Tag Archive | Prison Books

His Perfect Timing

On my way to feed the homeless yesterday, the thought came to me to stop and check my post office box for mail. I keep that box strictly for book ministry mail and normally always check it on the way back. Reasoning, that I would have more time if I checked it later, resulted in my simply brushing the thought away. How many can join me in finding that, hindsight, often speaks louder than the Lord?

So after a delightful evening of beautiful sunshine, laughter with friends–my homeless and some, non-homeless family–after having served up a feast from, 5loaves2fish, of fresh-caught lake trout, thank you Carlson’s of Leland, fresh garden salad, potato salad, fresh fruit compote, dinner rolls and warm chocolate bread pudding. All homemade–all infused with love! Now, incredibly content, and heading home, I stopped to get my mail. My heart was already full and happy, but yet, there was more– for there in my box, leaned a long white envelope.

It’s always exciting to see real mail.

There is an old adage, “The road is paved with good intentions.” Many say, and intend to do something–even declaring it, but never do it. Truly, pavement, is all a ‘good intention’ is worth, if one doesn’t ever follow through!

However, in Heaven, the Bible tells us, the streets are paved with pure gold!

This ‘pavement’ in my mailbox is–pure gold!

The envelope contained a check from the U.S. Treasury Department, and it took me a minute to realize what it was. I had received a letter from Nicholas about a week ago. Nicholas is a prisoner I have written about before. He had contacted me for books for a class they had allowed him to develop for his prison, in conjunction with Duke University, Divinity Grad School students. He wanted my books to be mandatory reading for the class. With many thanks to Chaplain White, we were able to make that happen. The class was so popular, they graduated 3 classes of men and had over 40 men still on a waiting list to take it. Unfortunately, Chaplain White, either retired or transferred, and the new chaplain shut the class down–declaring that it wasn’t regulation. He also stopped Nicholas from preaching and nearly broke his heart. I urged him to be patient. The chaplain’s reasoning for not allowing him to continue preaching was that he wasn’t an ordained minister. No one can stop God’s plan though, and a visiting clergy came in a few weeks later, told Nicholas that God was pressing on him to come back and ordain him. Two weeks later, he did just that! Nicholas’ preaching has brought many men to salvation and his last letter to me stated that he is blessed to have baptized 119 men in 3 years. I am happy to report that the new chaplain has since gotten to know Nicholas, and he has been allowing him to preach again.

So, why am I telling you all this? Well, the check was from Nicholas, and he had told me that he wanted to join me in feeding the poor. He states that he has a heart for the homeless and wants to serve them when he gets out. He dreams of having a food truck that he can drive around and serve them, right where they are at. Since his circumstances prevent him from doing that, he is starting right now, right where he’s at, and sent a check asking me to get what I could for them.

In God’s and (my) eyes, that $5.00 is like 5 million!

It’s not about the amount is it?

No, it’s all about the heart ♥

“He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury; and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins. And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had.'” Luke 21:2

Nicholas tells me they take half of his check for restitution and out of the remaining he gives to 4 churches and a ministry that helps women that have become victims of sex crimes. This is a man that has repented, received the cleansing Blood of Jesus, and has a committed heart–

A heart of ‘pavement’–the purest gold of Heaven!

“Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work. As it is written, ‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever.’ He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your resources and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” 2Corinthians 9:7-10

We can take a lesson from Nicholas–he KNOWS he messed up. It breaks his heart every day, the harm he caused others and especially the hurt his family is experiencing. Yet, he’s not sulking and shutting down. He has reached out to God and received forgiveness and His abundant love, to first be restored himself, and then to share it with others. He’s surely not free physically, but he is living the freedom the Lord Jesus has bought and paid for him–and doing more valuable work than many will ever do in their entire lifetime.

How about you?

Are you living the life Jesus bought for you or does it need tweaking? Do you even know Him–really KNOW Him???

Be encouraged, Nicholas, is proof that God can use you in any situation, no matter what you have done. All He needs is for you to turn to Him and say yes!

Don’t wait to the end of your life to find out what you may have missed. Life is too short and you are needed now!

Seek Him today!

So, why did I title this “His Perfect Timing”? It wasn’t just because of the check that came on the day I served the homeless, but also a letter, that I had written to Nicholas, took 6 weeks to reach him, and when did he receive it?

Father’s Day!

Happy Father’s Day, Nicholas. It’s long past, but your wife tells me your oldest son is getting baptized this weekend!! You won’t be reading this but I’m just throwing that out there to you. I know you are busting your buttons over him! It’s such a blessing to ‘hear’ you, through your letters, proudly talk of all your children and your wife. I pray that you will soon join your family again . . . In the meantime, thank you for the check and all your hard work in leading men to Jesus . . .

Thank you for doing your part right where you are!

Our Heavenly Father, is busting His buttons over you!

I am excited to announce that an order for 1,200 prison books, the “His Voice In My Heart” series, is at the printers now and will soon be sent to Prison Book Project, the ministry that sends them on to prisons, jails and rehab centers all over the country; and even to our men and women serving our country overseas. It’s but a widow’s mite in my heart because, frankly, I can’t get enough books into their hands; but for what I have been able to do, I am eternally grateful. A big thank you to everyone that has contributed to help me in this ministry!

To all of you, and to Nicholas, this scripture is for you . . .

“It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered for ever. He is not afraid of evil tidings; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.” Psalm 112:5-7

A Miracle in Progress

Jan10

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15 TPT

We surely don’t know what tomorrow will bring . . .

On December 14th, 2023, I played Scrabble© with my mom. It was just an ordinary day or so I thought. However, I went to bed that night feeling totally fine, but woke up blind. It was such a shock! I could see absolutely nothing out of my right eye and only a little bit of light and shadow with my left; but the Lord is so good, and this didn’t surprise Him at all. He knows everything that’s going to happen to you ‘tomorrow’.

A couple of weeks before that it had been strong on my heart to enter into the rest of God, resting in His completed work. In advance provision, He had prepared my heart–for my heart to trust.

When a crisis happens, the first words out of our mouths are critical. . .

as is every single word you say thereafter about the subject.

You can’t say you have faith one moment, but speak unbelief the next. In other words, if your words are not lining up with the faith you say you have, then you are not truly in faith. You might think you are, but you can’t be expecting one result if you are speaking another.

The Lord knew this blindness was coming and His preparation to fill my heart with trust gave me the gift of faith and no fear. Right in that critical moment, I couldn’t see with my eyes but my mouth could speak; I spoke out loud, “This blindness will not remain, my eyes will see!”

“For the overflow of what has been stored in your heart will be seen by your fruit and will be heard in your words.” Luke 6:45b TPT

Immediately after speaking that, I got an inkling of vision in my left eye. It took many attempts but I managed to maneuver through my phone to call my prayer partner. It was like punching around in a closet. I was grateful to have her in speed dial, because I could recognize the color that went with her name. As we prayed, more vision came in that left eye, enabling me to call my eye doctor. They got me in right away.

I had had a laser on my right eye, to lower the pressure of glaucoma, just 4 days before. One would think this was all stemming from this but I only had it in one eye and both eyes were affected. They tested my eyes and I couldn’t even see the great big E with my right eye, it just wasn’t even there. My left eye could see black, but it was a blur, so I consider it a miracle that I was able to call those two numbers. I had prayed a couple weeks prior to this and asked the Lord to get me off glaucoma drops. My prayer all along has been for my healing of glaucoma to fully manifest. This has been a progressive journey. I have regained peripheral vision (twice) that my doc said was impossible. I told her that nothing is impossible with God and the tests have proven it. Now, she immediately took me off one of the glaucoma drops, that was the strongest, the one she figured was the culprit, and put me on steroid drops and ointment. Thus began a whirlwind of doctor appointments every 4-5 days and a cornea specialist was brought into the mix. He took me off the other glaucoma drop in the right eye as well and prescribed a milder steroid and a different ointment.

In the midst of this drama . . .

I went for a scheduled dental appointment. I would have liked to have canceled but it is so hard to get in. Praise God for my friend that waited patiently for me. I have been believing for my tooth to heal for 2 1/2 years. They wanted to do a root canal and crown. The x-ray showed the root had shrunk up and was blunt. It hurt terribly but I refused. I stood in faith for the root to re-grow and be rooted as normal. The first year I couldn’t eat on that side at all. Even soft foods made the tooth throb. Second year, occasional soft foods, but it still pained so I stayed away from it. They tried to do another x-ray midway but their machine malfunctioned and they had to skip it. The last 6 months I have been able to eat on that side, even really hard stuff with no pain at all. They took another x-ray on this visit and it showed the root, re-grown, seated, and totally normal. The dentist made no comment, but started to poke, prod and tap hard on that tooth and the two on either side. She kept saying, “Does that hurt?” “Does that hurt?” No, no, NO. There were also three teeth they wanted to fill above the teeth, where gums had receded. I said no and have believed for the gums to come back down. Now she only finds one that “troubles” her. “The other two I’m not concerned with.” she said. “I still want to fill the third one.” No, no, NO!

My eyes improved with every visit, but it was one visit in particular that there could be no explanation but a miracle from God. In 4 days time my right eye went from seeing 20/90 to 20/40 and my left eye went from seeing 20/80 to 20/12.5. I had never heard of 20/12.5 but this is what they termed seeing two lines better than 20/15, whereas 20/20 is perfect vision! In that same 4-day period, my pressure went from 22 and 26 to 12 and 15. The miracle of that is that my left eye had a detached retina years ago. It not only detached, but the surgeon said my retina had shattered and it was a very difficult surgery. He was ecstatic that I came to see 20/25 after it healed, which I praise God for, and the expertise of that surgeon, but it didn’t stop there. That eye also underwent laser to bring the pressure down and when that didn’t work, a Trabeculectomy; surgery to create a mesh-like pathway for the eye to drain fluid. A pressure reading in that eye of 12 was only seen briefly after that surgery and then it started to climb once again. Even with those strong drops and two different kinds, continuously, she couldn’t get it below 22 anymore. Now, with the strongest drop taken away, the pressure is 12.

Praise Jesus!

So this incredible vision in my left eye enabled me to return to work. I knew it was going to be hard, but I wasn’t prepaing for just how hard. Both days were super busy, and though I could see really well up close, anything beyond a few feet was a blur. I could know people, from memory and of their shape but their faces were a blur. I didn’t realize how much I read lips when it’s too noisy to hear. Keeping up with the stamina required of the job and the constant struggle to see, absolutely exhausted me; and by the end of the second day I was fighting tears.

The 3rd day was a milder day and though it was still hard to see, I was enjoying the calm and my wonderful co-working family. I love my job!

But, this is the exciting part. . .

At 8:20pm, suddenly, I could see a co-workers face from about 8 feet away!!! It was still a lil blurry, but I could make out his features and see expressions. Wow! I was like a kid again, looking around, everywhere, to see what I could see. Later I realized that 8:20pm is 2020 military time, which is what we go by at work and 20/20 is perfect vision!

I take that as a confirmation, because ‘perfect’ hasn’t manifested yet, but it’s coming!

Exuberant with my newly-minted sight, my son took me grocery shopping. I have not yet attempted to drive; my work takes me into the dark, and the lights when driving at night are quite the distraction. There was a snow storm predicted, so every store was packed out. The noise, people, shapes, colors and florescent lights was just too much for my brain to cope with. I went home traumatized, exhausted, slept fitfully, and I woke up with a splitting headache. I have come to realize that with every new level of vision, my brain has to re-calibrate and learn how to see with that particular vision, because the two eyes are not in sync with each other. I would have thought this would be easy, because I have done mono-vision for years but it seems to be different with an eye that is trying to heal.

So, here we are. It was a very long story to tell you that I have learned to rest in Him. I fully expect my total healing to come. My right eye has already had a miracle as well, for before the blindness, my eyes were off the charts; worse than 20/400 I was told, but correctable. Now, after my suddenly, at 2020 the other night, I expect I am seeing 20/25 in that eye without correction! Glory to God!!

Which reminds me . . .

You didn’t know this, but remember Nicholas? He is the prisoner I wrote about in another post, “Genuine Fruit”. Nicholas is part of “Project Turn” a partnership with Duke University Grad School, Divinity Program. He was one of 6,000 inmates chosen to be in this program. They chose ten inmates to take classes side-by-side with ten Duke Grad students. He came up with the idea of an education class needed in the prison and was given the go-ahead to help develop it. They have asked to use my books for the class, as mandatory reading. Glory to God! Well, that class started that night that I had the sudden vision. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had asked those men to pray for me that night. He knows of the issue I’m having. Wouldn’t that just be incredibly wonderful for them to see a miracle happen as a direct answer to their prayers! Will you join them and believe for a miracle? I want to see perfectly and no more glaucoma–at all!

Thank you for your prayers!

A special thank you to my dad, my son, and my friend Jamie for their incredible patience in hauling me around to appointments, waiting through them, and running me around for prescriptions. Thank you so very much!

No one is an island. We need each other!

God Bless You Reader,

Lori J. O’Neil

The Letter

Nov10

This week has been both disheartening (our state elections) and exhilarating (the letter). I continue to pray that hearts will turn and realize how truly precious the gift of life is.

May the blinders come off and God’s Mercy, Forgiveness and Comfort come to those who awaken to the Truth.

On a good note, Monday I received my very first letter from a prisoner, regarding my book. It was a big day, because it was the same day that my approval copy of the new book came in the mail as well. Monday is also the day I serve the homeless and they were just so happy. One man commented, “Rachel Ray would LOVE this!” Another said, “I feel like I’m at the Ritz.”

I do so love being a part of these wonderful peoples’ lives!

It blesses my heart so, to be able to bring love and comfort to their day and a delicious homemade meal. I look forward to Monday all week!

How rare is that for someone to look forward to Monday???

So I have been looking for this letter to come, with expectancy, and I wasn’t disappointed.

He wrote to tell me that he received the book from the Prison Book Project, the ministry that is sending all my books out to prison systems, jails and rehab centers all over the country. He states he didn’t ask for it, because he didn’t know anything about me, but was just given the book. The letter is regarding, “His Voice in My Heart.” This book is the first in a three volume series, the third of which should be out by mid-December.

The “His Voice in My Heart” series is written with prisoners in mind, but they are for anyone. We all have issues in life that need healing, things to overcome and they help one to do just that. They all contain messages spoken from the heart of God, many amazing true testimonies, and are filled with scripture to verify the messages. His messages are like fresh bread; not meant to replace the Word, but to bring it in closer in application to your life.

The letter states:

“When I first got your book I looked at a few pages and said, ok I’m not reading this.” He continues by stating that a second time he picked it up and still put it down. Below are direct quote excepts from the letter, highlights that have blessed my heart!

“But for the next time I picked up the book and started reading it I couldn’t put it down. I really got into the book and don’t understand why I did but the book spoke to me in a lot of ways and in ways that I can change myself. It is a really good book and you put some good stories in it.”

“When I get home I have to check out your other books and see what they are about.”

“I don’t know what made me pick it up again and not only that but couldn’t put it down and its almost like what you said about praying for the lady at work and you said it wasn’t the right time to pray for her but at the right time you did. Well I feel the same way about the book. It was God that done everything. But I want to thank you again for the book that I was reading. I hope to read more of them.”

“I hope that God keeps blessing you and your family and hope that maybe I can help someone like your book did for me.”

So you can imagine, reader, that I had a hard time going to sleep that night. This one letter represents the heart of what I do and the reason for it all!

I jokingly had told my postmaster that he gave me a defective mailbox. I have been paying for it for two years, to be able to have a mailbox for those I write for; to give them the ability to express what God has done in their lives. Faithfully, day after day, I’ve been checking that box with expectancy. Well, reader, it came! I can’t begin to describe how exciting it was to finally see it there, leaning sideways in my box, after such a long wait. It was a moment I will carry in my heart–it was worth it all!

Thank you, my friend, for the letter! You are one that is hidden from society, but not hidden from God!

Readers, please pray for him that nothing snatch the newly-formed seed from his heart. Please pray for all those reading my books that God will be able to reach them, where no one else can. This is His work, I simply take dictation, I work very hard, but it is the joy of my heart to work for HIM!

All Glory be to God!

If you would like to be involved in touching many lives and hearts, your generous donations are so welcome! A gift in any amount may be sent to: https://nationofwomen.com/

From the contributions link, scroll down to the image of hands clasped through prison bars. Write in the comment, for prison books. If you are comfortable paying by check, it saves 3% from going to credit card fees. The address is:

Nation of Women Ministries, 619 Roberts Cut Off Rd., River Oaks, TX 76114.

Please note ‘for prison books’ on the check.

All donations received will be used to print and send books to the Prison Book Project; a non-prophet ministry that will be sending them into prisons, jails and rehab centers all over the country. Your donation is tax deductible. Thank you!

A big thank you to my publisher as well, for generously allowing this opportunity for donators to receive a tax deduction. She handles all donations, sending orders to the printer who sends them directly to Prison Book Project. Many thanks to Cindy, of “Nation of Women Publishing” for your endless expertise and patience with me!

Thank you to Joyce, and her volunteers of Prison Book Project, for placing all of my books!

Do you know that an individual cannot send books to a prison? They must come from a publisher, an established book-placing ministry, such as Prison Book Project, or Barnes & Noble and Amazon direct. That is the world we live in. Books were being laced with drugs and many have died as a result of it. A generous financial donation to them would help them to continue to fill this great need for quality, life-giving books!

You may donate to: https://prisonbookproject.org

How much more our great need for Jesus!

Thank you for your kindness and generous help to this ministry!

I have poured every cent received, into books to send out, along with all I can of my own. I trust the Lord will greatly bless you in return!

“Then the King will turn to those on his right and say, ‘You have a special place in my Father’s heart. Come and experience the full inheritance of the kingdom realm that has been destined for you from before the foundation of the world! For when you saw me hungry, you fed me. When you found me thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I had no place to stay, you invited me in, and when I was poorly clothed, you covered me. When I was sick, you tenderly cared for me, and when I was in prison you visited me.’ Then the godly will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty and give you food and something to drink? When did we see you with no place to stay and invite you in? When did we see you poorly clothed and cover you? When did we see you sick and tenderly care for you, or in prison and visit you? ‘And the King will answer them, ‘Don’t you know? When you cared for one of the least important of these my little ones, my true brothers and sisters, you demonstrated love for me.'” Matthew 25-34-40 TPT