Author Archives: Nigel W.D. Mumford

LEARNED HELPLESSNESS

Please join me in praying for those who are suffering from,
“Learned helplessness.”
Those who have given up on others kindness and the gifts of humanity. May they receive a new Grace from you Lord. Let them know how loved they are and let them know that even though they have been wounded by the past, with actions of mans inhumanity to man, that with you, Lord, all things are possible. I pray that they will not allow the past to ruin their present or their future. Allow the Lord to raise you up and set you free from those past wounds. Lord you came to set the captives free. Help them to be free from the past. Help them not to allow the perpetrator to have power over them any more. Amen.
~Fr. Nigel+
~Learned helplessness~
A condition in which a person suffers from a sense of powerlessness, arising from a traumatic event or persistent failure to succeed. It is thought to be one of the underlying causes of depression.
Learned helplessness, in psychology, a mental state in which an organism forced to bear aversive stimuli, or stimuli that are painful or otherwise unpleasant, becomes unable or unwilling to avoid subsequent encounters with those stimuli, even if they are “escapable,” presumably because it has learned that it cannot control the situation. ~Martin Seligman

G’DAY, LET US PRAY

~G’DAY, LET US PRAY~
I prayed for a bunch of Aussies today.
I said,
“G’day
Let us prayer…”
(Good ice breaker….)
Aussies often say, “No worries”
I told them about Jeremiah 17:8
“They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
Dear Souls,
Please don’t worry…
if you worry you die and if you don’t worry you die…
So why worry.
Be at peace.
No worries…
~Fr. Nigel+

Healing of Dementia

ST. MICHAELS, CHARLESTON
Testimony.
David H (named used with permission) gave a very powerful testimony today about being healed of Front otemporal dementia (FTD) today. Nine years ago the keys to his car were taken away and he was told to give everything he has to his wife and you have 2-3 years at the most.
David came to us for prayer four times.
We anointed the crown of his head, all around.
His doctor at Johns Hopkins says he has received a miracle.
He drove an hour by-himself to be at church today!
He has been cured of dementia.
I’m really hoping his testimony was recorded today.
It was very moving indeed.
~Fr. Nigel W.D. Mumford+

~MY LUNGS~

MY LUNGS
A poem by
~Nigel W.D. Mumford
My very life, plugged into the wall!
inflate, deflate, inflate, deflate days at a time.
Lungs must be nurtured, protected,
smokers avoided like plague.
Bleach, chemicals, even worse, a severe irritant.
Panic! Can’t breathe…keep calm, avoid source, seek clean air.
Weight on the chest, lungs pushing up, grasping,
grasping for pure air and prayer.
Hum of nebulizer, smoke of the peace pipe.
Instant side effects:
twenty-five cups of coffee jitters
and fitful gasping coughs
with nail-piercing headache.
The next 24 hours waiting for lungs to calm down
from the unexpected assault or is it insult?
Such effort to command the weight to lift up,
to even have to think about breathing.
Press on. Remember
Christ fighting for air,
His bloody back scraping wood
as He rose and fell, rose and fell
to breathe for me,
for love, He fell and rose.
I wrote this poem 9 years after I was hospitalized for three months
With the H1N1 swine flu virus. I was intubated and in a coma for three weeks.
I lost 63 lbs and was not expected to live! My pulmonoligest said I used to
Have the lungs of an eighteen wheeler, now they are the size of a Volkswagen!
To read the full story see, “Dying to Live, how near death experiences increase
Our faith.” Amazon.com

PRIEST IN THE TREATMENT ROOM

PRIEST IN THE TREATMENT ROOM
~Suzanne Underwood Rhodes
We were all of us drowsed with potions
in the dying room, the shrill signals
waning as we slipped deeper into our plush
recliners, glad to be sleeping
with disease at bay, to have thoughts
teased from us drip by drip, the faces
of most precious boy or sister dimming
despite the huge, over-bright room
that out of nowhere welcomed
a priest riding on a mobility scooter,
a black-clad Jesus, but one laboring
to breathe as he landed at someone’s chair
and blessed her medication bags hung from hooks,
three bags of poison, blessed
a head bent and scared against his hand,
but oh, you knew he knew what it’s like
to be pitted against those stakes
with all of us, weighted with hope.

THE ELEVATOR EVANGELIST

I want to share with you the shortest homily I’ve ever given in my life. It was only 34 words. I gave it in an elevator in Washington DC at a New Cannan Socity conference with 800 men.
I had my collar on as I got into the elevator. There was of course no eye contact, no conversation, don’t talk to me, don’t touch me, don’t look at me. Everyone was looking at the numbers above the door, which were not even moving yet.
As I got in the door started to close I said, “I have a question for you. When it comes to the end of your life do you know if you are going up or going down?” I really don’t know what came over me! Everyone laughed, the doors closed and guess what, the elevator went up… we all got our answer, it was a miracle we had a standing O for Jesus.
Of course, there was not where to sit down but it was just one of those moments.
I have to say it was not only the shortest church service I’ve ever been too, it was the shortest homily I’ve ever given, it was the least attended service I’ve ever been to, it was the smallest church I’ve ever been in, and sadly there was no time for an offertory collection.
But it was fun and it was uplifting… It was actually brilliant.
I got out on the second floor… turned and watched the door close…
They were all staring above the door again… there was yet again no eye contact…

A PRAYER MOMENT AT THE AIRFIELD

Ok, so I’m I at the airfield gate awaiting my flight to Ct. To lead a WHI retreat for war zone veterans. I get taking to the Sgt. Maj. Next to me after I thanked him for his service.
He starts telling me many stories. That’s a very good thing. He lives in a single wide in NH and his wife has been in a home with Alzheimer’s for 2 years. Please pray for Pat his wife.
So Joe tells me he is on a foot patrol in Vietnam and was taking a nap at the base of a very large tree with two body guards protecting him.
He woke up hearing a voice “get up and move” he asked his guards why they woke him up. They said they didn’t. He went back to sleep. AGAIN he was awoken with the same voice, the same tone. He told his guards to stop messing with him. He went back to sleep. He AGAIN was awoken with a much louder and urgent voice, with the same message. He got up and went to the other side of the tree. No sooner as he had taken cover an incoming mortar shell landed on the other side of the tree. He came around the tree to see a crater and the tree very badly cut up from the shrapnel.
He is, of course, an absolute believer in Jesus. He knew that three times the Lord woke him up and saved his life.
Listen my friends, to the still small voice of the Lord that sometimes is a bit louder on occasion.
Joe was a shot in my arm this morning. You never know who you are sitting next too. Entertaining angels unaware. ”
Be well, do good works and for the sake of Jesus Christ, love one another.
Fr. Nigel+

On Smith Wigglesworth

SMITH WIGGLESWORTH – THE MIRACLE OF THE GROWING LEG
Smith Wigglesworth was a remarkably unimpressive man by the worlds standards. He was born to a lowly family in Menston England in 1859, unable to read until his twenties and a plumber by trade, yet when he gave his life to the Lord Jesus at the tender age of eight, no one could possibly have imagined what an impact he would have on the world.
Called the ‘Apostle of Faith’, Smith was married in 1882 to Mary Jane Featherstone, affectionately called Polly. She was the love of his life and when she died in 1913, Smith was devastated. This was one of the most trying moments in his life. He prayed for to come back to life and she did, yet she explained that it was the Lords will for her to go. He agreed and she lay down once again and went to be with the Lord.
Smith’s ministry was characterized by his unwavering faith in God. He was able to believe for the impossible, and yet his one main concern was that God should always get the glory and not himself. His humility was a genuine concern for not stealing that which belonged to his heavenly father. Among the many stories that are recounted about his life, including people being raised from the dead, deaf ears being opened and captives being set free, there is one story that has captivated the heart and mind of many a Christian. This story is recounted below.
Surely one of the most remarkable cases of a miracle was when Smith was staying at the home of a curate of the Church of England. The man with whom he was staying had no legs. Smith suddenly said to the man, ” Go and buy a new pair of shoes in the morning.” a most astounding thing to say to someone with no legs. No doubt thinking Smith was totally insane the curate retired to bed, and then the Lord spoke to him saying “Do as my servant hath said.”
The curate rose early the next morning and was waiting at the shoe store when the manage arrived to open up. Upon entering the store he was approached by the assistant who asked if he could help him. The curate replied he would like a pair of shoes. The assistant realizing the condition of the man hesitated, before replying that they could not help him, obviously referring to his condition.. The curate seeing his dilemma said: ” I would like a pair of black shoes, size eight please.” The assistant returned with the shoes and as he put his one stump into the shoe a foot and leg instantly formed. The same thing happened with his other leg.
Smith was not surprised and his comment was that with God there is no difference between healing a broken limb and forming a new limb.
After many years of faithful service, and a ministry that saw the sick healed, the dead raised and the captives set free, Smith himself passed on in 1949 . Appropriately he died in a church.
Wiki

The Red Apple with a Green Heart

4C841AA0-CE43-41DE-A9E8-8B86217733FD
THE APPLE
By Nigel Mumford+
For Christmas, my bride an I were given a triple layer polystyrene container of apples from Upstate New York from close friends. One of the apples had a distinctive green heart on it. I carried it with me, wondering when I was going to eat it. I had occasion to go the mall to get new lenses for my eye glasses. They told me it would take an hour. So, I walked to the main area of the Mall where lots of people were milling around, sitting or enjoying a coffee. I looked around and found a place to sit.
I sat praying for all the people I could see. A young woman next to me said, “It’s fun to people watch isn’t it?” I said, “Yes but I’m praying your them too.”
We had a great chat. She told me she wanted to be a nurse. Loverly person.
I had my collar on as she asked me what do I do as a priest? I told her and mentioned that I’ve written a few books. “I’ve never met an author before.”
She said.
Then I remembered the red apple with a green heart in my pocket.
I took it out of my pocket and gave it to her saying that I had had this in my pocket for while and God just told me to give it to you!
Her jaw dropped. It was like time stood still…
She told me that her Grandmother had died 6 months ago and that since then, all the family have either found hearts or have been given hearts…
She sat there looking at me…
It was a true God moment, amongst hundreds of people…
Again God got my attention. I would add it got hers too!
The Red Apple
With a green heart…

+ Praying the Cross +

+ Praying the Cross +
This is one method I use to pray, especially when I’m tired.
Pray using the “ACTIP” acronym.
Spend time on each “letter”
Fr. Nigel+
Adoration: pray looking at the face of Jesus or the top of the cross
Spend some time adoring, praising and worshipping God by declaring things about who He is. (ie- Altogether good, loving, just, faithful, truth, etc.) Psalm 145:3 “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”
Confession: pray looking at the right hand of God, or the right side of the Cross.
Spend time confessing your own sins to God. 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Thanksgiving: pray looking at His left hand, or the left side of the Cross.
Spend time listing out things you are thankful for—finding things to be thankful for will help you understand God’s purposes in hardship.
Ephesians 5:20, “And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Psalm 50:23, “But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”
Intercession: pray casting your eyes on the heart of the Lord or the center of the Cross.
Here we pray for the poor, the weak, the sick and the lonely. We pray for Christians, for people who don’t know Jesus, for our country, for different situations around you and around the world, etc. 1 Timothy 2:1 “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.”
Petition: pray looking at the feet of Christ or the Base of the Cross.
This is the part where you bring your personal requests to God— Seeking first the Kingdom of God. Praying at the base of the Cross keeps all your prayers in place. A firm foundation.