The Testimony of My Little House of Prayer
Hello and Welcome to My Little House of Prayer. I am your host Dayla Smith. I am so very excited to be here today. Let’s open in Prayer. I want to start by thanking everyone so very much for their patience with me these last two months. I want to apologize to you all for my delay these last 2 months. But the Lord was trying to show me something about myself. I am sharing this so that maybe this testimony will help you in your walk.
I have been fighting to manage my time and get things done. I spent two months trying to figure out how I was going to be able to keep up with all the many sites the Lord has me doing. I spent two months not getting much done. Sunday, July 30th, the Lord decided it was time to speak to me in my dream. The dream went like this: my relatives had two ceramic guitars. I ended up breaking one of them. I was trying to figure out how I was going to replace it. Then, another relative gave me his SUV. It went into the river! It seemed like everything I touched would break.
Then, I awoke to realize that I was late waking up for church. This is just how good the Lord is. He was talking to me and would not be interrupted. I need to get to church on Sunday morning at least two hours ahead of service. This Sunday morning I arrived at church fifthteen minutes before service. I had three pages of notes and scriptures to put on our prompter during worship. Sometimes, I will have at least two more prompts to put up. This is the goodness of God. The Lord took control of my hands. My fingers danced on the mouse and keys like a symphony. All three pages of notes and scriptures were up before worship. How powerful is that?!
I don’t know about you, but when the Lord speaks to me in dreams, it sticks with me. That is why I started a dreams and visions journal. Well, this dream was sticking with me. In the middle of my Pastor’s sermon, the Lord reveals what He was trying to tell me. There was a whole lot of love in His voice. He lovingly said to me, “When will you trust me? When will you quit trying to do things in the arm of your own strength and trust in the arm of my strength?” My heart fell to the floor as I realized my mistake. All this time, I was trying to accomplish His prayer ministry in the arm of my own strength and getting nothing done. It is amazing how much I have accomplished since then.
Now, I am going to try to keep this to a minimum. The Lord had led me to a small church in Orlando, Fl. There was a prayer warrior named Karen Mosely, who has gone on to be with the Lord, that frequented our church. Not before leaving a legacy of teaching the brotherhood to have a relationship with the Lord in prayer. She was so powerful. Her ministry had a huge effect on my walk with the Lord. It was at that time that the seed of My Little House of Prayer was planted. That was in the year of 1997. You see, when we decide to walk the crucified way with Christ Jesus, He allows seeds to be planted. But then the seed has to be watered and nurtured before it can mature and produce growth. She taught me how to have a real relationship with the one true and living God. That He desired a relationship with me. One that can go as deep as I would allow it. She taught me my need and how to sit at His feet and wait upon Him for Him to talk to me. When she spoke to her heavenly Father, It was mingled with childlike faith and a deep relationship with Him. I loved to hear her talk about Him this way. She was such a joy to learn from.
So the seed of the prayer ministry lay there waiting to spring forth. Fast forward to 1998. I had moved back to Eunice, La.. I was back at the church where I began my journey with Christ Jesus. We were a family and I loved them dearly. It was at this time I believe the Lord was asking me the same question He asked Peter with a command of what I was supposed to do as I went on this journey with him. John 21:15-17 15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
It was in this year that a new little church had sprung up. The Pastor of that church and my church became quick friends. One Sunday morning He tells the congregation that if we wanted to visit a church, this was a good little church to visit. In my mind I said, “ This is my family. They have been in the trenches with me. They have fought alongside me in prayer. I’m not about to leave!” It was almost like the Lord had impressed upon me that I was supposed to visit this church. My pastor never said anything about leaving. At that moment, I did not realize that I had made them to be an idol before the Lord. Whenever we choose something over the Lord, it is an idol.
Exodus 20:1-6 20 And God spake all these words, saying,2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
How do I know this? Because of what happens next. All of the sudden, the people who were once my friends began to hurt me. You see, when you are running away from the voice of God, He has begun to deal with some things in your life. Well, He allowed me to do this for a while. But, the time had to grow up a bit. My friends who always had time for me, now no longer had time for me. Some even were a bit rough with their words. But this was the Lord’s doing and I knew it from the get go. He was walling me in. I prayed for His people to want to visit with me. Crickets. That’s all I got.
So, I prayed and asked him to send His people to visit with me. Still, all I got was crickets. Now, keep in mind that this all takes place in a period of weeks. Two or three weeks at least per request. So by now, I am frustrated. I finally speak with the Lord. “O.k. Lord, I see what you are doing. You are walling me in. You have walled me off from my friends. You won’t even send someone to visit me. So, you know what I am going to do? I am going to visit with you! I am going to visit with you so much that you will send someone just to shut me up! You gave me this mouth! You have given me the gift to gab! I am going to be to you like the widow woman with the judge. You will send someone just to shut me up! Well let’s just say that things didn’t go like I had planned. This is where I learned how to have a prayer closet.
A Prayer closet is a place that you always find to pray. It is usually your favorite room in the house. The one place no one is around. Just you and the Lord. It is a very quiet place. You usually find anything from scriptures to prayer requests on the walls of it. A place where you go to wait to have a real conversation with the Lord. Not just be the only one speaking. But, where you are willing to wait and listen for Him.
You see the moment I decided to accept the salvation of the Lord and walk with Him truly, the first gift he revealed to me was prayer. So, the Lord knew that He was going to reveal the Ministry of My Little house of Prayer in October of 1994. The day I chose to walk with Him. All or Nothing. But, it was during the time that He walled me in for Him I began to learn of finding my prayer closet.
Well, I began to visit with Him every waking hour. It wasn’t all that hard, I already knew His voice. But, this is where things change. He not only begins to speak to me. He begins to show me things worlds away. That I did not have to pray a panic prayer. If I train my spiritual ears to hear Him I can pray for things happening in the future. To truly intercede for the body of Christ. This is where my faith in who He is to me began to grow. I would call my brother in Christ and tell him what the Lord was showing me. There would be silence on the other end of the phone. Then, he would let me know that he was watching it on the news a world away. This happened so much over the next few weeks that my brother in Christ brought a T.V. to my front door. I didn’t watch it. I was having too much fun visiting with my Lord.
Joel 2:27-32 27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
Well, one night the Lord spoke to me in my dreams. He set me free of labels and other things. Then, there was a song I was supposed to sing. I did not know the song at the time, but it invoked me to worship the Lord most High.I began to weep. I wept so hard that I woke myself up. But, I was under the weight of His Glory. That lasted from 10am to 10pm. I know it was the Lord because I was never the same after that. That night, guess what happened? The Lord sent someone to my door. I opened the door and the first words out of his mouth was,”Wow! His glory is all over you.” I testified and wept at the Lord.
I have moved multiple times. Every home that I lived in people would talk about how His peace was there. How my home invited them in. Others would walk around my home saying “It’s like the prayers have baked into the walls of this home. On December 4, 2019, the building and land that would be my home and the ministry of My Little House of prayer was born. It was a shell when it arrived. But when I walked in, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to my heart. “Merry Christmas. Look up. You know how you have been nagging me about an upper room? Well take your pic. Take a long hard look. Because I am going to finish it.”
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. As of March 4th of 2022, the house was finished on the inside and livable. As of July 28th, 2023, it is paid off. Help of all kinds came in from unforeseen sources. Little by little. It has been a walk of absolute faith. I can’t wait to see what else the Lord has in mind.
If you do not know the Lord Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Let me introduce you to Him. It is really simple. First you must acknowledge that He was born of a virgin, lived as God among us, was crucified, died, buried and rose again on the third day for the salvation of all creation. That you are a sinner in need of a savior according to the mirror of the law of the Lord. Ask Him for His forgiveness for all of your sins and call them out to Him. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Then, forgive those who have sinned or transgressed against you. Then, repent. Repent means to change your mind concerning sinful habits. Change your choice making decisions. Let Him influence your choice making decisions as you get in His Holy Word. Ask Him to be Lord over your life. I want to pray this prayer with you. But, this is just an outline. The real work begins after I pray with you because it is a very personal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. I acknowledged that you were born of a virgin, you lived as God among us, was crucified, died, and buried. You rose again on the third day for the salvation of all creation. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
If you have made the decision to give your life to Jesus, let me be one of the first to welcome you to the body of Christ. All of heaven is greatly rejoicing over your decision today. Please let me know of your decision today. I want to pray for you. If this message has brought up any questions or spoke to you in some way, or if you have any prayer requests; please let me know by commenting below, private messaging me, or you can email me at my1littleafmp@aol.com. I would greatly love to hear from you. Remember I love you with the Love of the Lord but Jesus will always love you more.
(close in prayer)
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