Devotional Reflections
by Katie Souza
(Taken from Katie’s Journal written in Prison 2001)
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)
Pastors Roy and Ethel came and the Lord told me to have everyone go forward to pray for them. Ethel was crying by the time it was done! I was crying when I told them I wanted to pray for them. After we did, I felt lighter, like a burden was released, because I had done what the Lord told me.
God told me, “Take notice of this, as it is a flag for the blueprint for the mission.”
I started to strip the floor, I stayed until 11:30 a.m. and missed the Temple Baptist anointing with oil. I had to strip the floor again. The floor crew is under attack. I stayed till 11:30 a.m. again. I made it to prayer meeting at 12:30 p.m.
“But as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, and knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us-see that you – also excel in this grace of giving.” 2 Corinthians 8:7 (ESV)
We stripped the floor again! The crew is falling apart. Officer B threatened the girls. I went to the 12:30 p.m. prayer meeting and then worked on my appeal paperwork. I prayed from Nehemiah.
“The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.”1 Corinthians 3:8 (NRSV)
I stripped the upper half of the floor and then heard that Fran quit because of me!? Attack, attack. The enemy is on the offensive! I went to prayer group at 12:30 p.m. and prayed for my appeals as Nehemiah prayed.
I received the bound edition of my appeal. I asked for the blood of Jesus, and I confessed all of my sins so that I might be healed. I believe that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective as it says in James 5:16.
I had a day off, praise God!
God showed me a demonic stronghold or force that works by having people make up false testimony about their neighbor. At 12:30 p.m. prayer they talked about taking heed what you hear because the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. (Mark 4:24).
I’m experiencing persecution from other floor crew members. I prayed, “Give me favor with man, Lord.” I also prayed about my appeals from Jeremiah 50-good stuff.
Ms. V made us re-strip the upper deck and then wax it. God wants to teach me to behave with humility.
I added more wax to the upper deck, but was stopped because the water got turned off. We tried to wax the sides, but the floor crew got out of control! Ms. V said to me,” You’re so full of ________!” I couldn’t believe it; she threatened to give me a shot (an official write-up) for doing the upper deck “my way” after she said how good it looked. Come to my aid, Lord!
I’ve been having persecution but it’s gotten a lot better. Thank you, Lord! We spent Memorial Day in prison with no water. I mopped and swept only, it was a bad day. However, the hamburgers were a blessing. We were paged into the kitchen to buff and do the floors. After dinner, we finished both sides and applied one more coat of wax on the upper deck.
Have you experienced unfair judgement or criticism? If so, how did you respond?
Do you think the fact that I was trying to go to daily prayer meetings was helpful?
What’s one way you could commit to subjugating your daily trials to the Lord in order to grow from them?
Share with us your thoughts below!
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20 yrs ago when my boss, a Christian, decided she wanted rid of me it affected me so much i wanted to kill her. Even tho’ He was speaking to me I didn’t trust God to take care of me if i lost my job. Obviously this brought on demonic attack. The whole reason for this, shown 20 years later, was this had been a trigger to my anger problem brought on by childhood trauma. It was the reason but not an excuse for my reaction to my boss. Since then i have taken the lessons of not taking offence very seriously and have discovered that even if i dislike someone the enemy has the right to attack me. I’ve managed to come through, in comparison, minor attacks and have come through them being better friends with the people involved. It is important to deal with childhood trauma. I thought i had been healed of mine but obviously there was something else there. I believe God is filling in the sinkhole of unbelief, lack of love, pride and anger. It’s an ongoing process i’m thankful to this ministry for its generous and healing teachings.