Letters To God

By Ozell Hickman, Jr

How do I pray? That question inspired this book. When I asked that question. I received several replies to it. The one that made the most sense to me was, “Just talk to Him”. My question to that was, “How do you talk to God”? For me it was easy to put my thoughts down on paper. In my talks with God, I was able to ask him the question, that is most frequently asked by people, “Why Me’? To be honest, the answer was “why not you’. I was told many years ago that God was preparing me for something great, and that He had big plans for me. At the time I didn’t understand what was about to happen, but because I did listen, God has blessed me in ways I never could have imagined. This book is my way of acknowledging what God has done for me; it is my way of doing what God has ask ed me to do, but most of all, it is my way of saying thank you Jesus for putting your loving and protecting arms around me

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ozell Hickman, Jr
• Release date: Jul 24, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476304052

Ozell Hickman, Jr

Born and live in Chicago, IL. I have two children and three grand-kids. I'm a veteren USMC, and worked as owner of JFJ Catering, currently retired.

Book preview

Dear God,

When you think of a just man, you may think of the man who spends his life doing good deeds. The bible says in Proverbs 24:16a "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again. . . . (KVJ) This tells me that a man that tries to do the right thing may fall, but he doesn’t have to stay down. God says that he shall rise again. In the past, when I failed at something, I felt that was the end of it. But God tells me in His Word, that there will be times when I will fail, but I can get up and try again.

In the past, while I was in the world, it seemed that I was always falling down, or doing the wrong thing. Most times, I just didn’t care about what I did, or who I hurt along the way. But the day did come when I did begin to care and I tried to do the right things in life. But, it seemed as if I constantly failed at what I was trying to do. So, I just laid there in all of my mess. I believed that when I started to follow the Lord, my life would be easier. But, in all honesty, it wasn’t. At first, I thought it was something that I was doing wrong, but I found out, that this wasn’t necessarily true. Sometimes, we will fail at things because God has another plan for us. Also, the things I didn’t care about in the past, I do care about today. and it won’t allow me to do those things anymore. My greatest spiritual victory today, is knowing that the devil has lost, what he thought was someone he owned.

There will come a time in all of our lives that we will fall down, but we don’t have to just lay there. We can rise up again and again. The bible says, a just man falleth seven times. In my case it has been seven times, seven times, seven times seven. God has allowed me to get up each time that I have fallen. One of the good things about the times that I have fallen, they have made me stronger in the Lord. I’ve learned to call on Him, learned to depend on Him and most importantly, I have learned to love Him. See, these were things I didn’t do before.

It’s not wrong to fall or fail at something, but it is wrong to just lie there and not try to get up, or learn from your experience. The Lord teaches us each and every day. Don’t let the lessons that He is teaching you go to waste, be that just man and get up and try again.

Your Loving Son,

Ozell

WWJD

WALK

WITH

JESUS

DAILY

Are You Listening

Dear God,

Let me tell you about the first time that I knowingly heard the Lord speak to me. First, let me say that I always thought that when God spoke it would be like the sound of thunder or He would speak in a loud and booming voice. But for me, that’s not how it was. It was about three years ago, while I was at work. I became very ill (actually I was dying), my gall bladder was in the process of erupting. I did not know what was happening. I just thought that I ate something that didn’t agree with me. I went to the break room to give my stomach a chance to quiet down. Normally, there would be anywhere from 5-20 people in the break room, but not today. Just as I walked through the doors and headed towards the coffee machine all hell broke loose. The pain that gripped my body was of a paralyzing nature; it knocked me to the floor. I was unable to stand, walk, crawl or even yell out. All I could do was just lie there in a fetal position and wait until someone came in. But no one did. I knew if I passed out that I would not make it through this. So all the while I lay there, I kept saying, I can do this, I can do this. The pain was almost unbearable; I had never felt anything like that in my life. I called out, Lord, I can do this(I was trying to will the pain away), throughout all this pain, I heard a voice saying We can do this. But I wasn’t listening. I kept on saying, I can do this, I can do this. The pain steadily increased to the verge of me passing out. I knew if I passed out,, I would die. So again, I said, I can do this, and that voice spoke to me again, it said, Yes, Ozell We can do this. As it has been quoted before, in a twinkling of an eye my life changed. I was in a state of panic, but the voice that I heard was so calm. I was very distraught, but the voice that I heard was confident. Then I knew it was you Lord speaking to me. The voice that I heard was soft, reassuring, peaceful, but most of all it was soothing to my soul. Then with every ounce of strength that I could muster, I yelled out Yes, Lord, WE can do this. Two things happened almost immediately; the pain didn’t go away, but it did stop its steady increase, and someone walked through the door and called 911. That voice that I heard, it wasn’t the loud voice I thought I would hear, when the Lord would talk to me. The beauty of this whole episode, was it seemed to be my voice, but it really wasn’t. The Lord spoke to me, using my own voice, but it was with a difference that I would know.

I learned several things that day. First, I could of, I should of died that day. But, I wasn’t listening. God showed me how merciful He can be. This told me that I have work to do, andGod isn’t finished with me yet. So, I have a question to anyone who reads this.

Are you listening when He speaks to you? Whether it is that loud thunderous voice that comes in all His glory, or is it that gentle, soothing voice comes to you in the dead of the night in a dream, it’s not how it comes, but the important thing is "WILL YOU OBEY?’.

Your Loving Son,

Ozell

WWJD

WALK

WITH

JESUS

DAILY

Are You Worthy

Dear God,

This question can be answered with just one word, NO! Romans 3:23 says For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;. (KJV) Even though we come short of His Glory, God so loved us that He gave us the most precious gift of all. John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. His love for us is what makes us worthy. Jesus came to this earth in a physical form, He lived and died for us, so that we might be able to become Kids of the King. The true essence of the word is, we are not worthy of the Kingdom, but, and that is a big BUT, we are like the story of the prodigal’s son. Luke 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. (KJV) But our Father will forgive all that we do, he said in Luke 15:22, But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: (KJV) God does not look on us as being unworthy, He sees us as being His children, and he stands there with his arms open wide to receive us home.

Are you worthy,