Powerful Moments in the Presence of God

By Lorraine Marie Varela and Canon Andrew White

A Beautiful Treasury of Inspiring
Devotional Thoughts

This beautiful devotional gift book is for readers who want to experience God's presence in a new and exciting way. With amazing testimonies, inspirational messages, and four-color photographs taken by the author, this book encourages readers to see God's power at work in the lives of everyday people.

The devotional messages take only moments to read, but are packed with biblical promise and perspective. Along with a message of faith and trust in a miracle-working God, each day's spread also includes a related Scripture that points to timeless truth--and inspires readers to expect their own supernatural encounters
with God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781441228987

Lorraine Marie Varela

Lorraine Marie Varela (www.LorraineMarie.com) is the author of Powerful Moments in the Presence of God and a professional photographer. She has traveled to the Middle East and lives near Seattle, where she and her husband help lead a Foursquare Messianic congregation. Lorraine and her husband, Gabriel, have two grown daughters.

Book preview

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The God Who Speaks

Lorraine, I have a word for you.

These seven words began a conversation that was to shatter my deeply held convictions about God that I had believed since childhood. In an instant, everything changed. Could God really engage with people by speaking to them through dreams, as He did in the Bible? Did supernatural encounters still exist? And if they did, how could I be sure they were from God?

My earliest childhood memory was formed at the age of three. The living room in our small 1960s tract home is dimly lit, and I am kneeling next to our couch with my mom at my side. We have just finished our nightly family Bible reading. I wait until my dad and older siblings leave the room before asking my mom to stay with me, so I can pray for Jesus to come into my heart. I felt the need for Jesus even then, and nothing was going to hold me back from Him.

During my childhood and adolescent years, my parents encouraged my growing faith, as did my extended family and church community. The message I heard was the same from all of them—God loved me, and I could trust the Bible as the infallible source for all truth. Although my foundation of faith was strong, I did not know it was possible to hear the voice of God and communicate with Him in encounters such as He had time and again with people throughout the pages of the Bible. The gifts of the Holy Spirit were for then, but what about now?

After 35 years of my living with this limited understanding, my older brother Steve disrupted my peaceful life with an innocuous email sharing the good news that he had received his prayer language. I was sure he was wrong about the gift of tongues, but I could not ignore his raw enthusiasm and sheer joy.

My brother’s email led me to my own journey of discovery. I bought myself a new Bible, so I could read it with a fresh perspective. Before I started I made a bargain with God. I told Him I would take everything I had been taught and temporarily tuck that knowledge away in exchange for His Holy Spirit leading and guiding me into His truth. I believed He was more than capable of revealing what I needed to know, and I did not want anything or anyone to prejudice my understanding.

Over the next week, I immersed myself in reading the Bible. From the first page to the last, I saw conversations between man and God, supernatural experiences and references to the work of the Holy Spirit in a way I had never noticed before. The men and women I read about were just like me, and I did not see why I should have to depend on their experiences alone in my quest for a deeper relationship with God. He had not changed! I wanted to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even if they were unsettling and completely out of my comfort zone.

November 7, 2000, became the date in history I will never forget. On that momentous night when our country was riveted on the presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore—a night our nation went to bed without a president-elect—I was alone in my room, on my knees, asking God for the gift of tongues.

It was not easy to put years of misunderstanding the work of the Holy Spirit behind me. I was afraid of losing control and losing my dignity, even if no one else was around to watch. Most of all, I was afraid of the unknown. My fear ran so deep that I struck my second bargain with God before things got out of hand.

I don’t need a complete language, I reasoned with Him, "so if it’s okay with You, I’d be happy with just one