Prayer Room Map

We finally got the Prayer Room wall map! Hurray! And it was nicely framed & mounted.


Do you know what a large map like that does to a prayer warrior? God's voice booms right through it without making a sound. We just looked at it for the longest time oo-ing & ah-ing. We ran our hands over it. So many have yet to come in, Lord, before Your return!

Spring Prayer Retreat

I was able to go to my previous church for a Prayer Retreat, Friday eve. & Saturday. It was good to see everyone again. The place was beautifully decorated. On the platform were scenes from past Prayer Retreats.

There were prayer stations in the 4 corners of the sanctuary.

The 1st one was the altar.
The 2nd was a tent where we talked, and maybe unburdened ourselves,
or a place of fellowship.

The 3rd was a spa where you could get your nails manicured,
but I forgot to take a picture of that.

The 4th was the communion table. We were to ask forgiveness
or just express how appricative we are for a particular person.
After we had worship with a Terry MacAlmon DVD, we had an ice-breaker game. We had fun trying to race getting dress up & then get undressed. The other team won.

Go Dana, go!

Here I am trying to go as fast as I can

Pam has just about got it

The Sheri Rose Shepherd DVD series was used for the weekend.

She is an amazing speaker.The 1st thing we learned about was freedom:

F - Finding the root of what keeps us from being free
R - then Run to God when we find it
E - Enter into His Presence with praise
E - Eliminate the enemy's weapons
D - Do what God has planned for you to do
O - Operate in your position
M - Move on to Freedom

In Session 2, we learned the Art of Loving One Another. Session 3 was realizing that our Prince will come. Somewhere in all this we learned a bit about purposeful prayer & leaving a legacy. A lot of it was stuff I knew, but boy did I NEED to hear it all over again. Others were good practical stuff. She is such a humble person. And thru her I learned that humble does always mean meek.

We had good times of fellowship, confessions, sharing, forgiveness. A lot of communicating took place, I love it when God is in the "talk". It was hard to say goodbye, because this was the end of our bible study group that had been going for many years. This was the last ta-da! We had many good studies, sharing of aches & pains, & amazing prayer times for those who stayed & waited on the Lord. Many, many memories, but the season was coming to a close. This was a process long in coming, but when the end came, it was so hard to say goodbye!

Fear Not

Here is an old adage worth saying:

In the book A Legacy of Love page 24, Ruth Graham (the daughter)
tells of her mother having this quote hanging over her desk.

Happy Easter!

We want to wish you all:
Happy Resurrection Day!

You can smell these coming down the stairs, a smell of Easter!

This is a picture of our church this morning.
The children also played the bells. They were so cute.

- Ruth Bell Graham / Collected Poems, 223

If I lived within the sound
of the sea's relentless yearning,
my soul would rise and fly to seek
what the soul longs for - unable to speak;
aware, as I go, of Him everywhere:
in my heart, in the clouds . . . in the cold wet air . . .
And my soul would worship in joyful prayer,
receding as the waves recede,
returning with the waves' returning,
reaching up, as for Him, Feeling,
then with the waves kneeling . . .

kneeling . . .

kneeling . . .

In Reflection

I can't believe the week of prayer has come & gone already. It wasn't anything like I expected it would be. I had to work through the disappointment that more people didn't show up. There were a few nights that I spent all 4 hours alone. But those were some of the sweetest times with the Lord that I had. It was out of one of those nights, during the worship time that I finished a drawing my son & I were working on. It was done on the back wall in pastel. It's a woman worshiping (the picture is below). I want another one of a boy on his face praying. When its all done, I'll take more pictures & post them so that you can see.
Wednesday night was the highest volume of people. The next morning Rosalie had a heart attack & Friday, she had open heart surgery. She came through fine. I believe God had His hand on her because we prayed for her the night before. Scott's grandma also was rushed to the hospital the next day, only hers was congestive heart failure. I believe God kept her because we prayed. And we prayed for a friend of mine's sons, one has since returned home! Praise the Lord! God is so good!

Even all that Brent went through that week, God gave him confirmation on something he was praying for & opened wide a door for him to share God's vision for the Valley to many Rotary Clubs! Word of Go Time Ministry is starting to spread into a larger area.

Saturday night, the last night, I had the privilege of having a dear old friend of mine come & pray with me. Man can he pray! What a wonderful way to end the week!

I have been asking the Lord to show me the strongholds that keeps Finleyville bound. Well, I got a good dose of that coming out of the Prayer Room that night. People were going from bar to bar or restaurant wearing green hats celebrating St. Patty's Day. My husband says that that's quite typical for that town. People would tell me about it, now I have seen! Now I know how to pray!

When I reflect back on the week, a lot happened for the Kingdom of God. So I once again have to adjust my perception of what God's intentions are for a matter. I'm learning (again!) not to preconceive what God is doing in a thing.

Dave & Parker visit

Parker came up for a visit & he brought Dave with him, well especially since Dave is the one who drove. So we finally got to meet Parker. Dan's blog has a video of the meeting, so check it out when you get a chance. Here are some pix of the 27 hour visit.

Dan sitting on the kitchen floor with Parker

Scott giving Parker some lovinHe's such a baby!Well, I don't want to take all the pictures.
I will leave some for Aaron, so check out his blog as well.

Breathing the Breath by Matt Redman

I was listening to this song in the Prayer Room & it just really impressed me. He's so right! I tried to find it on playlist for you to hear but they don't have it. I will still type it in. These are the scripture references that come with the song, make sure you look them up:

Acts 17:25, Romans 11:35-36, James 1:17, Psalms 50:9-12, 1 Chronicles 29:14

We have nothing to give
That didn't first come from Your hands
We have nothing to offer You
Which You did not provide
Every good, perfect gift comes from
Your kind and gracious heart
And all we do is give back to You
What always has been Yours

Chorus
Lord, we're breathing the breath
That You gave us to breathe
To worship You, to worship You
And we're singing these songs
With the very same breath
To worship You, to worship You

Who has given to You
That it should be paid back to him?
Who has given to You
As if You need anything?
From You, and to You, and through You
Come all things, O Lord
And all we do is give back to You
What always has been Yours

We are breathing the breath
That You gave us to breathe

Persistant Prayer

The Lord has been giving me bits & pieces of a puzzle. He had been telling me to read about the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears (LK 7:36-50). Last Friday at the impromptu prayer meeting He again spoke to my heart about that story, so I read it while I was there. But He also took my attention to Esther 2:15 where when it was Esther's turn to go to the king, she asked for only what pleased the king. Today a friend sent me a Tommy Tenny devotional that she (& I) get. Here's what struck me in that devotional:

Persistence is one of the legitimate forms of "waiting" on God. Many believers in previous generations called it "praying through." Isaiah the prophet called it "waiting on God." Most of us today who have experienced it call it a combination of pure desperation, dogged determination, and holy perspiration. This is the tool the widow used to unlock the hardened will of the heartless judge in Jesus' parable to the disciples. It is the bombshell of a broken heart that Hannah unleashed on heaven from the dim chambers of the tabernacle where Eli the priest presided. It is the essence of the high priestly prayer Jesus poured out to heaven as a drink offering of desperation, sacrifice, and obedience to the Father in the face of death. It is the cry God cannot deny.

Have you ever persevered in prayer until heaven came down to earth? Are you prepared to pray until the foundations of your prison shake and every chain encircling your neighborhood just drop away? Will you become a persistent Hannah on behalf of a nation in need of deliverance? (You may have to pray until the unexpected fires of revival are ignited-and then give it all back to God without taking the credit.)

I believe there are unused keys of power and divine access lying on the dusty shelves of the church that we have forgotten about. Desperate passion of worship or the painful cries of crisis are going to unlock the heavens for somebody …

Frankly it is uncommon for the modern church to press through to this level of divine access. Perhaps it is because a good number of us can barely stomach a seventy-minute prayer meeting, much less a seven- or ten-day interval of intense prayer, worship, or fasting (as when the 120 "tarried" for the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room in the book of Acts). (The God Catchers, p. 149)

What Do You Think?

I believe there are unused keys of power and divine access lying on the dusty shelves of the church that we have forgotten about. Desperate passion of worship or the painful cries of crisis are going to unlock the heavens for somebody. Most of the time, we just say, "Wonder where those keys are?" It is time for us to perceive and seize the secret keys to the heart of God (and maybe clean out our ecclesiastical junk drawer!). (page 149)

Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Prayer:

Lord, teach me the power of the "press," the determination and desire that will take me past the veil and into Your presence. Help me to tarry, wait, persist, and stand in the prayer of faith and the worship of desperation until heaven comes down and Your glory is revealed.

God is on the Move!

God is so good to me! I just stand in awe of how He blesses me so. Last Friday night a friend of mine had an impromptu prayer meeting at her house. She invited a few friends over to join her in worship & prayer. Well, only 2 of us showed up, but where 2 or more are gathered in His name He is there. The Lord laid it upon the other friend's heart to bring a wash basin, so we had a foot washing. She called another friend who had gone south for the winter to pray as each foot was being washed. God is no respecter of states! It was as if she was right there with us. As she prayed, our hearts were touched mightily. The power of God was so strong at 1 point that I struggled to stay off the floor! Each one of was so greatly blessed!

Then Sunday as I was on my way to go shopping, I saw a woman walking the other way carry 6 bags of groceries (I come to find out). So I turned the car around, I stopped & asked her if she needed a ride. She was so appreciative, "I was praying that God would send someone my way!" I told her that I heard the call! So she climbed into the car & I took her home. She lived at least 1 1/2 miles away up a long hill. I couldn't believe that she was going to walk all the way home carrying all those bags of groceries. She mentioned that she had a 14 yr old son. We talked about churches & such. I went back later to ask if she'd be interested in having her son go to my kids' youth group & visit our church. She was so blessed, because she was asking the Lord for a place for her & her son. So yesterday, I picked them up. It was such a pleasure getting to know a little bit about her. She seems so eager to learn more about the Lord. While her son was at youth, she came with me to the Prayer Room. She helped me to quickly vacuum the place (we were having a week of prayer starting last night, so I wanted the place to look nice), & we prayed. She wants to do the same for Thursday youth, & hopefully come to church on Sunday. I hope she feels comfortable with us. Time will tell. My husband came & took them home.

I only had one other person join me in the Prayer Room last night. We had a good time in prayer! The rest of the night I had a wonderful time of worship. When you are alone, it is an incredibly intimate time with the Lord. You are free to express your worship any way you want. And as the Lord spoke to me, I prayed. I can't wait to see what each night brings!

"Nicky's Life" human video

Please check out my niece's blog "Nicky's Life", the 3rd one down in the left column under "my family & friends". She has posted the human video that her youth group did for church on Sunday. It's really cool!

Think Outside the Box

As you know, I have been reading the book Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig & Dave Roberts. This book has really challenged me to think outside the box, the church building box that is, when it comes to ministry. Once again I have to Quote from the book:
"There have been times throughout history when God could no longer bear to hear the cries of the poor and the oppressed while the religious leaders turned the temple into a social irrelevance and did nothing at all to care for those who were hurting. At such times, as the flood of God's anger threatened to burst the very dams of His grace, He would search for someone, anyone, who might 'stand before Me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it.' Tragically, He told Ezekiel, 'I found none" (Ezekiel 22:30). If this is what it means to intercede, 'standing in the gap' between God and hurting humanity, I guess it isn't a task that can be cloistered away all the time in sanitized environments. Standing in the gap for the poor and marginalized may well mean that it matters where we pray and how we pray, and that our prayers for the poor are worked out in practice."

Here's another quote in the book from a missionary to China:

"Some want to live
within the sound
of church or chapel bell;
I want to run
a rescue shop
within a yard of hell." - C.T.Studd