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There are some people who don't believe in

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a God who interacts with you personally.

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They will agree that God designed the world

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like a clockmaker designs an intricate clock, but

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then backs away and lets the clock tick

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on its own.

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Then, there are others like myself who firmly

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believe that God wants to deal with his

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people one on one, that he desires for

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us to have an encounter with him and

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experience him as Moses did, as Abraham did,

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and as Joshua did.

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And through his word, communicate with us and

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interact with us by his spirit for our

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good and for his glory.

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I live in Florida.

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We've been hammered by back-to-back hurricanes,

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as you know.

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The following incident occurred in my life.

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I'm just relating it to you, friends.

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I'm relating to you what happened.

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You can choose to believe it or not.

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Let me preface the story by stating I'm

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an old man with a heart condition.

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I wear a pacemaker and a defibrillator and

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have trouble breathing if I'm stuck in hot

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weather with no AC.

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So for me personally, I was concerned about

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losing my power in a storm and being

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stuck that way for several days.

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When Hurricane Milton hit, I lost my power,

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and I prayed for God's grace to get

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through it.

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The first two days were bearable with the

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hope of the power being restored soon.

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But then I received a text on my

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phone from Duke Energy stating because of my

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location, the first opportunity they could restore my

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power would be in seven days.

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Well, that kind of took the wind out

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of my sails and darkened my grim situation.

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I had to ask myself, was I going

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to be able to pull through in my

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physical condition?

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Would I make it in the sweltering heat

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with no relief?

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The first two days, I had prayed calmly

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for grace to get through.

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But after receiving that bad news from the

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electric company, my prayers became desperate.

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I found myself explaining my bad situation to

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God and reminding him of my heart condition,

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reminding him that I was in a difficult

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situation and I needed some help.

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The third night, with no power, as I

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sat in the dark in a hot room,

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I began to get somewhat panicky.

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After all, I am allowed to get a

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little panicky as a sick old man, at

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least that's what I told myself.

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The fourth night, with no power, was a

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dark night of soul.

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At least until I said to myself, you

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know, it could be worse.

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There's always a worse alternative to a dire

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situation.

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I know I've been in many dire situations

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in my life, so I thought about what

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an unpleasant alternative could be for me other

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than sitting in a dark, hot room.

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And immediately, I said out loud, it would

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be worse if I were in the ICU

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at the hospital.

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It's pretty tough being in a hospital for

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a long period of time.

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When I had my quadruple bypass surgery, I

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was in the hospital for over two months.

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I spent Christmas there and New Year's there,

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and I was still there come February.

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Being stuck in a hospital is no fun,

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as many of you know.

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So that was a thought that calmed me.

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I thought, you know, it could be worse.

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So I began to thank the Lord for

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my circumstances of being in the dark and

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heat, and I thanked Him that I was

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not in the hospital, but I was here

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with my little chihuahua dog, who was an

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old dog like me, and we'd weathered several

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hurricanes together and came out all right.

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I guess there was a turning point for

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me out of being in a hopeless situation.

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There was a worse alternative.

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Well, the next morning was the fourth day

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of being with no power, and after my

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quiet time with the Lord, I just sat

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in the heat and waited.

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And as I waited, I thought and I

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thought.

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I thought about how God received glory.

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I thought about how in the Gospel of

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John, Jesus says in John 15, 8, And

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I turned that thought over in my mind.

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I chewed on it like a cow chews

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on his cud, and I asked myself a

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question.

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What were the fruits of my ministry, fruits

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that brought the Father glory?

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And I answered, my preaching and my writing.

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I have a pen ministry where I have

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over 20 published books, mainly about revival, and

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that brings Him glory.

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I thought that every time someone hears me

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preach or reads one of my books, that

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it brings glory to God.

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Didn't Jesus say, herein is my Father glorified

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that you bear much fruit?

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And I looked over at my laptop, on

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which prior to the hurricane, I was writing

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a new book on revival.

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And now I could not work on it

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because I had no electric power.

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So I stood up and walked over to

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the window of my condo, and I said

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out loud the following words, which became a

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prayer to God.

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I said, Lord, I can't work without power.

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I need electricity to operate here.

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Lord, I have your work to do in

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writing my book.

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Lord, come take control of this situation and

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do something about it.

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What are you going to do about it?

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And as I stood there looking out my

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window and gazing at the power line across

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the street, suddenly I watched a utility truck

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appear and park, and their crew operated a

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crane up, and they were repairing my electricity.

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And all of this happened no more than

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five minutes after my prayer.

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Then I watched the linemen get back in

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their truck, and they drove away.

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And I stood there in shock because my

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power was still not on.

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I slumped down on my couch thinking about

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what had just transpired.

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God had quickly sent help in answer to

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prayer, but the reality was I was still

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without power.

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I didn't understand it.

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And as I sat there in the heat

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thinking about that, a little annoying bird showed

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up chirping and chirping right outside my window,

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and I got up from the couch to

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look at him.

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He was hopping around on the top of

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a cement wall, chirping away as if he

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was mocking me.

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I thought Satan had sent that little mocking

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bird my way to diffuse my faith.

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Then I was the victim of a great

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prank where it appeared my prayer was miraculously

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answered, but then nothing happened, and I was

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still without power.

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Well, that little bird turned his tail at

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me and flew away.

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And I said to myself, I know what

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I prayed, and I know what I saw.

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I saw that utility truck show up suddenly

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out of the blue right after my prayer.

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Well, I went over to my couch, and

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I grabbed my Bible, and I grabbed a

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pen, and I wrote in my Bible the

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following words.

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I know what I prayed, and I know

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what I saw.

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And I said that out loud again.

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And I sat there standing on my faith

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when I heard a loud thump and saw

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my lights and A.C. turn on.

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I jumped up from my couch and began

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laughing like an idiot out loud and pointing

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to the ceiling and exclaiming, Lord, you're something

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else.

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Jesus, you're really something else.

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You see, friends, after I changed my praying

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from self-pity and my poor circumstances and

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took the focus off of me and focused

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on the glory of God and prayed for

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God to receive glory, then challenged Him to

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do something about it.

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That's when my situation changed, and I received

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a direct answer to my prayers.

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I've never seen the Holy Spirit challenged when

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He didn't do something about it.

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That's my prayer in a storm.