Michelle Prosser, who wrote "Excuse Me, Your God is Waiting," says listening for God's direction in life is crucial.

Michelle Prosser, who wrote "Excuse Me, Your God is Waiting," says listening for God's direction in life is crucial.

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There's an old saying that you can make any plans you want, but whatever they are, God won't be kept waiting.

Michelle Prosser, a former political campaign manager for Rep. Rick Boucher who was also a spokeswoman for Doug Wilder when he was governor, was on her own spiritual schedule, rather casually, in 2006 when events in her life took a sudden turn.

In Prosser's new self-help book, "Excuse Me, Your God is Waiting," the 45-year-old divorced mother of three recalls, "I sat in disbelief in an orange jumpsuit at 3 a.m. on a cold cement bench in the women's holding cell of the Fairfax County Jail. I was in a cell with eight other women, some drunk, others crying and one talking tough. My mind was trying to grasp my predicament."

Prosser had been arrested on a charge of bouncing a check, one she said had been made good. But an apparent mix-up in records caused her to be classified as a fugitive from justice -- and it came as a shock when four police cars surrounded her van.

And Prosser, president of Energy Focus Coaching and Consulting in Charlottesville, said that the sudden loneliness of her jail cell and her discovery that God seemed to be her most reliable consultant at the time, prompted her to write the book.

"The realization that we are never alone was profound awakening," she said. "Even in our darkest hour, God works to soften the blows."

The misdemeanor bad check charges against her were later dropped, and the failure to appear in court charges were dismissed.

Listening for God's direction is crucial, Prosser said, but so is tuning out what she calls the "inner critic" that so many people have. "It's a voice inside us running nonstop, giving us critical feedback."

Too much listening to that voice gets in the way of prayer and hearing God, Prosser said.

Once we realize that God is waiting his turn to get through to us, Prosser's book asserts, we'll realize that, "Heaven is here."