30: Theresa’s Story-Prayers From Prison

Theresa’s story starts in a prison cell. Years of emptiness flowed into a vow never to trust anyone again. Here’s how she describes the very dark place she found herself: “After the things I’d been through, I hated humans. I had no hope in them. I had seen too much. Too much phoniness. Too much hypocrisy. Too much religion.”

Theresa’s father was murdered when she was 7. Her mother died when she was 15. She recalls having to raise herself, losing her childhood and then missing out on seeing her own children grow up. It’s now in this lonely prison cell that Theresa finds herself a very angry person.

“The only thing I could think of to do was pray. When I said that prayer, I was so afraid to think of the memories of my children. I was terrified of looking at the things in my heart.”

God answered Theresa despite her doubts and anger. It wasn’t instantaneous. Nor was it easy. But it was real and beautiful. And it was an answer that brought her to her knees. “He had given me a dream that I was going to prison. That he was going to give me a new life. God sent me to prison and that was basically the best thing that could have happened to me.”

While in prison, Theresa opened up a Bible and poured through it every day. She says, “It was the most beautiful year of my existence. Just reading the Bible in that cell.”

It was a glorious sunny day, the day Theresa walked out of that cell. She soaked in that sunlight and her new freedom. But that wasn’t the end of her story.

In this episode, we leave Theresa sitting on the curb outside prison, enjoying her new freedom. She has just spent 365 days hearing from God. He distinctly answered her cries for help, but there’s still trouble on the horizon. And God’s rescue mission isn’t over. Stay tuned for the next installment of Long Story Short Podcast. Tune back in for part two of Theresa’s story.

Media

Jeff Piecora, Good Day Gravity