Welcome to the start of an adventurous journey - a journey around the world. Whether this is your first time to pray for the world through a resource like Operation World, or whether you've made this journey many times, my prayer is that we will approach this trip with fresh eyes of faith and hearts ready to see God move.
As Moses begged for God's presence as he led the people through the wilderness, and as Ezra fasted and prayed for God's protection over the journey from Babylon back to Jerusalem, my prayer is for the Lord's presence on this journey. Truly, I want our prayer to be, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." (Exodus 33:15).
That's why this morning, I spent time with God seeking Him about this venture, and praying for this group of people seeking to worship Him through prayer for the nations. The bad dreams I had last night were a fresh reminder that the enemy doesn't see prayer as unimportant. Indeed, he wants to stop us before we even get started. As one of my friends from church likes to say, "He doesn't know who he's messing with - we're King's Kids." Yes, indeed.
I'm a strong believer in God's sovereignty, and so I don't think it's any accident that in my Bible reading I started Joshua this morning. It's a great book about a great journey with a lot of warfare. I drew my prayers for our prayer team from this passage today. Please join me in praying over our trip from the outset from Joshua 1-3:
Lord, You have called us to a great journey. You told Joshua to get everyone ready to cross the Jordan. I'm praying that You will prepare me, prepare us, for this global journey. The enemy is already nipping at our heels, Lord, but You have promised to never leave us or forsake us. We don't know everything that is on the other side of this, Lord, but we know that we are claiming it all in Your name. Help us be strong, persevere, and maintain courage when things get hard. Help us to be obedient to the call - and Lord, help me be fully obedient to You. We know that our prayers are only heard through the blood of Christ, but we also know that sin hinders prayers. In those areas where my obedience is lacking, please convict me and guide me to deeper obedience so that my prayers are not hindered and I can effectively fulfill the calling You have given me to lead this precious group.
Lord, when Joshua's spies went into Jericho they found Rahab, a woman who knew that You had given the land to Israel. God, I pray today for you to raise up a host of people who truly believe that You have given the world to Your Son and that our part is to be faithful to the Great Commandment and Great Commission. I pray for people of faith to join us on this journey.
Lord, like Joshua, many of us have "never been this way before". Let us keep our eyes on the cross - our "ark of the covenant" - and follow Jesus. There are hosts of people in our circles of influence - our families and churches and workplaces - as well as random people who find this open blog and open group - who are watching to see what happens. Give us faith to step into the water, to stand like the priests in the river, and see You do mighty things that will inspire faith in others to venture into the arena of prayer for the nations.
In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.
Housekeeping notes:
- I will generally use either New American Standard or English Standard versions when a literal translation is important, and NIV 1984 or New Living translations for devotional or reflective purposes when it does not affect the literal meaning of the passage. Keeping in mind that it was the original languages that were inspired, and all translations have strengths and weaknesses, I will occasionally use a variety of translations to help us gain a sense of a passage.
- When an in-depth word study is needed, I use the following primary sources:
* The Word Study Concordance (an updated version of The Englishman's Greek Concordance), edited by George V. Wigram and Ralph D. Winter
* The New Englishman's Hebrew Concordance, edited by George V. Wigram
* The Septuagint with Apocrypha, edited by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton, with the accompanying concordance, New Light From the Ancient Greek Bible, edited by George Morrish
* The Complete Word Study Dictionary and Concordance, Old & New Testaments edited by Spiros Zodhiates
* Word study tools and further resources available at www.blueletterbible.org and www.nextbible.org.
About me:
Since many of those participating in this journey are new to this blog and I haven't previously known you I thought you might like a brief summary of who I am.
I am blessed first and foremost to be a worshipper of Jesus Christ. Although I grew up in church and a Christian family, I let the enemy's lies hold me captive until I was in my mid-20s. After several dark years which included an abusive relationship and divorce, God began to break through the darkness with His marvelous light. He guided me into marriage with an incredibly sweet man whom I've been privileged to share life with for 17 years. Jesus drew me to Himself with cords of love (Hosea 11:4) in such a way that I can't pinpoint when I fully committed my life to Him. Once I was His, He began opening my eyes to the world outside my doors - a big world that needs Him. Over time, He allowed me to return to school and obtain a master's degree in International Development with an emphasis in Global Civilization from William Carey International University. That's where this blog came from - the program challenged me to intentionally use my spiritual gifts in a missional way. Once I finished the program God gave me a season of rest and has now called me to this amazing and exciting assignment.
My husband and I live in the South/Midwest where I work at a major university and he works in the transportation industry. We attend church at Calvary Chapel. Our ministry passions include international students/immigrants (my husband's heart is for Hispanics; God has given me a heart for Muslim women, but we love to meet people from anywhere!), missions mobilization, hosting missionaries in our home, and feeding the hungry and helping widows & orphans in the poorest parts of the world, in sustainable ways that maintain dignity and facilitate development while communicating the Gospel. We believe that the Gospel message is clearest when it is wrapped in arms of love, love that in the words of Mother Teresa's order's missions vow, leads to "awakening their response to His great love."
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