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| Anita Estes |
Anita Estes
resides in upstate New York with her husband and son. Her family also includes
two grown daughters. Estes teaches art and photographs the beauty of nature in
the Hudson Valley where she lives.
As the mother
of a prodigal child Anita Estes found her way to scriptural prayer “to pray
against addictions and for releasing captives” (since God promises His Word
will not return void).
Delving
deeper, she also used breakthrough prayer. Estes says, “Breakthrough prayer relies
on the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of strongholds. Another component is the continuance of
prayer until an answer or breakthrough
is received. This could be done in one session, multiple times of prayer
throughout the day, week, month or year, depending how long the problem
persists. Breakthrough prayer often involves intercessory prayer (standing in
the gap and praying for a person, place or area), praise and thanksgiving as
well as spirit led prayer, and sometimes a particular word of wisdom or spiritual insight into a problem.”
Once involved
in breakthrough prayer, Estes became a prayer warrior. She says, “A prayer
warrior is often in a state of prayer for a particular purpose, usually they
intercede for others with an intensity born of God. A prayer warrior is also
sensitive to the Holy Spirit and prays with passion and power that comes from
above. Prayer warriors can often see more clearly into the spiritual realm and
hear the voice of God more plainly. Their prayers are often directed by the
Holy Spirit and divinely inspired. They are usually people who do not give up
easily, pray passionately, and trust God to answer according to His will.”
This path dropped
Estes to her knees, and raised her up to dance in prayer and praise as she
prayed first for her prodigal son and then for others who shared his life
controlling issues. Through her writing, Anita Estes longs “to help her readers
know God better, to actively help them to achieve their potential in Him, and to
encourage them in their spiritual walk.” Estes reaches out through her writing
and ministry to comfort the brokenhearted.
When God Speaks: 40 Days and 40 Nights of His Promises ©2005 is
dedicated to the men and women who revealed the power of God’s promises to
Estes. This book is structured as a daily devotional including a scripture
reference, a story that develops the promise carried within the scripture, a
prayer, a daily application, and a nighttime reflection. It encourages the
reader to connect with scripture and even more to connect with the God whose
Word carries the power to create and change the circumstances of daily life.
She includes five Focus Articles that
carry us deeper into God’s promises as they are fulfilled in everyday life.
Her son’s
experience at the Transformation Life Center led to compiling and editing the
stories of men who, with help, dealt with and overcame their own life-controlling
issues. Transformed: Inspiring Stories of
Freedom ©2011 (now published by Lighthouse of the Carolinas) contains true stories that will bring hope and healing to parents
and families as well as those they love who live daily with life-controlling
issues such as addiction to drugs or alcohol.
Letters to God on a Prodigal Son: Overcoming Addiction through Prayer ©2011 is a frank and candid journal of one
mother’s struggle with her child’s life-controlling issues. She offers lessons
learned, suggestions, prayers and promises from her journal written from 2006 through 2009.
All three of
these books have been self-published. Estes says she learned the hard way to
handle feedback, preparation for
publication, and copyediting. “When I published my first book, I ordered ten copies
and then I saw all the mistakes in it, mainly typos. I re-edited it and also
had some writers edit it.
“The next book was a bit of a fiasco since I was working to
meet a deadline. I should have learned from my first experience and ordered a
paper copy to edit, but I didn’t. The mistakes on the computer draft weren’t
caught, and I ordered one hundred copies. I was embarrassed when a number of
typos showed up in the last story because I rushed to meet the deadline. I then
had other people edit it. It was distributed through a Christian rehab,
“Transformation Life Center” and later picked up by the present publisher
Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas.
“Finally, by my third book I got it right and ordered preview
copies and then had it professionally edited.
Doing the whole process from start to finish was a big learning curve
for me, especially the book cover and editing. I recommend professional editing
as it’s difficult for writers to see their own mistakes, especially on the
computer. “
Anita Estes’s work appears in several devotionals and
compilations including The Upper Room,
God Allows U-Turns, A Cup of Comfort Book of Prayer, and Deliver Me. Most recently
Estes has published inspirational stories in a number of Christian on-line
magazines such as Scarlet Thread and Living Better at 50. She is also the Albany area spiritual examiner
for Examiner.com.
Estes says, “When my children were younger, they were my first priority and I didn’t write a lot. For a number of years I only
worked part-time, this provided a little
free time to write. However, once I started working full time, juggling my
different roles as a Christian, mother, wife and a career woman was more of a
challenge. Once the children got older and began to leave the house, I had more
time to write, self-publish, market, speak at and attend conferences.
“Finding venues for selling and promoting books
is sometimes a problem, especially in the Northeast. Here many Christian
bookstores have closed and there aren’t as many conferences that want speakers.
However, speaking at churches and events like “Aglow” are great ways to books into
the public eye. I have also had success with local newspapers and book
signings.
“Only recently I’ve become involved with on-line marketing. It’s not my
favorite, though I do enjoy meeting new people on-line, and there is one great
group: John 3:16 Christian Marketing and several good Christian on-line writing
groups.”
Estes hopes to publisher her first novel The Dividing Stone by the Fall of 2013. The main theme of The Dividing Stone centers on the power
of prayer and spiritual warfare to overcome demonic forces of witchcraft, which
are wreaking havoc in area churches. Watch also for another daily devotional, Heaven Calling.
To her
readers, Anita Estes says, “Don’t quit or give up. Persevere and surrender all
to God in prayer and trust Him with everything. Listen to the Spirit, love like
Jesus, and forgive like God. Don’t forget to laugh at yourself once in a while
and with others. Stay focused on your call or vision and spend time listening
to what God is directing you to do.”
In the end, Estes
wants to be remembered as “a woman with a spirit like David’s. She loved God,
her family and friends, and life in that order. She prayed and danced her heart
out for them, and tried to love, and not hate, her enemies, except for the
adversary of our souls. “
Anita Estes. When God Speaks: 40 Days and 40 Nights of
God’s Promises. ©2005 ISBN: 978-0-9727270-4-4
Anita Estes,
comp. & ed. Transformed: Inspiring
Stories of Freedom. © 2011 Kingsport TN: Christian Devotions Ministries in
association with Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. ISBN: 978-0-9833196-9-6
Anita Estes. Letters to God, on a Prodigal Son:
Overcoming Addiction through Prayer. ©2011 Published by Transformation
House. ISBN: 9780982651018
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