Last Night, When I Prayed E-Book

Sunshine Rodgers

• Herausgeber: RWG Publishing
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

A compelling Christian fiction about one little boy, A.J., who relies on his angel, Demetri, to answer his prayers. Demetri runs into some evil turbulence on the way to deliver a prayer to Heaven. This story is one we all can relate to as we pray to God for solutions and trust in the Divine to hear our plea. Heaven, Hades and the struggle against angels and demons are all depicted in this illustrated message about spiritual warfare. -A creative and insightful story of the power of prayer. -Last Night, When I Prayed- reminds us that no prayer is insignificant.- - Jacki Drane, Chi Alpha Campus Ministries -As Sunshine Rodgers' wonderfully illustrates, prayer is always powerful and effective. As a person who battles to be always thinking truth and to not doubt, this book is a great encouragement!- - Chuck Lester, Tennessee Chi Alpha Director -An imaginative glimpse into the unseen world of spiritual warfare and the hope we have that our prayers are always heard.- - Matt Drane, Campus Minister at the University of Memphis

Leseprobe

Last Night When I Prayed

Written By: Sunshine Rodgers

Illustrations by: Hector Acosta

Copyright © 2017 Written by Sunshine Rodgers Illustrations by Hector Acosta

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Last Night, When I Prayed

Written by Sunshine Rodgers Illustrations by Hector Acosta

All rights reserved solely by the author. The author guarantees all contents are orig-inal and do not infringe upon the legal rights of any other person or work. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author. The views expressed in this book are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Last Night, When I Prayed

Author’s Bio:

Illustrator’s Bio:

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About the Publisher

I dedicate this book to all those patiently awaiting God to move. God has heard your cries, and He is on the scene! Thank you to Jacki and Matt Drane, Chuck and Laurie Lester, RuthAnn and Jim Webb, Tommie Swisher and so many others to have stood by my side and supported me in my writing career. Finally, this is to my amazing husband Travis who is the answer to so many of my prayers!

Love, Sunshine Rodgers

Mommy used to be very sad. She would cry a lot.

Now her tears are tears of joy. I remember the day every-thing turned around for her. I believe my prayers to God caused that.

I remember that night, being by my bed. I heard nothing but the sound of the old grandfather clock ticking from its corner. I could hear myself talking faintly, hoping everyone else was too tired to hear me. I knew one person was awake and fully aware of what I had to say. I got down on my knees, by my bedside, my hands clamped tight. I closed my eyes and kept my heart open as I began.

“Dear God,” I started, as if I knew this man personally. “Mommy is going through a really hard time. I see the way she’s given up. I don’t see any more light. It’s hard to explain to a God up in Heaven, but it’s like she’s walking through life, crying randomly and not smiling as much as she used to. I know you can change everything around for her. I just know it! I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ!”

Then I got up off my knees, knowing my prayers were heard. I turned off the lights and rested peacefully. I knew God wouldn’t let me down.

Suddenly, Heaven stirred.

It was one night of so many nights he had prayed . . . this little boy I am assigned to. His real name is A.J., but he is known in Heaven as Armor because of how resilient he is in his faith and how persistent he is with his prayers.

I swooped down to where he was, unaware that my wings were gently stroking his face. While he slept, I gathered that prayer up in my bag, as I have done so many other times.

I then kissed Armor on his forehead and flew away. I took off into the sky, the houses and the city lights becoming dim and small.

It is a whirlwind journey I travel so often. The breeze of the night lifts my wings, and I am able to soar! This is an assign-ment I am always so happy to be on, helping a hurting world through the power of prayer. I fly to the brim of the Earth, away from the atmosphere, shooting to the moon!

I knew this was where the real battle would begin, arriving at the Devil’s unofficial land. It’s never seen by the naked eye, but it is very real indeed. It’s just underneath Heaven. There’s a reason for that. It’s a gathering place for the very worst of them, just so they can get in the way of prayers being answered.

The idea of devils, minions from the underworld, dukes of the darkness, is nothing compared to their actual state. These grotesque creatures come in every form, every being. They’re powerfully evil but cunning bat-like monsters. They’re sirens, beautiful temptresses sneaking up on their prey. They are rue-fully deceitful forms that use your closest friends, family, and loved ones with every intent to destroy your very life.

“Where are

you off to, Demetri?” said one scowl-faced, burn-ing-red minion with a foul swoop of his tail.

“I have to cross,” I replied, not wanting

to talk to him. You see, I used to be friends

with him. Actually, I was friends with a lot of them. They weren’t always this ugly. They were very beautiful. They were with me and the rest of the angels, but that massive fight in Heaven broke out, or should I say, all Hades broke loose. Similar to their evil hearts, their bodies decayed and melted into these hideous creatures known today.

I serve God Almighty, and these devils serve Lucifer, who, last I saw him, was way too giddy tossing people into a fiery pit down below the Earth’s surface. How his heart has changed since his days in Heaven, singing worship songs to our Lord . . .

“You’re not going to get to the other side that easily,” a raspy snake whispered as a bird with talons tried to swoop over my head to grab the bag out of my grip. I fluttered my wings in an attempt to move over them without bother, but one giant clamped his huge hands over my wings. I could feel myself being surrounded. The hardest part of my job is being incon-venienced by these castaways. I also need to watch the prayer in the bag and make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, or worse, slip out and become ineffective.

I knew what was also happening at that point. When I am away from him, the slimy creatures like to mess with my kid. Sure enough, the lying tongues were near Armor’s bed, whispering false truths into his ears. “Why do you even bother praying?” “No one is hearing you.” “You have to fix this yourself.” “God doesn’t love you.” On and on the lies continue, like a broken record. I could see the scene unfold as if I had eyes like a hawk.

The boy tossed and turned in his sleep until he suddenly awoke, out of breath, as if from a bad dream. Unable to get back to sleep, he rehearsed what the counterproductive mis-fits had trapped in his mind. He found himself doubtful and afraid. What if God isn’t going to answer his prayers? Maybe he was putting his trust in the wrong source.

I could see the boy stop himself. He couldn’t see the devil at work, but he knew what was happening. “No!” he screamed aloud, making sure everyone in that room heard him. “My God answers all my prayers. He loves me. He is going to answer my every need! I trust in Him, and I know He is almighty and powerful!”

I was very proud of Armor at that second because, you see, every time someone speaks a faith statement, it gives Heaven more energy and power. At that exact moment, I was able to break away from the devilish army around me and fly past them with such force that not even the quickest of their dragons could stop me. One ingredient to answered prayers is faith, for sure. Heaven runs on that power.

I definitely felt a wonderful wind of energy pushing me through the pearly gates.

There was a long line, as there always is, to get in. Poor Mendetes. He’s in charge of the gates of Heaven. That can’t be a pretty job. “Is your name in the Book of Life?“ I hear him ask the next person in line.

I am finally at familiar territory. The sparkles of gold, the streaks of silver, and the hues of glass-like diamonds glitter at me as I fly. I wave at all my comrades and Heavenly hosts. Everyone here is so nice. I love working here! Some ex-residents of Earth

come out of their mansions to wave at me. I feel so at peace here. Of course, when your boss cares about you as much as mine does, you don’t mind coming into work every day.

I get to the palace doors, which are opened to me by my fellow angel. He knows me well; I don’t need to introduce myself like some of the others who try to seek the Lord’s pres-ence without really knowing Him. I fly through the palace,

where the Holy Trinity lives, whirling past images of precious times, paintings of Eden, of the ark, of Jesus Christ walking on Earth. It’s a hallway of memories captured in artwork.

“Demetri? Is that you?” says a familiar voice, sounding louder as I continue to fly to the throne room. I look up, and I see the Holy Spirit. He is holding hands with two little kids. He is laughing with them and leading them through the palace. I wave at my dearest friend, whose assignment at that point was making sure every child in Heaven feels safe, loved and wanted, even if their parents on the blue planet didn’t want them.

Finally, through the long stretch of corridors is the throne room, rich in gold and dazzling with jewels. The glory is the first thing you see when you enter. The glory is like a thick cloud of fog, but instead of walking through, its power strikes you back and brings a sudden conviction and humility in you towards the Almighty. You cannot approach this God until you drop all pride, all deception, and all self-will and sur-render to Him and His presence.

I am surrounded by such power when entering the room that my wings had to stop flying. I land and walk up to the lit beings ahead of me. God is sitting on a towered throne, and beside Him is His son, Jesus Christ. Each wears a crown on top of their head. Jesus was talking to another angel in des-perate need of intercession with his child. God seemed to be expecting me.

“I have a prayer from Armor,” I said aloud, holding up my bag with pride. The first thing I saw, as I always do, is God’s smile, and I heard His loud chuckle. He is so delighted when we approach His throne with prayer. He loves to be remem-bered as the One who can heal all, cure all and fix all.

“Bring it to me,” God said as I walked to him and handed Him the blue silk bag. He pulled out the prayer, now in written form. He observed it, like one solving a puzzle. His eyes then became wide and excited. “I need Demetri. I need the mother’s angel, Simon. Also, I need one of my prophets, Alexander, who lives in the neighborhood and who is ready and available to help when I call him. Positions everyone. Here is the game plan.”

So, that was how things started to turn around for my mom. Some guy named Alex came to our door. He was giving away Bibles and talking about churches. My mom started to go, and then my dad thought it was a good idea, and pretty soon we were all going. I found my mom praying a lot more. I could hear her from the other room. She would always have her Bible nearby. What has really changed is that we watch television a lot less and use the Internet less. My parents have started a Bible study for the family. That light seems to be back in my mom’s eyes . . . as if she’s living for some renewed purpose. As if something was missing this entire time, and she’s finally found it.

I am really nervous about starting my first day of school tomorrow. I spent the evening on my knees. “Dear God . . .”

“Here we go again,” I laugh, pulling out the blue silk bag to collect Armor’s newest prayer.

Author’s Bio:

Sunshine Rodgers is fascinated by the spiritual adventures of Heaven and loves to create angelic and demonic characters as she believes they would think and act. Having a vast array of scripture knowledge, Sunshine knows that there is a very different world going on around us as God and the Devil fight in opposition for

the same people and territory. Sunshine is the author of the nonfiction Christian book, “God The Father, Jesus The Big Brother, Holy Spirit The Best Friend.”