THURSDAY, MAY 4 – Alarm clocks went off early that morning all over the city, and in Pittsburgh, as believers from the churches arose to pray for the list of men who would be attending the prayer breakfast. Bob Meredith was proud of his daughter, Bobbie, who had asked to be awakened early so she could pray for Susan's father and the other men as well. While Bob dressed, Bobbie knelt by her bed and began praying, adding her voice to the hundreds of other voices seeking God's intervention in their city that morning.
At that precise moment, Nepravel and Zloy finally reached the Sullivans’ house, after a tense night of dodging angels in their neighborhoods. While Zloy stood guard on the roof, Nepravel arrived at Richard's side, just minutes before his alarm was set to go off. Nepravel was upset but not surprised to find that the large number of incoming answered prayers had almost completely silenced the important voices of Pride and Disbelief inside Richard.
As Nepravel began to spin them up again, Zloy was focusing on a huge angel who appeared to be coming their way, just above the treetops, from the east. His attention on that one angel was almost his undoing, because this angel was only half of a pair, and the other angel was heading toward Richard's house, sent by all of the prayers, from the west. Only at the last instant did Zloy remember his training and turn to check over his shoulder, just in time to duck the crack of the talons and screams from the eagles’ heads of “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Hosts!”
“Yiiee!” screamed Zloy as he dodged to his left and spun around, only to face the second angel now closing on him, as the first circled to return.
Nepravel simultaneously heard Zloy's scream and the angel's proclamation. Since all demons are lying cowards, he was not prepared to risk his future by staying with Richard, nor by helping Zloy defend himself. Instead, Nepravel took off through the back of Richard's home and threaded his escape through the woods to the north.
Zloy, desperate to escape the twin attack by the circling angels, dove into a storm sewer outlet on Devon Drive and flew as quickly as he could through the dark tunnels of the city's sewer system.
When Richard's alarm went off that morning, he could not for a moment remember why it was so early. But then he recalled the prayer breakfast with Benjamin Fuller and Bob Meredith's appointment to take him. With the demonic voices only partially working that morning, thanks to all the prayers, he found himself—and it actually surprised him—looking forward to the event.
By the time Bob's car pulled into the driveway, Janet was awake as well. Bob came to the front door and smiled a hello to Janet, whom Richard kissed goodbye, and they walked out to Bob's car.
Richard could not believe it, but there, waiting in the car, were Court Shullo and two men he did not know. As they approached the car, one of the men opened the front passenger door, and Bob Meredith introduced them. “Richard, this is Ricky Knowlton. Ricky is a young accountant who goes to our church and works not far from your office. If you'll give him your car keys, he'll have your car waiting for you in your normal garage space.”
“Hi, Ricky,” Richard smiled. “Well, here are the keys and my briefcase, and there's the car. I certainly do appreciate your doing this.”
“Think nothing of it, Richard. What you're going to hear this morning is so important that I'm delighted to help.”
As Ricky headed toward Richard's car, he and Bob climbed into the front seats of Bob's car.
“Hi, Court,” Richard said as he buckled himself in. “I had no idea you would be here this morning.”
“It's a real privilege to be here, Richard. Do you remember Jim Anderson from the Greene Firm?”
Richard had not immediately recognized Jim, but now he remembered the attorney against whom they had litigated a major insurance case a few years earlier.
“Hi, Jim,” Richard said, extending his hand. “I didn't recognize you at this early hour.”
“I can imagine,” smiled Jim from the back seat with Court. “But I'm sure glad to be here with you.”
As they began the fifteen-minute drive to the Palace Hotel, Bob explained to Richard, “Court and Jim just wanted to come along this morning to let you know how important the message you're going to hear this morning can be in your life.”
“Richard,” Court began, “you know from our evening together a year ago that the first priority for Sandy and me is trying to submit our lives to the Lord. I thought you might like to meet Jim again and hear what he has to say.”
Richard, who was beginning to be overwhelmed by all of this attention so early in the morning, nodded to Jim.
Jim, who was a little older than Richard, told the other three men the moving story of his oldest son, who had been estranged from his parents and become a heavy user of alcohol while still in college. Unknown to Jim, his son was on the verge of suicide when a Christian chaplain at the college found him and brought him to his knees in what Jim's son later described as the worst and best all-nighter of his entire life.
Within a week, Jim's son gave his life to the Lord. He was so moved that he came home in the middle of the term to tell his mother and father about how the power of God had changed his life. Jim greeted his son at their front door and could not believe the physical transformation. The three of them spent most of the night staying up, talking and crying, as Jim's son and Jim himself unburdened many years of pent-up misunderstandings and frustrations. His son returned to college the next day, but Jim had called Court, whom he knew to be a Christian, to describe the events of the previous day. And within another two weeks, both Jim and his wife became Christians and joined Court's church.
As they drove up to the Palace Hotel, Jim concluded, “Richard, whatever you may have thought or heard about real Christianity is probably at best only half true. Whatever garbage is in your life, whatever problems you are having with your wife or your children, God wants you to be victorious and happy. You can be, believe me, if you just stop trying to run it all yourself, and, like I did, turn it over to the Father who knows everything you need even before you ask.”
They pulled up to the front of the hotel, and all four men got out. But Bob handed his car keys to Court.
“You're not staying?” Richard asked, as Court and Jim re-entered the front seats. “No, Richard, there wasn't room at the prayer breakfast for us this morning. We just wanted you to know how much you mean to us…and how much you mean to God.” Court smiled as he waved goodbye and started the car.
As Bob escorted Richard into the hotel lobby, they noticed many other cars pulling up and dropping off other men, just as Court and Jim had done. Richard, who had organized events for his civic club, was astonished at the preparation and organization which had gone into delivering so many men to this breakfast so early in the morning. He could not help thinking, Why are all these men doing this? They must really believe that whatever is going to happen here is important.
After they received their name badges, Bob led Richard to their table, where he introduced him to the other invitees and hosts who had already arrived. Richard recognized Ben Fuller from his photographs, sitting at the center table in front of the podium with several men whom Richard vaguely recognized as clergy from some local churches.
Richard's seat was marked with a place card, and when he arrived and looked down, he found a brightly colored placemat, as well as an envelope. Looking around the table, he noticed that each man had a different, individually colored placemat. Richard picked up the envelope, and, before opening it, looked more closely at the placemat. Drawn in crayon, in the bottom left hand corner a man was looking up and reaching up with his right hand. In the top right hand corner were clouds and a large forearm and hand reaching down toward the man. Written in the middle were the words, “God loves you, Richard.” And in the bottom right-hand corner it was signed Cindy, Scott, Lacy, and Jeff Peterson.
While Richard was trying to imagine how this placemat had arrived at his place, he opened the envelope and found a short note written to him by Henry Coker. The note read, “As I know Sally explained to you years ago, God changed our lives completely. You don't have to go to jail, Richard, to find God. He is right there in that hotel ballroom this morning, looking for you. Don't do what I did for so long, Richard, and tell him no. The greatest decision you will ever make is to say yes to God. Sally and I send you all our love. Henry.”
Richard was speechless, and noticed that several of the other men seated at his table were having similar experiences. Holding out the envelope, he turned to Bob Meredith with a questioning look, but Bob only smiled, as Jim Burnett rose to walk to the podium.
Unknown to the hundreds of men arriving at the Palace Hotel, they were being guarded by fifty brilliant angels, both inside and outside the facility. Each angel shouted his individual praise to God. The Prayer Warriors, now numbering over twenty, continued to pray upstairs in their hotel room. And Balzor and his lieutenants stood off at a great distance, cursing the Light.
Following the invocation and the welcome by Jim Burnett, breakfast was served. They all sat down, and Richard asked Bob Meredith how this had all been possible.
“Let's just say there are some people who love you very much, Richard, and who want you to find the peace that only God can give. We checked with Janet to find the names of some people who might have planted seeds in your life years ago. She was a little skeptical, but she gave us some names and phone numbers. When we called them and gave them the opportunity, they jumped at it. In fact, they're probably praying for you right now. And look around. All of these men are loved in exactly the same way as you,” Bob explained, motioning throughout the entire ballroom.
Richard almost could not eat the sumptuous breakfast put in front on him, he was so overwhelmed by the car ride, the placemat, and the envelope. He managed to make small talk with the mechanical contractor sitting across from him and with the other men at his table, a few of whom he had met previously, but none of whom he knew well.
As the dishes were being cleared, Stephen Edwards rose and walked to the podium.
“This morning we have with us not only our speaker, but also a fine lady, Paula Lindsay, who is going to sing two songs for us before we hear from Ben Fuller.”
Accompanied by the pianist who had played during breakfast, Paula Lindsay walked to the podium, dressed in a conservative black dress with a single strand of pearls, picked up the microphone, and began singing “I Bowed on my Knees and Cried Holy.” Richard, not thirty feet away, was pierced by the incredible love radiating from this woman. She was indeed singing, but primarily she was worshiping her Lord. The words of her song moved Richard deeply. Then she began her second song, “He is Here.” The depth of her belief was so obvious and the words of the song so powerful that he actually felt himself opening, almost like the bud of a flower, to the sunlight she represented. As she closed her eyes and raised her free hand during the last verse of the song, Richard could see tears in her eyes. It occurred to him that this woman had not been performing, but had instead been singing to her Lord. The rest of them had just been privileged to be there while she did so.
When Paula finished, there was hardly a dry eye in the ballroom. She curtsied humbly to their applause, smiled, and bade them farewell.
Stephen Edwards returned to the podium to introduce Ben Fuller. As the applause began and Ben rose to walk up the three steps to the platform, he said a quiet prayer of thanks to God for all the support he had received from the organizers of this prayer breakfast. And he asked the Holy Spirit to use him and to prepare the hearts of the men in the audience that day for his message.
As Ben reached the podium and looked out across the faces in front of him, he was strongly encouraged. The hall that morning was filled with angels, not demons, and the Holy Spirit was moving mightily in the hearts and minds of these men, preparing them to hear the true story of how a great man of law and commerce had learned that the greatest power imaginable came only by humbling one's self, and by giving up those things that will not last in order to obtain those things that will last forever.
As Ben Fuller began speaking that morning, the voices of deception inside Richard were almost completely silent, dimmed by the prayers, by the obvious love and concern of so many people, and by the message of the two songs Paula Lindsay had sung. Richard, for the first time in his entire adult life, was open to hear the Truth.
Benjamin Fuller described for them his life of acquisition, material gain, love of money, and slighting his family. He described how he sought possessions, corporate power, fame, and constant activity to fill a life he knew was empty. “But the problem was,” he said, “no matter what I acquired and no matter what I did, the happiness I thought they would bring only lasted for a short time, and the emptiness returned. So I tried harder and worked harder and stayed at the office longer and made more goals and wrote out more Do Lists.”
Encouraged by the Holy Spirit, Fuller admitted to the group that morning something he had never admitted in public before, that there had also been other women. When Richard heard this admission and saw the obvious pain on Fuller's face, he felt a wrenching inside, and his breathing became difficult.
“I was lying to my wife. Every day was a lie to my wife. I kept saying to myself, she doesn't understand me. But the truth was that I was not even beginning to meet her needs for real love and affection. So I know now there was no way she could begin to meet what I thought were my physical needs.” Fuller pulled out a handkerchief and dried his eyes. Richard felt as if a knife were being turned in his heart.
“I would hardly have known it and never have admitted it,” Fuller continued, “But I was a wretched human being, ruining myself, my family, and my business. Because I was breaking God's laws and not fulfilling His plan for me. I did not put Him first in my life. I put myself first. I was not the spiritual head of my family. I didn't even know what that meant. I did not love and honor my wife. I complained about her shortcomings. I did not raise up my children to fear the Lord, as the beginning of their wisdom. I left their training to other people, most of whom taught them that there is no God. And all of these awful things were true because, like Adam and millions of men after him, I was rebelling against God, confident that I was in charge of my own future. But in truth, I was living hell on earth, and heading for hell itself. And worse, I was taking my family with me.
“But then by God's grace, I attended a function not unlike this one. I sat there, and heard the words a man was speaking from a podium just like this one, and I knew that those words were not from him, but from God. I knew that they were meant just for me, as I hope some of you may feel that my words are meant just for you, personally.”
Richard tried to wipe the moisture from his eyes without drawing attention to himself.
“Men, God has such a better plan for us than we can ever imagine by ourselves. And certainly better than the media or the movies or our government would trick us into believing is our fate.” Leaning forward and moving his hand from side to side as he spoke, Fuller proclaimed, “He has the power to wipe all of your garbage away. To change you completely and permanently. To change you eternally. To assure you that you will spend eternity with Him in heaven, but also to give you a new life while you are still on earth. Can you imagine that?
“All you have to do is give up. Give up your fruitless efforts to be in control. Give up your rebellion. Become a child again and let your heavenly Father do what He has always wanted to do, through His son Jesus Christ: be the Lord of your life. There is so much good which will unfold for you, as you will hear about in the follow-up sessions in the weeks after this breakfast, so much richness, so much joy. So much love. So much happiness that you cannot imagine…so much peace.
“How do you change? How do you become a completely new person? Become the husband your wife needs and wants to give herself to? Become the father who can train and lead his children? Become the businessman who will ask God for His agenda before setting his goals? How do you do that?
“The answer is very simple but very important. Like me, you have probably imagined that all the complex problems in your life require complex solutions. But the one simple solution has been there for two thousand years, and the only reason I can imagine that we don't all grasp for it is that we must be deceived into ignoring it. Don't confuse lack of complexity with lack of power. The answer is right here for anyone who wants the power to change his life this morning.” Fuller went on to describe the incredible changes God worked in his life once he asked for forgiveness and let Jesus become the Lord of his life. He spoke for almost thirty minutes and concluded by reminding them that based only on God's justice, he certainly deserved to spend eternity in hell.
“But besides being a God of justice, He is also a God of grace and mercy, and He has provided a way for each one of us to escape the justice we deserve. He let His only son—imagine that—die in our place. And His love is so great that He would have done that for me if I were the only human being alive. How incredible. That someone could love me enough to die in my place—the death I deserve.
“I told you earlier that the answer is right here. And it is. Here is what you have to do. Ask God, with complete sincerity, to forgive you for all of the sins which you have committed. If you really want to lead a new life with His help, then submit yourself for the rest of your life here on earth to His Son, not only as your savior, but also as your Lord. If you want the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, then pray along with me now, as I prayed twenty years ago, and leave this place a completely new person.”
Fuller bowed his head in prayer, and the other men in the hall did likewise. Richard was stunned, almost immobile. Listening to Fuller had been like trying to drink from a fire hydrant. Every word had meaning, and every word had meant something to Richard. His heart was laid bare and the awful truth of what he had been doing with Kristen was seared on his conscious mind. He knew he was no spiritual leader for his family. He knew his selfishness was awful. And yet, he had just heard that God had provided a way out from all of this…this…sin.
Fuller was praying, but Richard was still caught up in the enormity of his sins and didn't feel worthy to pray with all the other men. When Fuller finished praying, Michael Andrews rose to thank him. Richard looked up and saw tears streaming down the face of the mechanical contractor across from him. The banker sitting to his right also had moist eyes, and smiled at him. Obviously every man in the ballroom that morning had been moved deeply by what he had heard. Something tangible had happened. Something real. Richard had heard Fuller's prayer, but he did not honestly know whether he had prayed the prayer himself. The weight of his sins and of his lying to Janet in particular were so very heavy on his soul.
After checking the box on the card in front of him that he would be interested in the follow-up, he could barely stand, because his knees were so weak. No one appeared to be in a rush to leave, and he noticed two or three men in the room who seemed to be sitting and praying by themselves. Finally Bob Meredith touched his elbow, smiled, and said, “Richard, I hope Ben Fuller's message meant something to you.”
Richard, almost in a daze, picked up his placemat from the Petersons and his note from Henry Coker and nodded. In not much more than a whisper, he replied, “Yes…yes, a great deal. Thank you so much for inviting me.”
Bob led Richard through the hotel lobby, shaking hands and talking briefly with several other friends who had attended the prayer breakfast. Once outside, they found Bob's car where Court had left it in the parking lot of the large mall next to the hotel. As they drove to Richard's office, Richard still found it hard to talk, but he managed to ask Bob how he had originally come to his own faith.
Bob explained how during the winter of his junior year in college a series of events with his girlfriend, his grades, and his parents had terribly depressed him. He had seriously contemplated suicide. He had located a hand gun in a pawn shop in their college town. The night before he planned to buy it, a friend from high school, who was attending college in another small campus town two hundred miles away, happened to call him. “I say ‘happened’ because that's how it seemed at the time. But I know now that nothing like that just ‘happens.’ The friend heard my pain on the telephone, got in his car, and drove the two hundred miles to my apartment. He then spent the rest of that night sitting on the floor with me in my kitchen, mainly just listening to me.
“He let me talk it all out. And I guess the more I talked about it with him, the more ridiculous it sounded to kill myself. We finally went to sleep about the time the sun came up, and when we woke up in the afternoon, I knew the crisis had passed. I knew it had passed primarily because this friend loved me enough to stop what he was doing and to be with me when I needed him. It was only that afternoon when I really learned, I think because I asked, about his faith. Although we were obviously younger and he did not have all the experiences of Ben Fuller behind him, he nevertheless shared with me many of the same ideas you heard this morning. I guess they were like seeds planted in me because that summer, when we were home for vacation, I prayed with him to ask Jesus into my life. And I have simply never been the same since.”
Richard listened to yet another man tell him about love and about the power of God to change a life. At that moment, Doubt was gone. It was simply impossible that so many men whom he knew and respected could have virtually the same experience without this power being real.
Bob pulled up to the curb near the front entrance to the forty-story office building where Richard's law firm was located. In all of his life, Richard could never remember two and a half hours like those he had just experienced. As his mind began to clear, he knew, however, that, although he had been exposed to the Truth and to the power of the Holy Spirit, they were not yet part of his life.
“Robert, thank you for a most moving and important morning. I'll think about all these things, and I'd like to participate in whatever might be planned next,” Richard told him, as they shook hands in the car.
“I'll give you a call in a couple of days to let you know what's happening,” Bob smiled in reply. Richard left the car and walked in through the revolving door to the elevator lobby in his building.
Although he did not know it, he was accosted in the elevator lobby by Nepravel, who had been waiting for him in the safest place he could find away from the Palace Hotel. Nepravel was ecstatic to see that the Light was not yet flickering inside Richard, and so he still had a chance to turn him away from the Truth.
There was therefore an unseen extra party in the elevator riding up to the thirty-seventh floor with the other occupants, as Nepravel began once again to spin up the deceptive voices of Confusion and Disbelief inside Richard.
The elevator doors opened on his floor, and Richard walked slowly through the glass entranceway of his law firm, still lost in thought about what he had seen and heard that morning. But already a new voice began to ask him, “Could that have all actually been real? Did all of those men really accept Jesus into their lives this morning? How could that be possible?”
He smiled at Mary, his secretary, and entered his office. There on his desk was his briefcase. Seeing his briefcase and looking down at the placemat and the envelope in his hand reminded Richard that this morning ten or more men—he really could not imagine how many—most of whom did not know him at all, had put themselves through all sorts of logistical problems just so that he could hear the Truth from Benjamin Fuller. That simple revelation of their unselfish love for him brought back the flood of feelings from the prayer breakfast. Nepravel was astonished when the voices of Confusion and Disbelief stopped spinning inside Richard, even as he was manipulating them.
Richard turned around immediately, throwing his coat on a chair and, without glancing at the messages on his desk, he walked past Mary and down the hall to Court Shullo's office. Court was seated behind his desk reviewing a deposition. Richard asked if he could come in, and Court rose and greeted him with a smile. “Sure, Richard. By all means, come in. How was the prayer breakfast?”
“Court,” Richard said with great seriousness on his face, “It was like nothing I have ever experienced before. Benjamin Fuller spoke as if he had written every word just for me.” Richard turned and closed the door to Court's office. Court walked around his desk, and Richard met him in the middle of the office.
“Court…” Richard looked out the window for a moment, then turned back and looked Court in the eye. “Court, you cannot imagine the things I have done…I can't believe God will ever forgive me, but I want to ask Him to…I don't know exactly what it is you and Ben Fuller and Bob Meredith have found, but I know that I want it. What do I do? How do I do it? Please help me!”
Nepravel, who had followed Richard into Court's office was horrified. Desperately he tried to restart the voices of Doubt, Confusion, Disbelief, anything. But he was shocked to find that there was simply nothing left to work with inside Richard. The prayers and the events of the past several hours had wiped all of Richard's voices clean. It would take days to start them over again, and Nepravel knew that he didn't have enough time.
Only twice since time began on earth had Nepravel been personally present when a soul was saved by Jesus Christ, and he involuntarily pulled back in both fear and anger. He landed on Court's bookcase, spitting and shrieking vile insults at Court and Richard, knowing that he was helpless now to do anything else and afraid of what was going to happen next.
Court asked, “Richard, are you ready to stop trying to run your own life—to submit to God and let Him provide for you and your family?”
Richard spoke slowly. “I know I've made a mess of the things in my life that matter. Janet. Tommy. Yes, yes, I'm ready. So very ready.”
“And, Richard, are you really sorry for these things you have done that you shouldn't have done…what the Bible calls sins?”
“Court, I'm so very sorry. I've lied to…”
“Richard,” Court smiled, raising his hand, “that's between you and God. It's none of my business. Here, kneel with me and let's change your life forever.”
Nepravel shrieked from the bookcase and snarled, alternately cringing back against the books and lashing out with his sharp teeth and sulfurous breath at Court, hatred filling him so completely that his eyes turned blood red.
The two men knelt in the middle of the modern office, and Court led Richard in an ancient prayer. Richard listened to Court and then repeated the words from the depth of his heart.
“Dear heavenly Father, I have sinned. I am a sinner. I am separated from Your perfection by my sin. I deserve the wrath of Your judgment. I deserve to die in my sin and to spend eternity separated from You. Please, dear Lord, forgive me for what I have done wrong, and give me the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer my temptations in the future.
“Through Your grace, I want to have a relationship with You through Your Son, Jesus Christ, whom You sent to earth to die for my sins so that I might receive Your forgiveness, instead of Your judgment.”
As Court led and Richard prayed these words, Nepravel shrank back in terror, because he heard the distant rush. This was not just one of God's holy angels. He actually saw coming the mighty cleansing flame of the Holy Spirit Himself. This was God Almighty, coming down from heaven, to visit this one repentant sinner, that he might be born again. Nepravel screamed in hate and defeat and fear, backing through the wall, closing his eyes to the searing flame. The invisible flame filled Court's entire office and turned it white with spiritual heat. Nepravel crouched and snarled behind a row of file cabinets in the office hallway.
“This day, right now, I want to submit my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I want to be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. I want Jesus to run my life. I want to start my life over as Your child. I pray for the power and the grace to know and to serve You more each day. Please, Lord, take me now as Your own, and make of me a new man, to do Your will while on earth, and to be an heir of eternal life with You, not because of what I have done, but by Your love and grace for me. All these things I pray in the name of Him who died so that I might live, Jesus Christ.”
The searing flame of the Holy Spirit pierced Richard and turned him an incandescent white for a split second, then passed on through him, leaving behind a small flame of Light which could be seen by any spiritual being. Nepravel looked up from behind the file cabinets and cursed God.
Richard opened his eyes and felt a huge weight lifted from him. He had not seen the Light nor heard the rush, but he knew that something had happened to him. He had given up. He had submitted to God. And suddenly he felt lighter and cleaner than he had felt in years. He looked at Court, and they smiled together.
“Court…I…I feel new. It's really there. I want to be God's! I want to do His will. What do I do now, Court?”
The two men stood up. “First, I want to welcome you to God's kingdom,” Court smiled, and he embraced Richard with a hug, which Richard returned. “No day should ever be the same for you now, Richard. You will still, of course, have problems—God doesn't promise us a rose garden—but now you are God's child, and if you call upon His power and His wisdom, they are yours to use in everything you do.”
“Court, I feel like a child. What a morning! But I still feel so unworthy. There's so much I have to change. I don't know if I can. What do I do now? I want to shout and go tell Janet what's happened! She'll never believe me.”
“Richard, go tell her. And she probably won't believe you.…Remember how you were only yesterday. Until the Holy Spirit indwells you, you see things through an old set of eyes. But tell her…Share your joy.
“Here, sit down, and let me answer your question. God wants to have a relationship with you through His Son. In business, Richard, I know you tell us here in the firm to develop relationships with influential people and with clients. How do we do that?”
“Well,” Richard answered, “we spend time with them, get to know everything we can about them, talk to them, listen to them, try to figure out what's important to them…All of that builds the relationship.”
“Exactly, Richard, and that's precisely what God wants you to do with Him. Let me tell you how to start. You learn about Him by reading the Word He inspired men to write about Him—the Bible. It's all there. Everything you need for a full life. The more I read it, the more I know it was written for these times. Start your relationship with Him by reading the Gospel of John, then maybe First John, James, Peter, and the many letters of Paul. These were men who knew Jesus personally, and you can find out about Him by reading their words. Do you have a Bible?”
“Yes, sure, at home. I think I can find it. How much should I read?”
“As much as you want. Remember, you're building a relationship, so learn as much as you can. The other way we communicate with God is through prayer. We talk to Him, and He talks to us. I recommend finding a quiet time every day, Richard, usually early in the morning or at night. And there's something about us Type A men getting down on our knees—or on our faces—and praying to our heavenly Father. When she's comfortable, include Janet sometimes, and pray together. Ask Him for forgiveness and for guidance in your life. Then listen. If you're rusty at praying, it might take a few times. But be honest, and tell Him everything that's on your heart. He will answer you.”
“Build a relationship…That seems so simple,” Richard said. “Read, talk, and listen. Why didn't anyone ever tell me this before?”
“Well, you have to be ready to hear, and you have to go some place where you might hear it. When was the last time you went to church, Richard?”
Richard grimaced. “A long time ago.”
“Well, that's the final thing I was going to tell you. We learn a lot about our heavenly Father through the teachings and the relationships we have here on earth, particularly with other believers. So besides reading the Bible every day and praying every day, you should find a Bible-believing church where you feel at home and become part of the body. From this day forth you are saved, but like all of us, you have so much to learn. We call it our spiritual walk, and we'll be learning from Him and from each other until He takes us home. The body of believers supports each other, teaches each other, and worships together.
“We would love to have you at Church of Faith, or you might try Morningside, which is a little closer to your home, where the Merediths attend. The denomination doesn't matter, as long as the church is founded on the Word. And believe me, Richard, you'll know. You might try several different churches, but then make a decision and put down roots in one community of believers.”
Court had finished, and Richard was still overwhelmed that this man had taken so much time with him, from early that morning, to help bring him into the kingdom of God. “Court…I…I can't thank you and Bob and all the people who worked so hard on the prayer breakfast.…It has obviously changed my life. How can I ever repay you?”
Court laughed. “Richard, the greatest joy of my life is telling others about our faith and then seeing results like this morning. Your name is now written in the Book of Life. Do you realize that angels are rejoicing in heaven right now? Yes, I mean it. What joy! You can repay us by calling on us whenever we can help you and by doing what we are all supposed to do: tell others about this new faith that burns inside you.”
Court held out his hand. This time Richard embraced him. Nepravel, who had been circling them since the Holy Spirit departed and listening to the Truth being told, spat at them and swore because the deception had ended in Richard. Now they would have to concentrate on confusing him and isolating him before he could tell others.
“Oh, and Richard—” Court said, as Richard opened the door, “—one more thing. Satan hates to lose a soul to God. He will now do everything he can to confuse you and to turn you away from the faith. In the coming weeks you may experience more problems, not less. But unlike before, you now have the power of the Holy Spirit inside you to battle him. Don't try to stand up to Satan on your own—you'll always lose. Pray for the Holy Spirit's help whenever you feel tempted.”
“Court, do you really believe that the devil is real?” Richard asked.
“I know it, and so should you. Who do you think has kept you from the Truth you finally heard today? Who do you think is trying to ruin your marriage, your family, and your business? Who do you think gets all those voices going inside you, rationalizing every imaginable sin?”
“How did you know?”
“Richard, he tries to do it to all of us. He's still going to come after you, even though he's lost you today, because he wants to discredit you and to make you ineffective with others. But now you belong to God, and you can fight back with God's miraculous power. Richard, God can do anything, even help us fight Satan.
“In case it hasn't hit you yet, there's a spiritual war going on. Satan wants Janet, Susan, and Tommy. You're now the spiritual head of your family. Rejoice in what has happened today, but get ready to do battle. Like all of us, you'll need all the help you can get, meaning the Holy Spirit and other believers. I'm sorry, Richard—I didn't mean to get so serious, just when you're first feeling the joy and the power of God. But Satan is very definitely here among us, and he would like nothing better than to destroy our loved ones.”
Richard, realizing he had a lot to learn, nodded to Court and walked back to his office, where his coat was still thrown over the chair. He smiled at Mary on the way by her desk. “Have you had a good morning, Mr. Sullivan?” she asked.
“The very best one ever,” he replied. “I just let God find me!”
He left her with a puzzled look, walked into his office, hung up his coat and sat in his chair. He was about to call Janet and invite her to lunch. Then he remembered that it was Thursday, and he was supposed to see Kristen in ninety minutes.
Kristen had shown a home to clients early that morning and was reviewing her listings at her desk in the office when her phone rang. She put down her coffee and answered.
“Kris. Hi. This is Peter Dowling in San Francisco. How are you?”
“Peter. Long time no see. I'm fine. How are you?” she replied, happy to hear from the man with whom she had had a “fling” at the end of college. He had been a journalism graduate student, a few years older than she was, and now he was working for a big newspaper in California. They had not seen each other in several years.
“Listen, I'm coming out your way this weekend. I wondered if you would like to go out, maybe on Saturday night?”
Kristen hesitated for a second and then said, “Sure. I'd love to see you. I think the symphony is giving the last concert of the season. It should be good. Would you like me to try to get tickets?”
“Sounds great. I arrive tomorrow morning and will be staying at the Carlton Hotel. I'll call you when I get there. It'll be wonderful to see you again.”
Kristen could hear the genuine anticipation in his voice, and she remembered the happiness they had shared during their two months together. “Me, too. I'm glad you called. See you on Saturday.”
She had barely put down the receiver and picked up her coffee when the phone rang again.
“Kristen. Hi. Listen, something has come up, and I just can't make it to lunch today. I'm sorry, but it's important.”
Remembering the teddy she had laid out on her bed that morning and the thoughts she had been having about their “lunch” for days, she was terribly disappointed. “But, Richard, you couldn't come on Tuesday, either, and I was planning something special for us today. Why do you always have to cancel us? Why don't you postpone the other meeting?” she pushed.
Richard knew it would be impossible to explain on the phone all that had happened to him that morning, and he also knew he had to make a break. He just couldn't see her that day. “I'm sorry. I really am. But this other matter has sort of overwhelmed me. I just can't come.”
“I hate it. But if you have to. You will be here on Tuesday, right?”
“Uh…yes. Sure,” Richard replied, not really knowing the answer, but wanting to end the conversation.
“All right. Call me later. I want to see you.”
“I will. I'll try to explain better then, when we have time. Goodbye.”
Kristen again returned the handset to the telephone. She had so wanted to see Richard. The teddy was out. Could she wait until Tuesday? As she sipped her coffee, she remembered that Peter Dowling had said he would be arriving the next day. She thought to herself, “I wonder what he's doing tomorrow? Why do we have to wait until Saturday night to get together? Maybe he just thought it wouldn't be proper to ask me out on such short notice. But what if I ask him out!” And she looked in her Rolodex for the telephone number she had kept for him.
Janet was surprised to receive a call from Richard so early in the day. “Is everything all right?” she asked.
“Dear, it's fantastic. I've got to tell you about what happened to me. Are you free for lunch?” he asked quickly.
She couldn't remember the last time her husband had invited her to lunch, and she could hear the excitement in his voice. “Are you talking about the prayer breakfast?” she asked.
“Yes, and more. Can you get free? Say 12:30 at the Cafe Grille? That's about halfway between us.”
“Sure, Richard. I'll change something around and be there. My curiosity is up now. Goodbye, dear.”
Sitting at his desk, looking out at the city, Richard felt brand new. He felt younger and lighter and happier. He wanted to call people and shout the good news to them. He took out his phone book, looked up a number, and dialed Bob Meredith.
When Bob answered, Richard described what had happened with Court Shullo just thirty minutes earlier.
“Richard, that's wonderful!” Bob said with obvious joy. “Praise God. Let's pray.” Richard had never prayed on the telephone before, but he was open to trying anything Bob suggested. So the two men bowed their heads, and Bob thanked God for Richard's deliverance. He then prayed for protection for Richard and his family. He concluded by praying for similar experiences and protection for all the men who had attended the breakfast.
When they finished, Bob said, “Why don't you and Janet have dinner at our home this Saturday? I know that Anne would like to see Janet again. And I think Bobbie has been talking to Susan about trying our church, so why don't you come on Sunday morning as well, all four of you?”
“Bob, you've done so much for me in the last few hours, why don't you let us take you two to dinner?” Richard replied.
“Next time. This time you come to our place, and we'll cook out. Casual. OK?”
“I'll check with Janet at lunch, but it sounds great. I was also going to ask you about your church. Thanks for inviting us. What time does the service begin?”