Hi Phil,
This is wonderful. Glad you could hear the Lord in the midst of your prayer 
session.
Vinny
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:11 AM
Subject: Promises


> Broken Promises Which Block Blessings
>
> Saying The Right Things And Still Being Wrong
>
>
> By Phil Scovell
>
>
>
>
>
>
>     He was dead and he was never coming back.  I hadn't seen my
> dad in three weeks.  They didn't let young children into hospital
> rooms in those days, even 11 year old children, not even if it was
> their own father who was dying.  "I always felt bad," mom used to
> say, "that I never did something about you and your little sister
> getting to see your dad before he died."  I could still see when
> my dad died.  It would be a year after his death that I would be
> totally blind.
>
>     I remember being with mom after dad was gone.  We were out in
> the area of our church, for some reason, and mom said she was
> going to stop in and see if the pastor was there.  He was.
>
>     Entering his large office, mom collapsed into one of the
> chairs in front of his desk like a broken doll and began crying.
> I just sat down quietly and remained silent.  Children weren't
> often remembered in those days when tragic things happened in a
> family.  Additionally, children were taught to remain quiet in the
> presence of adults.
>
>     I don't remember anything about the conversation my mom and
> our pastor had that day but one thing.  Mom said, "Philip won't
> have a dad any more," as the tears dripped from her cheeks.
>
>     The pastor was a personal friend of my dad's.  In fact, dad
> was the chairman of the deacon board of this large church we
> attended.  This same man, our pastor, would later take the
> position of president of the Bible college I would be attending.
> His own son would later be the best man in my wedding.  This is
> how close our families were.
>
>     As I said, I don't remember anything other than mom saying
> to the pastor that I wouldn't have a dad any longer.  I knew this,
> of course, but I wasn't told how to think so it seemed as if my
> mind was shut off for a few weeks following my father's unexpected
> and untimely death.  I do remember, on the other hand, our
> pastor's reply to what my mother said.
>
>     "I'll be his dad," he stated firmly.
>
>     A ray of hope flared inside of me and I thought, "He'll never
> really be my dad but it sure feels good to hear him say it.  Maybe
> we will spend time together like my dad and I used to."  In my
> heart, unfortunately, I already knew it would never happen.  He
> had said the right thing for the wrong reason.
>
>     Praying one day with a young 19 year old lady whose life had
> been sidetracked due to powerful anxiety attacks, almost perpetual
> stomach pain and nausea, dizziness, and even phobias, the Lord
> spoke to me.  I was under huge financial pressure at the time.
> Yet, that very prayer session confirmed again what the Lord had
> told me to do.
>
>     I had been praying about our financial situation but I knew
> there were things in the way which was keeping my faith from
> working normally in God's sight.  My personal prayers, therefore,
> focused on the issue of money and faith and believing and many
> related theological topics.  It seemed as if my life had gone into
> a slow motion mode, however, because, although I was learning new
> things I never recognized before concerning money issues, it
> seemed the Biblical truth was incredibly slow in coming.
>
>     during a time of the prayer session that the young lady was
> thinking, something flashed so brightly in my mind, it caught me
> off guard.  I tried to quickly focus on it but she was now
> talking and I nearly missed what she said.  We prayed again about
> what she was feeling in a memory where the Lord had taken us.
> Again, silence fell between us as she was letting the Lord
> minister to her.
>
>     A second nuclear detonation slammed into my mind with almost
> a physical force behind it.  A memory exploded into life.  I saw
> myself seated next to my mom, my pastor seated on the other side
> of his desk, and I heard him saying, "I'll be his dad."
>
>     I felt like telling the Lord, "Do you suppose we could pray
> about this a little later?  I'm a little busy right now," but the
> memory solidified and I felt the concentration of pain that was in
> this 40 year old memory.
>
>     The young lady was still thinking so in my thoughts I said,
> "Ok, Lord.  This has got to be quick.  Where is the lie because I
> am not seeing it."
>
>     I felt the answer more than I heard it but it was there all
> the same.  "He never kept his promise.  He never became your dad."
>
>     My response was likewise a feeling more than words could
> describe.  I said, "Lord, what does that have to do with my
> financial problems right now?"
>
>     He said, and I felt His answer, "The Enemy has deceived you
> into thinking I am like others who failed to keep their promises
> to you.  I am not."
>
>     I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time because the truth
> had just set me free in a very powerful way.  At the moment,
> however, there was a little frightened 3 year old girl talking to
> me about getting lost in the amusement park and thinking that her
> parents must not love her because they left her.  Yes, she was 3
> years old at the time but she remembered it like it was yesterday
> even though she was 19 years of age now.  Moments later, as the
> Lord revealed His truth to this young lady, she confessed she felt
> peace for the very first time when focusing on this memory.
>
>     The question we all must now answer is, who is our Father and
> Whom will we believe?  Will it be Jesus Christ, our Everlasting
> Father, or the father of all lies?  Furthermore, we will have to
> allow the Lord to fix the woundedness left behind by those, who
> meant well at the time, but broke their promises to us.  If you
> think this is a problem you face and need help, call me.
>
> 
>
> Jesus Is Your Problem And nothing Else.  Luke 12:5
> www.SafePlaceFellowship.com