Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray (James 5:13).
The first time I heard the statement, “There are no atheists in foxholes,” was from my sixth grade teacher, Mr. De Groot. He would capture our attention as he shared his warfare experiences and how even the biggest and most callous guys in their troop would weep and fall to their knees the night before extreme combat. Mr. De Groot was small in stature, but big in prayer and they’d come to his bunk to pray.
Seeking God’s help in times of war is nothing new. In 2 Chronicles 20 when Jehoshaphat received the report that a vast army of Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites were marching toward him to make war, he was alarmed, proclaimed a fast for all Judah, and sought God in prayer.
Are troubles marching your way? Learn from Jehoshaphat.
Pray. When Jehoshaphat heard that a vast army was heading his way, he didn’t organize his militia, meet with his military advisors, or strategize war tactics. This was his first response: Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah (v. 3). What’s your immediate response to troubling news?
Remember who God is. Jehoshaphat stood in front of the people of Judah and prayed, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand and no one can withstand you” (v. 6). What name of God corresponds with your deepest trouble and need? If you feel weak, remember that He’s your Strength (Psalm 59:17), if you feel distraught, remember that He’s your Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), and if you feel betrayed, remember that He’s your Defender (Proverbs 23:11).
Remember what God did in the past. “O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend” (v. 7)? How has God been faithful to you in the past?
Remember what God said He would do in the future.“They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us’” (vs. 8-9). What did God promise to do for you in the future?
Remember God’s power.“For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you” (v. 12). What’s bigger, your problem or God’s power? See 2 Corinthians 12:9!
Prayer Step: Are you in a worrisome valley with more trouble marching your way? Look to God, pray, and remember.
When you face a battle, spend much time in His Word and in prayer, for then He will give you that needed word of encouragement.
Warren W. Wiersbe
I love editing. I love taking something that is good (or, in some cases, not so good), and making it better. I love taking out elements that distract and adding elements that enhance. I love untangling piles of words and ideas and rearranging them into fluid thoughts.
But sometimes I get into such a rhythm when I edit that it’s like I’m on autopilot – instinctively untwisting words and shuffling ideas around a page.
It was in this trance-like state that I found myself editing the Bible. Not on purpose, mind you. The verse was woven into the lesson I was working on, and I had added a comma and changed two words before I realized the sentence was directly from Scripture. I set my red pen down and rubbed my eyes. Really, Amy? Did you just do that?
How often do I do that in life, though? Take God’s Word and add a claim here, cut a command there, rearrange some thoughts and – voila – a customized gospel that better fits my desires. We’ve all done it, and it usually looks something like this:
Forgive. I did forgive her; I’m just reiterating my point so she knows why I was upset.
Don’t lie. It’s not lying; it’s just part of the job – anything to make a sale.
Love. I am loving, but she was walking all over me and I had to defend myself.
Don’t steal. It’s not stealing. My friend bought the CD; I’m just making a copy.
Be patient. I am patient, but that waitress was slow and we were running late.
Sometimes our edits are calculated – we rearrange God’s truth and project our own agenda onto Him to justify our actions and responses. Sometimes they are more mindless – a numbed acceptance that treats culture’s voice as synonyms with God’s. Both are wrong. Both are sin.
So what if we really accepted God’s Word as truth and expected to receive radical freedom from radically obeying Him? What if, instead of relying on our own revisions, we acknowledged God’s sovereignty and clung to His Word alone? What would it look like if we all set down our red pens and simply admired the work of the true Author – the One who has written our names on His hands and asks us to follow Him?
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding (John 2:1-3).
Until this morning’s quiet time, my single correlation with the wedding that took place at Cana was that it was the location of Jesus’ first miracle: He turned water into wine. What joy to discover that it’s also a place packed with lessons on prayer. Before you go on, please get your Bible or log on to biblegateway.com and read John 2:1-11.
Put yourself in the shoes of the servants who were the first to know that they ran out of wine for the wedding guests. I don’t know about you, but I’d be in the kitchen pacing and panicking. Now what? Are the local wineries still open? Does anyone have some sparkling grape juice available? Then the lessons on prayer begin . . .
1. When you’ve run out of what you need, go to Jesus. When Mary discovered the wine was gone, she went to Jesus, knowing He could change the situation (John 2:3). When love runs out of your marriage, go to Jesus. When joy runs out of your heart, peace runs out of your family, or patience runs out of your parenting, take the need to Jesus. He makes change possible!
2. Pray that He opens your eyes to the resources nearest you. Nearby stood six stone water jars (John 2:6). When needs are deep we can miss the obvious or think that every solution is an arm’s length or more away. Pray that He opens your eyes so you can clearly see His plans, and don’t be surprised if the answer is nearby.
3. Pray that you readily obey Jesus no matter what His command. His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (Luke 2:5). Was this whatever- command a stretch for the servants? They needed stone jars filled with wine, not water! Their thoughts are not recorded, only their wholehearted obedience. They filled them [the stone jars] to the brim (John 2:7). For Jesus to do miracles we must readily cooperate with full, up-to-the-brim obedience (John 2:7)!
4. Pray for people to see Jesus’ glory. This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him (John 2:11). Do you have loved ones who closed their hearts to Jesus? Pray that He opens their eyes to see His glory! It was being eyewitnesses to Jesus’ glory that initiated the disciples’ faith.
Prayer Step: Make one of these prayer lessons your heart’s cry for yourself or a friend today.
Work as if everything depended on you and pray as if everything depended on God.
D.L. Moody
Sitting next to her, I noticed how quiet and unable or unwilling to make eye contact with others she was. I carefully reached over and patted her hand and asked, “You doin’ ok tonight?”
“Oh yes. I’m fine,” she said in a voice barely audible.
I tried not to stare, but I was certain something was wrong. I studied her out of the corner of my eye. Yes, there was something very different about my friend. What was it? Then I noticed it. Heavy make-up had been applied to the top of her hand attempting to cover a large and ugly bruise that ran up her hand and continued up her arm. How did that get there? I wondered.
When she suddenly turned to look at me, she must have seen the look of concern on my face. Slowly, barely above a whisper she confided, “He did it… last night… but he didn’t mean to do it.”
Memories flooded my mind. I had heard that same line over and over again in the past. Always they came from a woman who had been beaten by her husband – a woman who was a victim of domestic violence.
Before coming to GEMS, one of my previous jobs had been working for a special task force on domestic violence. The messages spoken by the hundreds of women I interviewed at that time were always the same – “He didn’t mean to do it.” “He promises to change.” And, “He says he really loves me, and He’s sorry.”
Sadly, that was never the case.
Battering is the single largest cause of injury to women—more than auto accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reports that 3 to 4 million women are beaten in their homes every year. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, approximately 2,000 women are murdered every year by an intimate partner.
I looked into her eyes and said slowly and meaningfully, “I’d like to help. Could we talk sometime?”
“We can talk, but I’m fine, really.”
I pressed on knowing above all else that my friend indeed needed help even though her words communicated otherwise. “How about Thursday evening after work or Friday for lunch? Would either time work for you?”
“I could do lunch on Friday.”
“Great,” I said, meaning it.
We picked a spot to meet, gave each other hugs, and then got up to leave. I watched my friend walk away thinking that my meeting with her on Friday would require some preparation on my part. I needed a refresher course on: statistics including the lack of success in changing abusive behaviors, what to say to victims in denial that refuse to believe their husbands or boyfriends will likely not change, contact information for local support groups, and, equally important, contact information for domestic violence shelters.
Domestic violence has been called the silent epidemic. Victims rarely reach out for help and too often their pain, fear, and sadness go unnoticed even by friends and family members until it is too late. Their very lives could well be in our hands. This encounter was a wake-up call to me to pay more attention to others, to notice the little and the big things. Indeed it may be that someone’s very life may depend on my ability to particularize or notice them and respond with Christ’s love and compassion.
Now what about you? Will you determine to be a noticer?
When someone I admire gave up TV for a year, it got me thinking. I’ve never really watched much TV, but I decided to follow his lead. Now I am halfway through a 12-month stint sans any sitcoms, reality shows, or even nightly newscasts. Admiration led to intrigue and intrigue eventually led to action – action that has enriched my life.
That’s a pretty typical progression for me when I encounter someone I respect. I take note of their words and actions and sometimes even try to imitate them.
When it comes to screen time, it would have been easy to choose someone else to mimic. In fact, if I wanted to be on par with a typical American in any given year, I could sit on my couch for 67 days straight and watch TV around the clock (the average Canadian’s annual TV consumption is just a few days shy of that mark).
I’m horrible with mental math, but even I can quickly compute the number of years many North Americans spend in front of a TV. (On second thought, who wants to be average?)
Here’s the thing: habits don’t form themselves. And most of us have people that we look up to, respect, and possibly even emulate. As a counselor – as a mentor of girls – you have a group of young women who readily place you into that category. They look up to you and are taking note of your words and actions.
So, what kind of an example are you setting? Are your attitudes and habits life-enriching? Jesus used His life on earth to set a perfect example for us to follow. Is He your litmus test for everything you say and do? How closely are you following Him?
Girls are bombarded with endless messages from culture about how they should look, how they should act, what they should buy, and who they should be. Is your life a living example that there is another way – a better way? Is your life a living example of the fact that culture’s messages are drastically different than God’s? Are you living a life worth mimicking?
At our last GEMS Counselors’ Meeting we prayed in color for each girl in our club. It was a special time of intentional, focused prayer for each girl.
We’ve now posted it at club to remind the girls of our prayers. It’s our hope that it also serves as an inspiring reminder for them to pray in color, too!
Pray in Color for Your Club:
1. Draw a design that has a specified space for each girl’s name.
2. Write the girls’ names within the design.
3. Gather your colors, markers, and counselors.
4. Ask each counselor to pray as she colors the spaces that contain the names of the girls in her small group. It’ll be tempting to chit-chat about other things, but guard these precious minutes as prayer time for the girls.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
Sometimes, meditating on God’s Word looks more like an awkward hug than an intimate embrace with my Father – my feet get tangled, my arms go the wrong way, and in a hasty attempt to salvage the gesture I reposition myself and end up turning my head at the worst possible moment. It’s uncomfortable.
For three days I subconsciously plotted ways to avoid such an encounter with Psalm 51:10. I read it. Good start. I underlined it in my Bible. Piety point. I even prayed through it a few times. Done deal.
Done deal. Right. Except that I walked away feeling like I’d offered God a fist bump or a friendly slap on the back instead of, well, anything worthwhile.
So I decided to try it again. I was determined to completely open my heart to God, and I did my best to position myself for a clean embrace.
But Psalm 51:10 is intense, and it wasn’t long before I started to feel like God was holding me a little too close – like perhaps His grasp might actually crush me. I fidgeted. I started to squirm. I even tried to back away. But it was too late. It was like He had reached deep inside and grabbed my heart. His grip was firm, and the longer I sat there the tighter it got.
Open and utterly vulnerable, I watched as God held my heart in His hands. It looked like a heavy sponge – soaked through with sin. I winced as He started to squeeze. Have you been dishonest at all this week? Drip. Self-seeking or smug? Drip, drip. Any jealousy? Drip, drip, drip. How about greed?
The drips were flowing into a steady stream now, producing an unpleasant cadence as they fell. But we were just getting started. God twisted my heart tighter and tighter in His hands – carefully wringing out every inch.
How’s your thought life these days? Drip. Been wasting any time? Drip, drip. Taken anything for granted in the past week? Been unforgiving? Said anything mean? Been angry at all? Holding onto any bitterness? Gossiped about anyone? How’s your attitude? Are you loving people who seem unlovable? Have you denied Me? Drip, drip, drip.
Eventually, the flow slowed back down to a trickle and then stopped, but the brittle remains of my heart threatened to break into dust and blow away. I sat there like a parched wasteland: barren and deserted. I felt empty, dry, and completely drained.
But then it hit me: My heart had been wrung out and the sting was painful and real, but He hadn’t let go. The Creator of the Universe still had my heart in His hands. My sins had flowed out, but He hadn’t bothered to collect them. He had let each one wash away. And, He continued to delicately cradle what was left of my heart. I wasn’t alone, and He wasn’t done. God did not intend to stop with simply discarding the dirty water, He was ready to renew my spirit and fill me back up.
I still felt raw, so I just sat there for awhile. But now I was sitting in awe. In awe of a God who loves me enough to wring out my dirty, polluted heart and then patiently sit on the floor with me while I catch my breath. In awe of a God who offers to, in exchange for the murky water I insist on sloshing around in, fill me up with His grace and mercy and love. In awe of a God who doesn’t seem to mind the awkwardness I present each time I stumble into His arms. And, in awe of a God who refuses to let go no matter how much I might try to twist free of His grasp.
God’s love isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it feels like a rib-crushing bear hug that leaves me breathless and sore. But I’m realizing more and more that undeniable warmth always seeps through the pain, illuminating a bigger plan, a better way, and promising to refine me and provide me with an incomprehensible sense of peace. It’s not always comfortable, but I’ll take it because it’s always good.
Admittedly, it started after I turned forty. When I’m in large groups I have an increasingly difficult time hearing. But no matter how loud the crowd, there’s a voice that I can always discern . . . my hubby’s. It’s not because he’s blaring or boisterous, I just recognize his voice. Even when he’s across the room and I can’t physically hear his words, I can interpret his body language. I’ve been accused of reading his mind and have charged him with reading mine, too.
That doesn’t just happen because you’re married. It’s attributed to time spent talking and listening, and seeking to know and love one another more and more.
Many Christians are finding it increasingly difficult to hear God’s voice. The culture has moved from whispering subliminal messages to cranking the volume on its lies. And in all the noise some of God’s children struggle to hear and recognize God’s voice.
Jesus said, “The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice” (John 10:2-4).
Knowing His voice doesn’t just happen because you’re a Christian. It’s attributed to time spent talking and listening, and seeking to know and love our Savior more and more!
That was the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Philippians. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:9-11).
When we seek to know Jesus better, we’re able to discern and recognize the voice of Truth in the midst of a persuasive world that rejects Him as Lord. For it’s in knowing His voice that we can follow wherever the Good Shepherd leads – whether quiet waters, the valley of the shadow of death, or a table prepared in the presence of our enemies. When we follow His voice, goodness and love will follow us all the days of our lives, and we will dwell in His house forever (Psalm 23).
Prayer Step: How well do you recognize Jesus’ voice? Spend time in prayer and His Word to know Him more and more.
The value of prayer is not that He will hear us…but that we will finally hear Him.
William McGi
Here we are at the beginning of the Advent Season. Advent is, of course, that season – that period of about four weeks immediately before Christmas where we turn our hearts and our thoughts toward the coming of our great King, our loving Savior. It’s a season of waiting, anticipating, and really longing for His coming, preparing to receive Him anew as we celebrate His birth and as we eagerly look ahead to the final return of Christ to earth. What a season of hope and joy, really!
And, it’s a season that is common to all believers around the world – all of us waiting, anticipating, and longing to experience the birth of our Savior at Christmas time and longing for Him to return to earth once again and triumph over the enemy – defeat Satan, who is present everywhere in this world trying to keep all of us from being faithful followers of Jesus. We long for that final victory because we know that final victory will change everything.
But the question before us is this: how will we fill the days of Advent? If we are truly getting our hearts and minds ready to experience Christmas and celebrate His birth rightly – offering Him our heartfelt thanksgiving, how are we going to do that?
In our North American culture, we have many traditions that have developed around Christmas, don’t we? Decorating for Christmas, baking for Christmas, shopping for gifts to give at Christmas, wrapping those gifts, sending Christmas cards to family and friends, attending Christmas parties – and all of these things have the potential to be very good things – they can bless us and bless others as well. But we have such a propensity in North America to overdo – to get so caught up on these things that we miss His coming. We lose our focus on the Savior’s birth and trade that in for exhaustion, overspending, overeating, overdecorating, over–everything – indulgence of every kind. Anybody know what I’m talking about?
Why do we do that? Why do we choose to fall into bed exhausted on Dec 26 and wonder how we missed it?
There are probably many things that contribute to it, but two of the biggest reasons are these:
1. Satan deceives us into thinking that these things are the most important things. They are things we have to do… and not just half do, but to go all out? And we can go all out because of the second reason…
2. Our affluence – we have so many resources – putting it plainly, we have so much money! Compared to the rest of the world, all of us living in the US are indeed rich!
And, because we have so many resources, so much money, we spend it – especially at Christmas time!
Now spending money in and of itself is not a bad thing. But we need to remember that as children of God, all that we have belongs to HIM – which includes the money in our pockets, banks, and 401k’s – it all belongs to Him, and He entrusts it to us to be wise stewards of It – to spend it wisely. Not spending it all on ourselves or on things where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal as the verse from Matthew 6:19 tells us, but spending money on treasures in Heaven, on things that have eternal consequences. That means that our responsibility is to spend money on things that last and make a difference forever.
So what can we do, then, on this front side of Advent to prepare our hearts and our minds, to make sure that we don’t miss Him? That we experience with fresh eyes and open hearts each and every day of this Advent Season, the fullness of what it means that God sent His Son to earth as our Savior – to be born as a child in lowly stable, placed in a manger for His bed – that He came to be the sacrifice for your sins and my so we can live with Him forever? How do we make sure that happens?
There are three practical things I’d like to suggest:
1. Decide now what you will do and won’t do. And get rid of the guilt for choosing not to do some of the things that really are not part of God’s priorities. Make choices now and don’t be tempted to add-in. Guard your calendar and your time.
2. Be sure you are spending time every day, every day in Advent focused on His coming – really prepare your heart and your mind for that. Don’t miss it. First thing in the morning is usually the best time for it. Start your day in some kind of devotional reading and time of prayer that really centers on what Christ’s coming and His eventual return to earth really means to us as believers. If you have a regular devotional that you use, either set it aside or even better, add to it something specifically geared for Advent and the true celebration of Christ’s coming, of Christmas.
3. Consider how you will invest the money that God has given you. Will it be exclusively on you and your family? Will you give extra to the church? And what will you do with God’s clear mandate to us as believers to care for those that have nothing – to care for the widows and the orphans? How might you care for them?
Might I suggest that you consider giving gifts of bricks from GEMS’ Brick Campaign as a way to care for orphans. Each “brick” that you purchase will be used to build The Esther School in Zambia, for orphan and under-resourced children. Please watch the new video below and read more on the GEMS website.
The Esther School is a BIG undertaking – a big job! BUT we serve a BIG, BIG God, and He will make it possible through girls and counselors and women and families all across the world. We will build the school, brick by brick.
And isn’t The Esther School the very kind of thing that God calls us to do in this season of Advent and all year long as well? Isn’t this a way of honoring Christ with our actions, being obedient to His call to care for those that cannot care for themselves? I believe this is exactly the kind of thing that is acceptable to God – that pleases Him. When we get our eyes off of ourselves – stop thinking about what we want and what our culture tells us we ought to being doing, and look at a lost and hurting world and how we can make a difference with the many resources that He has made available to us – we delight God’s heart. To whom much has been given, much is expected. The Esther School – for such a time as this!
This fall, I had the privilege of spending 5 1/2 weeks in Zambia. I visited GEMS Clubs, interviewed some of the precious children who will benefit from The Esther School, and helped out with Hand ‘n Hand. The following is a post from my personal blog on October 28th.
I love the start of my days here. I get up, open the windows in the front room, make some tea and then journal and read as I bask in the still silence of the morning.
Yesterday, that quiet was disturbed by the shrill rattle of someone pounding on our gate. I dragged myself out of my chair in order to investigate. An older woman was standing outside with a giant bag of potholders balanced on her head. It was almost 7:30, and apparently this was her second trip to the Service Center so far this morning. She had stopped by at 6, but the guard had informed her she needed to come back later.
She explained that she had an appointment. One of our local staff members had instructed her to meet her here by 8am. Hmm. That’s funny, I thought. No one from the staff is here yet. I made a few phone calls and apologetically explained to the woman that she would have to come back after 10. “No problem,” she said through a big, toothy grin.
No problem. I contemplated that as I turned to go back inside. We hear that a lot here. In fact, it’s probably the most common response we receive to any given request. And they’re not just saying it, either.
Shortly after 10, the lady returned for a third time. Without the slightest hint of annoyance at having been inconvenienced, she discussed a few questions with the staff before plopping down on the cold tile floor to chat with the other women as she sewed.
No problem. And it really wasn’t a problem. I’m sure she had plenty of other things she could have been doing, but she didn’t complain. It didn’t rile her up at all to have to make three trips – on foot – to the Service Center even though staff had told her they would be there to meet her first thing in the morning.
I’m not saying I’m going to start breaking appointments on a whim once I come home, but the whole mindset continues to fascinate me.
Which brings me to today. Today was a day set aside to do work. Today I wasn’t going to leave the Service Center because I had so much editing to do. Today I was going to get things done. Today was also the day the power went out and didn’t come back on for six hours. Today was the day both of my computer batteries were dead by 11am. Today I felt stranded and bored. And today was the perfect day to practice the outlook I have so often observed in the past month.
So, in the end, I discovered that despite the obstacles, all I needed was a slight attitude adjustment and, voilà, today really was no problem.
