Words of Encouragement

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Praise Works!

by Merlin Carothers

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Son on Fire

Dear Colonel Carothers,

I read your book on praise and thought, “I could never praise God for my son being like he is. His dirty long hair, dirty clothes, such laziness that he won’t get a job, drunkenness and dope are too much for any mother to stand, let alone to be thankful for.” But a nagging thought kept churning in my mind: “Nothing else has worked; maybe God is trying to tell me something.”

One night, some of my son’s friends brought him home and carried him into our living room. They laid his unconscious, drunken body on the hearth in front of the fireplace. When they left, I sat down in a chair and looked at him.

“God, how could I thank You for that?”

I heard, “I want you to thank Me.”

“But I can’t,” was all I could say.

Suddenly, as I sat there looking at him, and shaking my head in despair, I saw smoke rising from my son! The flames in the fireplace had caught his clothes on fire! I ran over and smothered the blaze with my hands. While my hands were still on him, I had an overpowering urge to pray.

“Okay, God. I thank You for this my son exactly as he is.” I couldn’t help but weep as I prayed. To my surprise, my son sat straight up and said, “Mother, did you mean that?”

“Yes, I did son.”

He went off to bed. The next morning I saw him in the bathroom with a big pair of scissors, cutting of his dirty hair. “Why are you doing that?” I asked him.

“I’m going to try to get a job, and I know I can’t get one unless I cut some of this off.” What a surprise that was! In the afternoon, he came back and said, “I haven’t found a job yet, but I remembered something I want to do.” He went into his bedroom and brought out two handfuls of materials he said were used for taking dope. “I don’t know if I can change, mother, but I have a strong urge to try to be what you want me to be.”

My Comments

God can do in a second what parents could not do in years of criticism, complaints, or urging. Parents may want many things from their children, but only God can change a human being. He can take everything – even the bad – and use it to help those we love. He may not always do it in the twinkling of an eye, but He has His own perfect time schedule.

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Praise Works! by Merlin Carothers

Ó Copyright 1973 by Logos International, Plainfield, NJ 07060

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 0-88270-060X

Used with permission.

For more information about the Ministry and books of Merlin Carothers,

please visit Foundation of Praise

Praise News ~ Merlin and Mary Carothers’ Monthly Newsletter

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Page created 15 December 2007 / Page revised 15 December 2007

Acknowledgement

Thank you to Merlin for permission!

Lynne Coulson 2003-2007

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:6,7 NIV