My Dearest Single Mother,
God has a plan for you
Stay strong, stay focused, stay prayerful
For He will surely see you all the way through.

Though your burdens may be heavy
And your nights may be oh so long
Look up my Sister, for there’s a brighter day
And He will gently guide you along.

When it seems like you’re not appreciated
When it seems as if no one really cares
Just remember the very tears you shed
God will take them, and wipe them, and change them
Into butterfly wings
That will soar
And flutter
All through the air.

My Dearest Single Sister,
Relief is on the way
Relief from stress and strain
Relief from problems and pain
Relief from shackles and chains
For God has just sent some angels
And charged them to lift all your cares away.

My Dearest Single Mother
Remember that the Father is a parent like you
For He shares your hurts and hopes for your children
To Him, continue to pray, for He knows exactly what to do.

My Precious Sister of Heaven,
Let this thought caress you like none other
The Father deems you priceless, wonderful, and oh so special
My Dearest, Dearest, Single Mother.

(Poem from Just A Hug:10 Poems For Christian Sisters To Think About)

“Casting all your cares upon Him; for He careth for you.” I Peter 5:7

Happy Mother’s Day!

Be encouraged,

Evangelist Manuel Scott, Jr.

Related Blog Posts:

All Things Work Together For Good
Three Ways God Answers Our Prayers
Choose To Focus On The Positive


Related Sermons by Evangelist Scott:

Always, Always
You Can Make It If You Can Take It
Jesus Still Makes House Calls


Additional Resources For Christian Parents:

Train Up A Child lecture by Evangelist Manuel Scott, Jr.
Single Parenting That Works by Dr. Kevin Leman
Help! I’m Raising My Children Alone by Bishop T.D. Jakes

Prayer involves a concerned earthly child connecting with a concerned heavenly Father (Matthew 6:9).

“Prayer honors God, acknowledges His being, exalts His power, adores His providence, secures His aid.” E.M. Bounds

“Prayer is the spiritual gymnasium in which we exercise and practice godliness.” V. L. Crawford

Because Christians strongly believe that our God is a God who hears and answers prayer, it is most important that we explore, as best we can, how God answers prayer.

I contend that there are three significant ways that God answers prayer:

• God says “YES”

This answer means that God agrees with our requests and answers accordingly.

The story of Hannah and the birth of her son Samuel is a good example of God saying, “YES!” Read I Samuel 1:26-28.

My late great father Dr. Manuel Scott, Sr.’s sermon, Footnotes To An Answered Prayer, tells of lessons learned when God answered YES to his fervent prayer in his youth.

• God says, “Not Until Some Conditions Are Met“

This answer means that God indeed plans to grant our requests. However, He desires that certain terms be met either by the person asking, or in regard to what the person is asking for.

In other words, when God answers in this manner, He is either saying that YOU are not yet ready to handle what you have asked for, OR, WHAT you have asked for is not yet ready for you!

For example, if you are a Sister and you ask God for a certain Brother, and God answers you by saying, “Not until certain conditions are met,” God is either saying to you:

1. YOU need to get yourself “more together,” perhaps in terms of your attitude, associations, family ties, habits, finances, etc., before He will grant your request

2. That Brother who you have asked for needs to get himself “more together,” perhaps in terms of his attitude, associations, family ties, habits, finances, etc., before God will grant you your request.

Moreover, whenever you perceive that God is answering you by saying, “Not until certain conditions are met,” you have several options:

1. You can discern that you need to make some improvements.

2. You can discern that what you have asked for needs more time to make the necessary adjustments.

3. You can discern that both you and what you have asked for need more time.

4. You can decide to change what you have asked for altogether and ask for something new.

A biblical example of God answering a prayer with “Not Until Some Conditions Are Met” can be found in II Chronicles 7:14.

• God says, “I Have Something Better For You“

This type of an answer means that God is answering you with what I call a “proactive No.” By this I mean that God says to you, “While I’m not going to give you what you want, I am going to give you something that is much better, better for you and all concerned.”

For example: Sisters, if God, in His infinite wisdom, doesn’t give you that brother you have asked for, STAY FAITHFUL, for God will give you a brother who will be much better for you and your entire situation!

“Prayer is the voice of faith.” William Van Horne

A biblical example of this kind of answer can be found in Matthew 26:39.

“Be thankful that God’s answers are wiser than your answers.” William Culbertson

“God alone fully understands what each of us needs. We make mistakes continually and pray for things which would be harmful to us if we received them. Afterwards we see our mistakes and realize that God is good and wise in not giving us these things, even though we plead ever so earnestly for them.” O. Hallesby

When you pray, it is important that you believe that God’s answer, whatever it is, will always be for our benefit.

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

“Pray without ceasing.” I Thessalonians 5:17

Adapted from Evangelist Scott’s The Need And Importance Of Family Prayer lecture

Related Sermons by Evangelist Scott:

“Always, Always“

“It’s Not Over Until God Has Spoken“

Be encouraged,

Evangelist Manuel Scott, Jr.


Links To Other Helpful Christian Resources On Prayer:

National Day Of Prayer website

Praying In Victory website

Our Daily Bread devotional on prayer

Bible Study Planet: Prayer And Faith

Sanctified believers wholeheartedly believe that the Lord is always at His best.

When God created Heaven and earth, He was at His best.

When God flung the stars into the sky, lit the moon and ignited the sun, He was at His best.

When God said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:1-3), He was at His best.

“For the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the strength of the hills is His also. The sea is His and He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.” (Psalm 95:3-5)

“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place and hangeth the earth upon nothing.” (Job 26:7)

The great C. S. Lewis explains, “the whole universe–the very conditions of time and space under which it exists–are produced by the will of a perfect, timeless, unconditioned God who is above and outside all that He makes.” (Words To Live By: A Guide For The Merely Christian, 2007)

“For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it; He created it not in vain, He created it to be inhabited: I am the Lord and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45:18)

“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein.” Psalm 24:1

Remember the Lord on Earth Day.

Praise The Lord!

Evangelist Manuel Scott, Jr.

Related Posts:

Little Bee: An Earth Day Poem
Rain: An Encoiuraging Poem


Related Christian Resources by Evangelist Scott:

“Always, Always” Sermon

Little Bee, little bee
Has it occurred to thee
Your Father and my Father are one
For to both He has given us to share
The earth, the rose, the sky, the sun.

Little Bee, little bee
Let’s make a deal
A deal that’s right and not wrong
You keep on humming and buzzing and flying
And I’ll sing
Another song.

(A poem from Turning On The Power: Poetry Of Life And The Spirit by Manuel Scott, Jr.)

“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”
Psalm 24:1

Related Posts:
Rain: An Encouraging Poem
I Choose The Sunshine

Be encouraged,

Evangelist Manuel Scott, Jr.

I love the rain because it wistfully contains
Reminders that nature remembers
That liquid drops kissing the ground
Is a timeless ballet
Of Grace and splendor.

I love the rain
The dripping
Drizzling
Drenching rain
Whose prophecy foretells of the truth
That before it pours and after it settles
The soul, once dry,
Is sweetly
Renewed.

I love the rain perhaps best of all
Becausw it signals the coming of the Sun
Unfolding
with such brightness
Such brilliance and warmth
Until again
You wish
For
The rain to come.

“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not hither, but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11

(Rain is a poem from Turning On The Power: Poetry Of Life And The Spirit by Manuel Scott, Jr.)

Be encouraged,

Evangelist Manuel Scott, Jr.

I suggest you read He Chose The Nails by Max Lucado (2000).

The movie, The Passion Of The Christ, masterfully portrayed the complicity of the chief priests, Caiaphas, Pilate, Judas, the Romans and the crowd as all having played a part in the murder of Jesus.

Did the Jews kill Jesus? Yes!
Did the Romans kill Jesus? Yes!
Did the chief priests kill Jesus? Yes!
Did Pilate kill Jesus? Yes!
Did Judas kill Jesus? Yes!
Did the crowd kill Jesus? Yes!
Did Adam and Eve kill Jesus? Yes!
Did you and I kill Jesus? Yes!

My friends, the bottom line to the whole matter is that Sin killed Jesus! The Jews’ sin. The Romans’ sin. The chief priests’ sin. Caiaphas’ sin. Pilate’s sin. Adam and Eve’s sin. Your sins. My sins. Sin, in all of its demonic ugliness, killed Jesus!

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Even as born-again Christians, we all sin sometimes. “There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10)

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been saved. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in church. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been preaching or teaching God’s word. We all sin sometimes. (excerpt from “Before You Stumble Again” sermon)

To paraphrase Reinhold Niebuhr in Why Niebuhr Matters, sin is serious resistance to the divine way of doing things.

Adam and Eve had everything. They were living in paradise! They were never meant to get sick, die or want for anything. But they were seduced by the serpent into believing that there was something better than living inside the will of God.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, they stained all of humanity. Ever since, mankind has desperately tried to remove the stain. The prophets couldn’t remove the stain. The patriarchs couldn’t remove the stain. So God stepped in, metaphorically speaking, and said, “I’m going to send a sacrifice. I’m going to send a stain-remover, My Son Jesus Christ. His precious blood will wash away the stain.” (adapted from “Yes, He Is!” sermon)

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” (Revelations 5:12)
Jesus is the “supreme stain-remover.”

That’s why the hymnwriter Robert Lowery wrote:

What can wash away my sins
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can make me whole again
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

“But God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Christ died for us. Why can’t we live for Him?

Adapted from the Teaching Insights From “The Passion Of The Christ” lecture by Evangelist Manuel Scott, Jr.

Be encouraged,

Evangelist Manuel Scott, Jr.

I saw a cross today
Hanging from the neck of a saint
It was shimmering in the noon-day sun
Quite a sight when you consider the taint.

The taint?
Yes, the taint that that cross
And all crosses have
That misrepresent the truth
By making the cross a thing of prettiness
Instead
Of a reminder
Of what God had to do

For

Your sins and my sins and all sins
He sacrificed His Holy One
His blood, His guts, were spilled
Shimmering
In the noon-day sun.

“And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.” John 19:17-18

Excerpt from Turning On The Power (Poetry Of Life And The Spirit) by Manuel Scott, Jr.

Be encouraged,

Evangelist Manuel Scott, Jr.

Just as no sane person enjoys stale milk, stale coffee, or stale bread, no wife or husband enjoys being locked in a stale marriage.

Husbands, it’s your responsibility to keep your marriage fresh! Wives, it’s your responsibility to keep your marriage fresh!

And by fresh, I mean that husbands and wives must break out of their everyday dull routines, and do things differently. Be imaginative and creative.

A serious mistake that many married couples make is that while they had plenty of fun before they got married, they cease to have fun after they are married.

“Every husband and wife needs to sit down and meditate on the thought: ‘My partner married me because he or she thought the pleasing things I was doing during our courtship would continue for the rest of our lives. Am I holding up my end of the bargain?’” Willard Harley, His Needs, Her Needs

Husbands and wives, you should make it a conscious goal to have fun with each other at least once or twice a week.

“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may remain in you, and that my joy may be full.” John 15:11

(Adapted from my lecture for married couples, “Keeping It Fresh“)

Be encouraged,

Evangelist Manuel Scott, Jr.

Rev. Kevin Zaborney, a student of psychology, came up with this National Hugging Day idea, which has been celebrated worldwide on January 21st since 1986. There is even an official website for the holiday!

Ecclesiastes 3:1,5: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. . .a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.”

The front of one American Greetings Forget Me Not card reads, “A hug is love wrapped up in a warm little package.”

Many stories in the Bible tell of people hugging and embracing one another. One of the most well-known is the story of the prodigal son returning home to his father (Luke 15:11-24). Please read Genesis 29:12-13; 48:9-10; Ruth 1:11-14; Mark 10:13-16 and Acts 20:1, 9-11.

In honor of National Hugging Day, I thought I would share a poem I wrote some years ago entitled, “Just A Hug“:

Just A Hug

I’ve been working all day
Just toiling away
I’ve endured insults, strife and snubs
All I need to help me indeed
Is not much
Just
A little hug.

It’s amazing to think
What a touch can do
In a world so naked of love
There’s friendship in a handshake
There’s warmth in a kiss
But oh!
There’s power in a hug.

Our world would improve
More peace would ensue
If more bodies and arms embraced
You would be surprised
To see the change in lives
If hugging became
The practice
Of the Race.

“And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them.” Acts 20:1

Hug someone today. You’ll both feel better.

Be encouraged,

Evangelist Manuel Scott Jr.

Related Inspirational Materials by Evangelist Manuel Scott Jr:

My late father, Dr. Manuel Scott, Sr. wrote in his book, The Gospel For The Ghetto: “I attach great significance to the fact that those liberation movements which have had the greatest influence for good on history have been sponsored and spearheaded, under God, by those who lived on spiritual frontiers.” Dr. Martin Luther King was among that number.

As Jack E. White reflected on Dr. King’s legacy in Time magazine in 1998, he wrote, “King was a preacher who spoke in biblical cadences ideally suited to leading a stride toward freedom that found its inspiration in the Old Testament story of the Israelites and the New Testament gospel of Jesus Christ.”

While we are all familiar with Dr. King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech, here are some lesser known quotes from this great civil rights leader that are as relevant today as they were when he spoke them:

“Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation.”

“We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools.”

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become reality.”

“We must use the weapon of love. We must have compassion and understanding from those who hate us. We must realize so many people are taught to hate us that they are not totally responsible for their hate.”

“…unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

(Quotes taken from Great Peacemakers: True Stories From Around The World by Ken Beller and Heather Chase, LTS Press, 2008)

Other great books about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

A Testament Of Hope: The Essential Writings And Speeches Of Martin Luther King, Jr. edited by James M. Washington, 1986

The Autobiography Of Martin Luther King edited by Clayborne Carson, Warner Books, 1998

Growing Up King: An Intimate Memoir by Dexter Scott King with Ralph Wiley, Warner Books, 2003

“We must work unceasingly to uplift this nation that we love to a higher destiny, to a higher plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression of humanness.” Dr. Martin Luther King

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9

Be Encouraged,

Evangelist Manuel Scott Jr.

Related Printed Lectures by Evangelist Manuel Scott, Jr:

Yes, God Can! (Prophetic Reflections In The Election Of Barack Obama As The 44th President Of The United States)