Obviously, our faith is going to be in something. Jesus urged us to have faith in Him and not to worry about tomorrow. He also said that if we try to save our lives, we will lose them but if we lose our lives for His sake, we will find eternal life. We can, in this world, have faith that if we pool our money together, when something goes wrong, we can pay ourselves money to help remedy the problem. Since faith stems from our hearts, then our heart's position in this world will be reflected by where we think our insurance lies. Is our faith in the world and its statistics which indicate what our chances are that we'll be a victim of bad fortune or is it in God and His miraculous and supernatural ways?

The world believes it is foolish to trust God radically. What do you believe?

One day, a few months ago, Eva asked me to pray and ask God if it was time for her to quit her job (especially since things were going so well and she didn't feel she'd be running from anything). That morning, prayerfully, I asked. It was Yes, Eva was to quit. Not too long after that prayerful toss, Eva gave notice and worked the final two weeks. Now, Eva was no longer a member of the "working" force. Consequently, shortly, we would not have insurance for our family. (At that time, I received a retirement income and did not have insurance). One day, we asked God (after prayers, by the usual method) whether we should get some kind of major medical insurance. The answer, to our surprise, was Yes.

Eva was offered "Cobra" which would have allowed her to keep her present insurance. However, it was over $1000 a month. Absolutely prohibitive for us on our current income. The next day I began looking at options available to us and found the cheapest to be around $250 - $300 a month. Although cheaper than Cobra, still it amounted to quite a chunk of our monthly funds.

That morning, after I had researched and received this information, we lounged on top of our bed, praying to the Lord, asking why we couldn't be taken care of by His mighty hand, now that we were working totally for Him. "Why can't we be protected by You, Lord?" These were questions from the deepest part of our hearts.

Eva was upset with God. I was, too.

Selfishly, I asked God if the insurance could be just for Eva and Kristina. I say selfishly, because if God said Yes, I knew I might be exempt from some medical disaster—the occurrence of which is inferred when God says, "Get insurance." God said No. This meant I was not exempt from medical problems. Eva said, "Well, I guess I'll have to get a new job." I thought, "Or I will."

Eva asked me to check with God later, after some prayer time, to see if one of us needed to get a job.

That afternoon, sitting serenely on one of our lawn chairs in a nearby park, I had some prayer time and asked if I needed to get a job. The answer was a surprising Yes. Okay, I thought. I asked further, should it be part time? No. I thought that meant it should be full time, but I asked anyway. Should it be full time? No. Now I was confused and told the Lord, "How can I get a job, but it not be part time or full time?" I, then, realized I was thinking from my human perspective. I was thinking traditionally. I was thinking, both in full or part time work, about the kind of work where you go to a structure where business is conducted and help them conduct that business. Suddenly, into my thoughts came this question, posed by the Holy Spirit. "What do you do?"

I didn't have to think long. "I'm a prayer warrior," I said aloud. Is this the type of job I should have? Yes. "Lord," I asked, "Are you saying that if I treat my prayer warrior time as an actual job, make sure I go to work each day, that we will be taken care of and will not have to purchase insurance?" Yes. I praised God in my heart right then.

Eva had gone home to get our daughter from the school bus and she arrived with her, just as I was wrapping up my questioning. Next, I wanted to know how much time I should spend in prayer. Two hours. No. Three hours. Yes.

My hours are flexible. I can begin early in the morning. I can break the hours up throughout the day—but I cannot miss a day of work. Before I told Eva how many hours I was to pray a day, she already had the number three in her mind. Eva told me to ask if I could have the weekends off, say, only an hour. Answer: No. So, seven days a week, three hours a day, I am to pray—as if this is a regular job.

I am actually calling this, "Making my insurance payment." It means that much to me. My prayers are more about pressing in than praying for something. (At least that was the case for my first day of work.) I also know that I am not to be listening to music or reading anything (except my Bible for brief periods of time to get fodder to pray.)

I am resting assured in the Lord, that He will take care of us. I know it.

I have begun. My first day I went to work from 4:00 AM until 7:00 AM. I'll have my Bible. No other reading, no music, just prayer. My Bible will only be for words to pray from. No leisurely reading or study, prayer only.

God made it clear that disaster, requiring the need for insurance is on the way to us if I don't take this seriously. I have.

Nature of God: I thought the complexity of the "conversation with God" was really wonderful. Isaiah says, as I've quoted many times in this book, God's ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts. I love it when God speaks and, initially, I don't understand something THEN, in a burst of light, suddenly it all falls together and makes sense. I loved it when God said, in the above incident, that I needed to get a job—but it was not to be full time or part time (because I was thinking of a job in the secular realm). Then, through my heart, He asked, "What is it that you do." And the answer was, "I pray. I'm a prayer warrior." Is that what you want me to do? Yes. Also, by Him utilizing our conversation about insurance and, quite literally "making" us give it serious thought, I KNEW the gravity of the situation and I knew that I'd be "going to work everyday for three hours." I call it "Making my insurance payment" when I talk with my family. In an amazing example of divine wisdom, I would not have been motivated to pray 3 hours a day unless God had coupled our insurance conversation with His request that I pray.

Additional note: The Lord had me pray for three hours a day for a little over a week. Then I started to get a message from Him in my heart to ask again. The amount of time required went down to 2 hours a day. I want to say that, having prayed 3 hours a day for a little over a week, 2 hours a day seemed like a piece of cake. I have been on this schedule for many months. I have never been absent from work, except one day when the Lord gave me a day off as I was on a mercy mission for Him. Oh, and one other day, my wife checked with the Lord and, for that day, she took one hour of my prayer time.

After many months of faithfully praying 2 hours a day, the Lord put it upon my heart to ask Eva if she'd be willing to take one hour of prayer a day (if her schedule permitted it—she was home schooling our daughter--otherwise, I'd do it). She said the Lord had been putting it upon her heart to do that and was prepared to commit to it. She has been praying 1 hour a day for over a year, and feels it is a very important part of her daily schedule now. I now pray 1 hour a day—unless, for some reason, she is unable to pray.

Please feel free to join me on a program of prayer for 1 hour a day. This is about half the length of one of Hollywood's movies, which we can sit and watch, as if in a kind of trance, and not really be concerned about the time that passes. One hour can pass, practically unnoticed in front of the television, in the evening. However, there is nothing on this earth that can take the place of our prayer-time. It is a dynamic time and we can sense a movement of God's Spirit underneath that we know will lead to incredible, life-changing events as well as give us a deep peace as our trust in Him increases and we become more aware of His love for us.

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