Last week, I started to write my blog two different times. I was going to write about some local happenings in my home town, but decided that emotions were running too high and just didn't want to voice an opinion that might cause a lot of debate - then I started to write about the changes in the weather and how crazy this Spring has been - but I kind of thought writing about the weather was a little like trying to write about a conversation with a brick wall...my first experience with writer's block happened, and I must say - wow - it was not fun!
So today, I'm going to write about prayer, spiritual warfare and friendship. Those things seem to be unrelated right?? Well in my world, they are tied tightly together - and I bet they are in yours as well. Do you ever ask a friend to pray for you - or solicit prayers from your church family or your Facebook friends? If so, you are linked by prayer and friendship...but what you may not realize is how spiritual warfare ties into that too.
Satan hates it when we pray. It's our most powerful weapon because we have direct access to the Father - the Creator - the King of Kings and Lord of Lords - Maker of Heaven and Earth. Do you ever find yourself getting really sleepy when you pray? How about a distraction like the phone ringing, a mosquito, noises you would otherwise never notice? If so, you've experienced spiritual warfare and prayer.
So how do all three of these become connected? When we pray for one another - either together or apart. Today, a friend of mine who shares my name went with me to pray over a home that has been a part of a dear family for a long time. There is sadness in this home and there was sickness there, grief and death in the loss of loved ones. The home is beautiful but being near it or in it or around it brings about such feelings of sadness and emptiness. A flag hangs on the front of the house that is torn, faded, twisted and knotted and it is such an open description of how this house has been tangled in the lives of these dear people for so many years.
Over the past few weeks and months, my heart has been drawn to this home over and over to pray for it. I've prayed when I have driven by it, I've prayed for it when I've been in my own home and I've prayed with others about it and for the family who has been left to care for it. Today an opportunity came to go inside it and pray. I've been in it before and walking through it I felt so much sadness that it made me want to cry at times. My friend felt the same way when she went with me today. We don't know all that happened there - we don't know the entire family history - and you may think we are really weird for wanting to do this. But here's the thing - Houses are built by people, Land is cleared by people, People dwell in houses and make them Homes - yes - houses are not living but they have life in them. Because people are partly spirit - houses have personalities - I believe this to the core of my being. Some houses feel happy and bright others feel dark and scary and others have sadness wrapped in and through them. You have felt this before, I'm sure. Movies and best-sellers are written about "haunted houses". Songs are sung about "home" and being there bringing peace and refuge...
So anyway, today my friend and I both felt as though God was drawing us to pray over and around and in this home - so I contacted the owner and asked if that might be a possibility. We had set a tentative time for around 11 without knowing whether he would be able to let us in or not. About 10:30, I received a contact from him that he had left the home open for us to pray and that we just needed to lock up before we left and he'd reset the alarm system after we finished. I literally JUMPED out of my chair to text my friend to let her know of his reply and we put on our spiritual armor and met to carry out our God-given assignment.
I was completely amazed at how the very areas I had been drawn to that were sad and dark, were the ones that my friend was drawn to as well. There were things that she pointed out that I had felt but not considered and there were places that seemed so much sadder than others. There were also places that held no emotion at all - it was as if the rooms were built but never entered.
So the first room we entered was the laundry area. As I said, I had been in the home before, but hadn't really noticed a lot of "details". When we walked in the room, I noticed that there was a type-written note on the fuse box and walked over closer to it. It was a beautiful prayer. What was so incredible about this was that I had never noticed it before but it was as though God had given us our first directive in preparing our hearts to pray. This prayer was a call of repentance, a commission of confidence and a reminder of His care, love and protection over us as we served Him.
We walked through other areas of the home and I was drawn to the windows. I noticed flowers blooming outside. There were places filled with natural beauty that served as a reminder of the life surrounding that beautiful home. As we turned on the lights to enter other rooms, it was so wonderful to see them illuminated - another reminder of God's light and how it exposes the darkness in our lives and makes them bright again. When we got into the largest room in the home, both of us felt drawn to stay there for a while. We were both drawn to the middle window of the room and we could see the pool area. At first glance it was old and tired and in disrepair. It was sad - not filled with anticipation of the joy that Summer brings. It was rusted and filled with murky water. We decided that this would be the room where we would spend the bulk of our time in prayer.
My friend began to pray aloud and I walked around the room to different windows and areas and just let God speak to me about those places - He then brought me into prayer and I began to ask Him for restoration of this home's joy. Honestly, I don't remember all that was said in our prayers and don't feel at liberty to share all that I do remember but I will tell you that when we finished praying, we were exhausted...as if we had been in a major battle. We had been, we were at war in the spiritual realm - fighting spiritual warfare as intercessors for this sweet family and this beautiful home.
We both walked back to the window that had drawn us into the room and the view had changed - it was amazing! What we hadn't noticed the first time was all the life around that broken down pool. On the hill there was a huge wild hydrangea blooming like a burst of white fire works in all its majesty - there was a sweet green tree frog sunning on the handle of the ladder - there were birds chirping everywhere - and in the center of that murky water, sitting on a torn piece of vinyl was the biggest old bull frog looking around as if he was "Lord of the Pond" looking at all his kingdom. Life everywhere!! God was showing us His life - His creation. I looked up at the ceiling in the room and on the chandelier there were medallions in the shape of sunflowers - you ALL know how much I love sunflowers...my friend said, "Amy, that was a kiss on the cheek to you from the Lord"...I knew it was! Oh dear friends, walking out of that home, there was a newness, a freshness ... mission accomplished!
Now, you may be sitting there asking yourself, what in the world is this girl talking about...you may be thinking - she has lost her stinking mind!! Maybe you're wondering why this was such an important thing for us to do -- it's just a house after all...or maybe you're just thinking my friend and I are some kind of spiritual nut-cases. Not so, my friends!
We are called to be available to go where God is working and to be ready when He says go. There are lots of ways to carry out the message of Christ and living out "The Great Commission" in our communities, states, countries and the world. Some are called to teach, preach, pray, sing, build, go, heal - and more - but we're all called in Jesus Name - if we profess to be one of His children.
Jesus promises that "where two are more are gathered, there He will be also." Matthew 18:20. I take this verse literally. I know without a doubt that He was there with us today. One of the greatest joys of living a spirit filled life is having communication with the Father. Prayer is not just a laundry list of requests from our end - it's conversational. What happens to some is that we just "ring up the phone" on our end, tell God what's on our mind and then hang up before He has a chance to say anything. Oh how we miss so much when we do that! If we wait anxiously for Him and expect to see His Hand at work, it's so easy to see. If we will truly believe all the promises He gives, we will see evidence of it even when our prayers go unanswered.
How do we get assignments from the Lord? We must first be willing and available. Secondly, we must know our Commander well enough to hear what the assignment is and trust that He knows what He is doing in asking us to do the assignment without asking Him for all the answers before we obey. Thirdly, we've got to have our spiritual armor either on or close by so that when He calls we can move quickly and go. And lastly, we must put all "logic" aside and just do the thing even if we have to do it scared...We can't let "man's approval" stand in the way of obeying God. That's serving 2 masters. We can't be so busy that we have to tell God to find someone else because we don't have room in our calendars to go...and we must trust - with every cell of our bodies that HE loves us and wants our best even in strange situations.
I loved today! I loved praying with my friend and I loved being on the front line for this family and this home and in praying for God to bring this home into its beauty, love and happy state. I'm so thankful that the family who owns this home trusted us and welcomed us to pray. I'm so honored that God asked us to do this.
Friend, I pray you'll enjoy living on the edge with God. I pray you'll walk in obedience even when it doesn't seem to make sense. I pray you will seek Him, find Him and know Him with all your heart. He's funny, He's happy, He's amazing and He really loves you! Oh how He loves you SO!!
Until next time, may you be blessed in the Name of the Lord!! Have a great week!!! Amy
So today, I'm going to write about prayer, spiritual warfare and friendship. Those things seem to be unrelated right?? Well in my world, they are tied tightly together - and I bet they are in yours as well. Do you ever ask a friend to pray for you - or solicit prayers from your church family or your Facebook friends? If so, you are linked by prayer and friendship...but what you may not realize is how spiritual warfare ties into that too.
Satan hates it when we pray. It's our most powerful weapon because we have direct access to the Father - the Creator - the King of Kings and Lord of Lords - Maker of Heaven and Earth. Do you ever find yourself getting really sleepy when you pray? How about a distraction like the phone ringing, a mosquito, noises you would otherwise never notice? If so, you've experienced spiritual warfare and prayer.
So how do all three of these become connected? When we pray for one another - either together or apart. Today, a friend of mine who shares my name went with me to pray over a home that has been a part of a dear family for a long time. There is sadness in this home and there was sickness there, grief and death in the loss of loved ones. The home is beautiful but being near it or in it or around it brings about such feelings of sadness and emptiness. A flag hangs on the front of the house that is torn, faded, twisted and knotted and it is such an open description of how this house has been tangled in the lives of these dear people for so many years.
Over the past few weeks and months, my heart has been drawn to this home over and over to pray for it. I've prayed when I have driven by it, I've prayed for it when I've been in my own home and I've prayed with others about it and for the family who has been left to care for it. Today an opportunity came to go inside it and pray. I've been in it before and walking through it I felt so much sadness that it made me want to cry at times. My friend felt the same way when she went with me today. We don't know all that happened there - we don't know the entire family history - and you may think we are really weird for wanting to do this. But here's the thing - Houses are built by people, Land is cleared by people, People dwell in houses and make them Homes - yes - houses are not living but they have life in them. Because people are partly spirit - houses have personalities - I believe this to the core of my being. Some houses feel happy and bright others feel dark and scary and others have sadness wrapped in and through them. You have felt this before, I'm sure. Movies and best-sellers are written about "haunted houses". Songs are sung about "home" and being there bringing peace and refuge...
So anyway, today my friend and I both felt as though God was drawing us to pray over and around and in this home - so I contacted the owner and asked if that might be a possibility. We had set a tentative time for around 11 without knowing whether he would be able to let us in or not. About 10:30, I received a contact from him that he had left the home open for us to pray and that we just needed to lock up before we left and he'd reset the alarm system after we finished. I literally JUMPED out of my chair to text my friend to let her know of his reply and we put on our spiritual armor and met to carry out our God-given assignment.
I was completely amazed at how the very areas I had been drawn to that were sad and dark, were the ones that my friend was drawn to as well. There were things that she pointed out that I had felt but not considered and there were places that seemed so much sadder than others. There were also places that held no emotion at all - it was as if the rooms were built but never entered.
So the first room we entered was the laundry area. As I said, I had been in the home before, but hadn't really noticed a lot of "details". When we walked in the room, I noticed that there was a type-written note on the fuse box and walked over closer to it. It was a beautiful prayer. What was so incredible about this was that I had never noticed it before but it was as though God had given us our first directive in preparing our hearts to pray. This prayer was a call of repentance, a commission of confidence and a reminder of His care, love and protection over us as we served Him.
We walked through other areas of the home and I was drawn to the windows. I noticed flowers blooming outside. There were places filled with natural beauty that served as a reminder of the life surrounding that beautiful home. As we turned on the lights to enter other rooms, it was so wonderful to see them illuminated - another reminder of God's light and how it exposes the darkness in our lives and makes them bright again. When we got into the largest room in the home, both of us felt drawn to stay there for a while. We were both drawn to the middle window of the room and we could see the pool area. At first glance it was old and tired and in disrepair. It was sad - not filled with anticipation of the joy that Summer brings. It was rusted and filled with murky water. We decided that this would be the room where we would spend the bulk of our time in prayer.
My friend began to pray aloud and I walked around the room to different windows and areas and just let God speak to me about those places - He then brought me into prayer and I began to ask Him for restoration of this home's joy. Honestly, I don't remember all that was said in our prayers and don't feel at liberty to share all that I do remember but I will tell you that when we finished praying, we were exhausted...as if we had been in a major battle. We had been, we were at war in the spiritual realm - fighting spiritual warfare as intercessors for this sweet family and this beautiful home.
We both walked back to the window that had drawn us into the room and the view had changed - it was amazing! What we hadn't noticed the first time was all the life around that broken down pool. On the hill there was a huge wild hydrangea blooming like a burst of white fire works in all its majesty - there was a sweet green tree frog sunning on the handle of the ladder - there were birds chirping everywhere - and in the center of that murky water, sitting on a torn piece of vinyl was the biggest old bull frog looking around as if he was "Lord of the Pond" looking at all his kingdom. Life everywhere!! God was showing us His life - His creation. I looked up at the ceiling in the room and on the chandelier there were medallions in the shape of sunflowers - you ALL know how much I love sunflowers...my friend said, "Amy, that was a kiss on the cheek to you from the Lord"...I knew it was! Oh dear friends, walking out of that home, there was a newness, a freshness ... mission accomplished!
Now, you may be sitting there asking yourself, what in the world is this girl talking about...you may be thinking - she has lost her stinking mind!! Maybe you're wondering why this was such an important thing for us to do -- it's just a house after all...or maybe you're just thinking my friend and I are some kind of spiritual nut-cases. Not so, my friends!
We are called to be available to go where God is working and to be ready when He says go. There are lots of ways to carry out the message of Christ and living out "The Great Commission" in our communities, states, countries and the world. Some are called to teach, preach, pray, sing, build, go, heal - and more - but we're all called in Jesus Name - if we profess to be one of His children.
Jesus promises that "where two are more are gathered, there He will be also." Matthew 18:20. I take this verse literally. I know without a doubt that He was there with us today. One of the greatest joys of living a spirit filled life is having communication with the Father. Prayer is not just a laundry list of requests from our end - it's conversational. What happens to some is that we just "ring up the phone" on our end, tell God what's on our mind and then hang up before He has a chance to say anything. Oh how we miss so much when we do that! If we wait anxiously for Him and expect to see His Hand at work, it's so easy to see. If we will truly believe all the promises He gives, we will see evidence of it even when our prayers go unanswered.
How do we get assignments from the Lord? We must first be willing and available. Secondly, we must know our Commander well enough to hear what the assignment is and trust that He knows what He is doing in asking us to do the assignment without asking Him for all the answers before we obey. Thirdly, we've got to have our spiritual armor either on or close by so that when He calls we can move quickly and go. And lastly, we must put all "logic" aside and just do the thing even if we have to do it scared...We can't let "man's approval" stand in the way of obeying God. That's serving 2 masters. We can't be so busy that we have to tell God to find someone else because we don't have room in our calendars to go...and we must trust - with every cell of our bodies that HE loves us and wants our best even in strange situations.
I loved today! I loved praying with my friend and I loved being on the front line for this family and this home and in praying for God to bring this home into its beauty, love and happy state. I'm so thankful that the family who owns this home trusted us and welcomed us to pray. I'm so honored that God asked us to do this.
Friend, I pray you'll enjoy living on the edge with God. I pray you'll walk in obedience even when it doesn't seem to make sense. I pray you will seek Him, find Him and know Him with all your heart. He's funny, He's happy, He's amazing and He really loves you! Oh how He loves you SO!!
Until next time, may you be blessed in the Name of the Lord!! Have a great week!!! Amy
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