Sweet Hour of Prayer…

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Of the many things I have learned at School of Discipleship so far, I think the most precious is the sweetness of prayer! It has been well said that GFA was founded by prayer, continues through prayer, and will die without prayer. How true I have seen and experienced this to be  over the past 7 months of being here. It is an unexplainable privilege that I have often overlooked, and am learning to be more thankful for….. being united together as His people in Spirit with a heart cry for God and His kingdom to be established in our sinful world. God is ever-faithful in answering the pleas of His little children and because of it many precious souls are coming to life in Jesus Christ! Glory be to God who alone is worthy!

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” Matthew 6:9-10

—School of Discipleship Student

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Sap and Surrender

 

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As my class and I read through How to Pray by R.A. Torrey I ask myself, how do I know if I am abiding in Christ and staying connected to the vine? If I am in Christ and the connected to the sap (the Holy Spirit), I will bear fruit accordingly.

Therefore, to abide in Christ means that I need to be surrendered to God. By surrendered I mean as the Lord shows me areas in my life that I need to give up, that I do. It will be a continuous process of surrendering to the Lord for the rest of my life.

Yes, this is going to take a lot of time. I wish I hadn’t prayed for patience all those years ago. The Lord is finally answering my prayers. If that is the way that it needs to be, then the Lord will give me grace and strength to persevere.

Now the real question is, how will I practically apply or act upon what the Lord showed me?

With the Lord’s help, I will surrender those things in my life that the Lord shows me and to seek to abide in Christ. I may have to surrender on a continual basis, maybe even moment by moment.  Lord, I am going to need your help even more than before. I know You are faithful though, so I’ll make it. No problem.

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Incense of Prayer

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“And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. Revelation 5:8”

Wow, the privilege of praying! We get to bring our petitions before God and He answers them (1 John 5:14-15).

Before I came to Gospel for Asia, prayer was not a significant part of my life . My eyes have been opened to the wonderful privilege and importance of prayer. Studying the life of Jesus, we find that He was always praying and also fasting.

I have discovered that things happen when God’s people fast and pray. Without prayer, I cannot do anything. I have learned to not just pray when I struggle but to purposefully take time to pray and even to simply be still  before the Lord.

Here at Gospel for Asia, prayer is the means of the operation. Either the day begins in a prayer meeting or it ends in one. Three bells go off during the day for prayer to refocus on the Lord. Being in the School of Discipleship program, we have our own prayer night each week and on top of that, the first Friday of every month we have a prayer meeting that goes till midnight.

When I look at the life of Jesus, it seems He always had time to pray. In this fast food day and age we live in,we must choose (just as Jesus did) to carve out time to pray. Everything else will still happen but God does great things when we pray.

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My Surrender

Here is a poem I wrote based off my experience in the second year of School of Discipleship. The Lord taught me how I needed to surrender everything and trust Him!

My Surrender

The time has come to look ahead,
To hit the mark, my path to tread.

The past is gone, the past is dead,
I’ll look to Christ, my daily bread.

I’m not my own, I am His slave;
He came to earth, my soul to save!

In Christ alone, this is my call,
He is my strength, my all in all!

In times of sorrow I can see,
My God and Father leading me.

And when I stumble, when I fear,
my precious Savior draws me near.

I’m not my own, and this my plea:
That I could give my all to Thee!

In Christ alone, this is my call,
He is my strength, my all in all!

 

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The Faithful vs. the Faithless

“… if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.” Psalm 138:8

“… just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love…” Ephesians 1:4

“Now to Him who is able to keep youfrom stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy…” Jude 24

How many more promises need to be made by a God who is incapable of lying before I will believe Him? My Friend has promised that He will always be with me, yet somehow, I would rather try to do things on my own. The work I’ve been called to do is not mine, but His. He will perfect everything that concerns me. He will do it because He is faithful.

So, what role do I play in this?

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,  keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 20-21

“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” Hebrews 12:3

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” Hebrews 3:15

“Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.  And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.” – 1 John 2:24-25

Abba, convince us of Your goodness, please. Convince us that You are for us, that You love us, and that no matter what we do, Your heart towards us never changes. Convince us that Your grace is true, and that all You require of us is to be weak, and willing to receive You in our weakness. Convince us, Papa, that when we are weak, You are strong. It’s what You’ve promised.

Teach us to believe You, and teach us to receive Your love. Teach us that you are trustworthy.

Thank You for allowing us to come before You in complete confidence. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our Hope, our Redemption, our Sanctification, our Righteousness, our LIFE.

Faithful Father, teach us how to love you. Through Jesus I ask this, amen.

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Choosing Life and Death

On November 3, the church recognized International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. As I thought about and prayed for my brothers and sisters who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus, I also thought about being a martyr. I hear testimonies of people who have laid down their lives for the sake of the Gospel – and I think, “And that is worth it.”

I know that it is worth it to live for Jesus, and to lay down my life for His sake.

But why do I somehow think that living for Jesus is not worth losing sleep over, or is not worth being inconvenienced by? That being Jesus’ disciple is not worth giving up my comfortable life for?

I do believe that following Christ is worth giving my life and my everything for. But very often, the choices I make and the way I live my life do not reflect that.

Something is wrong here. Following Jesus IS worth everything. So I need to start living like it.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” – Matthew 16:24-25

 

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