One word was in my spirit upon arising from slumber the other day. It was the word "revive". That one word was the direction we used to direct our time of intercession last night. As four ladies gathered together, the Holy Spirit spoke to us some great encouragement that is needed for each of us. May you be encouraged in your spirit through this impartation.
When I looked up the word "revive" in the Thesaurus, these are some of the words that followed: reanimate, refresh, bring back, reestablish, rally and to perk up. Going farther, I then looked up the word "refresh" which said, invigorate, stimulate, renew, recharge, re-create.
Our discussion began by recognizing that as intercessors, it is very important that we take time to get refreshed as well. Often prayer needs take time, warfare, fasting, resisting. There are seasons that you feel that you need to "press through". Sometimes our hearts are so filled with the desire to pray (often for others more than even ourselves) that we neglect the importance and benefits of rest. I am not saying that you need to stop praying - we are to pray without ceasing. But there is an aspect of prayer that speaks no words; it simply listens. It is when we stop doing the talking and get to the place where we hear what God wants to speak.
It is a time when we draw close to God and allow him to "minster to us". A time to be still and know that He is God. Think how many times throughout the day, weeks, months, even years that you spend ministering to other peoples needs and praying for their needs, or you spend ministering to God by pouring forth your adoration and praise. A challenging questions needs to be posed to every Christian: When is the last time you just sat and allowed God to minister to you? When is the last time you sat in His presence and said absolutely nothing and waited for him to speak comfort, truth, and refreshment to you?
Jesus set examples for us to follow on several occasions where he went off alone to pray. He needed to be with the Father to hear what the Father had to say and to be refreshed, to be comforted, and to even have reassurance as he asked the father to take the cup. Jesus was ministered to by the Father. We need to be ministered to as well.
Take time today to get off to a quite place with God and wait for him to minister refreshment back to your spirit, then arise and continue on. Taking time out for "you" to be ministered to will actually cause you to become stronger so that you can continue to run the race!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
He Touched My Mind
I love that song, "Look What the Lord Has Done"! He truly has touched my mind so many times and continues to do so as I wash it with His Word. Learning to take every thought captive is quite a discipline and takes a willingness on our end to see and think of things differently. Our heightened emotions must become completely surrendered to His Word.
The last two nights I have found to be great reminders of the deliverance that God has brought into my life. For most of my life, I was terrified of thunder storms. At the sound of them I would flee to my basement and rock back and forth in self comfort. Just seeing the clouds roll in would begin the tormenting process of my mind.
Right after I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior, this was one of the first areas that God touched in my mind as he taught me the power of His word and taught me how to trust in Him. It began with the usual trip to the basement, but with my Bible in my hand. I would sit there in the midst of the thunderous sounds reading the Word of God out loud. The next time, not only would I read the Word out loud, but I also started to pray out loud the Truths that I knew. Little by little I saw and received the comfort and deliverance of the Lord. After a couple of seasons of summertime storms, I no longer ran for the basement, but was able to stay upstairs. Today I can even look at them with amazement from my window as I stand in awe of God's great display of power.
This morning I am reminded of the very Word that taught me the discipline needed to bring deliverance to my mind. It is found in Philippians 4:6-9 and it says this, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."
God doesn't take the storms of life away, but he can change how we respond to them. He is the peace in the midst of the storm. Surrender your anxious thoughts to God and allow him to touch your mind.
The last two nights I have found to be great reminders of the deliverance that God has brought into my life. For most of my life, I was terrified of thunder storms. At the sound of them I would flee to my basement and rock back and forth in self comfort. Just seeing the clouds roll in would begin the tormenting process of my mind.
Right after I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior, this was one of the first areas that God touched in my mind as he taught me the power of His word and taught me how to trust in Him. It began with the usual trip to the basement, but with my Bible in my hand. I would sit there in the midst of the thunderous sounds reading the Word of God out loud. The next time, not only would I read the Word out loud, but I also started to pray out loud the Truths that I knew. Little by little I saw and received the comfort and deliverance of the Lord. After a couple of seasons of summertime storms, I no longer ran for the basement, but was able to stay upstairs. Today I can even look at them with amazement from my window as I stand in awe of God's great display of power.
This morning I am reminded of the very Word that taught me the discipline needed to bring deliverance to my mind. It is found in Philippians 4:6-9 and it says this, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."
God doesn't take the storms of life away, but he can change how we respond to them. He is the peace in the midst of the storm. Surrender your anxious thoughts to God and allow him to touch your mind.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
O Sovereign Lord
I have been studying Ezekiel chapter 37. Spending time breaking it down, asking myself questions, noting the stages that things happen, pondering the power of the prophetic word. Often I try to put myself in someones shoes. What did Ezekiel see? What did he think? How did he respond? These are just a few of the questions that come to mind as I sit back to reflect what it must have been like to witness a valley of dry bones come back to life.
The first thing that captured my attention was a conversation that Ezekiel had with the Lord. In verse 3 it says, "He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know." Right in this one little verse life lessons are found.
God often challenges us by posing a question. We see it here with Ezekiel and we see it again in Isaiah 6 when God says "Who will go?". The answer to the challenging questions is what reflects who we trust, what we believe, our willingness to obey, and our level of faithfulness.
Ezekiel's response also brings us a valuable lesson as he says, "O Sovereign Lord". The definition of Sovereign is "one having supreme power". Supreme means the "highest or the utmost". Ezekiel recognized who God truly was. In other words he was saying, "You have supreme power Lord" or "you have the utmost power Lord". Recognizing and believing that God can do ANYTHING puts him and keeps him in the rightful place! If we walk in this kind of faith, I do not believe that trust would be an issue for any of us!
The second part of Ezekiel's response was, "You alone know". We must come to grips with the reality that God's ways are higher than ours and, try as we may, that we will NEVER be able to figure God out! His response was so quick, so certain. If God posed that question to me, I may possibly have spent several weeks, months, or years trying to figure out how this could all really happen before I came to terms to walk by faith and not by sight. There is no need for us to strive to figure out God; the rest comes in trusting God.
Today let our response be "O Sovereign Lord" as we walk believing that he alone has the supreme power to do what he sees needs to be done.
The first thing that captured my attention was a conversation that Ezekiel had with the Lord. In verse 3 it says, "He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know." Right in this one little verse life lessons are found.
God often challenges us by posing a question. We see it here with Ezekiel and we see it again in Isaiah 6 when God says "Who will go?". The answer to the challenging questions is what reflects who we trust, what we believe, our willingness to obey, and our level of faithfulness.
Ezekiel's response also brings us a valuable lesson as he says, "O Sovereign Lord". The definition of Sovereign is "one having supreme power". Supreme means the "highest or the utmost". Ezekiel recognized who God truly was. In other words he was saying, "You have supreme power Lord" or "you have the utmost power Lord". Recognizing and believing that God can do ANYTHING puts him and keeps him in the rightful place! If we walk in this kind of faith, I do not believe that trust would be an issue for any of us!
The second part of Ezekiel's response was, "You alone know". We must come to grips with the reality that God's ways are higher than ours and, try as we may, that we will NEVER be able to figure God out! His response was so quick, so certain. If God posed that question to me, I may possibly have spent several weeks, months, or years trying to figure out how this could all really happen before I came to terms to walk by faith and not by sight. There is no need for us to strive to figure out God; the rest comes in trusting God.
Today let our response be "O Sovereign Lord" as we walk believing that he alone has the supreme power to do what he sees needs to be done.
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