While Thailand was hot, Malaysia is what I imagine the core of middle earth to feel like. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but that'll at least help you understand a little what it's like to live in hot, humid country in a house with no AirCon while sleeping on the floor in a small bedroom with 6 other women.
It's definitely not been an easy month physically. In fact, it hasn't been a breeze spiritually, either.
In the beginning, we were told that this month would be comprised of prayer, prayer and more prayer. Before last month I would have mixed feelings, but after my time in Thailand, I went in with a fresh perspective and refreshing view of prayer.
We were prayer walking everyday in Thailand and then at night, we switched every other day, going out to Bangla Rd to do bar ministry or staying back at the SHE house to pray for the team that was out on Bangla that night.
The first week I was getting pretty antsy during the night prayer, because I was wishing that I could be out on Bangla talking to the women and experiencing what God was doing there. I didn't realize the weight of prayer.
Then the second week, the two nights I was supposed to go out, I got intense stomach pain 15 minutes before we were supposed to leave that kept me back. The most annoying part was that 20-30 minutes after my team had left, the pain would cease.
The second time it happened, I realized it was more than physical pain, God wanted to show me something. So I joined the other team for intercession (the night prayer for the team out on Bangla). As soon as I sat down, I was filled with overwhelming joy and then names of people back home started filling my thoughts. I decided to write them down on note cards and as I wrote individual names, God told me specific things I needed to be praying for.
Throughout the 2 1/2-3 hours of prayer I never once got bored. The whole time, I had this sense of urgency to pray for my team on Bangla, the women I had met, and then my family and friends back home.
I havn't had that much fun praying in a long time. And I'm still learning the importance of talking with my Father. There are still times when I lose sight of the necessity of prayer: asking God questions, thanking Him for miracles, praising Him for His constant goodness…but each time I start to get bored, He gently reminds me of how much I need to be in communication withh Him.
For example, yesterday when we were praying at the hospital. I was getting discouraged, because we had security guards following us thinking we were baby snatchers (yes, we white people love babies, but that doesnt mean we're thief's). Their constant intimidating presence wasn't allowing us to talk to the patients, so Browsky and I went down to the lobby.
We started praying for God to show us who to talk to while also playing hide-n-seek with our security guards. Then we noticed this family smiling at us as if we were friends. When they got closer we realized it was the pastor's family from the church we had visited the Sunday before. He told us they were there praying for another pastor's son who was admitted earlier that day because of chest pains. Turns out this 18 year old boy had a heart attack and was waiting to have open heart surgery.
We were invited into the ICU to pray for Gideon and once I saw this young man with droopy eyes filled with pain and confusion, but also a sense of peace and hope, I began praying like I haven't prayed in a long time. I truly believe and have faith that the Lord heals in the same radical ways as Jesus did in the New Testament and here I was with a direct line of communication with the God that can perform miracles of any size.
Prayer in this moment was not boring or forced; it was a prayer filled with life. I felt the Holy Spirit buzzing inside and outside of my body, filling the ICU rooms. Not only do I believe God is good and has good things in store for Gideon and Pastor Ezekiel, but I also believe God is going to make His Son's name famous in that hospital, Jesus will gain glory from this situation.
This is just one testimony from my month of prayer in Malaysia, more are on their way. Stay tuned.
peace, hope and love
MK
