Thursday, January 14, 2010

Becoming a Prayer Warrior


Location: The apartment in Sighisoara, 12:30pm on the 14th of January.

A couple of years ago, I asked God to make me a prayer warrior, and He has been training me ever since. Below is something He showed me a few months ago, and I typed it into words and sentences yesterday for some friends of mine; I thought some of you might also find it helpful.

Though this seems like a lot, I have found that praying daily about the items below strengthens my body, mind, spirit, and prayer life. These words can and should be said differently, from the heart, but the ideas provide a guide to keep us focused in our prayers. Compare all of this with the Bible, and encourage others to pray according to the instructions of Scripture. May You be blessed, and may the Name of Jesus be praised!

May God's will be done.
~Ask for our Father's will to be done in our prayer time.
~Ask for our Father's will to be done in our life.
~Ask for our Father's will to be done in our day.
~Ask for our Father's will to be done in the Church, the Body of Christ.

I surrender my whole self to God.
~I will praise and serve You, Father whether or not I am healthy.
~Father, my body is temple of Your Holy Spirit, may it function according to Your holy design.
~Please protect (this part of the body) from (this danger or disease, etc.)...
~I also give You all my money, my possessions, my time, my plans and my future.
~I give You my strength, my reputation, my dreams, my desires and my needs.
~I will let You satisfy me.
~I give You my loved ones, my marriage, and my spouse.
~I give You the baggage I carry, my fears, my pride, and anything else that might distract me.

Confession
~Father, these are unconfessed sins in my memory...
~Father, I also confess these ungodly thoughts and fleshly desires...
~Father, I have been tempted in these ways lately...; please, keep me from falling to temptation.

Again today, I recommit myself wholly to You, God!
~Father, again today I choose to take up my cross and follow Jesus.
~Today, I will live as a new man, forgiven and renewed by You--the man You created me to be!
~Lord, I choose today to walk in Your ways, the only Way.
~Jesus, today and everyday I will give you the first place in everything!

Looking at the day ahead...
~Abba, I put this new day completely in Your Hands.
~May Your plans be fulfilled, not mine or someone else's.
~May You get all the glory, not me or anyone else.
~Father, You have given me the ability to work; thank you for the gift and privilege of work.
~May I complete the work you prepared for me today, the work for my hands, the work for my head.
~Lord, let my every thought, word, and action be Yours today.
~Father, I pray about today's weather. Let the weather bring Your Name glory today.

What do I need?
~God, You know my needs better than I. However, as far as I can tell these are my needs...
~Father, these are my spiritual needs...; I trust You to meet them.
~Father, these are my physical needs, including food and shelter for today, protection, etc...
~I thank You in advance for Your provision.
~Please let the fruit of Your Spirit be manifest in me today; let me display Your
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
~Father, please raise up prayer support for me; please call more men and women to pray for me.

Preparing for Battle
~Lord, in the Name of Jesus, I resist the Enemy, the Evil One, and He must flee far from me.
~I ask that You not let me fall into the hands of the Evil One; I will not give him a foothold!
~I pray against the Enemy's strongholds; I will march against them to destroy them, particularly...
~I will cast out demons in Your Name, Jesus; may they flee before me.
~Instead of any evil or unrighteousness or sin, let me be filled completely with Your Gospel.

I cannot thank You enough!
~Abba, I thank You for the many blessings of yesterday and in the past, especially for...
~Father, thank You for the blessings of today, already and yet to come!
~Abba, thank You in advance for the blessings You will give me tomorrow and the days to come.
~How I thank You for the recent special blessings You gave me, for instance...!
~Father, I also want to thank You for the mundane blessings that I tend to overlook, such as...

Father, please do not let me take You for granted!
~Especially today, do not let me take Your presence for granted.
~Have I been taking Your grace, Your forgiveness, or Your love for granted?
~How about Your holiness, Your beauty, or Your power?
~Maybe Jesus will return today, I might die! Do I take it for granted that tomorrow will come?
~Am I forgetting to be aware of spiritual warfare, of spiritual battles that affect my life?
~Please do not let me take for granted the resources and abilities You have given me.
~I do not want to assume that the plans, projects, and activities I am doing are Yours--are they?
~Am I forgetting to look at the problems and limits around me from Your perspective?
~Do I take for granted that You will meet my needs, without even asking You?
~Have I taken for granted the blessings You give, or have I thanked You properly?
~Do I assume that the status quo can never change?
~Have I taken for granted my calling, or am I approaching this day with it in mind?
~Is there anything else I am taking for granted, anything else I need to pay more attention to?
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A Rose From Home

A Rose From Home

My Story (As prepared for my church congregation this spring--2009)


I have a story to tell you. I am the main character, but the story is not about me. I have traveled several parts of the world, but my adventure has been closer to home. I am twenty-six years old. My story begins like many of yours…

I grew up going to church. I had been born into a family who labeled themselves “Christian,” in a country that labels itself “Christian.” Every Sunday found me attending a worship service and Sunday school in a mainline denomination church. I served as an acolyte, attended Vacation Bible School, helped my dad count and record the offering money, sang in the youth choir, was a leader in the youth group, and occasionally served as liturgist. Baptized as an infant, I was confirmed at the age of twelve, thus becoming an “official” member of the church. Then, hurt by the church, my family left to find another.

Have you ever been hurt by the Church?

After months of searching, we settled into a very large independent church. Things were different there, and I was quickly welcomed and at home among new friends that truly had a passion for Jesus. The Word of God was taught boldly from the pulpit, and I was introduced to a missions-aware lifestyle. So it was with regret that I said goodbye only a couple of years later to move with my family to another church. I purposely remained aloof, not wanting to make new friendships before I left for college a year later. Besides, I was loosing my faith—or so I thought—and I didn’t want anyone to know. I was asking scary questions like “Is there really a God?” and, if so, “Is He the Christian God?” and “Would I be Christian if I had been born in another part of the world?”

Have you ever asked yourself unsettling questions about what you believe?

So I headed into college under a cloud of confusion that only worsened for the next two years. Though I didn’t know what I believed anymore, I continued to go to church every Sunday, and to help lead worship in chapel. Most importantly, even during this questioning, I continued my morning habit of daily study of the Bible. I had begun at age twelve, reading at first a chapter per day, then ten minutes each morning, then an half-hour, and so on. So, only by the grace of the very God I doubted, I remained anchored in His Word and in His community, though I felt like a fake most of the time. Since then I have learned that “fake” is the worst insult the world can give us; that is why the label of “hypocrite” is so offensive.

Have you ever felt like a fake?

Six weeks with missionaries in South Africa followed by a year in France began to teach me what life with God is all about. I began rebuilding my faith, this time it belonged to me, in contrast to me borrowing the faith of my parents, church, or anyone else. In my parent’s basement in 2003, on either Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, I invited Jesus to live in me; perhaps I had done so before, but I didn’t recall—but since 2003, I have never forgotten that moment. Unfortunately, nothing changed. I continued to do my best to act like a Christian, as I had done for so long.

Have you ever found yourself “doing your best” to be a good person, or to act like a Christian?

Though I did not realize it at the time, I was quenching the Spirit, even though I had welcomed Him into my life. During the next few years, the LORD continued to nurture me, and slowly things began to change. Several tough months in Idaho birthed my prayer-life. I spent three years being humbled in a job that was my informal seminary training. In 2007, a short stint in Mexico helped me to see things as they were, and not long afterward, I was baptized by immersion. No baptism of any kind can save a lost soul—only Jesus can do that. However, this baptism was an important covenant between me and God, symbolizing not only my death and resurrection with Jesus and my public profession of faith, but it also my life change, the beginning of my bearing fruit. “For each tree is known by its own fruit…”according to Luke 6:44. During the past year and a half, the LORD has provided me with an informal pastoral internship in my church, teaching me every aspect of discipleship. Simultaneously, I have been studying unceasing prayer and worship. I am now very different than I was five years ago.

In the Book of Acts (which tells the story of the earliest years of the Church) every time a person decided to follow Christ, two things took place—though not always in the same order. Each person experienced a life change, which I call the “baptism of repentance,” as well as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which I call the “baptism of the Spirit.” Looking back, I realize that the Holy Spirit was living in me in 2003, but it wasn’t until I surrendered everything to God, as represented by my immersion, that I allowed the Spirit to have His way in me and transform my life. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)”

Have you invited Jesus to live in you? Have you allowed the Spirit to transform your life?

I tell you this story for two reasons. First, I tell this story in order to boast in the LORD! May God our Father get all praise and glory forever! Second, I tell this story because it is relevant to you. Likely you have heard that I am leaving the country: I have let my light shine before you; please let your light shine within the Church, too! This congregation is in revival, and as each of you allows the Spirit to revive you, the entire Church will be revived and utterly transformed, to the glory of the Most High God. And for His glory is the reason He created us; the reason He sent His only Son to reveal Himself to us; the reason He became Sin for us and died for us on the cross—while we were still sinners; and the reason that He conquered death and offered us eternal life with Him.

It will cost you a lot—in fact, it will cost you everything, your very life. But if you have never surrendered your life to Christ Jesus, if you have never invited Him to send His Spirit into you and to transform your life, then do it right now. Just let go of everything to which you are desperately clinging; stop trying to do it yourself! This is the very reason you are still breathing in this physical life—God has been delaying His judgment of this sinful world because He is waiting for you—2 Peter 3:9 says He wants none to perish!

If you have already invited the Spirit into your life, then live like it! Bear fruit! Anyone and everyone who meets you or knows you or sees you or hears you should know immediately and clearly that Jesus the Christ lives in you and loves them! That is how stark the contrast should be between your life and the world around you!

Have you immersed yourself in God’s Word and in prayer in the last twenty-four hours?

If you call yourself a follower of Christ, then there is no excuse for not communing with Him daily! Anchor yourself in the Word! God has revealed Himself to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Bible is a complete and accurate record of that revelation. And prayer is humbly letting Him love us. Let Him love you! God doesn’t need us, but He wants us! God doesn’t need us to live for Him—He wants to live in and through us! Let us love and fellowship with one another, even when you disagree! Pray for each other—the names in the church directory are a great place to start! Church, we are not only the Body of Christ, but we are the Bride of Christ. We have allowed ourselves to get bedraggled and stained—now let us stand to the glory of God! Let’s let Him purify us, restore us, and love us!

My dear Brothers and Sisters, if you have ever once been blessed by God our Father at work in me, then I urge you, please, take seriously His desire to love and work in you, beyond anything you can ask or imagine! I have told you the beginning of my story—may it end in glory to the Father, in the Name of Jesus, by way of His Spirit.

Now, what is your story?