. I would see their fancy cars and the full tables at expensive restaurants. I wanted to know why God seemed to favor some people and forsake others. Then I discovered the answer. God doesn't forsake anyone...we just have to ask for what we need!
Almost by coincidence, I ran into an old friend from highschool who I hadn't seen in more than 20 years and she invited me to her house for lunch. She always ran with a rough crowd in school, so I never expected she'd make much of herself, but here she was 20 years later and she had it all! A big house with a pool in the expensive part of town, several luxury cars, a housekeeper, and a healthy family. I felt a little embarrassed coming to her house in my tattered clothes, but I put my pride aside and asked her about the secret of her success. What she told me next completely changed my life.
She told me how it all comes down to God and how he will provide for all our needs when we use prayer effectively. I never spent much time in church so I didn't know a lot about the Bible. I also didn't have a lot of time at that point to study it, so I asked her to fill me in on everything she could. I couldn't believe how simple it all is!!! The Bible tells us exactly how to have our prayers answered and it just comes down to having faith and finding agreement!
We used her computer to post a prayer request on your Christian Prayer Center web site so thousands of other Christians would join with me in prayer. The Bible tells us that when more people join in agreement for the same prayer, God responds with greater abundance. I wrote a brief description of my situation, gave as much of an offering as I could afford, and asked for a small financial blessing to help get me through the week. Then totally by surprise, I received a tax refund check from the IRS for $723!
I immediately made more room in my life for God and took a whole new interest in prayer. I made a point to log onto your web site at least once a week and post requests to heal each of the problems in my life. Over the next few months, God started coming through for me in ways I never imagined. One of the happiest moments was when my husband gave up drinking and came back to us. Things just kept getting BETTER from there! He was offered a new job at much higher pay. Our children were getting straight A's in school, and my oldest son was even elected class president. We are so much happier now that we made room for God in our lives, and I owe you so much thanks for the wonderful work you do with this web site.
I encourage everyone to use your service to get the full power of group prayer on their side. You are using the internet for a truly wonderful purpose! Thank you!!
