Thailand
Never stop praying.
– 1 Thessalonians 5:17
I've learned a lot about the power of prayer this month. Not because I've seen lame people walk, but because I've witnessed hurt people love. Sometimes you are faced with a situation in which you are so inadequate… the only thing you can do is pray.
When we first arrived at Lighthouse Ministries, our contact, Emmi, spoke to us about why we were there. "Don't expect to be pulling girls out of the bars left and right," she told us. "Don't expect to be a savior. God is the only savior. You are here for a season – to plant, to water, or to harvest. Each is important and vital. Whatever God has called you to in this time, do well. Love well."
I used to think of prayer as a last ditch effort. You've tried everything you can do and nothing is working so you might as well ask God for help. Well, this month wasn't about begging God to pick up the broken pieces of my failed attempts, but rather trusting God to show up and lead.
And so we prayed…
During the day we would interceed on these girls behalf, asking God to show them how much He loves and values them. Before we would go out to the bars we would pray that God would give us guidance in where to go and discernment in what to say. We prayed that God would help us love and He answered. He BROKE our hearts for these women – those forced to work on bar street and those who just felt they had no other choice. And He BROKE our hearts for the men as well – men who are so lost and empty they buy women to try to fill a void that can only be mended by God.
The thing about prayer is that we can sometimes confuse it with a lack of action. But our God is a God of action, so how could having the courage to boldly ask for miracles be anything but decisive?
"Prayer is not preparation for the greater work, it IS the greater work.
The greatest thing we can do for these women is pray and put them in God's hands,
because only He can change their hearts."
-Kat Swick
　
