Prayer is so powerful. Words are powerful Psalm 19:14 says, “let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer”. This is the beat of my heart.
If I could pick one thing that I’ve learned the most about so far being on the race (besides myself) I would pick prayer. This month part of our ministry is being at the church at 7am every morning for a short devo and prayer. It’s not unordinary for us to pray for 2 hours. And to be honest, I love it.
We pray for Serbia and this church. We pray for the congregation and for every seat to be filled every Sunday. We pray for salvation into the gypsy villages. We pray for our own personal burdens and the ways our spirits are grieving. We pray for revival and redemption to be had. We pray for healing, over this land, over this world, and over Char. We pray for the future. We pray for this team and our families that support and encourage us so well back home. We pray for our supporters – how selfless they are in sacrificing to meet our needs. We pray fervently, trusting God to move mountains.
We recently listened to a sermon on Bold Prayer. The pastor encouraged everyone to pray for boldness. Like in Acts 4:29 when Paul says, “now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness”. What you pray for reflects what you believe about God. When you pray small prayers, you believe in a small God. The pastor presented a challenge: “if God answered “yes” to everything I prayed for, what would be different in the world today?” He said, “pray for something so big that when it happens everyone will know that HE did it”.
My prayer is that I can get to a place in my prayer life where I can ask God for something or ask Him to move in some way and He says “no” and I can accept that no. What are you praying for? When you’re coming to present your requests to the Lord, and you’re standing in the throne room of the Lord almighty, what would you ask for?
It’s been cool to see the Lord work and move in my own prayer life – to increase my maturity and fervency to pray bold prayers.
In South Africa, I had the opportunity to pray for a woman that had been given the prophesy of miscarriage. Indeed, she did miscarry. The day after she did, I went to her house and prayed for her. And as I prayed, the Holy Spirit filled her body. Tears were no more and a permanent smile shown across her face. In Swaziland, I prayed a demon out of a dear woman’s soul in Jesus name. The Holy Spirit opened her eyes in those very moments to receive a release. And again, this month, the spirit is moving me to pray, boldly.
A few nights a week we go to a village with our contact to attend an “in home bible study”. This past week we drove 35 minutes away to visit a young married couple, Darko and Jhelena. As we walked through the doors and were welcomed with warm faces, I noticed something was different about the atmosphere. I could sense that there was a need that the Lord wanted to meet, so I kept my ears alert and in tune with the surroundings. Darko and Jhelena had a dog, Bella, and how she was their “baby”, which proved to be more significant than I initially thought. For the first 30 minutes, we simply talked about life. What they did for work and how they came to know the Lord. Then we transitioned to the bible study, in which they were studying the book, “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. Jhelena spoke up about how God had become more real in her life through this book. That God felt more present in her life now than ever before. It was a beautiful moment to experience with her. A timid posture was held in her face for the majority of the night until this moment – when a smile slowly began to creep up the edges of her mouth. Hallelujahs and amens where shouted throughout the room for the mighty work that God was doing in her life.
As the night came to a close, and we winded down to pray, the Lord laid heavy in my spirit to speak up. I knew that He was calling me to ask them for prayer requests. So I asked, “Is there anything I can pray for yall about”. Darko looked at Jhelena and as they both began to smile at each other, they said together, “a baby, we would like to have a baby”. I knew it. It was in this moment that I connected the shift in the atmosphere, the spirit prayer that was resting on my heart, and the way they talked about their dog.
And so I prayed. I prayed in Jesus name, that he would open up her womb and bless her with a child. That he would give her the desires of her heart. That they would be patient in waiting in God’s perfect timing – that they would simply trust Him through the process. As I prayed, the atmosphere shifted again. And as we opened our eyes, smiles of pure joy were shown on every face present. What a confirmation of our sweet Poppa’s will.
Your words hold power. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, your prayers can shift atmospheres. They can bring healing. They can touch the souls of the unbeliever or give hope to a brother or sister. Pray bold prayers. Ask Poppa for BIG things. I pray that as your believe, you will receive in Jesus name.
Continue to pray for Darko and Jhelena as they wait for their little bundle of blessing.
Jhelena, me, and Darko
PS. A HEAT WAVE has currently graced the land of Serbia! PRAISE the Lord. We've been praying for this ;]
