ddddPrisPriscilla, what do you think is the best way to prepare for marriage?ffpp

Priscilla, when is your next bible study or book coming out?

“Discerning the Voice of God” was released as a Bible study from Lifeway Christian Resources in January 2007 and in book form through Moody Press in April 2007. After the challenge of getting these two projects finished, I took a short break to just be a mom and wife! "Can We Talk: Soul Stirring Conversations with God" is our next series and is scheduled to release in April 2008 with the second volume coming in April 2009.  This will be an interactive Bible study resource (complete with teaching on video) designed for personal use for individuals and groups that want to learn how to hear God's voice speaking personally to them through the written Word of God.  This six week study will be different from the normal format of our other 6 week studies.  I've called it the first ever "un-Bible study"! It's unique because each week is on a different topic and encourages the participant to "have a conversation with God" on that theme.  I am so thrilled about this study and think it will do wonders in encouarging believers to remember that the Holy Spirit can speak freshly and intimately to each of us through the Word!

Our next "regular" six-week video driven Bible study will be on the message of the Israelites Exodus and entrance into the Promise Land.  I've taken time to catch my breath and have begun writing!  It will mostly likely be released mid-2009.     

Priscilla, I have listened to your father, Dr. Tony Evans, on the radio for years and would like to know about your relationship with Him and how I can stay connected with his ministry.

My father is a extraordinary man with a extraordinary purpose. God has used him all over the world to do wonderful things for the Kingdom of God. I have been privileged to sit under his anointed exegetical teaching of the Scriptures since I was a little girl. I am still a member at the church he pastors.  In fact, all of my siblings are! Dad and Mom have always had a true heart for ministry but also family. We have always been their priority and still have a very close knit family. We see each other at least once a week and make times for huge family gatherings often.  I can honestly say that they taught us what the true meaning of what integrity and ministry really is. The same people they are on radio and television are the same people they are when no one else is around. This kind of lifestyle is what true ministry is all about.

If you are interested in staying connected with Dad’s ministry (The Urban Alternative), you can always find him at www.tonyevans.org. For information on the church go to: www.ocbfchurch.org.

Priscilla, I have heard you teach a message in which you quote a list of each book of the Bible and what it reveals about the character of God. Is there any way that I can get that list? It was so dynamic and impactful!

I am happy to share it with you. It has been very impactful in my life as well. I did not write these statements. They are the words to a song called, "He Is". Enjoy them and pass them on!

In Genesis, He's the breath of life

In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb

In Leviticus, He's our high priest

In Numbers, the fire by night

Deuteronomy, He's Israel’s Guide

Joshua, He’s salvation's choice

Judges, He’s Israel’s Guard

In Ruth, the kinsmen's redeemer

1st and 2nd Samuel, our trusted prophet

In Kings and Chronicles He is Sovereign

In Ezra, He’s the true and faithful scribe

In Nehemiah, the re-builder of broken walls and lives

In Esther, He’s Mordecai's courage

In Job, the timeless redeemer

In Psalms He is our morning song

In Proverbs, He is our wisdom

Ecclesiastes, He's the time and season

In Song of Solomon, He is the lover's dream

In Isaiah He is Prince of Peace

In Jeremiah, the weeping prophet

Lamentations, the cry for Israel

Ezekiel, the call from sin

Daniel, the stranger in the fire

Hosea, the forever faithful

Joel, the spirit’s power

Amos, the strong-arms that carry

Obadiah, the Lord our Savior

Jonah, the great missionary

Micah, the promise of peace

Nahum, our strength and shield

In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He's brings revival

In Haggai He restores that which was lost

IN Zachariah, He’s our fountain

And in Malachi, He's the son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings

AND THAT’S JUST THE OLD TESTAMENT

In Matthew Mark Luke and John, He is God and Messiah

In the spirit filled book of Acts, He is the reigning fire from Heaven

In Romans, He is the grace of God

Corinthians, the power of love

Galatians, freedom from the curse of sin

Ephesians, our glorious treasure

Philippians, the servant's heart

Colossians, He’s God and the trinity Thessalonians, our calling King

In Timothy, Titus and Philemon, He's our mediator and our faithful pastor

In Hebrews, the everlasting courage

In James, the one who heals the sick

In 1st and 2nd Peter, our faithful shepherd

In John and Jude, He's the lover coming for His bride

AND in the Revelation, in the very end, when it’s all over, said and done, when time is NO MORE. He is and will always be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, son of Man, Lamb of God, The Great I am, Alpha and Omega, God and Savior

He is Jesus Christ the Lord

HE IS EVERYTHING THAT YOU NEED!

Priscilla, what do you think is the best way to prepare for marriage?

I am certainly no expert on marriage! I've only been married for 8 very wonderful years. However, having shared these years with Jerry I've seen that there are several things that I could have been more prepared for as we walk this road together. I'm happy to share those things with you. If I were single again and on the cusp of being married I would prepare and train myself to be a true servant. Women (and men for that matter) should go into marriage knowing that service to others is the heart of the marital relationship. If you are getting into the relationship looking to be served, then you will be shockingly surprised at all that is required of you, and your spouse will soon be burnt out on all his attempts to keep you happy.

The most successful and loving marriages I have encountered are those in which both parties are fully engaged in the task of serving each other. When both husbands and wives go into marriage with this mentality, then both are happy and content as their needs are continually met by the other. So, right now, take a personal inventory. Are you a servant? How can you begin to develop that characteristic in your life?

Prepare yourself to follow the leadership of your husband. Don't take the reins of the relationship after you say "I DO."   If  he planned dates and took initiative in other areas of your life together before marriage, then allow him the same courtesy after marriage.  Let him lead.  If you become the leader in your relationship at some point, then he will stop fighting for his role and let you have it.  Only then will you realize the huge mistake you have made.  You will wake up one day and wonder what happened to the strong man you married.  Allow him control even if it means he makes decisions that you don't particularly care for.  Follow Him graciously even as he learns from his own mistakes. You will be rewarded with a husband who is secure in his leadership, and as a result wants to romance you, love you, serve you, and value your ideas and opinions in your life and marriage.

I highly recommend: A Marriage Without Regrets by Kay Arthur, Liberated Through Submission by Bunny Wilson and The Surrendered Wife by Linda Doyle

Priscilla, how do you balance ministry, motherhood, and marriage?

I have the same concerns as most working moms about balancing life. I remember walking through my neighborhood one morning about 8 weeks before my second son was born. I prayed, "Lord, how do I balance being a wife, mother, and a woman in ministry? If You do not supernaturally balance all of this, then I don't know what I will do!" I will never forget His answer to me.   I watched as the sun rose in the sky, the birds began to sing and the world came to life that morning. He whispered, "If I can balance all of this, I can balance your life!" I have trusted Him ever since to help me, day by day, to figure out how this should all work.

I cannot begin to tell you how difficult this is physically and emotionally. Jerry and I firmly believe that God has given us clear direction that this ministry is what He wants us to do (at least for now), so we assume that He will provide the means for us to do it and He has.

My husband and I are in ministry together. Jerry and I both work from home all week long. This means that we get to spend a lot of time with the boys throughout the entire week before we go to a women's conference on Friday and Saturday.  The Lord has provided me with a mother-in-law that is a professional grandmother!  She doesn't want to do anything other than be with our children.  She keeps them when we travel.  Our trips are normally 1-2 nights so we are not away from our little ones for long.   Any trip longer than 2 nights (which is rare) means they come with us.   She comes too to help us with the children.

If I didn't have a husband who worked with me and a mother-in-law to help me with my children, then I don't know that I could do this. But God has constructed our circumstances to support the calling that He has on our lives.

Still, I worry like all mothers about whether or not I am balancing everything well, and I am sure that I will never be perfect at it. There are many nights that my dinner dishes don't get washed, my laundry takes a couple days to complete, and toys are scattered on my living room floor. Things around here are far from perfect, but I believe that as long as I am taking care of God's business by keeping my family as a priority and then focusing on the women to whom I am to minister, He will make up the slack.

I must admit that I have little time for other things. I say "No" most often to invitations for lunch and get-togethers.  That is the sacrifice that I am making for this season of life.  A friend and mentor recently encouraged me by saying, "Priscilla, you can do this (ministry, wifehood, and motherhood), but you CANNOT do anything else!"

If you are a mother and are also considering serving the Lord in a full time ministry capacity, ask the Lord for clarity on how you should proceed and when you should proceed. He will clearly tell you whether now is the appropriate time for you to move forward or whether you should wait until you are in a different season of your life. If He calls you to do something, he will equip you with the necessary tools to do it while at the same time allowing you to keep your priorities straight. It is and will always be a prayerful, day by day process of relying solely on Him to keep everything balanced and orderly.

Priscilla, I saw you in the “Be Still” video on contemplative prayer. What is "contemplative prayer"? What place do meditation, silent prayer and solitude have in the place of the believer?

Terms like contemplative prayer and meditation can be controversial as believers try to understand their place in our faith. Just to be clear: I believe in prayer. And the type I am referring to is the kind described in the Word of God. The kind where believers in Jesus Christ can engage in communion with God in which we speak to Him and by the Holy Spirit, He speaks to us. I am convinced that the Bible describes prayer as a two-way street. Clearly, Scripture teaches us that prayer does involve meditation in which the believer chooses to “listen” to God by contemplating and concentrating on Scripture and God as He is revealed therein. This is what separates Christian meditation from all other types. The Christian has much to gain from the command of God himself that we “meditate on [the Scriptures]” (Joshua 1:8), “draw near to listen” (Eccl 5:1) and “Be still” (Psalm 42:10) so that we can see God far more clearly then we can in the normal frantic rhythm of life. Quiet meditation (on Scripture) and the discipline of listening is a real part of prayer that I believe Scripture clearly promotes and encourages. By participating in the “Be Still” project I by no means meant to convey my agreement with the theological viewpoints and positions of other participants yet I did believe (and still do) in the over-arching theme of the resource and that is why I agreed to do it.

The Psalmist himself said that not only would he bring his requests to God in prayer but then “wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:3) for God’s response. The prophet Habbakuk mirrors this philosophy of prayer when he says that after speaking to God he would then “climb up on the watchtower and wait to see what the Lord will say to me.” (Habakkuk 2:1). I am a proponent of the Christian encountering God in a fresh way that is relevant to his or her life and I believe this can occur when we wait for God quietly with our Bibles outspread before us. As we ponder His word, the Holy Spirit applies it to the circumstances of our lives. There is nothing mystical about this! In the New Age movement and Eastern religions the goal of meditation is to reach a state of “nothingness” or “emptiness” by clearing the mind. In Christianity, the focus of meditation is to fill the mind with thoughts of God as one ponders (the Hebrew definition of “meditate” from the Old Testament) the Scriptures and God Himself.

Practically speaking, the disciplines of solitude and silence have made a big difference in the life of this busy mother of two who, like so many others, is caught in the frantic pace of dinner dishes, errands and the demands of work and ministry. I have found a sweet peace in making time to be still in God’s presence. Taking Jesus’ own example to “depart to a lonely place to pray”(Mark 1:35) causes me to turn off the distractions that seek to steal my attention from Him and focus on God as He is revealed in His word.

I encourage you to try it for yourself. Any believer that carves out time to meet with God in the secret place of prayer will find Him waiting there with open arms to receive them (Matthew 6:6). What a great treasure.

Priscilla, I am addicted to food. You’ve mentioned your struggle with weight.  How do I let the Holy Spirit control my eating?

Our culture teaches that overindulgence in everything is the best way to live.  This is revealed in the way Americans consume food.  It is very easy for me to over eat because eating it is just a hobby for me!  Who doesn’t love good food?  I sure do.  Because of this, my weight always went up and down 20 lbs.  I remember some time ago talking to the Lord specifically about this situation and telling him that I wanted to experience freedom in this area.  I didn’t want to be bound by food.  I wanted to enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed, but at that time, I wasn’t able to.  I was always worried about everything that I put in my mouth.  I was worried about my weight.  Even though it tasted good, I never got to fully enjoy anything without feeling guilty.  I wanted to find balance and freedom, because I knew that this was not what the Lord wanted.

He directed me to Galatians 5 that outlines the fruit of the Spirit.  One of them is--self control.  He told me that I was to allow His Spirit to exercise His control through me.  If I would cooperate with this, then I would never again struggle with my weight.  That was about 5 years ago, and I do not struggle with my weight now; I enjoy every bite of food that I eat.  It is a wonderful feeling.

This is what I do: before meals, I pray and ask the Holy Spirit to let me know when I am satisfied.  Normally about half way through the meal I feel “satisfied.”  I can tell that if I eat past that point, I will just be taking in more than I need.  It’s just this “inner knowing.”  You probably know this feeling.  It normally comes FAR before you finish everything that is on your plate.  When I obey the Holy Spirit’s leading and stop eating at that point, I can enjoy every morsel and enjoy a waist-line that doesn’t continually expand. This means that I can eat whatever I want.  I just don’t eat as much of it as I might want.  Not only does this give me the pleasure of fitting into the clothes that are in my closet, but also it allows me to enjoy more meals.  Have you ever noticed that when you overeat at one meal, you do not really get to enjoy the next one.  You are too full to really take part in it.  So really, when we overeat we are denying ourselves the full joy of every meal.  When we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, we get to experience freedom in many areas that we didn’t before.

I never diet. I think that “diet” is a curse word!  I just eat what I like . . .most often just half of it. (I also try to make sure there is something green on my plate.)

Now, please know, I am not perfect at this, but I sure love the wonderful feeling of victory that comes to me when I obey--spiritual speaking and practically speaking.

I have done a little research and have found a great book that deals with this topic, and it will help you as you find freedom in this area of your life.  Praying God’s Word by Beth Moore. Get it and turn to chapter 8 right away.  You will be blessed by the tools that she will give you to arm yourself to fight against the stronghold of food addiction in your life.

Be Encouraged my friend. God sees your heart and is ready to do HUGE miraculous things with you in this area.  He is just waiting for you to join Him. I hope that this helps you a little bit.  Don’t wait until tomorrow to start listening to the Spirit. Start today. You will be so glad you did.

Priscilla, it is often hard for me to read the Bible. I often prefer to read books about the Bible than the Bible itself. How can I begin to hear God really speak to me through the Word?

I understand how it can be easier to read books about the Bible rather than the Bible itself. But I believe that God wants to speak to you personally and specifically by the Holy Spirit through His word.  The Bible says clearly that HE is our teacher (1 John 2:27).  When you got saved the Lord gave you a personal Bible professor in the person of the Holy Spirit.  He searches the mind of God and delivers His message personally to you (1 Cor 2:10).

When reading Scripture, your goal is not about the QUANTITY that you consume, but rather the QUALITY of what you actually digest and assimilate into your life.  I normally just pick 1-2 verses at a time and read them several times, very slowly.  Mull over each phrase and write down your thoughts that come to mind about what those phrases means.  Pray beforehand and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you through those verses.  Recall them throughout the day and ask the Lord to call them to your mind at the precise moment that an opportunity arises for you to implement the principal of those verses in your current situation.

Remember, reading His word is not about the AMOUNT of words you read but rather about the impact that those words have on you. This is why ONE or TWO verses is often better than many.   The Lord can and will use Scripture to speak to you in a very personal way and make an indelible mark on your life!

Why don’t you start with some of these verses.  Remember, just one passage a day. Meditate on it and journal what the Lord speaks to you.  Ask questions about the passage and determine whether or not you believe what it says and are living accordingly.  You will be surprised and amazed by the voice of God as He personally leads you into closer relationship with Himself through His word.

Isaiah 43:18-19

Galatians 5:1

Psalm 37:13-14

Zechariah 3:14-17

Psalm 25:14

Romans 8:35-38

Priscilla, how can I really hear God speak to me personally?

My family has its own secret language!  A certain expression, tone of voice or verbiage delivers very specific messages to my parents, siblings, children, and husband that no one else would know.   We’ve tried to make others hip to our inside jokes, but it doesn’t work.  No one knows the details of our secret language but us.  We have known each other for so long and in such intimate ways that we have come to know each other’s voices. 

John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow Me.”  In the Middle Easter sheepfold, many flocks of sheep would stay for the night.  When a shepherd came to retrieve his sheep, the porter would recognize the man as a true shepherd and allow him into the sheepfold.  The shepherd would enter the sheepfold and call.  From among the many sheep in the fold, only his sheep would recognize his voice as their true shepherd and follow him out to pasture.  All of the sheep in the fold would physically hear the call, but only his sheep would recognize the voice, understand the meaning of the call, and follow the shepherd.  In order to recognize their shepherd voice, they had to be his sheep.  Just like my family, they had a secret language with their Shepherd that only they were privy to.  In order to really hear God’s voice, He must be your true Shepherd.  To hear God’s voice in our lives and receive His divine direction, we must first be sure that we are a part of His sheep fold.  Going to church doesn’t make us a part of his fold, participating in ministry doesn’t make us a part of His sheepfold, and neither does knowing the Bible backward and forward.  Only when we come to him and accept Him as our Savior do we gain the privilege of hearing and understanding His voice.

In John 8, Jesus spent the entire chapter trying to reveal deep a spiritual truth to the Pharisees.  They are having trouble hearing, understanding, and believing His words.

According to verse 47, the reason lay in the fact that they had the wrong shepherd.  Even though they knew the Scriptures better than most people ever will, they still couldn’t understand the words of Jesus (John 5:39-40). Have you been unable to hear God’s voice in your life?  Have you ever heard God’s voice?  If you are Christian, you have because one cannot even come to know Christ apart from supernatural revelation (1 Corinthians 12:3).  But if you are not saved then you cannot hear the voice of God regarding specific details of your life.   An unbeliever cannot hear and comprehend the voice of God.  According to 1 Corinthians 2:14, someone who is not in God’s family is completely incapable of understanding spiritual things.  Spiritual discernment is an impossibility for someone who has not yet been born of the Spirit.

In John 10:27, The Greek word used for “hear” is akauotos. It doesn’t merely mean to be endowed with the faculty of hearing but also to understand and perceive the sense of what is said.  Remember, when the Shepherd called to His sheep, all of the sheep would hear the voice, but only some would recognize it as their shepherd, understand what he was saying, and follow Him.  After you become a Christian and as you continue to grow in the Lord, you will begin to learn how to recognize the Lord’s voice and understand His message.  A newborn lamb is less capable of distinguishing His shepherd’s voice then an adult sheep.  The lamb will learn as He gets to know His shepherd and as he practices responding to His shepherd’s voice.  This skill comes over time as a relationship is built between the two.

I spoke with a friend of mine recently who works with sheep and cattle.  He told me that his sheep don’t recognize his voice because he doesn’t spend enough individual time with them.  The art of teaching a sheep to recognize his shepherd’s voice is a lost one.  With the availability of modern technology, shepherd’s don’t have to spend individual time with the livestock.  This keeps intimacy from developing and thus keeps the sheep from getting to know their owner’s voice.

Developing intimacy with the Shepherd is the key to knowing His voice. The more you spent time with Him, the more you can clearly hear Him.

Did you know that a shepherd can stand before his entire flock but call one sheep out at a time simply by the tone of voice He uses?  If he has spent enough one-on-one time with the sheep, the he can become intimate enough with them to acquaint each one to a sound that is uniquely theirs.

There will be no greater blessing to you or I than to have a relationship with the Good Shepherd in which we know when He is specifically calling to you.  And I cannot tell you how much clearer God’s voice has become to me as I have gotten to be more intimate in my relationship with Him through His Word.  When I open the pages of Scripture and become engaged in it, seeking to know Him, I become acquainted with His character, language, and tone of voice.  This enables me to be prepared to recognize His voice, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, discern the voices of strangers (John 10:5).

Today, commit to knowing Him more fully and completely so that you can hear the voice of your Lord calling, leading and directing you into His will for your life.

I must recommend Hearing God by Henry Blackaby, The Joy of Listening to God by Joyce Huggett and the two books I have written on the topic which I think could be great resources for you: He Speaks To Me and Discerning The Voice of God

Priscilla, how do I pursue a full-time career in women’s ministry?

I want to congratulate you on accepting God’s assignment for you.  There are so many of us who run from what God wants us to do because it isn’t what we had in mind for ourselves.  I have certainly tried to, but I have found that true contentment and peace come only when we surrender to His will for us.

There are so many women who ask me about how to pursue ministry.  My response is always the same--give back to God the gift that He has given you.  Let God continue to be in control.  In other words, if you believe that God has called you into ministry, you can be sure that He will be faithful to open the doors and make a way for you to serve Him.  He will continue to give you clear guidance as you walk in obedience to Him.  All He asks you to do is obey His instructions that He gives you moment by moment and day by day.  As you continue to follow, He will continue to lead.

Think about Abraham’s “call.”  God told him in Genesis 12:1 “Go forth. . . to a land that I will show you.”  He didn’t give him any specifics, just a command to follow.  Abraham had to walk in faith and trust that God would continue to guide.  Time and time again we see this same pattern in Scripture.  God continues to guide as His children continue to obey. 

So the question becomes twofold:  what has God asked you to do right now?  Are you being obedient to it?  When I began in ministry, I certainly didn’t know the future plans that the Lord had in mind.  I just knew what my passion was. I asked him to open the doors where He wanted me to go and I would go.  Since I made myself available and yielded to Him, He has faithfully opened the doors of opportunity for His ministry to take place through me.  In the past, I have made the mistake of trying to force doors open, but I have learned that my part in His ministry is simply to surrender, be available, and prepare myself to be used of God when the opportunity arises.

One more word:  remember the Lord has a specific ministry in mind for you.  Don’t allow what you think the ministry should look like to replace His desire.  For example, there are so many women who desire to be a speaker and seek opportunities to minister at large events.  They spend money, time and energy trying to “create” opportunities and in doing so they are missing out on the ministry God has for them in their own back yard.  While I was in seminary, my audience for 5 years was a group of 10 college age girls in a Bible Study.  At that time, He hadn’t called me to the masses just to a group of women at Southern Methodist University.  Ask the Lord to open your spiritual eyes to see the opportunities that He will place in your path and the grace to accept them no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.

Most of all, keep pursuing Him. . . not the ministry.  True ministry is always an outpouring of your relationship with Him.  The more you know Him, the more you will fall in love with Him.  The more you fall in love with Him, the more you will be able to minister to others.

I highly recommend: Warren Wiersbe’s book on Becoming a Servant of God.  Read it and be blessed!

Priscilla, what is your typical quiet time like?

I am always interested to know how people spend intimate time with God.  I have learned however that God doesn’t want me to try to emulate anyone’s time with Him by following some type of formula or method.   Our God is a very personal one and likes to have unique experiences with His each of His children.  Just like intimacy between a man and woman, your time with the Lord should be unique to just the two of you.

With that being said, I am so happy to share with you what time with God looks like for me.  In my quest to make the most of my time with God, I have asked other godly women the same question you are asking me, and they have encouraged me by sharing some details of their time with God.  I have been able to take bits and pieces of what I have learned from them and create a time with God that works for me.  You can do the same. Be encouraged in knowing that God has something special and unique for you.

I try to separate my study time when I prepare for messages from my personal time with God. Often these two will overlap, but I try to keep my quiet times from being an academic experience as much as possible.  First, I normally spend time in prayer to God.  Asking for forgiveness of sins, praising Him for who He is and thanking Him for all He has done.  Then I let Him know of any questions or concerns I have and tell Him my needs.  I then ask Him to speak to me through His word.  Then I will have Bible study.  This may last 10 minutes or an hour.  I just open my Bible to whatever book of the Bible I am currently studying at the time and I read the verses for the day (right now I am in John).  Then I record my thoughts about each verse asking myself about each one such as What does this verse mean/command me to do, etc and am I being obedient to that?  No doubt the Holy Spirit will speak to me clearly during this time.  After this I am most often directed into another time of prayer.  I just talk to Him about what I have just studied.  Then I spend time just being quiet.  I sit in silence and see what verses He might bring to my mind to think about, a person to pray for, or a situation to pray for.  I just wait and see what He wants to talk to me about.   Sometimes during these “silent” prayer times I enjoy having some praise and worship music on.  Listening to the words of these songs conjures up thoughts of God that I can mediate on.   Then I end my time by remembering what “hit me” during my time in His Word and how I can utilize that information to transform my actions during the day head of me.  

I do journal. I write down my notes from the verses I have read for the day. Also, whenever I feel like a particular passage is just jumping off of the pages and speaking directly to me, I will record that by putting the date by the verse in my Bible.  I write down important prayer requests and the date I prayed them, so that I can come back and see how God answers.   Any time there are things that occur in my life in which I can clearly see the hand of God working--I will record those situations as well.  I like to be able to look back and see what God has done in my life.  By doing this, I build a “faith record” with Him.  When He asks me to trust Him in present situations, I can see clearly how He has always come through for me in past ones.

I hope this helps you as you seek to spend personal time with God.  Remember, He longs for intimacy with you. It’s a priority on His list and it should be a priority on ours as well. Friend, MAKE time to spend with Him.  He is waiting to talk to anyone who will listen.

Priscilla, is it appropriate for women in ministry to have titles like “Reverend.” Can a woman be a pastor of a local church?  What does the Scripture teach about women in ministry?

Your question is a very important one and something that certainly needs to be addressed in the body of Christ.

I will first address your direct question as to whether or not I have a problem with women calling themselves "Reverend," then move on to the issue of female pastors, since these are two separate and distinct concerns.

The answer to the former question is simply that I do not have a problem with a woman that holds the title of “Reverend.”  Although I do not personally choose to use it, I have no issue with those women who feel the freedom to do so.  I do not think that God's concern is what man-made titles we do or do not have, but rather what positions we have chosen to take.  This is of much more significance. 

Paul very specifically instructs Timothy in the positioning of women in the local church.  He tells Timothy in relation to his work at the church at Ephesus, "let a woman quietly receive instruction with submissiveness.  But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet" (1 Timothy 2:11-12).   The Greek word used here for "quiet" does not mean to say absolutely nothing, but to be "settled down."  Paul is saying that women need to "settle down" into the hierarchy that God has established and be comfortable with the position that they have been given in the local church.  To try in any way to usurp this authority is to go against the roles He has established and created for the operation of the church.  Paul's concern was not about their external title but about their internal level of submission.   Paul goes on to make it very clear in 1 Timothy 3 that the position of overseer of the church or elder is reserved for males when he continues to stress that these people be "men.". He even goes so far as to say that they should be "the husband of one wife" (vs 2) which excludes women from this role.  So although a woman's chosen title is of little concern to me, I do firmly believe that Scripture is clear in telling us that the position of Senior pastor in the local church is reserved for men.

With that being said, I do not want to in any way diminished the great giftedness of women to teach and preach.  Once again, in 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul said that he didn't want a woman to "exercise authority" over a man.  His concern is that she understand and submit to the roles that God has established for men and women and the need for her to fall underneath the authority that God has set up in the local church.  If a senior pastor has invited a woman to preach on a Sunday morning or to teach his congregation, then she is effectively under the leadership and the authority of that church and is free to operate in that realm.  Remember, position and submission to authority is the issue here not the actual act of preaching or the title that someone has.   If a woman feels that God has given her the freedom by God to teach and she is under the authority of the pastor of that church to do so, then she should. 

Jesus himself believed in the ministry and ability of women.  When He was resurrected from the dead, Mary Magdalene came to find His body and in Luke 20:17, He instructed Mary (one woman) to go and tell His disciples (twelve men) that He was indeed alive! In John 4, the woman at the well met Jesus and ended up evangelizing her whole city.  Another example is found in Acts 17:4, when a number of "leading women" joined the ranks for Paul and Silas in proclaiming that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.  Jesus and the twelve disciples were accompanied by women in "proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God" in Luke 8:1-2.

With all of this being said, I completely support women in ministry who are led by God to teach the Bible with power and anointing no matter the titles they may or may not have.  These are all our own man made distinctions anyway.  God's concern is that we as women follow the outline that He has set up for the human race where Christ is the head of the man and the man is the head of the woman (see 1 Corinthians 11:3).

Priscilla, do you believe that God still speaks to modern believers using signs and wonders just as He did in the Old Testament?

Absolutely? Our God is great ... greater than our understanding or imagination. He can do whatever He wants to do however He wants to do it. Any person who believes or teaches that God cannot or will not use miraculous means today is mistaken. I can say this with boldness since I can tell you of many instances in my own life when God graciously revealed Himself to me in ways that were completely supernatural.

My concern is that modern believers often seek the sensational (appealing to the five senses) means of hearing God over the most incredible means possible--the indwelling presence of God. While we often wish for what Old Testament believers had (visible signs, prophets, etc) they longed for what we have--God’s consistent, constant presence. Time and time again we see them longing for direct contact with God instead of having to rely on others to mediate. Even David begged in prayed, “Cast me not you’re your presence; and take not they Holy Spirit from me (Psalm 51:11).” David wanted continued connection with God Himself through the Spirit. Have no doubt about it, the precious Spirit is indeed the most effective means of communication and is the primary way God wants to speak to us in this generation. Although God still uses external means to speak, these means are not to be the foundation for us to hear God rather they should only confirm what God is saying to us by His Spirit. The believer shouldn’t first look outward to hear God. Our eyes and ears should focus inward to the Holy Spirit and then turn our attention externally to see how God is using circumstances to confirm His word to us.