Prayer, pajamas & scripture

I had forgotten about the Tweety Bird flannel pajamas.

This week, I am filming my second interview for Faith Written Forward. It can be watched on YouTube every Monday at 4:30 p.m. at youtube.com/@FaithWrittenForwardTV.

Valerie Juillerat interviews Christian authors about their books and why they wrote them. This time we talk about my first book, When the Hart Speaks.

Remembering the chapter about my Tweety Bird pajamas hugged my heart.

You see, in the early 2000s, I had some dark days, but even darker nights. I went to bed with anxious thoughts and woke with them. What if the worst that could happen actually happened? It did.

It was a chilly fall night when I woke around 2:00 and heard a voice say, “Hebrews 10.” The night before, I had prayed for God to let me see mercy in my circumstances. Now, before you think I am crazy, you need to understand that I believe my thoughts can have a voice that awakens me, even if I did not hear an audible voice.

I knew there was no going back to sleep until I read Hebrews 10. I couldn’t find my Bible and remembered that I’d left it in my van. It was chilly, and I didn’t take the time to put on my shoes, so I tiptoed down the sidewalk to keep my feet from getting cold.

As I opened my Bible, I wondered why it was Hebrews 10 rather than 11. After all, Hebrews 11 is the Faith chapter. As I began reading the 10th chapter of Hebrews, the anxiety in my heart began to calm. When I reached verses 35 and 36, I sat back in my recliner to take in their impact.

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. NIV

This scripture wasn’t telling me that the mercy I prayed for would come immediately, but that it would come in due time. I would have to wait. Waiting has never been easy for me. I should be used to it, but it doesn’t get any easier, even now, twenty years after the night I wore the Tweety Bird pajamas and was awakened with this verse in my head.

The following months were hard. I felt as if my heart was being dragged over thistles and thorns that cut into the most tender parts of my heart.

I have returned to that scripture so many times over the years when life has been hard. God doesn’t promise an immediate answer, but He does promise that He will be with us. Psalm 23 says, “For thou art with me.”

The night I tiptoed out to my van to get my Bible changed me. Never had scripture felt so real. I took it personally. It’s happened again with different scriptures in hard moments.

Here’s the thing. Because of what I was going through in October 2001, I saw God’s hand “working all things for my good.” As you might know, that comes from Romans 8:28. In every hard circumstance, I’ve felt God’s presence. I knew He was still writing my story. My story has helped others navigate their difficult times. No one goes through life unscathed and unbattered.

I’ve finally learned to pray, “Thy will be done,” and mean it.

I’ve survived so many worst-case scenarios. I sometimes think that if my insides were X-rayed, and the damage from hurts, sorrow, and disappointments were visible, I’d look like a Mayhem woman. I continue to find hope in the scriptures.

I know well what endurance feels like.

For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:3-4

Perseverance is the sustained effort to keep going amid difficulties and opposition. God’s grace is found in the midst of perseverance.

The night I tiptoed out into the cold, wearing Tweety Bird flannel pajamas, will always be tucked into my memories of when God showed up in an amazing way. I wonder what happened to those pajamas? I remember wearing them so vividly.

I’m glad Valerie reminded me of my Tweety Bird pajamas story. Perhaps I need to read my first book again to be reminded of God’s faithfulness.

You can purchase Janet Hart Leonard’s book “When the Hart Speaks” on Amazon at a.co/d/06Vhs2. Janet can be contacted at janethartleonard@gmail.com or followed on Facebook or Instagram (@janethartleonard). She is the recipient of the Reporter’s Spring 2025 Ink-Stained Wretch award. Visit janethartleonard.com.