Stormie: Yes exactly. That was the biggest one actually. That book sold about three and a half million copies. And I had written Power of a Praying Parent and that sold well. Praying Wife was what really took off. It really struck a nerve with people. It met a need with people wanting to save their marriages, wanting to make them better and not knowing where to start. So this really gave them a total guideline about what to do. Especially for a praying wife to lay down her life in prayer for her husband and intercede for him. And see what God would do. It's amazing. The reason it sold so well was because it worked. It really worked. It worked for so many people. So many marriages were restored and saved. So many letters I heard from people who were separated, or they had filed divorce papers and they got back together because the wife started using that book and praying for her husband. So out of that, of course, came The Power of a Praying Husband. That book. Because men asked me to write it. I really didn't even consider writing it. Because I thought a man would do it. But men asked me to write it; they said please write this book. I really want to know how to pray for my wife. And so I was really impressed with that. And that book sold well too. In fact the publishing company was concerned that that book wouldn't sell as well. They didn't know if a man was going to pick it up. But they were proved wrong because men bought it and read it and I heard great reports from men who saw great changes

Mike: The key, I would imagine is that if you're going to write books like that, you have to live them. From what you were saying earlier on about your own deliverance and the way that God took away all the anxiety and the depression as a result of prayer more than anything else, I'm guessing that all of your writing is coming out of your own spiritual experiences.

Stormie: That is exactly right. For The Praying Parent - I'd had no role model for parenting at all. My first child came home from the hospital, my baby boy, I just didn't know what to do. I mean I had no idea what to do. I realised I was totally out of control. I realised I had all the potential in me to be as abusive as my mother was to me, to my son. And I realised, thank God I had the Lord and had enough training and growth in the Lord to be able to put the baby down if I felt out of control. And just come before the Lord and say God, I just don't have it. I do not have it as a parent. You have to teach me, you have to show me every step of the way. So I learned to pray for my kids. God just really taught me step by step. And we were having these prayer groups for our children too. I learned so much watching people pray for their kids. Seeing what happened to them. I totally lived through that whole time of raising kids; and that's when I wrote that Power of a Praying Parent. It was all from experience. Everything in there's from experience.

Mike: They do say that the best writers write what they know about.

Stormie: Yes absolutely. Write what you know about and what you have a passion for. Because if you have to write something and you don't have a passion for it, it's not going to come out as well. If you are passionate about the subject and you really have a knowledge of it, it is so much easier to write because it's flowing out of you.

Mike: Has it been rewarding for you because I imagine you get a lot of letters where people say, I read your book and this has changed for me. That must be very encouraging for you?

Stormie: It is so encouraging and I've gotten so many letters and I used to answer them all. Then it just got to be overwhelming there's no way I could answer them all. I felt bad about that. Although I'm glad to have all the letters. I read them but I couldn't answer them all without sending out a formal letter. And it was because there were so many. I love each letter. Letters are like a treasure to me. I get them out still, after all these years. Every letter means so much. It's a person whose life has been touched; who's marriage has been touched. And the stories I hear. It's heartbreaking the sort of things people go through and the things that they struggle with. We're not alone all of us who struggle with things. We're not alone. So many people hurting. And to see that these books are helping them to find an answer to save their marriages or save their children and how they're still praying for certain areas and things like that. It's really heart-warming and edifying to hear their stories.

Mike: It's obviously striking a big chord with people because the sales of the book are an indication of that. And obviously the big sales of the book have also opened up other doors for you because then you've been invited to be a conference speaker. And people want to come along and hear you speak. For a woman who doesn't like to travel and doesn't like touring that must be a new challenge for you?

Stormie: Yes it is. I really hate travelling. What I hate about it is the airport. I guess that's it. Going to the airport: going through security and all that. It's not that it's horrible. There's people suffering much worse than that. But there's something so exhausting to me about it. Absolutely exhausting. But it's so worth it when we go out and do these seminars; 'cause we'll go out on a Friday. We leave on a Friday to check the sound and do everything we have to do on a Friday night and then it's an all day Saturday seminar. And it's so wonderful. The most wonderful thing about it; I speak four times and I have wonderful glorious music. The worship team that I have that travels with me is just absolutely wonderful. It's a powerful life-changing thing. But to see how many people come to know the Lord, to see how many people are willing to stand to be prayed for about certain areas of their lives. It's really touching. I give out Kleenex at every conference. I give out packs of Kleenex.

Mike: You should get sponsored by Kleenex!

Stormie: I know! I really should have thought of that. I really do need to tell then. I really do think I should approach them because it's a big part of it to give out the Kleenex. And so many people who are bringing friends who have not been before they go, 'what's the Kleenex for'. They say, 'oh you'll find out'. But everyone ends up using it because people cry in every session. Because you sense the love of God touching people's hearts, healing them and making them whole. Leading them to the Lord if they don't have a relationship with God when they come and they do when they leave. And it's so wonderful; it makes it worth it to me. It makes it worth it to go through security at the airport to see that.

Mike: You've come a long way from being locked in the closet at seven haven't you?

Stormie: Yes a long way. I remember it vividly, all of it. But it seems like a different world. Like a different lifetime. When I think about it, how far God's brought me; it's miraculous. Absolutely miraculous. And that's why I've such a message of hope because I tell the story and that's what really opens the hearts. Especially people who don't know the Lord. To really listen to what I have to say about the Lord and how the Lord has changed my life. And it gives people hope who think if the Lord changed her life, He can change anybody's life. And it's just - this is all you have to do. You have to live His way; you have to read His word. You have to trust that he hears your prayers and continue praying about things and not give up. And don't turn your back on the Lord and question why things worked out that way. Just keep trusting God to bring good out of whatever the situation is. I mean those kind of things are powerful messages that give people hope.

Mike: It's worked on your husband, because he's turned alright hasn't he?

Stormie: Yes he has and this is really amazing. I was talking about him in Praying Wife. My husband came into the marriage with a lot of anger. I came with a lot of hurt. And so his anger made me hurt more. So I would withdraw from him and that would make him angrier. So we had a lot of strife in our marriage in those early years. We've been married now thirty-five years this year, and to see how far we've come as a couple too. We went through a lot of hard times, and that's where Praying Wife came from. I was praying the 'change him Lord' prayer for years. And God never answered that one. He was answering other prayers that I was praying, but He never answered the 'change him Lord' prayer, and I could never figure out why. And finally God said I want you to pray the 'change me Lord' Prayer. And I said why do I need to pray that when obviously he's the one who needs to be changed. And God said to my heart, we all need to be changed because we all need to become more like Him. And He said, If you're willing to let me change you to become more like me, the Lord is saying, then I will use you as an instrument of deliverance and healing for him. And it was really amazing because that's what God did. It wasn't easy either; it was very hard. I had to continue praying; we had setbacks. You know we'd be going good for a while, then we'd have a major setback. We had to start again you know, with the prayer, and say, God make me who you want me to be and help me to pray for him. And we've come to this point where we've really become so much more compatible, so much more bonded. We're close in ways that I never thought would ever happen. So, there's the advantage of not giving up, not just losing hope because it's easy to give up in a marriage. Marriage is tough. Especially if you have any problems. It hurts so bad. People just feel like they're dying in it if they can't get some kind of positive response from their spouse. You need to pray that way and if two are praying to God you've got hope for anything then. If both the husband and the wife are praying, it's really miraculous. So I know how hard it is; and I almost gave up on it myself; and I didn't and I'm glad I didn't. Here we are today. Our family's together, and it's good. We've really come to love each other more and feel closer together. It's good. I've got this new book out called Praying Through The Deeper Issues of Marriage. And it's really a follow-up to Praying Wife and Praying Husband. And I talk about that; how there are so many deeper issues in all of our lives, as a couple. And unless you agree on every single thing, there's some kind of issue there. I don't know any couples; I'm sure there may be some but I've never met any that don't have any problems, communicating or anything like that. And so being able to pray about these deeper issues; being able to pray about good communication, stuff like that, makes all the difference. I've seen it save my marriage and I've seen it save countless other marriages. So I keep up the message that prayer works.