Rushnell Squire - The Godwink Effect

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Copyright 2017 by SQuire Rushnell and Louise DuArt

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ISBN 978-1-5011-1957-6

ISBN 978-1-5011-1966-8 (ebook)

Youve experienced Godwinks. We all have.

Godwinks are those little events that defy human understanding. In the beginning you were tempted to call them coincidences, but inwardly you sensed there was something more going onand that God had something to do with it.

Perhaps you seemed to randomly encounter someone who unexpectedly led you to a new career path or to the person you ended up marrying!

Perhaps you picked up the phone and heard the voice of an old friend on the line, someone you hadnt heard from in years but had just been thinking about!

Perhaps you have seen several important details of your life mysteriously align to converge perfectly on the same day or even at the exact same time!

When I introduced the term Godwinks in my first book, When God Winks, some fifteen years ago, it filled a vacancy in the English language. After all, if theres no coincidence to coincidence, what do you call it?

As a word-of-mouth phenomenon, Godwinks entered our language, moved from person to person, and even caught the attention of dictionary publishers.

It soon became apparent that people were using the word Godwink to express a new term: there is no word for answered prayer, so people were saying, I just had a Godwink! when their prayer was answered.

From that moment, Godwinks and prayer became inextricably linked.

An effect is a change that results from an action or cause.

As a child you were fascinated to learn that a pebble tossed into a pond will cause multiple ripples upon the water.

The Godwink Effect is the series of ripples that result from Godwinks dropping wondrously into your life.

While it is special and comforting to think of every Godwink as an exclusive communication directly from God to you, out of seven billion people on the planet, Gods blessings usually have more than one purpose or person in mind. Therefore, an initial Godwink frequently results in multiple outcomes, even producing a cascade of Godwinks that can lift you and many others.

Let us say you have been praying for a job. Nothing has panned out. Youre feeling discouraged. But you dont give up. You just keep praying and trying.

Then something totally unexpected and illogical happens. For no real reason you take a different route to get somewhere, and you encounter someone who just happens along. A Godwink. That person not only assists you, but during the conversation finds out about your career qualifications and in turn connects you with a friend who is looking for someone with your exact skill set. Another Godwink. Before you know it, you have a new job, which, in turn, leads to a wonderful Godwinkmeeting the love of your lifeand your entire existence continues to change for the better. And it all started with one Godwink that rippled to many others.

Far-fetched?

Ask ten people if something like I just described has happened to them. My guess is most will say yes.

Godwinks and prayer are inextricably linked. When you pray more, you experience more Godwinks. The best prayer is intentional, but God occasionally proves He can hear your heart by answering unintentional or even unasked prayers.

In the beginning I was feeling uncertain.

Who was I to be spouting this thesis about Godwinks? Im not a theologian, a philosopher, or a scholar. Im merely a TV executive. Just one of the guys who brought you Schoolhouse Rock .

But then I came across a statement that gave me encouragement, a statement by seventeenth-century religious leader Sir William Temple:

When I pray ,

coincidences happen.

When I dont,

they dont!

Im not alone! I thought.

Sir William lifted my spirits by validating my theory that Godwinks are connected to prayer. And this notion existed not just in my head but was held by others!

Of course I now joke that I cant fault the knighted evangelist for failing to use the proper word Godwink instead of coincidence . The word wasnt around in the 1600s.

But I do enjoy paraphrasing Sir William:

When I pray ,

Godwinks happen.

When I dont,

they dont.

So, in partnership with Sir William, we would like to introduce you to the first of Seven Secrets to Gods Signs, Wonders, and Answered Prayers.