This morning, I was awakened by Wisdom. Sometimes the Holy Spirit speaks to us when we are least expecting it. At those times, we are more likely to listen and less likely to be distracted.

The Holy Spirit reminded me of the 1st Commandment: "Thou shall have no other gods before me." Then as I lay there, with my eyes closed- feeling the last wonderful moments of a good night's sleep- I listened intently as the Spirit gave me some insight. It described how people are breaking the 1st Commandment when they fail to consciously put God first. This, in turn, hurts God. Yes, we can "hurt God." We hurt God when we have Him in our lives, yet we choose to give credit to other things for the blessings God has given us. It is similar to when we do an amazing thing at a job we thoroughly love and having someone else swoop in and take all the credit away from us.

Yesterday I mentioned to someone about how the "power of positive thinking" could be the pretense for having faith in God. I was sidetracked by their excited interjection as they immediately exclaimed "The Secret! The Secret is a new age self-help book claiming that one's positive thoughts are powerful magnets that attract wealth, health, happiness.

The Spirit reminded me this morning that "There is no secret when it comes to God. That God performs miracles everyday and that His power and grace is no secret to anyone. The whole world knows of Him, yet only those who "choose" to get to know Him can be a witness to the wonders of His glory!"

I - then and there - apologized to God and asked Him to forgive me. I was trying to appeal to a person by equating the power of positive thinking with acquiring faith. All power belongs to God and I promised Him (and the Holy Spirit) that I would clarify myself.

Yes, I prayed for someone yesterday because I wanted them to know that God can and will answer our prayers if we only ask Him. I felt their pain when they said to me "I don't think God can help me with this one..." I had to point out that "the God who created the heavens and earth surely could help them with their problem.

A short time later, I felt their joy when they told me how that very situation which caused them anguish and tears- totally turned around! I knew it was only by God's grace that this change occurred. I had to point out two things that I hope they will remember for the rest of their life. (1) Positive thinking (crossing of fingers) had nothing to do with changing their situation because quite frankly, there was nothing "positive" about their thoughts. And (2) Psalm 62:11 "All power belongs to God."

[Photo by Liz James]

So if you've ever been tempted to cross your fingers and hope for the best, do yourself a real favor by uncrossing those fingers. Open your palms and face them toward each other as you bow your head in prayer. Miracles will happen!