God has been training me this past week on how to pray. I kind of feel like i'm going through some kind of prayer boot camp; wake up at 5 every morning to go to morning prayer, and then spend some more time (or really try to..it's been so hard) at 10pm every night. You know, i used to think that when people talk about "prayer life" or "i'll pray for you" meant brief prayers for several minutes at church, or prayer meetings, or those designated times. but i'm learning, as i should have long ago, that prayer needs to be incorporated in our daily lives. Praying is hard, it's even hard for my dad to read and pray everyday, but it's not something that we add to our lives if/when we have time; it is necessary that we do.
It's so hard to put this into words, but this morning while i was praying, the inside of my eyelids suddenly became very bright and i had a very strange vision, if you will, of the heaven's gates opening and light shining down right onto our church. Our church is all in chaos and Satan's footprints are all over the problems this time. He doesn't like it when a church is in harmony and is trying to be revived. But the light gave me the sense that God was telling me everything was going to be okay. And not just with the church because God already had his plans in motion to heal, but also with my future and the next crucial couple weeks.
It's amazing how one annoying church issue can lead you to finding assurance and hope and peace for your own personal future. I was praying specifically for one problem, and God was not only answering that problem but other problems as well. God works in such mysterious ways...it's mind-boggling. I pray and pray for persistence, diligence, and to not fall into the temptations of being idle and lazy in prayer and meditation. If you don't read the word, how are you supposed to know what and where God wants you to do/be?
Friday, June 17, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Oh My GOD
I think everytime i serve our church for VBS, i see/learn something new and then have something like a mini-revelation. My class is 3-5th graders and there are three new boys, whom i've never seen before, that just came and registered. Their parents/families are ones that have never stepped a foot inside a church door before. (My mom uses the analogy that they don't even know the 'G' in 'GOD'..it's a metaphor to show how very non-Christian they were).
But these kids during praise and worship times is such a blessing to watch; they jump and dance and sing their hearts out to a God they don't even know! Seriously..they only started hearing about God when i was telling them of Jesus and His childhood hometown of Nazareth... they don't know how he's the only Son of God, tortured & nailed on the cross, resurrected, and said that He'll be back for the second coming! They don't know squat about Jesus, except that He used to live in a town called Nazareth. AND yet, here they were, singing and worshiping with all the other kids who've heard about him as they grew up.
I started realizing even though i always knew, how omniscient and omnipresent God is. He also is someone who gives wretched sinners like us privileges like vbs to bring in even one child to His presence. If Leo, Danny, and Kevin's parents hadn't seen our church website, they would've never thought to bring them. God is simply amazing, and the things He does right underneath our nose proves even more so. If 3 lost sheep who we didn't even know were lost were found, imagine the countless others that are waiting for their salvation- they just don't know it yet. I believe with prayer, active listening, and faithful actions, there can be another revival like none other in history.
But these kids during praise and worship times is such a blessing to watch; they jump and dance and sing their hearts out to a God they don't even know! Seriously..they only started hearing about God when i was telling them of Jesus and His childhood hometown of Nazareth... they don't know how he's the only Son of God, tortured & nailed on the cross, resurrected, and said that He'll be back for the second coming! They don't know squat about Jesus, except that He used to live in a town called Nazareth. AND yet, here they were, singing and worshiping with all the other kids who've heard about him as they grew up.
I started realizing even though i always knew, how omniscient and omnipresent God is. He also is someone who gives wretched sinners like us privileges like vbs to bring in even one child to His presence. If Leo, Danny, and Kevin's parents hadn't seen our church website, they would've never thought to bring them. God is simply amazing, and the things He does right underneath our nose proves even more so. If 3 lost sheep who we didn't even know were lost were found, imagine the countless others that are waiting for their salvation- they just don't know it yet. I believe with prayer, active listening, and faithful actions, there can be another revival like none other in history.
"For nothing is impossible with God" - Luke 1:37
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
back again.
It's really hard now that i'm home, where there's a COMPLETE lack of privacy, for me to spend a quiet time reading and meditating on the word. I've consciously been putting off doing my QTs for more than a month now..and as always, I've been slowly hearing God's voice urging me back into His company. The passage i read tonight didn't seem anything like a revelation or didn't leave me feeling convicted or anything- it was just purely God-breathed, and me reading/soaking it in. nothing to relate to, not one of those "this is exactly what i needed" sort of passage. It was just a chapter of the scripture, and me reading it and hearing God speak it.
Psalm 90.
Moses says how life is so temporary and can be gone in an eyeblink. Nothing in this world is permanent, especially a human life. But God is. He's been here since the beginning of all beginnings, and will still be here till the end of all ends. Even with such a majestic God to call our Father, we still pretty much piss Him off with all our sins, especially the ones that we do in secret. I'll be the first one to say that i've got lots of skeletons in my closet. There are things that absolutely no one knows about me, the things i've done/said/felt; the things that are only between me and God. Things that I'm shameful of, proud of, angry about..and while i hide them as best as I can, Moses says that all these things will eventually come out into the open. This is why he tells us to ask God for divine wisdom. humanly wisdom is like dust, nothing and light and unclean; and which is why we need the Holy Spirit's power moving through us and within us to see when and how we anger God. Let us not waste any more time on futile human behaviors and wisdom, and gear towards being receptive to Godly rebuke and teachings.
Psalm 90.
Moses says how life is so temporary and can be gone in an eyeblink. Nothing in this world is permanent, especially a human life. But God is. He's been here since the beginning of all beginnings, and will still be here till the end of all ends. Even with such a majestic God to call our Father, we still pretty much piss Him off with all our sins, especially the ones that we do in secret. I'll be the first one to say that i've got lots of skeletons in my closet. There are things that absolutely no one knows about me, the things i've done/said/felt; the things that are only between me and God. Things that I'm shameful of, proud of, angry about..and while i hide them as best as I can, Moses says that all these things will eventually come out into the open. This is why he tells us to ask God for divine wisdom. humanly wisdom is like dust, nothing and light and unclean; and which is why we need the Holy Spirit's power moving through us and within us to see when and how we anger God. Let us not waste any more time on futile human behaviors and wisdom, and gear towards being receptive to Godly rebuke and teachings.
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