We are not powerless!

In this season, I'm reaching out to Jesus to lead me to a stronger prayer life.  I believe in prayer...I always have...I believe that prayer is more than just calling out our needs to the Father but that prayer is a time of communication with our Father - the LIVING God - who will answer us if we are listening.

I think about my kids and how much I communicate with them. They tell me their needs and they trust that I will do what I can to fulfill those needs. They always share their thoughts and feelings with me and I'm here to listen and help them process their thinking.  And...often times they tell me their wants and I'm here to supply that "want" or explain to them why that "want" isn't the right thing for them at the time.  Our heavenly Father will do the same thing if we call out to Him in faith and listen closely for our answers.

I've been studying Exodus and I am so amazed by the relationship that Moses and God had.  In the time before Jesus (when God saw sin and not his son), Moses found favor in God's sight because Moses devoted every ounce of his being to serving the Lord.  God honored this by communicating with him as a friend.  Moses was able to intercede and ultimately save the Israelites because he went to the Father on their behalf.  Exodus 32:31-32 says, "And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.  Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written."  What a loving, unselfish prayer and act of kindness that the Israelites probably didn't even know took place!

As I thought about this unselfish act of Moses, I began to think about my own prayer life and how often I intercede and pray for others.  I began to ask God to show me how I can be more unselfish when I pray.  Yes, I tell people I will pray for them and I always do. If I tell someone I will pray for them, I usually talk to the Lord about their situation as soon as I can and then I often times remind God of His Word for their situation when I'm in my secret place in the mornings with the Lord. But, I still felt like there was one piece I was missing.

Yes, I know that Jesus said in Matthew 6:6, "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."

I will always hold these words dear to my heart and I will continue to talk to the Lord in my secret place.  But...in the last month, I've felt the Lord nudging me to be more bold about my praying WITH people outside of this secret place too.

I've been in so many situations where people pour out their heart to me and tell me of needs they have or attacks from the enemy that they are facing and I will look at them and say, "I will pray for you."  Yes, I often share with them what the Word of God says about their situation but then I stop there and take their request to the Lord during my quiet time.  One day, I began to think...what did Jesus do when people came to Him in bondage, when they came to Him in distress, hurting (physically and mentally), when they came to Him in fear....Jesus didn't share a Word or two, say I will pray for you, and then leave them in their mess.  He prayed WITH those people - right there at that moment.

If Jesus is our example of how we should live our daily lives and His same power is within us, I had to ask myself...why I haven't I been doing the same thing?

So....I asked the Holy Spirit to help me...I asked Him to cleanse me of my self...to help me get my fear of what others would think out of my mind and to replace that fear with boldness and power.  And...He did.

During the last month, I've had friends and colleagues share life situations with me such as these...
-a neighbor had a son that was getting ready to go through open heart surgery
-a colleague of mine received a terrible report from her daughter's doctor about something he claimed could be a life long problem
-a colleague was in a low spot emotionally - tired, worn out
-a friend of mine had tried for years to conceive a second child and was very discouraged

For most of these situations, the Lord set me up beautifully to not just pray for these people but I was able to completely drop what I was doing and I prayed (through the power of the Holy Spirit) WITH these sweet people.  As I prayed, I could feel the power of the Holy Spirit giving me God's Word to speak over them.  I began to see that the reason we pray WITH people is so they can hear the Holy Spirit speak on their behalf for them.  When we pray WITH people, they are hearing God Himself reach out to them and share His Will for that situation.  These distressed people HEAR hope, they hear Words that they can now stand on and have faith in when the enemy comes with doubt.

Yes, so often, tears would run down both of our faces...yes, so often, the tiny thought would come at the back of my mind..."Do they think I'm crazy now?"  But...then, so quickly...a peace beyond what I can describe would come over me that I recognized as a hug from Jesus for being obedient and unselfish.

Yes, I still reminded God of His Word and called out every name of the people I prayed with to the Lord in my secret place but I believe the power against the enemy in these situations came from the agreement that took place when we prayed together.

And, now...listen to these praise reports...this is what putting God's Word with faith in the power of the name of Jesus does....
-my neighbor's son came through his open heart surgery beautifully - he was home from the hospital in 5 days and I've already seen him spending time in his backyard
-that colleague of mine that received the negative report about her daughter went back for a recheck over Christmas break and her daughter's blood count has improved drastically and her daughter is able to return to her normal activities (like gymnastics, dance, the things she loves)
-that friend of mine who couldn't get pregnant - she's due in August
-and that colleague who was so down and depressed, she greets me in the hallway everyday with a huge smile - her husband even lost his job AFTER we prayed, she didn't panic but trusted the Lord and he started his new job last week

Yesterday, driving home from work, I was thinking back over all of these praise reports and I got excited!!! Super excited!! I could feel the presence of the Lord overwhelm me in my car!  Our Father is good, so good!! I love how He showed His love to each of these people and honored His Word - like He always does!

As I prayed in my car yesterday afternoon, these thoughts rolled through my head...
We are not powerless! We have the power of Jesus inside of us! We don't have to beg and plea in prayer but we can call out God's Word in the name of Jesus and command our mountains to move.  These praise reports that I have been so blessed to share are examples of mountains that were in their lives and we (through Jesus' name) told the mountains to move and they moved.  It's time for the church to get out of the pews and cooperate with Jesus who is IN us and change lives - it's time to heal, deliver and meet REAL needs right now! The same power that Jesus had on Earth is in us - let's utilize it for others!

I pray that YOU operate as Jesus did RIGHT WHERE you are TODAY!  Don't just pray for others - pray WITH them!

Love,
Toddy