Thailand! Where do I even begin? This month has been absolutely incredible and definitely my favorite!
When we first met with our ministry contact, they immediately dove into the acknowledgement of the power of the Holy Spirit and the importance of us interceding in prayer for each other. This alone got me so excited to work with a ministry that really utilized the gift of the Holy Spirit within us.
During the day, we did yard work (I weed whacked Dad aren’t you proud??), cut fabric for the bag business they have and at night we would do bar ministry.
There is a street in Phuket that is covered with women and ladyboys who sell themselves to tourists and locals. This is where we would do bar ministry, which looked like groups of us in threes praying for guidance on who to talk to, what to say and what to pray for. I absolutely loved doing bar ministry and talking to people and just loving them as Christ loves them; not for the money or the sex but simply loving them for who they were. If we ever talked to women who did not want to sell themselves for money any longer, we spoke life over them and helped them know there are other jobs (like working for the ministry we worked with). If we were not out doing bar ministry, we were back at our ministry site praying and interceding for the teams out and asking God to bring to our attention how to specifically lift them up.
It was insane how spot on our prayers for the teams out would be and how they were just what the girls needed prayer for at the exact time. One personal example of this happening was a time I was praying for teams out that night and I felt like I was supposed to pray for an individual who was on Nikki’s team that specific night. God told me that the person was frustrated and so I immediately prayed for a resolution for the frustration and for peace to come over the girl. Later that night, when the teams came back, I was talking about things that were brought to my attention and my fellow teammate, Sarah Anne, said that at that same time she was feeling frustrated by the communication barrier she was experiencing with one of the women! How cool is that, that even when I am miles away and completely unaware of what’s going on, the Holy Spirit can tell me who to lift up and how to pray for them?
I have always known this to be true and heard stories, but I was so excited that we were given the opportunity to constantly put the power of the Holy Spirit into practice through interceding. When I was back in America, spiritual gifts and the Holy Spirit were things that seemed to be controversial whether it was due to skepticism, lack of knowledge and so on and so forth. But I am writing to you now to say that this is not the first or the last time I have personally experienced the amazing works of the Holy Spirit. I want to remind you that the same Holy Spirit that dwelled in the disciples throughout their miraculous journeys, dwells in you and me!
So let us stop ignoring this aspect of Christianity and start asking God how we can use the spiritual gifts we have been blessed with. If you are unsure of the spiritual gifts God has given you, I encourage you to go to 1 Corinthians 12 and read through all of the incredible gifts God gives to believers. Then pray what God has given you as your spiritual gifts. You should not only do this, but pray for more gifts that you may not have, but desire! God will never be disappointed in you wanting more from Him for the glory of His kingdom. This doesn’t mean you will undoubtedly receive the gifts you ask for, but I always remember a saying I once heard that said “Maybe God doesn’t give us things we ask for not because you are undeserving, but simply for you to remain intimate and close to Him through you pressing in for your heart’s desires”. So even if you were not to receive a gift you might want, you are at least gaining from the intimacy with Christ through the constant prayers for it.
Just knowing that I have people lifting me up in prayers, truly comforts me. I just want to remind you that your prayers have just as much impact, if not more, than my actions across the world are making. So I encourage you to continue to seek God in what you are to be praying for, for whomever God has set upon your heart in that moment. Once He makes this clear, have confidence in your interceding and knowledge that the heavens are at work and your prayers do not go unnoticed. Not only do I want to encourage you in this, but also to use your gifts to your upmost potential. If you have discernment, pray against the dark things you sense and rejoice in the godly things you experience! If you have prophecy, don’t withhold the words God gives you, rather spread the heavenly knowledge that God has blessed you with for people and situations. Let us be the best body of Christ that He intends for us to be, whether we live right next to each other or are across the world!
“…we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” Ephesians 4:15-16
