I Asked, God Spoke: True Stories of Devotion

By Lisa Thornton Stillwell

Would you like to hear the voice of God? This book is for you. I Asked, God Spoke is all about hearing His voice. This book takes you on a journey through real life problems and real experiences. When we go through hard times we always have questions for God. God, where are you? Why did you let that happen? Are you still there? God does not mind if we ask questions. In fact, He really wants to speak. The question is, are you ready to listen?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490882376

Lisa Thornton Stillwell

Lisa Stillwell is a professional interviewer for Faith Filled Family Magazine. She has interviewed Jason McLeod from Facing the Giants, Rusty Martin from Courageous, John Waller from his album Crazy Faith featured in WAR ROOM, and others. She is also published in The Secret Place, The Breakthrough Intercessor, and works with UTR Films as a screenwriter. Lisa is an elementary school teacher assistant and lives in North Carolina with her husband and three daughters.

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Copyright © 2015 Lisa Thornton Stillwell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8236-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8238-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8237-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015908664

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/28/2015

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Word to the Reader

Prologue

Chapter 1: Memories of My Childhood

Chapter 2: Letting God Lead

Chapter 3: Lessons from My Family

Chapter 4: A Time of Testing

Chapter 5: Called to Witness

Chapter 6: Prayer

Chapter 7: Finding God in the Workplace

Chapter 8: Trusting God

Chapter 9: Times of Growth

Chapter 10: Growth Continued

Afterword

This book is dedicated to my loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him I can do nothing. (John 15:5)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

If you want to see a book that was a team effort, this is it. Not only am I grateful for all the people who have encouraged me, I am deeply thankful for the ones who believed in me when I felt like giving up.

This book would absolutely not exist without the tireless efforts of Susan Glover. Susan took time to read each devotion, one by one, as it was written. She was there to share my laughter as well as my sorrow. She has been a great friend, sister in Christ, mentor, prayer partner, and everything else I can possibly imagine. If Heaven has a list of the most precious people, her name is surely on it!

Thank you to Hillary Rudolph, Hannah Deaver, Dawn Tiller, and Kristi Crawford. Hillary spent much time helping me with images, while the others have been great friends, always encouraging me to never give up.

In addition to these names I would like to thank my awesome editor, Joanne Sher. She has been a true blessing in polishing this book the way that God intended it to be.

Much gratitude also goes to my church families at Sandy Bottom and Grace Baptist. Thank you for loving me, caring for me, and helping me grow into the person that God alone can adore. I am not a perfect person but I am a better one, simply trying to live out God’s purpose in a world that desperately needs direction.

I would also like to thank my wonderful husband and three precious daughters. Thank you for supporting me while I spent much time on our computer writing, searching for the right Bible verses, and staying awake into the wee hours of the night.

Last and very importantly, I would like to thank my readers for taking the time to pick up this book and embark on a journey with God on every page. Without you, I would have never desired to write devotions. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart! Naturally, I was writing to help you grow closer to God, but God turned it all around and blessed me as well.

His Unworthy Servant,

Lisa Stillwell

WORD TO THE READER

Dearest Friend,

Years ago, God began speaking to my heart. I remember when I was eight years old, standing at the sliding glass door in our living room. I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart and it was the greatest decision I made in my life! God told me that He was going to use me in a big way one day. I was a small child and did not fully understand.

I would like to say that once I accepted Jesus into my heart everything was smooth sailing. However, that was not the case.

Later on in life, I ran away from the only home that mattered: my Heavenly home. I crawled into the dumpster of life. I told myself that I would not stay there long, but the world continued to throw more trash at me. Before long, I was buried. One day, God looked down from Heaven and asked, What are you doing in there? He reached down lovingly and pulled me out, just like my daughter did to one of her old baby dolls I threw away when she was younger.

I finally realized that just because something winds up in the dumpster does not mean that it is trash. Let me tell you, friend: you are not trash! The world is full of trash, but you are God’s treasure in the dumpster.

I have compiled this book of devotions from my life experiences. These experiences were not always happy; in fact, some of them were very painful. My prayer is that it will bring you closer to God and help you along your journey. I do not know what you might be experiencing. What I do know is that God can meet all your needs, no matter how big they might be. As you read these devotions, not only will you find that God cares about the big things, He cares about the details too.

The purpose of this book is to help you see that God truly does answer prayer. Every time I had a question for Him, I received a response. God may not answer the way that you want Him to. The answer is yes, no, or the hardest one: wait. When God tells you to wait, do not feel as if He is neglecting you. God has your best interest in mind, and when the time is right, He will reveal the answer. When you are sitting in God’s waiting room, the key word is trust. There is a reason for waiting. God knows what is best for your life.