Please celebrate our Ruthie with me.

 

“My Wife, my mentor.”

“A love story.”

“I have Jesus in my heart.”

 

Once upon a time, in a day like today in 1946 a beautiful blueeyed girl with straight eyebrows was born to the Rev. Harry and Florence Marshall in Columbia, South Carolina.

 

Listen to the echo of the voice of this beautiful girl who said to Francisco (Pankico) Mejia Peña 55 years ago, “I have Jesus in my heart.” Five years later “Pankico” in turn told me the same words: “I have Jesus in my heart.”

 

Two years after that I met Ruthie and she told me, “I have Jesus in my heart.”

Ever since then my message, no matter what I write or speak, is the same as that of Ruthie: “I have Jesus in my heart.”

 

Today Ruthie would have been 74 years old and thanks to Ruthie you also are hearing from me that, “Jesus in our hearts is the hope of glory.”

 

For 50 years I have known and loved Ruthie. Half way into our marriage and after two girls and three boys Ruthie was found with Cancer and only a few months to live.

 

What I remember of that day is surprising. I found myself weeping out loud in my office in the basement of our house. I must have prayed: NO! I am sure at the same time I was desperately praying like Billy Graham “Forgive me or help Lord.” 

 

I trace my former life of prayer to that day where in an exchange of a look with eyes full of tears Ruthie and I made a silent covenant to wrestle with God in prayer for over 22 years until death separated us only eight years ago.

 

For the last 25 year all I have taught, wrote and preached in one way or another was focused on understanding prayer in order to pray effectively.

 

Though my grandmother taught me to speak by repeating the Lord’s Prayer since I was one year old, “Prayer” became the most difficult matter for me to understand.

 

The existence of God was easier for me to digest than to understand prayer.

My view of prayer and my experience of prayer can at best be described as a “Dislocated view.”

 

What was worse is that I could not acknowledge out loud to anyone my lack of understanding prayer for fear to be judged as one still struggling with the rudiments of faith.

In the process I became an “expert in prayer” that even many would come from journeys far away for me to pray for healing. I saw wonderful things through “My prayers” but in a hit and miss pattern. 

 

Nothing humiliated and humbled me more than my slippery handle of prayer.

But I had no option but to pray as with a crooked stick hoping by grace to strike a straight blow.

 

My constant motivation was the gentle look of her blue eyes as that of a Princess to her Knight in Shining armor. How could I fail such expectations? “Death before surrender.” It was Ruthie and her cancer and the many surgeries that were the target of my prayers but it was a benefit by getting to know God in Jesus as never before in my life.

 

Then all of a sudden it happened through a Little story that Ruthie and I read together of a couple contemplating their only little boy on his deathbed.

The husband said to his wife: “Hey mama, let’s not let the Lord take our son away from us, let’s give it to him.” Thus, they surrendered their beloved and one and only son to God. That inspired us to also do the same thing with our own lives.

 

This happened two weeks before Ruthie went home as a result of that prayer of surrender: “Your will be done not ours.”

 

Ruthie went home to the Lord but not without charging me first with the task to write about prayer. “Now you will have more time for your Lord papa. Write your book on prayer.”

 

As the Lord prompted me, I wrote day and night what I would have liked to hear from others about prayer.

 

Then I sent my draft to key people to whom I held myself accountable.

One of the copies was sent to Doug Coe, the leader of the Presidential National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC. I have attended those Breakfasts with every President Since President Ronald Reagan, all the way to President Donald Trump.

 

Doug Coe was very encouraging and after editing the draft he sent me back the book to meet my deadline that was October 2012. It has been 08 years since the deadline came and left. I failed my mentor for reasons beyond my control. Enclosed below you will find a Copy of Doug’s letter to me so you can appreciate how long my agony to write this notebook has taken me.

 

My desire in writing this book is to provoke thoughts that might lead the reader to say “Yes to Jesus” and to his word and will. Prayer is the power to come into alignment with the word and the will of God.

Agreement with God is the foundation of the fellowship with God in Jesus at the playpen of the garden at the cool of the day. 

 

I am sending the link to my website so you can have access to my short letters of the “Yes Jesus” Book on prayer.

 

perugerry.com 

 

This was your friend, brother and prayer warrior on duty.

 

Gerry Gutierrez.

 

The Pictures are of our first and last year together on this planet.