Wondrously made by God

"Once Upon a Prayer"

David Manuel, who worked for Doubleday in Canada at the time, was an avowed atheist until he covered the first live tests of the brand new polygraph (lie detector) when it first came out. Its makers administered lie detector tests to a person, plant, and even to a stone to demonstrate its capabilities. Miraculously the machine picked up the physiological responses of plants and stones exactly as if the lie detector were monitoring a person!

Witnessing the demonstration was a revelation to David Manuel that God does indeed exist. Such a thing would not be possible, he reasoned, unless they were all wondrously made by God! This is what ‘animal, vegetable and mineral’ all have in common.

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works,
and that my soul knows very well.” —Ps. 139:14

Sir David Manuel—founder of ROCK HARBOR Publishing, co-founder of LOGOS Publishing and bestselling author of 27 books including including THE LIGHT AND THE GLORY and FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA with Peter Marshall, and LIKE A MIGHTY RIVER—offered a workshop to teach people how ‘hear God’s voice in your heart,’ and indeed all participants find they are able to discern the ‘still small [silent] voice’ of God with clarity. Nothing in our earthly experience has prepared us to encounter the all-encompassing love God has for us. Many participants report prayer sessions end in tears.

Scientist Francis Collins, a devoted Christian whose genetic discoveries led to the human genome project, explained it to me this way: “Not exactly a voice; it’s more like coming up with ideas.” A very handy skill for any scientist.

^{12 “}And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. ¹³ And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?” —1 Kings 19:12-13

This journey started for David Manuel in the 1990s when he nearly died of kidney cancer. The day after returning from the hospital, God began speaking to his heart. One day he discerned, ‘You have delighted my heart today, ask anything and it will be granted to you, my son.’ He asked to be able to teach others how to discern God's voice, and did so until his death in 2013.

The 2004 booklet Once Upon a Prayer: How to Hear God in Your Heart is a complete guide. Any sincere seeker can learn to do it. Manuel cautions in the book that everyone must remain close to God, fully submitted to his holy will to make sure to ‘hear’ accurately.

https://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Prayer-Hear-Heart/dp/1581580851