A prayer by Andrew Murray

Just read this prayer by Andrew Murray - I particularly like the ending lines!

Let me have perfect quietness of heart. Let me never be worried, irritated, angry, or disappointed. I pray I will expect nothing and wonder at nothing that is done to me. I pray that I will feel no resentment at anything done against me, feel at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. I ask to have a blessed home in the Lord where I can go, shut the door, and talk to my Father in secret. I ask for a place where I can be at peace as in a deep sea of calmness when all around me is trouble.

The privilege of the intercessor

One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. 12 He said to his servant Gehazi, "Call the Shunammite." So he called her, and she stood before him. 13 Elisha said to him, "Tell her, 'You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?' (2 Kings 4:11-13)

The account of Elisha and the Shunammite woman reminds me of the privilege of intercession. The lady blesses Elisha by setting aside a room in her house so he can stay there every time he visits her town. One day, Elisha calls his servant Gehazi, to her ask how they can repay her goodness. He doesn't give her a physical gift in repayment. He says, "Now, what can be done for you? Can we speak on behalf to the king or the commander of the army?"

Intercessors do that. They speak to the King and the Commander of the Army (The Lord of Hosts) on behalf of others. I find that a great privilege. When we were in Kwang Lim, there were some days when I would fast lunch. But there was one day when I felt God wasn't calling me to do that, and I joined our team for a truly satisfying meal of Kimchi, squid, veg and soup. That day was special because there were some Korea missionaries sitting at the next table, who were back for a retreat, and they shared their fried chicken with us. Like good Asians, we shared (Serena's) little anchovies with them. And we even got the convenience store to open up, so we could buy ice-cream for dessert - it was the best meal we had while up on the mountains!

Call it a divine appointment. After lunch, a Korean missionary and his wife asked if we could pray for them. Their ministry is in Argentina. His wife's mother was due to go for a simple surgery for appendicitis in October, but the doctors wrongly injected her with antibiotics and she was now in a coma. There and there, in the dining hall, a group of us from Singapore gathered in a circle and called out to our God Most High to heal the elderly lady and bring her out of the coma. The Holy Spirit's presence was so strong among us. It was electric! It was the body of Christ coming together. And we had the peace in our hearts after that, she was healed. Amen!

Even now, all I can think of is what a great privilege it was to intercede to the Great King on behalf of the missionary. These are people who have given their lives to God; who no doubt walk closer to Him than us, yet, they were willing to share their struggle with us and ask us to pray for them...

I pulled this out from the RCCM website:

Nine Attributes of an Intercessor…

1. Abandonment – Willing to abandon all self-interest about what is being prayed;

2. Acceptance – Willing to accept the assignment to pray for someone that you do not even like;

3. Accountability – Faithful to the call and life of prayer. Willing to loan God your vocal cords;

4. Advocate – Willing to go in another person’s place and plead their case before God, acting like Jesus;

5. Agonising – Willing to bear the hurts of others and feel what they feel. Jesus was touched by our infirmities;

6. Armour – Willing to be a soldier who never retreats; who faces the devil in the Name of Jesus under the authority of the His Blood, knowing that the armor is your spiritual protection for your front parts. God protects your back parts. He is your rear guard. The Blood of Jesus and the Word of God are the whole armor of God;

7. Availability – Willing to always be available for God; holy, submissive, yielded, and humble. The world looks for ability. God only needs availability He can enjoinder and equip;

8. Awareness – Willing to be sensitive, and look beyond the person to make it happen for someone else;

9. Authority – Willing to go boldly before the Throne of God without begging, understanding the authority that belongs to the born-again believer.

Prayer today: Father God, what a privilege to be used as an intercessor in your Kingdom. I pray for your grace, O God, that you may grant me these qualities and help me grow in the calling you've placed on my life. In Jesus' name, Amen.

You are God, there is no other

In Korea, in my first full day in Osanri, God impressed upon me that I was not to bring my petitions to Him yet. No, the first day was to be spent meditating on His Majesty. It was to be spent giving Him praise. So I spent the day reading all 66 books of Isaiah, after which He said to me, turn the verses I had jotted down into a personal prayer (It's largely from Isaiah, but I've also added in a verse here and there from the book of Daniel, and the Psalms). Here it is - Praise the Lord!

You are God, there is no other

O God, you are the eternal King
There is no other
You rule and reign in majesty
Awesome in power, mighty in deed
You make heaven your throne
And the earth your footstool
You dwell in the high and holy place.
You are high and lifted up.
Yet, you are a God who is near and not afar off,
You are with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit
Hallelujah! Praise you O King!

You are Creator God
Before the world existed, you were
You stretched out the heavens like a tent to dwell in
And laid the foundations of the earth
You brought out the starry host by number
And called them each by name
You measured the waters of the sea in the hollow of your hand
Enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
Weighed the mountains in scales
And the hills in a balance
Hallelujah, Praise you O King!

You are the Sovereign God
And have complete rule over all the affairs of Man
You change times and seasons
Remove kings and set up kings
You call a bird of prey from the East
And a man of your counsel from a far country
All the nations are as nothing before you
They are accounted by you as nothing and emptiness
What you have spoken, you bring to pass
What you purpose, you will do
Hallelujah, Praise you O King!

You are Lord of Hosts
God over all nature, heavenly and angelic hosts
You form light and create darkness
Make well-being and create calamity
By your rebuke you dry up the seas
And make the rivers a desert
By your word, you make a way in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert
You make your messengers winds,
Your ministers a flaming fire
Hallelujah, Praise you O King!

You are Kings of Kings, Lord of Lords
A loving God, and a fearsome Judge
When you want to exact vengeance and judgement
You muster a host for battle
They come from a distant land
From the ends of the heavens
They shall come in fire
And in chariots that are like the whirlwind
You go out like a mighty man
And show yourself mighty against your foes
Hallelujah, Praise you O King!

You are God, there is no other.

Wisdom and counsel

The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. (1 Kings 10:24)

I've been spending some time listening to Don Anderson's sermon messages on the book of Daniel, and today's lesson had amazing lessons for me on how we should act as Christians even in a crisis. King Nebuchadnezzar had ordered all the wise men in his palace to be executed because no one could interpret his dream. And Daniel was to be rounded up and killed too.

"And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon". (Daniel 2:13-14)

In a time of crisis, Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to the very captain of the guard who had come to slay him. Wisdom and counsel. That is what Christians (and dare I say, the new guard) need in this Aware saga. Jesus tells us to be 'as shrewd as serpents, as gentle as doves'. We are to 'let our speech be always in grace, seasoned with salt' (Col 4:6). The way Jesus won the kingdom was through the way of love, sacrifice and death, not revolution.

So this quote by Max Lucado spoke much to me:

Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle.
If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise.
If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer.
If I make a demand, may it only be of myself.

I believe this is God's way.

Prayer today: Lord Jesus, I pray that you will grant us wisdom and counsel, that we may always rightly represent you and your ways. Grant that we may be as shrewd as serpents, as gentle as doves. Grant that if we raise our voice, it is only in praise. If we clench our fist, it is only in prayer. If we make a demand, it is only of ourselves. For this is your way. May your purposes shine through us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Back from the prayer mountains

45Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. 46"It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be a house of prayer'[b]; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'[c]" (Luke 19:45)

Last night, I returned from a trip to the Osanri and Kwang Lim prayer mountains. It was an awesome, awesome experience!! I went to declutter my mind - to slow down, to seek God. But God's nearness in the quietness and beauty of nature just blew my mind. God esteems prayer because it honours Him. He esteems it because it glorifies Him when He answers our petitions.

One lady in our team - a 65-year-old woman - taught us something profoundly touching through her testimonies. She prays about the smallest things. She is a housewife and cooks for her Peranakan family. She prays for God to help her cook a good meal for her family. She prays that He will strengthen her knees so she can go up and down the mountain. She prays. She had been an idol-worshipper for all her life, but her daughter prayed for more than 30 years that she should come to know the one true God. Because of that faithful prayer, God appeared to the elderly lady in dreams - until she could no longer deny his Lordship. I had never heard God save a person in Singapore through dreams before (I thought God only moved through dreams to reach out to people who live in lands where the gospel is closed). That night, my eyes were opened to a new truth.

I learnt that wars are won and fought on prayer. Because when we pray, we plug into God, the greatest power there is. And He moves on our behalf. When we pray, He does more than we can do to take lands, transform lives and do the impossible. No wonder Jesus wants the church to be, above all, 'a house of prayer'.

Prayer today: Father God, may I be, above all, a person of prayer. And help me hear you clearly when I do, so we can dialogue each day as daughter to Abba Father, servant to King, friend to friend. In Jesus' name, Amen.

To bow like a saint

Fri night, when we heard that Rich was in critical condition, God led me to this passage in Finney's book "Power, Prayer and Passion". I was struck by why God led me to it.

It said - to pray effectually, you must pray with submission to the will of God. It spoke of King David. When his child was sick, David agonised in prayer and refused to be comforted. But as soon as he heard the child was dead, he laid aside his grief and arose. While the child was yet alive, he did not know what was the will of God and so he fasted and prayed. He did not know but that his prayer, his agony, was the very thing on which it turned, whether the child was to live or not. He thought that if he humbled himself and entreated God, perhaps God would spare him this blow. But as soon as God's will was clear, and the child was dead, he bowed like a saint.

After God led me to this passage, I began to realise that it was likely God would take Rich home. But I was still disappointed in God that He would do so, because I thought He should honour the prayers of his saints. It is only now, gradually, that I'm beginning to see that God had more in mind - for our good, and His glory...

Prayer today: Father God, Finney wrote of David, "But as soon as God's will was clear... he bowed like a saint." Even as you call me to pray, help me not to be disappointed in you when your answers come in a different way from what I expect. Help me, as soon as your will is clear, to bow like a saint. To submit to your higher purpose. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Cor 13)" You have your reasons for the things you do - help me to trust always in your loving, wise ways. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Spiritual weapons

Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, "Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!" 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles [h] sharpened. 21 The price was two thirds of a shekel [i] for sharpening plowshares and mattocks, and a third of a shekel [j] for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads. 22 So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them. (1 Sam 13:19-22)

In the battle against the Philistines, the Israelites were severely handicapped - because they lacked weapons. "Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel." When I first heard this preached recently, I was shocked. How could the Israelites have allowed themselves to be in such a vulnerable position? Strategically, it was unbelievable. So I thank God for the weapons He has given us - Eph 6:14 "Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." God knows in any battle, we need weapons, and He has given us a full arsenal and the battle manual.

Prayer today: Father God, you have given us a full arsenal and battle manual. Help me O God to use your weapons - to walk in your truth, righteousness, faith, peace and to pray always in the Spirit. You alone are sufficient. In Jesus' name, Amen.