By Linda Evans Shepherd
Publisher
I didn’t plan for revival. I planned for nine hours of teaching—at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference.
But as I delivered my Speaker’s Masterclass, as well as my class on Reaching Today’s Women, the Holy Spirit stopped me. In both of my classes.
My students were hungry—not just for craft, but to know how to reach the lost, including the lost members of their own families. So I stopped teaching and started praying.
The air turned electric. Tears flowed as broken hearts called out to Jesus. We prayed for fractured families and wandering generations. We prayed for loved ones who had estranged themselves from parents and siblings over religious and political disagreements.
We didn’t beg God.
We came to Him in His presence and in the authority of Jesus—the authority He places in every one of us when we pray in His name. We trusted God to bring our lost loved ones home. And that’s when revival broke out.
There were tears. There were cheers. There were powerful men and women who wanted so much to make a difference for Christ. None of us wanted to leave the room when the class was over. But what happened in those classrooms needs to happen to all of us.
Each one of us is called to carry the good news to the lost and the broken.
We are called to love. And to pray in the authority of the name of Jesus.
In this issue of Leading Hearts, I want to encourage you that you have a voice—and it needs to be heard.
I was reminded of this when I spoke at a church and the women’s leadership pulled me aside afterward.
“The men of our church say we should be quiet,” they whispered.
“Hmmm,” I replied. “Let me ask you something. If the women of your church didn’t show up next Sunday, what would happen to your Sunday school program?”
“It wouldn’t exist,” they said.
“And who makes the decisions for Vacation Bible School and outreach programs?”
“Well—we do.”
“Then it sounds to me like you’re already in leadership,” I said. “Just don’t tell the men. It might hurt their feelings.”
We laughed. Not in anger—in gratitude. The road before us is love, and we can walk it in peace, serving others and doing all that Jesus has called us to do.
Love, Linda
