Yes, Phil, we too have been there many times, as my husband and I 
have been married for 42 years this August.

Upon my retirement in 2011, we found that we also had an upside down 
mortgage, and we would no longer be able to afford
almost $1400 in house payments.  This was just before they initiated 
financial programs to help home owners in our situation.  Therefore, 
we had to foreclose on our house, though that was the last thing we 
wanted to do.

Now we have been renting an apartment in Portland,as we have moved 
from Salem; and though we have lost our home, we are still finding 
that God does answer prayer, as he helped us to find an apartment 
about a block away from where my Mom used to live, so we knew the 
area.  The apartment is small, but then there is no upkeep.

We are about to move to a larger apartment, costing $10 less per 
month, with a washer and dryer, as well as a dish washer.  It's 
amazing how much you take appliances such as these for granted!

Although God didn't answer our prayers as expected, he answered them 
in a way that was best for us.  He knew what we needed before we 
did.  PRAISE BE TO GOD!

Jackie


At 04:06 PM 5/5/2013, you wrote:
>I thought this would be worth sharing on echurch; first, because it 
>is personal, it happened to me, and second, I know others have 
>similar financial needs.
>
>Sandy and I have, at times, made good money; for a couple of blind 
>people, that is.  Sandy does well having been a medical 
>transcriptionist for well over 40 years, however, she has, in 
>today's poor economy, reached a ceiling.  She no longer receives 
>annual raises but gets a 3 percent, one time per year check, of her 
>total income; most of which is taxed right out of the picture, 
>too.  We also have experienced various times of being broke to the 
>degree that hasn't been much fun.  Years ago, when I traveled and 
>spoke in churches around the country, we were so broke, people were 
>giving us food.  Guest speakers don't receive many speaking 
>opportunities during the summer months when it comes to churches.  A 
>couple of people gave us each a frozen turkey, about 12 pounders, 
>and we had turkey and potatoes for two weeks day and night.  So, in 
>short, we know financial hardship up front and personal and not just 
>once or twice.
>
>Recently, with Sandy surgery, and Obama's new health care ratcheting 
>down private insurance companies, along with the hospital she works 
>for picking the cheapest insurance plans they could find, we found 
>ourselves in deep water financially.  Our house has been upside down 
>for well over two years and although we've tried many places, we 
>could not find a company to modify our mortgage for lower interest 
>rates.  Financially speaking, I'm leaving out a lot of details but 
>many of you on the list understand what I'm trying to explain.
>
>My prayers for finances have been restricted, to one degree or 
>other, mostly to what I have heard through preaching and teaching 
>and studying God's Word.  I also have put aspects of prayer the Lord 
>has taught me personally into play over the years but I was still 
>coming up dry most of the time.  Nothing, unfortunately, was working 
>and things were getting worse.  I deep down inside, believed there 
>was an answer and one that worked every time but I sure couldn't 
>find it and what I had been practicing wasn't working either.
>
>One night, my victor stream battery was running low so I needed to 
>plug it in to the charger.  In my small 2-room office attached to 
>the house, my walls, several of them anyway, are floor-to-ceiling 
>bookshelves with all sorts of books and electronic equipment, 
>including my ham radio equipment.  To say the least, there are, 
>wires and cables running all over the place in out-of-the-way 
>places; for the most part, haha.  In this particular case, I have 
>two heavy duty computer electrical strips, with every slot filled, 
>laying between my rocker recliner, and bookshelves I can reach 
>easily without getting up, with lots of cables and wires laying 
>around them on the floor and floor level shelve.  What I lack, I 
>have installed on the walls, near floor level,  which I paid an 
>electricians to do for me professionally, 24 more AC jacks and wired 
>to only a couple of breakers at a time, so I have lots of power 
>capability when it comes to plugging in everything under the 
>son.  My breaker box outside on the back of the house is so large, 
>you can practically crawl into it, haha.
>
>As I reached down to feel for the victor stream charger wire, my 
>mind immediately said, "Holy Spirit?  You know where that wire is I 
>need.  Place my hand right on it."  You guessed it.  The first wire, 
>out of all those cables laying on the floor, the first one I touched 
>was the wire connected to the battery charger.  By now, I have told 
>these stories so many times, most of you are sick of them but 
>there's more to this one than meets the eye.
>
>The split second my fingers touch the correct wire, at the speed of 
>light, an additional thought came to my mind.  this thought 
>intersected, or overlaid, the first, that is, they overlaid one 
>another just like coming to an intersection of streets.  The other 
>thought was, "Now, Lord," I said, "Why can't praying for money be as 
>simple as the Holy Spirit helping me find a lost wire laying on the 
>floor."  I heard a small voice say, "It. IS. that. simple," He said 
>with a strong impasses on the word is.  I somewhat dismissed this 
>because I wasn't listening as well due to my interest of finding the 
>wire for the charger so I could plug in the charger to the victor 
>stream.  A short time later, however, I remembered what I'd heard 
>and began to ask the Lord, "Are you trying to tell me it is truly 
>that easy?"  I realized it should be, for God, so what was the 
>problem with me and how I prayed.  I tried, that very evening, the 
>following prayer.
>
>"Holy Spirit, you know exactly where the money is that I need and I 
>don't.  So I am asking you to take me to wherever the money is, 
>placing my hand on the money, and then giving me the strength to 
>lift it into my possession.  If angels of God are needed to clear a 
>path for us to get to where this money is you know about, I call 
>upon them, in the name of the true Lord Jesus Christ, to clear a 
>path and remove all that hinders.  In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."
>
>The next morning, I prayed the same prayer again, and as Sandy and I 
>talked, we were directed to money we did not know was available to 
>us.  In fact, we had been blind to it because it had been discussed 
>at least once.  A phone call was made, and 50,000 dollars was 
>available to us.  It paid off all of our debts, except our house, so 
>now we even have money to give to the church on a regular 
>bases.  Plus, we helped out some other people and we also paid back 
>loans we had from our family members with interest.  One big 
>blessing, we do not have to pay it back so no extra loan 
>payments.  Does it work?  Try it.  I've learned, you don't have to 
>believe on the outside by verbalizing it but you do have to believe 
>on the inside that there is no way Jesus won't do it for you as one 
>of His children.  Go back and read that sentence several 
>times.  Without that inside belief, you don't have to understand it 
>on the outside; just do it from within because Jesus has already 
>done all the work for us.
>
>I cannot guarantee this will work for you because I can't even 
>guarantee it will work for me again.  I'm believing, on the other 
>hand, this was no accident and it came through the power and wisdom 
>of the Holy Spirit; of that I am certain.  So, I will pray this way 
>when needed.
>
>Phil.
>