Tag: perseverance

The Roar of Prayer!

April 11, 2018

 Many of us, when asked where God is, without missing a beat would reply, “He’s everywhere!” And of course that would be absolutely a correct answer. He IS everywhere. But I can tell you, that most of my prayer life has not reflected God was everywhere, because I had a predominate mindset that God was “out there” somewhere in heaven. I knew better, but wasn’t able to truly translate that into my prayer life.

I knew the scripture in Romans 10:6-8 where Paul said, “Do not say not in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? ‘The word is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming…’ ” (Romans 10:6-8). Somehow, I manage to ignored that scripture and continue to pray to a God in out there someplace. I continually asking Him to come down and hear my prayer.

I knew that I wasn’t the only one who felt the need to cry out to God in heaven. So many of the songs I hear Christians sing in worship, are directed to a God in Heaven. We are all probably familiar with the words of one familiar song, “God, hear us from heaven. Come down and heal our land.” Even when I Googled the word “Intercession” to find a suitable picture to share with you about prayer, most ALL of the pictures showed someone lifting up her hands to the heavens with a colorful cloud burst in the background. Do we have another picture of intercession that comes to our minds more than someone crying out to heaven? Maybe a picture of a lion?

One day as I was praying, and of course, I was crying out to God to come and help whatever situation I was facing. Tears were flowing. I heard the Holy Spirit say a phrase my mother used to say when I would cry without a reason. Simply put: she would say, “Dry up!” And around my house, when my mother issued a direct order. I obeyed immediately! But this was the Lord speaking to me, so I thought, “How does He know I’m sincere if I don’t cry and somewhat beg Him (I couldn’t admit that it was outright begging). I sensed His saying, “I will hear you when you pray out of your inner man with power and conviction.”

So that got me to thinking, Where is God? I mean, where is the God we pray to and go to in time of trouble and in time of worship? I’ve been a believer for a lot of years and this should have been settled a long time ago. As well as being “out there” He is equally “in there.” He is everywhere and as a believer I am connected to Him by His divine matrix.

We have the power and ability of God living inside of us. So next time I’m tempted to cry and beg God, like I have done so often, I will think of the Lion of Judah who lives on the inside of me. He wants me to pray with boldness that comes from the inside out. Let’s begin to roar like the Lion of Judah and believe God for miracles in America and in particular in America’s education. We can make a difference and we will when we come before Him in a Holy Boldness!!

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

 

 

A New Path

May 31, 2016

 Life has a lot of different paths we can take, or as they say in Quantum Physics—life has a lot of different realities. It’s true, but as believers we always want to take the RIGHT path. Right? I know I do. Two times we’re told in the Word to “make straight paths for our feet”: (Heb. 12:13 & Prov. 26). Often I think that if I take the right path then my way will be easy. Miracles will happen—circumstances will fall into place, the answer comes immediately and life is wonderful. But I’ve been a believer long enough to know that some paths are difficult, but I’ve found that the end result is as much of a miracle as the times when the path has been short and the miracle appeared instantly. WF3 Tea May 22, 2010 003I have come to believe that a rough path produces faith, character, compassion and  endurance. The major problem with a long path is the tendency to not stick with it until the answer comes. That’s why, I believe, most of us seldom see our dreams fulfilled.

Where did all my pensiveness about paths, struggles, and outcomes come from? It came from a couple of biographies I recently read on Thomas Jefferson—one of our Founding Fathers, the third president of the United States and a molder of our Constitution.

Two months ago, John Benefiel, who heads up (Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network) asked me to do research on Thomas Jefferson and his role in education in our country. While reading my second biography on Mr. Jefferson, I realized how difficult it was for our Founding Fathers to devise the Constitution of the United States, and to implement it throughout a new country filled with rugged individualists. There was opposition on every front– the people opposed, some of the key founders preferred a monarchy and wanted a constitution that allowed for a king, others (the Federalists) wanted a strong central government. Jefferson wanted a Republic with a system of checks and balances and no one part would hold all the power. It was a bitter fight with lots of ups and downs. Many enemies were made through the days of creation of this country. It was not an easy path, but one that emerged through trial and error and struggles that contended for the soul of our nation. Only with God’s hand did we emerge as a nation with a unique form of government that would sustain us through the years. The rough, curvy, dangerous path, emerged to a victory for every American.

I thought of all the times in our lives when we go through trials, we often think that we should emerge on the other side of the trial with no detours along our path and without dark nights along the way. We want to get to where we want to be without all the alternate paths that beckon us as we make decisions along the way.  But we learn from those short paths that take us in the wrong direction—we learn what does, and doesn’t work. When the night is dark and  long, we learn to persevere. When those we trust don’t do what is right, we learn to trust God anyway. Regardless of how dark the night, we hold on to our dreams when they look impossible.

Let us be like David’s mighty men of battle (2 Samuel 23:8-12), who stand in our field of lentils and defeat our enemies. On the occasion of each man’s victory, we are told, “And the Lord brought a great victory.” I suspect that there is a long history between the commitment of each of David’s men and the victory they were responsible for bringing to pass. May we forever look between the lines and realize the perseverance necessary for the Lord to bring a great victory in our lives and in the lives of others.

 

Prayer is Doing the Work

May 27, 2016

Praying for a school, isn’t for the faint of heart. No getting around it, prayer is work. That’s because prayer is believing in God who hears and answers us when we call on him. One of my favorite scriptures is John 6:29, “Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'” So what helps us do the “work of believing?” I’ve listed four things that it takes to at least get going in prayer.

  • Faith – it takes faith to believe God for change in our schools
  • Knowledge – we must know how to pray targeted, effective prayers
  • Energy – it takes a lot of effort and energy to pray, whether it’s making the effort to get together with a group to pray or to go walk around a school and pray
  • Perseverance – one time prayers, while nice, are not likely to produce the long-term results needed to produce the radical change we need in our educational system.

    Prayerwalkers
    Prayerwalkers

I remember when I first prayed at a local school. As an educator, I had some idea of the battles going on in the classrooms of the schools where we prayed, so thoughts prayer would be simple – but prayer often needs some “warm up” and sometimes requires a “jump-start” to get going. The four things I’ve listed above gives the “warm up” and the impetus to get going and keep going, until we see the results!

God bless you as you engage in His work!

PRAYER

Jesus, you said to pray for laborers to go into the field of harvest. I pray for multitudes of faith-filled believers to come to the forefront of the battles for the minds of our children. I pray they will believe You for transformation and reformation in American education.

CONFESSION

I have the faith, knowledge, energy and perseverance to pray until I see this school transformed from the inside out by the glory of God!