Prayer

People will often ask how they can help be a part of Mattaw.  What is the immediate need?  For reals:  praying.  That would be my first response, not trying to sound super spiritual here but for reals. I've seen it move some pretty big obstacles out of our way or help give us endurance to jump the obstacles... or give grace and restoration to help get up from tripping over an obstacle.  Whichever it may be, I've seen over and over again the power of prayer.

Now, prayer can often turn into a list of rules and become a duty.  But I have learned that it must always come from a love for God.  It must be out of a desire to know and love God.  That's the point of everything we do as believers in Jesus, out of a passionate heart to know and love him.  Otherwise it becomes lifeless and just another check off the list.  Like the passage that talks about people doing all these great miracles and casting demons out of people and God says "depart from me, I knew you not". (Matt 7:23)  The point is not to stop believing in miracles or casting out demons but that point is to know the Lord.  He didn't create us to be robots but for us to make a choice to know Him and love Him with everything within us.  The miracles, signs and wonders flow out of that relationship with Jesus.  I grew up thinking what a boring life to sit and pray for hours.  I had in my mind that people called "prayer warriors" are for one, very patient, which they are.  And for two, very boring and not very happy.  I've discovered that God can grow you in patience when your heart is aligned with His, seeing as patience is one of the fruits of the spirit.  And that prayer does not have to be boring or a to do list.  It can actually be something you look forward to, that your heart aches to draw away for.

A scripture I grew up hearing time and time again was from Phillipian 4:6-7.  

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

And also from 1 Thesselonians 5:16
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

"in everything by prayer" and "pray without ceasing" used to make me feel like I had a chore to do as a christian and that was sit and pray for so long everyday or I wouldn't be a good enough christian.  But when your goal in life is to know the Lord and be known by him, spending time with Him is not a chore at all!

Off the top of my head, here's an example.  The week before coming back to Kenya, I had an ever growing list of things to get done.  There was one day that at the last minute my friend Lauren and I rescheduled our plans we had so we could meet for lunch, just the two of us, one last time.  Leading up to it that day I had so many things going on I didn't have time to look forward to our time together and had thought maybe I shouldn't be meeting for lunch with so many things to do.  But as soon as we met and sat down, I was SO glad we did and could have sat at that table with her for hours and hours.  And that's what its often like with the Lord.  We have so many things racing through our head to do but once we get to that quiet place to sit with Him, when you can find the place of aligning your heart and thoughts with His, your heart can be fully satisfied and desire to stay there for hours upon hours.

I like what Beni Johnson defines an intercessor as: "capturing the heartbeat of Heaven and declaring or praying that into my world.  It's true agreement with Heaven".   There's actually A LOT I'm learning from her book that I could almost just quote the whole book on here.  But instead will recommend it :). It's called The Happy Intercessor by Benni Johnson.  Of course our theology shouldnt be based out of someones book but out from Jesus himself, the bible.  We learn from others that have spent years receiving revelation from Holy Spirit though.  Yes, test everything!  Do not be deiced!  But oh how we can learn from our brothers and sisters the revelation they carry.  In worship at Mattaw yesterday I received a simple picture to share corporately.  It was fresh bread.  But that we must receive the fresh bread straight from Heaven and not just from a teacher.  How gross to eat what someone else has chewed on.  Just like the word of GOd is fresh bread but only if we receive it straight from Holy Spirit breathing life on it and not just as words on a page that someone else gave us.  We can not live on what your pastor is giving you, you must live on the very words spoken into your heart from the Lord Himself.

Now I'm getting on a roll here.  Got my preachy pants on this morning :).  All this to say that yes, please pray, intercede.  But do it agreeing with God's agenda, not your own.  And not praying out of fear but from the offensive side that we are more than conquerors in Jesus Christ and He always leads us in triumph in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14)

Here's some fresh bread from Happy Intercessor.  But let Holy Spirit bring it to you and eat up :).

John 7:38  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” The word innermost being come from the word, koilia, which means "womb".  In our intercessions, we are creating and birthing the things of Heaven.  We carry the life of the Kingdom within us (luke 17:21).  

Christ in us, the hope of Glory!  Colossians 1:27