Jesus asks "What do you want Me to do for you?" (Mark 10:36,51). In two
separate occasions, people approached Jesus to ask of Him in Mark
10:35-52.
"... how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:11b NKJV).
Daddy
God longs to give good things to you; provisions, spiritual and
emotional wholeness, health. All we need do is ask of Him what will
please His heart to give, simply because He grants good gifts for us to
grow in His glory; according to how we ought to be in Him.
In
Mark 10, James and John asked to sit at the left and right of Jesus but
to which He replied that it is not for Him to grant but by the Father.
But in verse 46-52, a blind man comes to Jesus and was healed. Not only
by God but also by his own faith.
Ask the Father for what would
please His heart to give and exercise faith. It pleases Him to give you
good gifts. Keep asking because, God loves you.
"...
God is faithful... For the Son of God, Jesus Christ... was not "Yes"
and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes." For no matter how many
promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the
"Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 1:18-20 NIV).
Has the Lord given you a promise? As I read this morning, I
sensed from the Lord His reminder that nothing that the Lord spoken will
not come to pass i.e. what He says He will do He will do. So trust in
Him. If in Samuel, what the Lord spoke of Eli's house, who displeasured
Him, came to pass, let alone His good promises that He gives you. He
will bring it to pass. Hold on to His promises. The loving Father God
has good plans and promises for you and me.
I have been ministered by this and it just blows my mind just thinking about it.
Do take some time to read it, whether you believe in God or not, to just understand how amazing the world we live in is:
Adapted from “Loved Like Never Before” by Ken Symington
Sun: If earth was just 5% closer to the sun, the oceans would boil and waters evaporate; if it were 5% further away, the oceans would freeze
Oceans: If the ocean were half the size, we would get 25% of our present rainfall; if it were only 1/8 larger, the annual rainfall would increase 400%, turning our planet into an uninhabitable swamp
Water: The earth’s oceans have salt in them enough to prevent the world from being encased in ice.
Earth: The earth travels around the sun, giving us day and night; otherwise one side would have permanent light and the other side permanent darkness, and nothing could grow.
Earth’s Rotation: If the rotation was much slower than it is, our days would be unbearably hot and our nights freezing cold.
Moon: The moon’s size and thus its gravitational pull, in tandem with its distance from the earth, slows the earth’s spin down to liveable speed that permits life
Earth’s Distance: The earth’s distance from the sun is 400 times the earth’s distance from the moon and the sun is 400 times the diameter of the moon; thus the sun and moon appear to be about the same size when viewed from the earth and this “coincidence” enable us to occasionally see total eclipse of the sun
Jupiter: Positioned as a sort of meteorite vacuum cleaner; great protector where its strong gravitational pull draws toward itself meteorites that would otherwise damage or destroy earth.
Earth’s Gravitational Pull: If earth was significantly smaller, gravity will be lesser and would not be capable of holding the atmosphere that is essential for breathing and also will not be able to protect us from the 25,000 meteors that burn up in the atmosphere over this planet every day; if the planet was twice as large, everything will weight eight times what it weighs today
Fish: God can choose to fill the seas with one species of fish, say mackerel (look good, taste good and very easy to catch), but He chose the extravagant option and filled it with dolphins, whales, cod, halibut, marlin, wrasse, moray, eels, manta ray etc; 1,500 species of fish
Animals: God can choose to fill the earth with one species of animal, say rabbit (cuddly, cute), but He chose the extravagant option and filled it with lions, giraffes, sheep, tigers, horses, camels, dogs, cats, elephants, buffalo, cows, anteaters, monkeys etc; 167 species in Africa alone.
Birds: God can choose to bless the earth with one species of bird, say sparrows, but He chose the extravagant option and filled it with pelicans, eagles, canaries, ducks, ospreys, hummingbirds, swans, finches, rainbow lorikeets, king parrots, peacocks etc; almost 9000 species of birds.
Trees: God can choose to bless the earth with one species of tree, say magnificent oak (tall, strong and superb for building with), but He chose the extravagant option and filled it with orange, apple, silver birch, gum, giant redwood etc; an estimate of 100,000 species of trees planted.
Flowers: God could have created flowers and gave a nice shade of yellow, but He chose the extravagant option of giving us a estimated quarter of a million different flowering plants.
Food: He gave tomatoes, bananas, potatoes, leeks, carrots, apples, garlic, chilli, sugar, lemon, thyme, salt and pepper; estimate more than 10,000 different herbs in the world.
God is extravagantly generous.
Psalm 19:1 - The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.Whatever the “statistics”, this world is an amazingly crafted world that speaks of something that is more than “coincidence”
Then, here is the part which blows my mind: “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;” (Genesis 1:26a)
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2: 7)
God did not ask “mother earth” to breathe life into His offspring nor did He ask the archangels Michael or Gabriel to breath life into His offspring but He Himself.
Let’s better understand what this means.
Just as parents would prepare the nursery with nice toys, nice wallpaper, cot, mattress for a much-wanted child, so did God prepare a extravagant earth for you, His most-wanted child and He wants you back to Him.
Be it whatever the statistics, the earth is an amazingly wonderfully crafted place that speaks of the existence of a God and this has been prepared as a “nursery” for His beloved child: you.
In “Language of God”, a book by Dr Francis Collins that I read some time ago, he made the case of how DNA gave us understanding of how amazing this world is. He was the Director of the Human Genome Project which mapped human DNA, and though was an atheist, he realised how DNA was strong arguments that there is a God, Who is able to engineer something so complex and yet amazing as the human DNA.
And the bible declares this: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20, NKJV)
God makes Himself visible in the things that are all around us. Take time to think and return to Him because He is a loving Heavenly Father.
And He has provided a way for you to come back to Him, amidst all the mess we have made, amidst all the sin which separates us from the holy God.
Know what is the basic message God wants to bring to us at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCMpeLNEA30
Once you have understood and want to come back to God, you can just receive Christ right now by faith through prayer:
Prayer is talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:
"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."
If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart, then you can pray this prayer right now and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.
If you still would like to know about the Father’s love for you, see video at http://youtu.be/3GvY0X-bL_k
Now, if you have prayed the prayer and would allow God to now work in your life, share this with a close friend who is a Christian and who could help you align your life with God and help you grow in Him. It would be the best decision you can make in this life.
I remember struggling with prayer in the past when God brought me back to Him years ago. I always remember freezing whenever I was asked to pray because I am not sure about being able to spew out nice sounding "holy" words that could last me beyond just a few seconds. But then God reminded me about prayer in Matthew 6 where He highlighted some things that He does NOT look for in a prayer:
Pray to be seen by others so that one will be seen as righteous (v5)
Praying long meaningless prayers so others can hear them and be seen as righteous (v7)
It was a matter of the heart when it comes to prayer. And the bible warns "do not be like them". From then on, it corrected my perspective of prayer. Just as we sing to an audience of One when we have praise and worship, so do we pray to the audience of One, when we pray.
As I did my quiet time this morning, I am reminded about prayer again.
The Necessary Prayer that Speaks Volume
Matt 6 teaches us about prayer. Twice in Matt 6, the word of God reminds us that God knows what we need (v8, 32). But even though so, the bible goes on to teach us about prayer; a prayer that, when spoken from the right heart, speaks volume. Jesus says "This, then, is how you should pray":
"Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name" (v9) speaks and reminds us of respect and honor for a great and Almighty God in our lives.
"Your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven" (v10) speaks of submission and surrender of our lives to God, that His will be done.
"Give us today our daily bread" (v11) speaks of supplication to the Lord because He knows what we need and provides.
"And forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors" (v12) speaks not only of asking God for forgiveness for the times we grieved Him but also the commitment to forgive others as the Lord forgives us.
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (v13) speaks of the need to be guided by the Lord in our lives.
The Litmus Test
Where are you in your prayer life today?
Do you come to the Almighty God with your prayers?
Do you trust God enough to come back to Him to commit it and lift it up to Him to handle; a God "who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" (Eph 3:20a)
Do you come with the right heart?
"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land".(2 Chronicles 7:14)
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matt 6:33).
The time has come again when we are reminded of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and what He did for us.
And as I ponder on the reason for the season, I would never fail to remember a meaningful story I once read, I am the Cross, about the pain that Jesus bore for me.
This year, at staff chapel earlier, I am again reminded of the pain that Jesus bear, but this time, not only on the cross but when the pain starts being unbearable at the Garden of Gethsemane.
Matthew 26
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Someone was sharing in chapel from an article written by Max Lucado, The Passion, the Pain and the Promise, and I have come to realise how how Jesus loved us and how the battle for our lives between God and Satan was won, not on Calvary, but at the Garden itself, when Jesus painstakingly make the decision to die on the cross even, this even though when He could have walked away.
... History records it as the battle of the Jews against Jesus. It wasn’t. It was a battle of God against Satan...
... And Jesus knew it. Jesus knew that before the war was over, he would be taken captive. He knew that before victory would come defeat. He knew that before the throne would come the cup. He knew that before the light of Sunday would come the blackness of Friday. And he is afraid...
... It will be the last time he sees them (His disciples) before they abandon him. He knows what they will do when the soldiers come. He knows their betrayal is only minutes away. But he doesn’t accuse. He doesn’t lecture. Instead, he prays. His last moments with his disciples are in prayer..
... It’s worth noting that Jesus chose prayer. He chose to pray for us...
... You need to note that in this final prayer, Jesus prayed for you....
... “I am also praying for all people who believe in me because of the teaching.” (John 17)...
... As Jesus stepped into the garden, you were in his prayer...
... His humanity begged to be delivered from what his divinity could see...
... we do know he asked to get out. We do know he begged for an exit. We do know there was a time when if he could have, he would have turned his head back on the whole mess and gone away. But he couldn’t.
He couldn’t because he saw you. Right there in the middle of a world which isn’t fair. He saw you cast into a river of life which you didn’t request. He saw you betrayed by those you love. He saw with a body which gets sick and a heart that grows weak. He saw you in your own garden of gnarled trees and sleeping friends. He saw you staring into the pit of your own failures and the mouth of your own grave. He saw you in your Garden of Gethsemane—and he didn’t want you to be alone. He wanted you to know that he has been there, too. He knows what it’s like to be plotted against. He knows what it’s like to be confused. He knows what it’s like to be torn between two desires. He knows what it’s like to smell the stench of Satan. And, perhaps most of all, he knows what it’s like to beg God to change his mind and to hear God say so gently, but firmly, “No.” For that is what God said to Jesus. And Jesus accepts the answer....
... The battle is won. You may have thought it was won on Golgotha. It wasn’t. The final battle was won in Gethsemane...
... For it was in the garden that he made his decision. He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you.
This is the love of Christ, the love of God, for you and for me...
I like one of the songs which expresses this in its wonderful simplicity; that He is above all but He chose death and thought of us above all...
ABOVE ALL
Above all powers
Above all kings
Above all nature
And all created things
Above all wisdom
And all the ways of man
You were here
Before the world began
Above all kingdoms
Above all thrones
Above all wonders
The world has ever known
Above all wealth
And treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure
What You're worth
Chorus:
Crucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all
One of the songs sang during cell last week captivated me and may we never lose the wonder of the cross; remembering the meaning of the cross not only on Good Friday and Easter but every day of our lives:
It’s nearly midnight when they leave the upper room and descend through the streets of the city. They pass the Lower Pool and exit the Fountain Gate and walk out of Jerusalem. The roads are lined with the fires and tents of Passover pilgrims. Most are asleep, heavied with the evening meal. Those still awake think little of the band of men walking the chalky road.
They pass through the valley and ascend the path which will take them to Gethsemane. The road is steep so they stop to rest. Somewhere within the city walls the twelfth apostle darts down a street. His feet have been washed by the man he will betray. His heart has been claimed by the Evil One he has heard. He runs to find Caiaphas.
The final encounter of the battle has begun.
As Jesus looks at the city of Jerusalem, he sees what the disciples can’t. It is here, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, that the battle will end. He sees the staging of Satan. He sees the dashing of the demons. He sees the Evil One preparing for the final encounter. The enemy looks as a spectre over the hour. Satan, the host of hatred, has seized the heart of Judas and whispered in the ear of Caiaphas. Satan, the master of death, has opened the caverns and prepared to receive the source of light.
Hell is breaking loose.
History records it as the battle of the Jews against Jesus. It wasn’t. It was a battle of God against Satan.
And Jesus knew it. Jesus knew that before the war was over, he would be taken captive. He knew that before victory would come defeat. He knew that before the throne would come the cup. He knew that before the light of Sunday would come the blackness of Friday.
And he is afraid.
He turns and begins the final ascent into the garden. When he reaches the entry he stops and turns his eyes toward his circle of friends. It will be the last time he sees them before they abandon him. He knows what they will do when the soldiers come. He knows their betrayal is only minutes away.
But he doesn’t accuse. He doesn’t lecture. Instead, he prays. His last moments with his disciples are in prayer. And the words he speaks are as eternal as the stars which hear them.
Imagine, for a moment, yourself in this situation. Your final hour with a son about to be sent overseas. Your last moments with your dying spouse. One last visit with your parent. What do you say? What do you do? What words do you choose?
It’s worth noting that Jesus chose prayer. He chose to pray for us. “I pray for these men. But I am also praying for all people who will believe in me because of the teaching of these men. Father, I pray that all people who believe in me can be one . . . I pray that these people can also be one in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.”
You need to note that in this final prayer, Jesus prayed for you. You need to underline in red and highlight in yellow his love: “I am also praying for all people who believe in me because of the teaching.” That is you. As Jesus stepped into the garden, you were in his prayer.
As Jesus looked into heaven, you were in his vision. As Jesus dreamed of the day when we will be where he is, he saw you there. His final prayer was about you. His final pain was for you. His final passion was you. He then turns, steps into the garden, and invites Peter, James, and John to come. He tells them his soul is “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” and begins to pray. Never has he felt so alone. What must be done, only can he do. An angel can’t do it. No angel has the power to break open hell’s gates. A man can’t do it. No man has the purity to destroy sin’s claim. No force on earth can face the force of evil and win—except God. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” Jesus confesses. His humanity begged to be delivered from what his divinity could see. Jesus, the carpenter, implores. Jesus, the man, peers into the dark pit and begs, “Can’t there be another way?”
Did he know the answer before he asked the question? Did his human heart hope his heavenly father had found another way? We don’t know. But we do know he asked to get out. We do know he begged for an exit. We do know there was a time when if he could have, he would have turned his head back on the whole mess and gone away. But he couldn’t.
He couldn’t because he saw you. Right there in the middle of a world which isn’t fair. He saw you cast into a river of life which you didn’t request. He saw you betrayed by those you love. He saw with a body which gets sick and a heart that grows weak. He saw you in your own garden of gnarled trees and sleeping friends. He saw you staring into the pit of your own failures and the mouth of your own grave. He saw you in your Garden of Gethsemane—and he didn’t want you to be alone. He wanted you to know that he has been there, too. He knows what it’s like to be plotted against. He knows what it’s like to be confused. He knows what it’s like to be torn between two desires. He knows what it’s like to smell the stench of Satan. And, perhaps most of all, he knows what it’s like to beg God to change his mind and to hear God say so gently, but firmly, “No.” For that is what God said to Jesus. And Jesus accepts the answer.
At some moment during that midnight hour an angel of mercy comes over the weary body of the man in the garden. As he stands, the anguish is gone from his eyes. His fist will clench no more. His heart will fight no more. The battle is won. You may have thought it was won on Golgotha. It wasn’t. The final battle was won in Gethsemane. And the sign of conquest is Jesus at peace in the olive trees. For it was in the garden that he made his decision. He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you.
Praying In Need May you be blessed by this reading today. Are you in need today? Are you willing to open your life to God's amazing grace today and to the community of believers where we can experience God's unconditional love and grace together?
Suggested Bible Reading
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
-James 5:13-18 (NRSV)
Today's Scripture
Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
-James 5:14 (NRSV)
SOME years ago, our congregation began offering anointing with oil and prayers for healing for those in our community. At first people were hesitant to ask for prayer or to come forward to receive anointing for physical, emotional, or relational scars. But in time these healing services became very important to our congregation. Now it is not uncommon for dozens of people to seek healing and prayer.
We easily forget that all of us are broken people. Each of us has needs that may require God's healing touch or the support of a caring community. Indeed, great things happen when we open our lives to God's amazing grace. Consider your life today. Where are you in need? What prayers for yourself, your family, or for others do you need to offer?
Christianity is not a solitary faith for only the strong but a bond that calls us to pray for one another in our infirmities and our need. And often, in our weakness, we discover the strength of God.
Todd Outcalt (Indiana, USA)
Prayer Dear Lord, make us instruments of your peace and healing. Where we are weak, make us strong. Where we are wounded, heal us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
SP shared about prayers on last Sunday. The last kind of prayer is intercessory and do you know it is one of the most powerful prayers believers can ever experienced in their spiritual life? I sign up for Intercessors Network Ministry on last Sunday (last day of 21 days of prayers). Actually at that time I felt its a special prompting I feel God is putting into my heart. I saw the booth many times in church past few weeks but did not sign up till then. I did not know it is the last day of sign up initially. What makes me decide to sign up?
Actually through the 21 days of prayer,I do felt I have certain experiences of breakthrough. I felt God had birth forth a deeper hunger and longing for God in my heart. But my prayer life is still not every stronger. I hope through this ministry it can motivate me towards a stronger prayer life and inner man. I hope to know more about prayer, what prayer is really about? how to pray and how to pray more effectively? From what I have know so far, this is very important. If I myself know it is very important, I will wanna to focus on it and be committed to such growth, so I see the importance of such an intercessory ministry to help me grow closer with the lord in prayer. So I am thankful to God for another step of obedience to walk with him through focused prayers.
After the sign up, I had my first experience of the first Intercessory Prayer Meeting by the ministry in Church. I had the experience of much faith filled prayers. All are free to pray and worship in spirit and in truth. Some of the fellow intercessors also weep when they prayed. I was so touched in my spirit. I began to see the meaning of weeping prophet e.g. Jeremiah. The intercessors are so in touch with God that they feel how God feel, they prayed with full emotions and their whole being is so engaged with the prayers. Something that really shake and moves my heart is when 2 young ladies (about 17 to 18 years) share their burdens for the younger generations in the present day, they felt very sad about the lifestyle of the youths they see around them, many are living in ways less than pleasing, in impurity and immorality, they have the heart and desire to make a difference as Christians in their life however it may seems so tough. They prayed till point of tears. I also teared as I hear their prayers and the cry of their heart. The young generation need God's love to fill their heart but the sad reality is that family of the present age is under serious attack, many young people have not been able to experience love at home therefore they turn to various sources in life for love and satisfaction: sex, drugs, internet, computer games for a sense of connection but yet they are so disconnected in reality. There is a deep longing and yearning within these young souls for unconditional love and acceptance. We need to redeem the sacredness and uphold the importance of family as the basic unit. Actually through this prayer and heart cries of the 2 young ladies, I kinda felt burdened for the youths. How can we reach the youth with the love of Christ? We know many are lost and they need the love of Jesus to really filled this void in their life. It is also sad to see them living in immorality and impurity, some of them are even devoid of respect for other elderly people, who is there to teach and guide them? Family upbringing? From my personal experience, some years back I had lived in ways that is wilful, dishonoring to God and I know it is not right. This was in the past but by God's grace I am reconciled with the Lord and in the restoration process. I hope through this experience maybe God can use it to bring back some of those younger ones who had strayed away from you and back to you again. These lives belong to God, no one else can meddle! However as much as the burden I had, I really wanna to set apart my heart to be right before God (even before embarking on any area of ministry) first therefore I will settle for my H&W first that I can be healed first so that I can really be a blessing as I serve him in ministry he had called. At the mean time, I will also take time to seek God for what we can do as a church and body of Christ to respond to the heart cries of the youths and any visions and direction for the prayer ministry.
I also felt these words birth forth in my heart towards the end as we are praying for parents and the youth generation of today and their relationship: "He will (L)restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and (M)smite the land with a curse." Malachi 4:6 God had assured us he will restore relationships in the family. It is the purpose in his heart, it does not delight God at all to strike the land with a curse. God wanna to see reconciliation and restoration of relationships in our life. What is our response to what God had assured? Most important, it is also important we need to be reconcile to God, our first love.
We finished the 21 days of prayers on 21 March. So many things I have heard from the Lord during this period even up till now, I felt God is still in the midst of giving me revelation and understanding about issues in my life and directions. I am really thankful for this journey, how God had breakthrough in my life. I am really amazed by God's work in my life, his grace and courage uplifting my spirit. I just wanna to share the areas God had moved my heart in this period(actually the 21 days of prayer is just the beginning of the breakthrough I am beginning to see in my life):
The assurance of God's peace and strength to close the last chapter of an important relationship in my life even in the midst of deep emotions within my heart. In fact it is a very painful process I undergo as I choose to end this chapter of my life under such circumstances especially for me as a person with such strong cravings for family. But I have come to a point when I realized ending this chapter is very important for me, I felt peace even though emotionally it may not have been easy. God tells me it is the time to let go and move on from this painful past. I felt the peace to let go of this past pain and guilt I have been going through in these past 3 years. God still has his assurance and promise for me. What has happened in the past is only the work of the flesh. But something greater will happen. I will witness God's powerful work of the spirit in my life, something that I have never experienced before in my life where I will experience unprecedented faith and fruitfulness in the Lord. Lord open up my heart to see greater things in my life. I choose to seek your face and obey you completely in my life. I choose to have undivided devotion and love for you. Only you shall my heart long after deeply.
"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to weep and a time to laugh,.....
a time to mourn and a time to dance,.....
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,.....
He has made everything beautiful in its time." (Ecclesiastes 3)
I also decided to go for H&W after the cell prayer session at my house on 07 Mar.
God had prepared my heart to go for the H&W now. Nothing better than God's good timing now. In fact after I send in my H&W forms, I began to feel something different in my spirit. I felt a sense of peace in my heart. That God is so good to me that he is about to start a new work in my life. It seems like I am beginning to hear from God again. Behold I am hearing from God, nothing can block the connection as I choose to yield to him and lay hold of my past, my pains and sins before him. My past and sins had no hold on me anymore. Within 2 weeks I submitted the form, I heard from church on the H&W session they had arranged for me. I managed to know who my counsellor is, I thought her name is very familiar but I had no recollections who she is. Actually I saw her on the day I submitted the form which is also one of the prayer meeting I came for. Then I saw my counsellor on few days ago at the church Intercessors prayer meeting. I didnt know she is the one. I went for prayer for my family situations and struggles. She is the one who prayed for me. At that time, when she prayed for me, I suddenly felt she could be my counsellor (the name and person kinda matched). It is also amazing she is the one who prayed for me. It is confirmed when Pastor called her name later. I am thankful God kinda prepared my heart to meet my counsellor first before I formally meet her in the H&W session.
I remember on 7 March, I saw the advertisement at Pasir Ris Mrt Station with this renown quote: Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising up whenever we fall. What a rhema word for me from God! I felt God is telling me to rise up where I have fallen in the area of relationship. God is ready to redeem me and the painful past I went through. Who is the one who restore? Who is the one who give us strength to rise up from where we have fallen? Is not it God? God is willing to to restore us back to where we had been. But are we willing to take that step of faith with the Lord? Are we willing to trust the Lord? Just that leap of faith?
I felt the assurance of God's promises and provision in my life. Something different has happened now. I have chosen to lay hold of God in my life. I will trust him wholeheartedly (not just my mind alone but my heart totally) with unwavering faith, God shall be the desires of my heart. I will cry out to God and he will hear me and answer me. God will prove that he is so faithful to deliver his promises. God will never shortchange us if we commit in our heart to trust him. God will be my deliverer forever!
From my readings from Breakthrough Prayers, the painful past and story of a young lady touches my heart deeply. I see how God is so gracious to a broken young women from Haiti. God's power and love can heal us in places only he can touch. God wanna me to know that his answers are always worth waiting for. I need to keep holding onto the Lord today no matter how I feel, no matter how bad things get.
I am also assured so much by God's love and forgiveness in the 21 days of prayers, I received these verses and stories released to my heart:
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you! (Isaiah 49:15) God has not forgotten me!
Luke 7:36-50 (The sinful woman actually adores Jesus so much that she is willing to give all of her to Jesus, far beyond his disciples and other people do for Jesus. I recognize this require faith, and she knows Jesus right in her heart)
John 4&8: Referring to reaction of Jesus when he saw them, Jesus loves them.
"You shall no longer be called the abandoned. You shall be called beloved. This is a special word that Pastor Betty released on 03 Mar during the prayer meeting, also my actual birthday. Thanks God for giving me this special day when I can choose to consecrate my life once again to God. In fact I feel in my spirit that the breakthrough had progressive started since from onset of 21 days of prayers as we prepared our hearts and being to pray.
Indeed I am really thankful for this 21 days of prayers, I felt a transformation in my life that words may not be able to fully express it. Not only it had empowered me to heighten my faith and trust in the Lord. In the midst of uncertainty about life and things around me, I felt the constant assurance & reassurance of God's peace in my life. I realized such a deep longing for the Lord within me. Therefore I am determined to walk right with God daily, nothing is better than living a life of obedience and abiding in him wholeheartedly in which ever area of life.
Philippains 4:13 (NIV) I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Mark 10: 27 (NIV) Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
God’s Timing & Plans
I recall a year ago when I was doing cell planning for 2009 and I remember putting down, as one of the goals for the cell, that our cell would take up a mission trip together. Frankly, at that time, I wasn’t much hopeful that this would happen but nonetheless, I remember telling myself it is a good goal to work towards anyway and I do long to be able to anchor a mission trip together with my cell.
The pre-trip preparation was somewhat nerve-wrecking because we did not know what to expect. With only 2 out of the 6 trippers having experience with mission, and with less than two weeks left to the trip following the missions briefing, we started off feeling lost and not knowing what to do. And the thought of 6 of us setting foot onto unfamiliar grounds and meeting people we have yet to meet was enough to bring about much anxiety for me.
Spiritual Warfare
I recall the few weeks prior to the trip, the team started to meet with lots of challenges. For me, I was suddenly entering into the peak period of my work and there was a sudden increase in stress at work, so much so I wasn’t sleeping well at night and was even getting worried about going to work. Soon, I also learnt that my dad was not feeling well and was developing high fever and we had to rush him to the Accidents and Emergency and was warded for pneumonia. Along the way to A&E, my mum also got injured when she tried to get into the taxi and she accidentally knocked her face against the corner of the door. But thank God she is OK. Soon, I also came down with a bad case of flu which plagued me for days up till the eve of the trip. On my way back from the doctor’s, I had also suffered a rather deep cut on my finger as I dug for the key to my house. Things came to a point where I was so overwhelmed by stress at work, at having to deal with my father’s hospitalization, my illness and preparing for the mission trip, that I began to wonder how I am going to cope with it all. I remember turning to God and praying for Him to help me.
One night, I remember being rudely awakened by a nightmare which seemed so real. I had dreamt of a little girl but there is this evilness that I can sense in her and she held on tightly to my arm and threatened me to forsake God. I woke up in cold sweat and panting. This was the first time I had experienced something like this and as I laid there gasping, I could feel a physical pain where the girl had held on to me. The nightmare had been so real that fear began to grip me and I had to do something. I remember bringing out my bible and started to read and meditate on Psalm 23. Soon after, I felt the peace of God returning and I was able to fall back into sleep without much problem.
By this time, I was feeling overwhelmed but the more it got difficult for me, the more I was convinced that I needed to engage in spiritual warfare and pray. I remember one of our cell members commenting in an email that the fact that we are facing so much spiritual attacks does goes to show that we are most probably on the right track. Soon, I have also learnt about my sister having to deal with exhaustion both at work and with preparing for the children’s programme for the mission and there was generally quite a bit of anxiety among the trippers and people were also falling sick, even up to the eve of the trip.
As a team, we decided to fast and pray for the trip and also engaged fellow colleagues, friends, loved ones and cell members as prayer warriors to pray along with us. We were blessed when many of them willingly agreed to pray along for us. Frankly, I felt that we would not have been able to survive the whole trip without our prayer warriors and to that we give thanks to God for; we give thanks for every single one of them. The trip went smoothly because it was bathed in prayer. Talking about the power of prayer!
The Many Willing Helping Hands
As we slowly approached the day of the mission trip, I continue to see how God continued to journey with us and blessed us. It was amazing seeing how much He has helped us to achieve within a short period of time of 12 days; amidst all the stresses and anxiety and work, we had managed to meet up to practice Malay praise and worship songs, bought all the necessary logistics and work on the props for the Sunday school. It was also amazing how God has brought people into our midst to help prepare us for the trip, including Eric and Lydia, who came to share with us their experience in previous trips and taught us Malay praise and worship songs and children action songs. We also thank God for the many cell members who have came forward to help us, including, Jeslyn, in offering her creative skills and helping us to do up the giant worship song sheets; Kent, Elly and Raymond in helping us to do up the backdrop for the skit and cut up stickers for the children. Even though it seemed like a tight deadline to have everything done up, I thank God for unity and also for joy as we went about the shopping and doing the preparations. I thank God for protecting the relationships between all the brothers and sisters and how it seemed the preparations have also brought about much bonding between the trippers.
Dealing with Anxiety
Personally, I also thank God for how he ministered to me during this period. Throughout the whole period of preparation, I can see how the team members are all so focused on doing their best to ensure the success of the trip. I do not deny that this brought with it quite a bit anxiety and stress as we thought “there are so many things to do but yet so little time”. This is especially true for me because, call it occupational hazard, I am a person who is very particular about planning as I do extensive planning to ensure success in my role at work. So by this time, I was getting all edgy with so many things to do but yet having so little time to plan. We literally had to plan as we did our preparation. But throughout the preparation phase, I sensed from God through my quiet time, how we should not focus on the wrong things and ultimately, it is not about how well the things run but it is about how both we and the people we are ministering to are blessed. Things became more crystallized when I found myself in a situation where I had to share about what God has placed on my heart, to encourage one of our trippers about this. Talking about a steep learning curve! So, it’s amazing how God has first ministered to me, and then, as if to drive the point in, caused me to minister to another.
Throughout the preparation phase, I continued to seek God to give me His word so I can encourage our trippers. So, in my quiet time, He continued to speak to me through Isaiah 40:3, Isaiah 62:10 and Isaiah 40:10 and reminded me that all we need to do is to just focused on preparing the way for Him and for His people to come to Him and how we are to continue to trust in Him that He will strengthen us and help us.
Prepare the way for Him
Isaiah 40:3 (NIV)
A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God.
Prepare the way for His people to come to Him
Isaiah 62:10 (NIV)
Pass through, pass through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway!
Remove the stones.
Raise a banner for the nations.
Continue to trust in God that He will be with us as we go forth
Isaiah 40:10 (NIV)
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
In fact, God continued to minister to me through His word and through people even throughout the trip. I recall that on the first day in Melaka, as we were doing some last minute shopping at the local shopping mall, we entered a Christian bookshop. There, my sister came up to me with a devotional book and pointed out to me how the devotional for the day and the day before was just so timely and appropriate; about not focusing on the wrong things but on worshipping God through what we do. That evening, we had a powerful time of worship, which I sensed further drove this point deep into the hearts of our trippers.
The Body of Christ; One Body Many Parts
I thank God for blessing the team with wisdom and for how each member of the team joyfully brought their giftings to bless one another. I thank God for using me and my skills in planning to put the trip together, though I have come to realize how my planning skills was of no use midway through the trip and realized I had to rely on my other members and God). I thank God for using my meticulousness in managing the mission fund. I thank God for sustaining me through His word, and as much as I was encouraged spiritually, I do hope that I had also been able to encourage the team spiritually too. I thank God for Joyce for her skills and experience in working with children and how this came in handy in planning the children’s programme for the trip as she willing offered her skills and experience. I thank God for Trina for her desire to serve, for her supportive role she played in the team; always ready to serve in any way and also the insights she brings to the team. I thank God for Chek Shih for his ability to confidently drive us around, for being the fatherly figure thus reassuring us, for his ability to translate for us, for his extrovertedness in engaging the Orang Aslis, and also for his humor in bringing much light hearted moments to the trip. I also thank God for Daniel for the joy and enthusiasm he injects to the team and for his willingness to plan out the programme and also his quick-mindedness in responding to situations. I thank God for Min Qin for her enthusiasm, joy, her support to me during the time of trip preparation, her quick-mindedness and her facilitation of the powerful time of worship on Friday evening which spoke into the hearts of the team and also in planning the worship for the trip and drafting out the mission trippers’ booklet. I also thank God for the various people He has placed to support us as well, including the many who supported us in our preparation and pray for us, including Kent, who provided me assurance when he offered to be the contact person in Singapore should my parents need help and James and Joyce Marissa who graciously agreed to help facilitate cell in my absence. God made it very clear to me how he has given each and every one of us different giftings, experiences, skills and how, when we are willing, we complement one another and can achieve much in His ministry. In fact, this was really beyond what I could have imagined because in the early stages of planning, I was still concerned how we are going to pull off the trip when I realized we only had a small team, we did not really have the time to practice worshipping in Malay with the guitar and we might not have someone who could speak Malay. But God provided and showed us that as we set forth to do His work, He provides. And as the body of Christ is willing to be a part, things are achieved.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 14, 25-27 (NIV) There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good… Now the body is not made up of one part but of many… so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
God’s Presence
I thank God for His presence with us throughout the trip, not only protecting us; granting us journey mercies, but even in ministering to us through a powerful time of worship on Friday, when the word came how we just needed to focus our attention on praising His name as we embarked on our projects starting the next day and not on anything else.
We thank God for his presence at Sungei Mering when we were caught by surprise and were asked to facilitate a children’s programme but yet without any plans. Nonetheless, we managed to pull together a whole programme and engaged the children. We just trust God and one another and sprung into action. And before we know it, we had managed to engage the children with action songs and the adults were finishing their sharing. By this point, I sensed God teaching me how I need to sometimes learn to rely on Him.
And I thank God for His presence with me on Sunday, as I stepped out to share my testimony with the Orang Asli. There was just a sense of peace and confidence as I faced the people, contrary to how I would feel when usually sharing in public and especially to a group of people I do not know. God gave me the words to speak and blessed my heart and gave me peace, that I found myself confidently sharing and even daring to interact a little with the locals as I shared.
Takeaways
I also thank God for the various takeaways I brought home with me:
Renewed Spiritual Fervor Throughout the trip, I am inspired by Pastor Joseph and his team. I have had the opportunity to chat with Pastor Joseph on Friday when we first met him. I have come to be encouraged by this man, who, despite the challenges faced in his ministry with the Orang Aslis (ranging from their indifference to disruptions from the police and authorities), he continued to hold on to his ministry for years; building rapport with the Orang Asli one by one, spanning his ministry over 17 kampungs over long distances. And yet, he has but a lean team of himself, his wife and 2 other helpers. It does make me ashamed of how I have come to lament and complain when faced with small challenges in ministry to just a small number of people, in blessed Singapore.
It was also amazing seeing Pastor Joseph’s helpers worship the Lord on Sunday. As another of my trippers has remarked: “they have nothing to gain out of their ministry but yet they are putting in so much to serve the Lord”, reaching out to people who might reject them but yet holding on. As I saw his helpers worship and one of them worshipping in tears, I come to realize how each one of them must have a story behind them, an encounter with God, which motivates and sustains them. As for me, I am reminded again as we shared our testimonies on Friday evening, that I have a story too and a rather powerful encounter with God. But because I am rarely revisiting it nowadays, I seem might be slowly forgetting about how God is so real in my life. I need to continue to remember what the Lord has done in my life and am thinking that it might be good for me to revisit my story on an annual basis during my spiritual retreat while continuing to be aware of how real God is in my life every single day.
Psalm 77:11-12 (NIV)
I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.
“One-Truth-At-A-Time”
Pastor Joseph also shared about his ministry principle of sharing one bible truth at a time to the Orang Asli. I guess it is a real reality check for me to take a step back sometimes in ministry and how sometimes packing too many truth into one sharing might not be helpful and I need to cater to varying levels of spiritual growth.
We are linked to one another to God During the trip, I had the chance to chat with Pastor Joseph and in the midst of talking, I had come to learn that he was classmates with an officer in The Salvation Army, where I work. This officer is also the same one who persisted and shared Christ with him, bringing him to Christ. Talking about a small world! And now he is here, reaching out to, ministering to and blessing many others.
Much later in the trip, I recall Chek Shih sharing how we are all part of God’s link in reaching out to His people; that we can choose to be a strong link, the weakest link or the missing link.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
Even after I returned to work from mission trip, this continue to speak strongly to me when I heard my colleagues share how one of them shared her testimony during Alpha course the week before and as a result, someone who used to be resistant to receiving Christ, was touched and chose to receive Christ that very week. My colleague had shared that the pastor who approached her mentioned that he was prompted to ask her to share her testimony and how she, despite feeling her testimony is just a simple one, was also led by the Spirit to accept the invitation to share. And after she had shared, God used her testimony to touch the life of this lady who subsequently decided to accept Christ. Nothing is impossible for God.
Beware of cultural Assumption I have come to also realized how sometimes I would bring cultural assumptions into the missions field, just as how I nearly asked a boy who was doing some colouring to use orange for skin when I realized that their cultural understand of skin colour is dark brown. And God made each and every person they way they are, despite differences in skin colour, lifestyle, habits etc. I have learnt that I needed to be mindful of my cultural assumptions I bring into missions.
Breakthroughs I thank God for the breakthroughs in trip. At the beginning of the trip, I was feeling really lousy at not being able to engage the children and retreating again into my introvertedness. But as I reached the second project site at Sungei Mering, I remember telling myself that there is nothing to lose and I just needed to trust God. I did managed to break out of my negativity and became more engaged with the locals as we sang and danced to Malay praise songs.
Similarly, I had initially also intended not to share my testimony because the Pastor was telling us on Saturday that we can choose what we wanted to share with the locals, either a testimony or a song item etc. But after hearing him share about his challenges with the Orang Asli and how he would like to bring them to a deeper level of worship of God; from worshipping God for the goodness they received, to worshipping God for His greatness, I decided to just trust God and hoped to share and encourage them. At that very moment, God placed in my heart a burden and it became far too difficult for me to say no to share.
I was glad that I took the step of faith and could sense His peace upon me as I began to share my testimony with confidence on Sunday. Even though it was just a short version of my testimony, I trust God to be able to use it mightily according to His will.
Frankly, I can go on and on… but I just want to thank God for:
journey mercies and how despite plans and project sites were changed, we did not get lost and managed to always find our way to different places.
exposure to working with children on Saturday as we observed the our Malaysian brothers and sisters engage the children and how this has helped us to prepare ourselves for our second project at Sg Mering and also for Sunday School.
blessings over the trippers’ health and there was no major health problems during the trip, with the exception of me having a breakout of rashes on my neck, which cleared up soon.
friendly locals who welcomed us
unity and bonding not only within the team but also with Pastor Joseph and his team there. There was even a time where the team spontaneously burst out singing hymns as we made our way to Sunday service.
food credits for our hotel stay and so we had got to enjoyed a good sumptuous Japanese buffet on the evening of day 2.
energy and being able to sustain through the few days despite having little sleep with all the preparation the previous nights e.g. rehearsal for skit etc.
time for fellowship and a little eating and shopping on Sunday after finishing off with Sunday service.
touching me as I worshipped the Lord in the midst of people of a different culture, even though I did not understand them. It was amazing and awesome to see people of different tongues worshipping the Lord together. And I can’t imagine how it would be like on the day of Christ’s return when people of every nation and tongue worship and praise Him.
enough funds and how there is even remaining money from our fund.
the good rest I had at the trip, being away from all my work and challenges in Singapore.
Sherlock Holmes and Watson were camping in the forest. They had gone to bed and were lying beneath the night sky. Holmes said, “Watson, look up. What do you see?”
Watson obliged and answered, “I see thousands of stars.”
“And what does that mean to you?” Holmes asked.
“I suppose it means that of all the planets in the universe, we are truly fortunate to be here on Earth. God is all-powerful and even though we may seem small and insignificant, we can live each day under God's power. In a meteorological sense, it means we’ll have a sunny day tomorrow. What does it mean to you, Holmes?”
“To me, it means someone has stolen our tent.”
"Are you a optimist or a pessimist?" Asks the facilitator this morning.
We are reminded, from scriptures and from our life experiences and also the life experiences of others, that as Christians, the difference is life is not that we have a trial-free life but we have a God-filled life; a life we know where the presence of God will help us weather through the storms whenever it comes.
We are reminded from Romans 8:28-39 that:
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose... If God is for us, who can be against us?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
In the story of Daniel, we see how others had meant harm for him. As a result, he was thrown into a lion's den. Miraculously, he survived the ordeal and responded to the King the next day
Daniel 6:21-22 (NIV) Daniel answered, "O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.
As a result, Daniel was saved and God was glorified as the King issued a decree:
Daniel 6:26-27 (NIV) "I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. "For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.
He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions."
What do you do when you face a difficult moment? Do you remember what He has done in your life and what He has done in the lives of many? Will you trust in the Lord and hold on to His hope? Do you fear and revere the Lord to be found "innocent in His sight"?
When the Lord reigns, all will be well.
Psalm 63 A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
9 They who seek my life will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God's name will praise him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.
