Today’s Xulon Press Successful Author Spotlight features world renowned evangelist, public speaker and author Judy Hines, affectionately called “Mother Hines” by those who have been blessed by her ministry. Her book “Talking To God” shares her insights from a lifetime of ministry, showing the power in prayer and the need for our nation to pause and pray. Her website www.theschoolofthespirit.org provides information on her ministry and how to reach her. She also produces a blog at www.thesweetinspirationsblog.wordpress.com where she encourages and educates her readers. Mother Hines is a devout woman of prayer and is so committed to the power of prayer and the need to teach others to pray that she founded The Annual Deliverance Prayer Camp, which she also hosts each year. She also sponsors Prayer Summits and meetings scheduled at the noon hour called Hour of Power. These Meetings are established upon sound biblical principles. Students learn how to move forward and advance in both defensive and aggressive spiritual warfare, submitting to God and resisting the enemy on all fronts. Students are instructed and trained in deliverance ministry. Mother Hines is equipping an army of prayer warriors for these last days that we live in. She is passionate about teaching our young people the power in prayer!
As we began our conversation, I asked Mother Hines “What one past experience changed the course of your life?” She shared “My conversion. My meeting Christ made the difference. It gave me a new outlook and a new hope. We don’t know how the conversion experience will change our life until we cross over. I thank God because I could have gone a thousand different ways in my life, but the love of God constrained me and covered me. He loved me. In spite of everything. This is the world of the unlovely and yet, He loved me.”
Because of her vast experience in public speaking and writing, from her blogs to her books, I asked her “What is your writing method when you start a project?” She explained “I am completely inspired to do it. It is not drudgery or a sense of “I have to do it”. I am completely inspired. Jesus floods me with His thoughts. My advice is: If God honors you enough to speak to you, then honor Him enough to write it down. It’s nothing that I have to work at. When He unctions (inspires) me, I write. One of my great inspirations was my teaching instructor at UNC/Chapel Hill. Dr. Stumps, was a professor from Harvard, a real Paul Bunyan, red haired/white guy, visiting our college to teach a class on writing. He took me under his wing. He asked me to write a paragraph on spaghetti. When I submitted it, he liked it so much—he had them put it on display and… it ended up in the Library. God used him to instruct and pour into me everything he had on English composition. God brought him along to fine tune me. He was in my life for one quarter–and I have not seen him again. You never really know who God is going to use to bless you, heal you or deliver you—but it is His choice! You may not know who He is going to use or for what purpose—but God knows!”
When I questioned her on “What is the most important life event you have had?” she shared “I’ve seen thousands of people’s lives changed in healing ministry, even seen God raise the dead. He has graced me with uncommon favor. The one I remember the most was when I myself had to believe God for my own healing. It is easier to believe for others than it is to believe for myself. It sparked a new journey with God when I went through the healing process. I learned that many people settle for the pain of not healing rather than going thru the pain of healing. I chose to go through the pain of healing. I had to believe from the beginning that I was already healed, no matter what it looked like or felt like. God said “I allowed you to be hit because you would not panic”. What I learned, when God has a specific purpose for your life, He is obligated to straighten out whatever dilemma you have gotten yourself into, in order to meet the appointment for your purpose. I went home a paraplegic, but a few days later, I was up and cooking. The nurses who came to check on this paraplegic were stunned and amazed: they couldn’t detect who the patient was. They thought I would be an invalid. They brought in occupational therapy/ physical therapy personnel. The lead person looked at me and said, “you know what, you have got to be special to God”. I responded, “I am, I am one of his favorites”. I had a brain aneurysm and stroke. I recovered in five days. They had to do a brain catherization. My mom had to be admitted to the same hospital once they told her what they were going to do. Jerry, the nurse, who was a prayer warrior, said to me that he was told in his spirit that “a General was coming, so I had to stay”. He was supposed to go home at the end of his shift–but stayed to pray over me. He told me later that “God told me that I had to get you to the White House”. He didn’t know I was taking fifty people to the White House before this stroke happened—and I still did! Jerry prayed for five hours in my room while I had my brain procedure, while I was awake—they had to keep me awake through all of it. And over the next five days, my body turned into a paraplegic. The Lord spoke to me and said that I could go or I could stay, but if I stayed, He had some things that He wanted me to do. I chose to endure. A survivor is by choice!”
After hearing her personal story of healing, I asked “What message do you want shared by the story of your life?” Mother Hines explained “That you are an overcomer, a champion and a winner. The Good Book says you win. This fight is fixed because everything was already taken care of. Know who you are in God, know your authority– you have power over sickness, demons and disease. You need to know your authority. It is not normal for a believer to not know his authority. We are spiritual beings having an earthly encounter and not the other way around.”
I inquired “What would you tell others about your relationship with Christ that would inspire them?” She instructed “Keep telling Him yes. You’re going to tell Him yes whether you understand everything or not. There’s transforming keeping power in the Yes!”
When I asked her “What will they write on your gravestone that will sum up your life?” she declared: “She loved God and she loved His people!”
This mighty prayer warrior inspired so many, some telling her that she has “that mother voice” and the youth on college campuses where she speaks often will ask her “Can I have a hug?” because she is so approachable so I asked this Mother to All “What inspires you?” She reflected “Life. When I get up in the morning, and I am able to get out of my bed, by the grace of God, I know that He has given me another day, another opportunity. He has afforded me life– now live it to the fullest! I am inspired by my dreams that have already come true– they inspire me to keep dreaming. People inspire me. For every person I see, there are at least a thousand stories. I want to hear their stories!”
I questioned this woman of the Word, who has shared many scripture references during our conversation, “What is your theme scripture and why?” She preached “And the Holy Ghost shall come upon you and you shall receive power. When we look at the story of Mary– she is trying to contemplate “how can this be?” Today, our nation is trying to do things better. We are having difficulty because we are seeing individuals trying to “improve”–which is epikaizo, in the Greek language it means “to overshadow”. There is a cancellation of natural law in order for the spiritual law to be. This is reflected in examples from the Mount of Transfiguration all the way to Peter walking in his own shadow. So many are wondering today “how can we make things better?”…the answer is so simple…God Almighty is going to overshadow you, and you are going to conceive your dreams, your visions. They shall live, they shall be vital, they shall come to pass. You cannot do it in your own strength. Only as you completely depend on and obey and trust God will you see them happen. Mary was stepping into her new season. A season of fulfillment.”
I felt impressed to ask Mother Hines “If you could speak to our church world today- what would be your Wake Up Message?” She passionately sent this message to our readers “We have to be transparent . We must be willing to change. Change is painful but it denotes growth. Without it, there is no growth. God is requiring us to change. The shift causes us to become uncomfortable and out of sync, because the change is changing us. We move out of familiarity and our comfort zone. We have to be willing to change and be changed. This is how we go from glory to glory. This is how we are changing into His image. We cannot live in the past. We have to embrace change, diversity. When God is doing a new thing, it must first begin with us. Renew our minds. A metamorphosis. A “oneness” with God. A unity. Become the thoughts that produce kingdom reality. Our thought life– You have to use it at maximum capacity. Our thought life will determine where we go , how far we go. We cannot afford to entertain thoughts that are not kingdom oriented because then we are entertaining thoughts that are not truth. It is deception. We must have a kingdom reality!”
As we drew to a close, I asked Mother Hines “When you get to Heaven, what do you want to hear the Lord say to you?” She smiled as she shared “Well done. You did it my way! You had some opinions, you thought you could do it your way, but you always resorted to my way. And you did not lean to your own understanding. Thanks for loving me enough to obey me. Obedience is a love relationship. That’s my next book—The Obedience Factor!”
Reflecting on my time with Mother Hines, I could understand the comment “you have a mother’s voice” and I also could identify with the youth who asked “Can I have a hug?” This approachable, loving, accepting woman of God, who has dedicated her life to teach all who will listen “how to pray effectively, defensively, victoriously”—at her core, has a mother’s heart. She loves freely and doesn’t cast judgment—she just wants to help all those she meets draw closer to the one she loves so dearly—and I for one am glad she chose to stay and do “a few things” that He asked her to do! Our world is a better place because of a “mother” named Judy Hines!
Great article! Very well written and interesting. It made me want to buy Mother Hines’ book. The article is to the point and inspiring as well!