I love to shop! And a lot of that shopping is for the eight grandchildren who call us “Gram” and “Pop” besides the bonus of three foster godsends. I have no problem spending hours scouring for the best bargain, while praying along the way for the Lord to help me find exactly what is needed. I am a grandmother on a mission, and I find it downright fulfilling!

However, there is only so much money and then my shopping gets regulated and sometimes halted all together by the poor gentleman who labors long to pay the bills (wink wink)!

There is no doubt my heart conveys whether I love to shop or live to shop!

Those days spent at home with the to-do list and not the adventure of the hunt- finding hidden gems- clearly attest to my desire in living for the external pleasures. Of course, Satan is delighted with this focus; He wants me captive to what I can see and touch and spend countless hours lost in the temporal. Yet God wants me to know the real hidden gems are to be found in stillness and quiet communion with Him where acquiring something more important than my grands outer garments transpire. This is where prayers for the inside person of the heart should be as my most sought-after adventure. Placing these eleven little people as priority in my prayer journal and asking the Lord of the harvest to draw each of them to Himself trusting they’ll thereby grow to understand God’s love and His eternal plan made available to everyone who believes in the Son.

We are all sinners, missing the mark, falling short of God’s perfect holiness (Romans 3:23). And the punishment (wage) for missing the mark (sin) is death (Romans 6:23). But (praise the Lord for that little word “but”) God SO LOVED the world (every person who has ever lived) that He gave His ONE PERFECT SON to die in our place (pay the wage we all owed) (John 3:16). Each man, woman, girl or boy, who trusts in Him, He gives the right to be His child (saved from sin and damnation) (John 1:12-13).

Jesus wants every person to know how to be saved from Satan’s abyss to an eternal home in heaven where the Son of God resides wearing white raiment and will freely clothe us in beautiful apparel! That’s why He had His words written down for accuracy and assurance:

There is Salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

Thus, reminding myself of these truths brings conviction and settles my resolve to sit in the stillness and commune with my Heavenly Father fully surrendered to the task of interceding on behalf of these awe-inspiring little lives, because what is most important is the destination of their souls and this will be my greatest work and testimony (not as a personal shopper)!

From the archives: Closer to Your Heart through Prayer, An Easter Fast!