desert places

I was reading a book last night, Drawing Near by John Bevere and he was talking about the difference between Moses and the Isrealites. The Isrealites wanted whatever they could get from God, but when things were rough they'd just soon go the other way, even if that meant away from God and back into slavery. Moses on the other hand desired the presence of God, even if that meant months and years in the desert place. When God suggests that His people could continue on to the promised land and settle there, but He could not go with them for fear He might wipe them out, Moses stands in the gap. Instead of giving in to the temptation of the promised land without God, Moses shows His desire for the presence of God above all else. He says to the Lord, "If your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here" (ex 33:15). "He desired the Lord Himself more than His promised blessings. He prized initmacy with God above any treasures God could provide"(p43 Bevere). Am I willing to say this with Moses? Am I willing to say I will not go without you Lord, even if the way looks oh so inviting, even if it means waiting months or years in the desert place. For I desire you far above all else.

LPT

Praying for more fear of the Lord and more revelation of His love in my life and in the global church, His precious bride. He is a jealous Bridegroom King, coming with consuming fire and burning passion, any encounter with Him, with His Spirit leaves us changed. We must approach His throne with that expectancy, that He is at work, that He will change us, that He is willing, that He is wholly devoted to us and yearns for us to be wholly devoted to Him. Are we willing? Lord make us willing.

Makerere University Prayer Request

Some riotitng at Makerere University in uganda, it is one of the main Universities in the country. See article: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/713150

LPT 21-22

Today as i was praying I was blown away by the church, the bride of Christ. Thank you Jesus for praying for us that we would have unity. So many times I only see the seperation in the church, the discrepancies, but today as I was praying for Luka and his family, I was amazed to think of how many different churches from different denominations and people from different countries were praying, practically the whole city of Grand Rapids it seemed like and more. It has been beautiful to see the way the church has responded to such a hard/heartbreaking situation. When there is a need the church does come together often, and I pray for more unity. That as the days get scarier and scarier, the church would be refined more and more and continue to respond in love, when governements are frustrated and kings and presidents wearied, let the church serve Jesus throughout the earth, in the hardest placest, let the love of Christ be sown by the work of a unified bride. Let us not be afraid to go deep with each other, to suffer with each other, rejoice with one another, Jesus prayed that the church might have the same kind of unity that the Father has with the Son...now that's something to think about.

LPT 11-20

Please pray for my Soroti teammates Josh and Mandy and their family. Their little boy Luka is very sick and in hospital in Kenya currently. See http://shaarda.blogspot.com/ for more information. Also please pray for our team leaders Tim & Angie Sliedrect and their family as they adjust back to life in Uganda after being in the states for several months. I can't wait to join both of these families in a few weeks, they have become very dear to my heart.

LPT 8,9 & 10

Woops, a little behind. Oh well, so I know there are some things that I have been learning. I think the thing that stands out the most is that it's hard to stop 6 times a day and pray. I am usually praying when I'm supposed to, though not always, but I find myself always trying to pray while I'm doing something else. And i think in general, that's not bad to be in prayer while doing common duties, I think that is good. But when I don't consider the time set aside to pray as an important enough thing, to actually stop what I'm doing and just pray, that's when I run into trouble. I want to get better at really stopping what I'm doing and just pray, even if it's for five minutes. The stopping what I'm doing and declaring, this is important. Prayer is an important enough thing to me that I will stop what I'm doing to interceed on behalf of my brothers and sisters around the world. the other morning I was praying against the pet culture in america. I love dogs and cats and most pets really but as I was praying I could see how we use pets so we don't feel lonely, use them because they don't judge us, they are such unconditional lovers, well dogs are anyway...we use them and in the meantime forfeit the opportunity to grow close relationships with real people. People relationships are too dangerous, we have to be too vulnerable, so we cling to our pets instead, lavish all of our love on our pets when there's so many people in need of love. i think i have more thoughts on that, but i'm super tired. Jesus help us to not be afraid to love well those you put in our path, even if we know it will hurt us at times.

LPT-7

I think my new favorite part of this multiple prayer times is when I wake up in the morning that is the first thing I think about. I start my day asking God what's on His heart and how I should pray throughout the day. It's a beautiful thing. I don't have all I have to do overwhelm me first off, I have thoughts of Jesus and His love for me and for His other precious children. This I am enjoying. I think my alarm set in the mornings will always remain as a call to prayer, even when this lenten season is over.

LPT-6

This morning when I was praying for USA, I asked God what I should be praying for. I began praying for the christian youth, that their parents would not try too hard to keep them safe. While safety is a good thing most the time, protecting or attempting to protect people from some things can actually hurt them worse...hmmm...so I just kept praying that God would give courage to the youth of the nation to follow hard after Him, that they would not cling to this life too strongly, but willing to lay down their life for Christ. And for courage for the parents of these children that they would let go of them, entrust them to God. For me maybe it's easier said then done, because I have not had children yet, but I am praying even now for my future children that they would be willing to lay down their life for Christ and for myself that I would not get in the way of this, but actually encourage complete obedience to Christ whatever that may look like.
Later, during worship time God reminded me that He is always with me, and that His angels are protecting me and will continue to do so in the future. He also began showing me how strongholds are broken during worship, though i do not even pretend to understand all of it, or at least how to put it in to english words.