Our mutual gifts from the Holy Spirit were bathed in prayer—my husband David’s that the Lord would make ready hearts. And, mine that He would make a ready home. Then, for both of us that He would cover us with that supernatural sensitivity to timing and intent.
We fully realized we were dependent upon Him to create from the evening something more than the enjoyment of food and ideas. It is humanly impossible to stimulate an atmosphere where spirit-work is done apart from the Spirit. The miracle of conversion has happened so often through our joint efforts that our house is something like a spiritual maternity ward. David is the obstetrician in charge, to be sure. But, I am a nurse in the labor room.
One particular example of all this stands out in my memory. Very often David will lead an after-service class that deals with the topic, “What does it mean to be a Christian?” Three couples attended one session where the wives were all believers and the husbands were not. Due to their interest and the lack of time, we invited these to dinner for the express purpose of examining further the meaning of Christianity.
The rooms seemed to have a special glow that night. Perhaps we were surrounded by the unseen presence of Christ. At any rate, after due deliberation one young man bowed his head and invited the Lord to make a place within his inner self. Lifting his head after the prayer he asked for a drink of water. While filling the glass it was my privilege as hostess to remind him of those words of Jesus, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”
Then David turned to one other young man and asked, “Mike, how close do you think you are to making the same decision?” His wife replied with gentle humor, “Well, he hasn’t come to term yet, but the labor pains are about three minutes apart.” Eventually Mike, too, came to know the Lord.
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Through her Hungry Souls ministry, Karen Mains serves as a spiritual coach to many Christian women and men, and teaches a mentor-writing class. And, through the Global Bag Project, she is working to develop a network of African women who sew exquisite cloth reusable shopping bags. This micro-finance women opportunity helps provide a much-needed sustainable income for struggling African families. For more information on this critically important project, please click here.
Karen has long had an interest in Christian hospitality and is the author of the best-selling book, Open Heart, Open Home.
An award-winning author of several other books, Karen continues to write content for her Christian blog, “Thoughts-by-Karen-Mains.” In so doing, she desires to touch the lives of Christian women and men and help them find ways to walk closer with the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, through silent retreats, spiritual teaching, women’s retreats, Christian vacation opportunities, and other ministry activities, Karen helps each Christian woman and man receive vital spiritual food.
For decades, Karen and her husband, David, have served God through religious communications—radio, television, and print publication. The are the co-authors of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy: Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance, and Tales of the Restoration. To find many valuable resources for pastors and churches at the Mainstay Ministries main website, please click here.
Likewise, pastors will find special resources to help them prepare effective, life-transforming Sunday sermons by visiting David Mains’ website by clicking here.
