I KNOW THERE are almost insurmountable problems when you are in prison.
21. Conversations in Prisons
I KNOW THERE are almost insurmountable problems when you are in prison.
I would like to write about some of the problems we discussed when I talked with prisoners in America.
Ann
"What is the most difficult thing that you have to go through?" I asked Ann.
I sat with her in her cell in solitary confinement. She showed me a photograph of her husband and children. "Because of my crime, I have given them such a hard life. They lack a wife and mother and they have to bear the shame—all because of the bad things I have done."
She told me that she had accepted Jesus as her Saviour ten years ago, but had solidly backslid. She knew much about the Bible, so it was easy to talk with her.
"There is an answer to your problem, Ann. It is Jesus. He has told us that we may pray for one another. You can pray for your children and your husband. You can tell the Lord everything. He understands you better than any human being.
"T read in the Book of Revelation that not one of our prayers is lost. They are kept in heaven. That is how important they are in our heavenly Father's eyes.
"You feel guilty that your family has to suffer because of you. You carry that guilt. I have a book here. It must lie somewhere: on my hand, on the table, or on the floor. It is the same with your guilt. It must lie somewhere. It is lying on you. You are carrying it.
"Now the Bible teaches us a mystery. When Jesus died on the cross, God laid on Him the guilt of the whole world. Jesus was willing to bear that terrible death, to carry our sins, our guilt. You may bring your sins, your guilt to Jesus, and He will forgive you and make you clean. Then He will fill you with the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is peace and joy and love. Then you will be able to think of your husband and children with peace."
Ann said, "I believe all you tell me, but I cannot accept it now. I have been away from the Lord for so long. Ten years ago I could have accepted it, but now it is too late."
"Ann, do you remember the story of the lost sheep? A shepherd had one hundred sheep. One evening when he came home, he saw that one sheep was lost. What did he do?
"He left the ninety-nine at home and went to look for that one lost sheep. He found it, took it on his shoulder, and brought it home.
"You are a lost sheep. Jesus will bring you home. The shepherd rejoiced and organized a feast to celebrate the finding of the lost sheep. Jesus rejoices when He finds you. Only tell Him everything. He loves you. Confess your sins to Him and ask Him to come into your heart. He will rejoice, and you will rejoice."
Ann did it. And I know Jesus rejoiced!
Frank
"Trust and study the Bible, Frank. It is the Word of God. You have asked Jesus to come into your life, and He came. Now all the promises of the Bible are yours."
Frank had seen one of Billy Graham's meetings on television and he had joined the many who came to Jesus that evening.
"Do you know what my problem is when I read the Bible?" Frank said. "It all happened so very long ago. I have seen Christians who were really happy, but after a while they backslid. Their Christianity did not last long."
"Frank, what can help you and give you solid ground to stand on is your faith in Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He never changes. He is the same now as He was in Israel two thousand years ago. He is a solid rock to stand upon.
On Christ the solid rock, I stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
"Talk much with Him. He is here now. He loves and understands you."
Roger
He was a young man in a big prison. I had spoken in the chapel, and while he cleaned the table where we had had some refreshments, I had an opportunity to talk with him.
JESUS IS VICTOR
Without looking up, he said, "I am afraid."
"Who are you afraid of? The guards?" "No, the men around me. They say that they will kill me if I do not do what they ask me to do. They tell me to do dirty things, which I cannot refuse."
"Roger, I was in a prison where the devil was strong, and I was afraid, like you are. I saw then that I was weak, and the devil was stronger, much stronger than I. But then I saw Jesus, who is much stronger than the devil. Jesus and I together could overcome the devil. When I realized that, miracles happened.
"Paul, in the Bible, hada problem in his life. The Bible does not tell us exactly what it was, but he calls it a 'thorn in the flesh, messenger of Satan, to harass me.'
"You can read about it in Second Corinthians 12:7—10. Paul asked God to take it away, but God did not remove that thing. He answered Paul, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' God does not always remove difficult things from our lives, but His grace in us is sufficient to overcome the difficulties."
Have you got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can't tunnel through? God specializes in things called impossible. He can do what no other can do.
"I AM GOING on parole next week."
"Boy, that is good! Are you glad?" "No, this was my fourth time in prison, and soon it will be my fifth. I know myself."
"No, Mike, Jesus has found you, you have found Jesus, and you and He together will overcome the temptations. Read the story of Gideon in Judges six.
"Gideon was neither strong nor courageous. He hid himself in a barn, in the bottom of a winepress. But how did God see him? The angel who came to him said, 'The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.' Because the Lord was with him, Gideon changed from a weakling into a strong overcomer. The Lord said to him, 'Go in this your strength.'
"Mike, the devil is stronger—much stronger than you and me—but Jesus is much stronger than the devil, and with Jesus, we are stronger than the devil.
"It is important that you do what Jude said, 'Stay always within the boundaries where God's love can reach and bless you' (Jude 21 1).
"Tf, when you leave prison, you go straight to a bar and get yourself drunk and renew your relationship with the friends who helped you to go to prison through their advice and assistance in your crimes, you can be sure that you will find yourself in this building for the fifth time. You stand on victory ground with Jesus, but you must be willing to go the whole way with Him. You are free to choose."
"That is exactly my problem. I am willing now to be a good guy, but what happens when I am free?"
"Mike, you are not the only one who has this problem, but the Lord knows that. The Bible supplies the answer when it says, 'Be filled with the Spirit' in Ephesians 5:18. A Spirit-filled Christian is a difficult target for the enemy, for he has the fruit of the spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are like a good armor and weapons in his hand. A compromise with the enemy is deadly dangerous, just as if a soldier on the front line helps the enemy to attack him and his fellow soldiers.
"If, again and again, you lay your weak hand in the strong hand of Jesus, you will be able to remain within the boundaries where God's love can reach and bless you."
"How do you do that? It all sounds so nice when you say it, but how do I lay my hand in Jesus' hand?"
"Get used to telling Jesus everything. He understands you and loves you. You might say to Him, 'Jesus, I need money badly. I can make a lot of money quickly if I go to that bar and plan a little job with one of my friends. I can also get something to drink there, and I really want a drink. Jesus. Take my hand, fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Keep me from falling!'
"Tf you say that, Jesus will help you. He is not only willing, but also able to help you. Ask Him to help you find people who love Him and who are willing to show you how to understand the Bible. Fellowship is so important. Read the Bible much. When you find a text that helps you more than others, write it down, and put it in your pocket, and learn it by heart.
"Mike, the most important thing is trust Jesus. He will help your faith to grow.
In Hebrews twelve He is called the author and finisher of your faith. I like helping you very much, and pray that the Lord will give me wisdom on advising you. Jesus likes to help you even more, and He really is able to help."
"T HEARD YOUR talk today about how to become a child of God by Jesus
Christ. It made me anxious to do it. But, lady, you do not know what kind of a guy I am. I have murdered people, and don't ask me how! Let's be honest—I am a lousy guy. No, Iam not made of the wood from which you can cut and shape a Christian."
"Joe, there are two ways that we know our sins. The devil accuses us night and day. I don't know if you know the devil. I know him. He speaks very clearly, and he says, 'What you have done is what you are, and what you will always be. There is no hope for you.'
"The devil is a liar! The Bible tells us something different. When you bring your sins to Jesus, when you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you, and He will cleanse you with His blood. You don't understand that? It does not matter. He does it, and it works!
"The Bible also promises that He will put your sins as far away from you as the east is from the west. It is as though He has cast them into the depths of the sea— forgiven and forgotten."
I met Joe again a month later. He looked quite different. The first thing he said was, "I have done it! I was totally miserable! They put me in the hole, which I had feared they would do. I had been in there before for a very long time.
"On my first day in it again, I figured I had nothing to lose and I said, 'God, if You do exist, take this miserable life of mine in Your hand.' At that very moment something happened. It was as if I was no longer alone. I can't tell you exactly how it was, but I felt happier than ever before. Was it the Lord who came to me? I could suddenly talk to Him. I remembered everything you had said and I asked myself, 'Is what she said true?'
"T slept better that night than I had for weeks, and when I woke up, I felt that happy feeling again. I must say that the weeks I spent in that hole were happy. I knew I was not alone, and to my amazement, I was taken out of the hole after only two weeks.
"Now, Miss ten Boom, I believe it all! How good it is to read the Bible. You had told me that Jesus knocks at the door of your heart, and so I said, 'Come in.' I have told Him more than anyone else all that I have done wrong and through that, I believe there was a clearing up of the dirty mess."
"Joe, you can read in John three what took place in your life. In that chapter Jesus tells about what happens when you accept Him. You were born again. Now
God is your Father, Joe, and what a Friend you have in Jesus! I'm so glad that the Bible is not fantasy. It is not imagination, not feelings, not philosophy—it is reality! The greatest reality is that Jesus is here on this earth right now, through His Holy Spirit. You are here. I am here. Jesus is here, too."