God is calling the church to a season of prayer intercession. Indeed, nothing of spiritual import can be accomplished without prayer. There's a stanza in a poem on prayer that goes like this:
"There's no weapon half as mighty
as the intercessor's bear
nor a broader field of service
than the ministry of prayer"
Prayer is certainly a weapon of warfare which touches both heaven and earth. Jesus told his disciples, "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Mt 16:19 (NKJV). The keys of the kingdom have been given to us through the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Jn 14:14). We cannot possibly bind the forces of darkness because they are spirits; only God can do that on our behalf. When our prayers ascend to heaven from earth it would be acted on by Christ. However, we have to ensure that we do not ask amiss and are abiding in Christ (Ja 4:3; Jn 15:16). Not all prayers uttered in the name of Christ would be answered in the affirmative. It is our personal relationship with God that matters (Ac 19:13-16).
In heaven, Jesus is our great High Priest who always lives to make intercession on behalf of the saints who draw nigh to Him (Heb 7:25). He is also the Lamb of God who offered His blood on the altar of sacrifice in heaven to atone the sins of people who would come to Him in faith. Notice firstly that Christ is very much alive and not dead. Secondly, He is engaged in an activity which many may find boring on earth, that is, praying. He prays on behalf of those who draw near to God. This should cause us to pray more. When we cry out to God for grace and mercy on earth, Christ takes them and intercedes on our behalf in heaven. God the Father sees the blood of Christ (not us who are sinful) and acts on the intercession of His Son.
Prayer is hard work and knows no boundaries. We can pray for the needs of people half way around the world or we can pray for as many people as possible within a short time. Such is the extensiveness of prayer, where it's impact and influence can be the whole earth. Paul says that even though he is being chained, the word of God is not bound (2 Tim 2:9). Likewise, genuine prayers that are uttered in prison or in the most horrid places of the earth would make it into the intercession throne room of heaven. We don't even have to utter a sound; prayers from the heart would do (1 Sam 1:13-17). Alternatively, we can pray in tongues, the language given by the Holy Spirit, who aids us in our intercession on earth (Rom 8:26).
Keep on praying - whether individually or corporately. As you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. That's His wonderful promise to all of us (Ja 4:8) and nothing is too difficult for Him (Jer 32:17).
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Three Visionary Sights
This was part of an address I gave to graduating students sometime early this week:
Today I want to share 3 visionary sights we need to have in order to grow as an individual. Developing and cultivating these skill sets would stand you in good stead for the future.
• Hindsight: The ability to reflect and learn from the past
• Foresight: The ability to predict and prepare for the future
• Insight: The ability to interpret and respond to the present
Hindsight: ability to understand a situation after the event has happened; what caused it and what should have been done; it is learning from experience. Hindsight is action informing thought. It involves critical reflection of one's experience in order to integrate knowledge gained from the experience with knowledge already possessed. Once that has been done, we should make a determined effort to implement any new approaches in how things ought to be carried out in future endeavours. You would have opportunities today to reflect on the activities that you participated in to hone this important skill set. I believe with hindsight you would be wiser in tackling the upcoming ‘O’ levels. Teachers are encouraged to be reflective practitioners too!
Foresight: ability to foresee what is to come before it happens. It is the capacity to detect and avoid dangers, assess the consequences of action and envision a desired future. It has to do with scenario planning, anticipating what could possibly happen. Foresight is thought informing action. This is to ensure that things turn out well or you come out as champions. Through the games you’d be playing and the lecture you’d hearing, you would be given opportunity to hone this critical skill set. However, despite our good planning and careful execution of life’s programmes, many things in life are unpredictable. According to Murphy’s Law, “Anything that can possibly go wrong does go wrong.” In such situations, we need insight.
Insight: ability to perceive clearly what is to be done in the here and now moment; a sudden understanding of a complex situation or problem and how to go about handling it. This comes about through the integration of knowledge based on experience (hindsight) and forward planning (foresight); and more often than not, a special revelation regarding what to do with present reality. Let me illustrate with a simple example: Before taking a Math exam, you would have already done a lot of practices (assignment, revision exercises); you’re building up your experience base. In the exam, invariably there would be many similar problems you’d have encountered before based on your hindsight. In addition, some of you would still hunt around for additional exercises to look for interesting questions you have not attempted before; this is having foresight. As you know, sometimes in the exams there would be a question or two you have not come across before. This is where you need to rely on insight. But you do know that the question is within your grasp. You have to rely and integrate all the techniques you’ve learnt; this is where problem solving strategies would come in handy eg. Working backwards, seeing whether there’s a pattern, starting with smaller numbers, etc. As you do so, your eureka (aha!) moment will come and that’s when you’ll feel elated.
Today I want to share 3 visionary sights we need to have in order to grow as an individual. Developing and cultivating these skill sets would stand you in good stead for the future.
• Hindsight: The ability to reflect and learn from the past
• Foresight: The ability to predict and prepare for the future
• Insight: The ability to interpret and respond to the present
Hindsight: ability to understand a situation after the event has happened; what caused it and what should have been done; it is learning from experience. Hindsight is action informing thought. It involves critical reflection of one's experience in order to integrate knowledge gained from the experience with knowledge already possessed. Once that has been done, we should make a determined effort to implement any new approaches in how things ought to be carried out in future endeavours. You would have opportunities today to reflect on the activities that you participated in to hone this important skill set. I believe with hindsight you would be wiser in tackling the upcoming ‘O’ levels. Teachers are encouraged to be reflective practitioners too!
Foresight: ability to foresee what is to come before it happens. It is the capacity to detect and avoid dangers, assess the consequences of action and envision a desired future. It has to do with scenario planning, anticipating what could possibly happen. Foresight is thought informing action. This is to ensure that things turn out well or you come out as champions. Through the games you’d be playing and the lecture you’d hearing, you would be given opportunity to hone this critical skill set. However, despite our good planning and careful execution of life’s programmes, many things in life are unpredictable. According to Murphy’s Law, “Anything that can possibly go wrong does go wrong.” In such situations, we need insight.
Insight: ability to perceive clearly what is to be done in the here and now moment; a sudden understanding of a complex situation or problem and how to go about handling it. This comes about through the integration of knowledge based on experience (hindsight) and forward planning (foresight); and more often than not, a special revelation regarding what to do with present reality. Let me illustrate with a simple example: Before taking a Math exam, you would have already done a lot of practices (assignment, revision exercises); you’re building up your experience base. In the exam, invariably there would be many similar problems you’d have encountered before based on your hindsight. In addition, some of you would still hunt around for additional exercises to look for interesting questions you have not attempted before; this is having foresight. As you know, sometimes in the exams there would be a question or two you have not come across before. This is where you need to rely on insight. But you do know that the question is within your grasp. You have to rely and integrate all the techniques you’ve learnt; this is where problem solving strategies would come in handy eg. Working backwards, seeing whether there’s a pattern, starting with smaller numbers, etc. As you do so, your eureka (aha!) moment will come and that’s when you’ll feel elated.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
MISSIONS
The MISSIONS acronym stands for May I See Souls In Other Nations Saved. Indeed for those called into the missions field in the past, it was a crossing of seas and oceans (by ships) into another culture to minister God's love. We think of James Hudson Taylor moving from England to China and Adoniram Judson, from North America to Burma. Both spent considerable amount of time in the lands beyond their home shores, investing their time and labour to sow God's Word. Judson, we are told, took 12 years to make 18 converts while Taylor had greater successes, though he had to contend with uprisings and health issues abroad. Life for a missionary in those days meant a lot of sacrifices and they needed support from their home churches or missionary organisations. Sometimes, it could end up in death as the life of Jim Elliot would attest when he endeavoured to reach the 'Auca' Indians in South America.
With the advent of modern technology and good transportation infrastructure all over the world, what used to take weeks or months in travel time, can now be accomplished in hours or days. Missionary enterprise now takes on a different form whereby people do not have to leave their jobs to become 'full time' missionaries. What they can do is to take short term trips (thanks to air travel) to places nearby and minister to the villagers/provinces as a team. They could also bring with them medical expertise or food supplies, providing them with the basic necessities of life, apart from the spiritual nourishment that is needed. Once they are done, they return home (to families/jobs) and would follow-up at a later date or move to another new place. In such cases, it is important that indigenous people be raised up and supported to pastor and grow the church, unless one is prepared to cross a different culture and stay long term.
Implicit in all these mission trip endeavours is the prayer and financial support that should be garnered. Some pay for their own travel/accommodation as well as the provisions for the people they would be ministering to. This brings to mind the words of the apostle Paul, "Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need." (Eph 4:28 NIV)
I read the following verses this morning: "David replied, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us. Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” (1 Sam 30:23-24 NIV). This was in relation to 400 men who went with David to fight the Amalekites to restore the fortunes that were stolen. They did not want the 200 men who stayed behind in Brook Besor to enjoy the fruits of their spoils. However, David was a wise leader who laid down the statute that all should share alike in the spoils of conquest. This applies well to missionary work. There are those who can go to the frontlines (400 men) and there are those who can support at home (200 men). Frontliners preach, teach, pray and do the needful to build the physical and spiritual needs of the people in a different land. Home support could provide the finances, logistics and prayer covering that are crucial for such endeavours to be successful.
Our church has been prophesied to be a missions church and already we are seeing so many within the congregation going out into the missions field on their own, often times directed by the Lord, to sow and reap a harvest. There is a website that has been launched recently to promote this work i-GoMissions (iGM) at www.i-gomissions.com. May the Lord bless and prosper this work and maybe, one day, some members would become full time missionaries.
With the advent of modern technology and good transportation infrastructure all over the world, what used to take weeks or months in travel time, can now be accomplished in hours or days. Missionary enterprise now takes on a different form whereby people do not have to leave their jobs to become 'full time' missionaries. What they can do is to take short term trips (thanks to air travel) to places nearby and minister to the villagers/provinces as a team. They could also bring with them medical expertise or food supplies, providing them with the basic necessities of life, apart from the spiritual nourishment that is needed. Once they are done, they return home (to families/jobs) and would follow-up at a later date or move to another new place. In such cases, it is important that indigenous people be raised up and supported to pastor and grow the church, unless one is prepared to cross a different culture and stay long term.
Implicit in all these mission trip endeavours is the prayer and financial support that should be garnered. Some pay for their own travel/accommodation as well as the provisions for the people they would be ministering to. This brings to mind the words of the apostle Paul, "Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need." (Eph 4:28 NIV)
I read the following verses this morning: "David replied, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us. Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” (1 Sam 30:23-24 NIV). This was in relation to 400 men who went with David to fight the Amalekites to restore the fortunes that were stolen. They did not want the 200 men who stayed behind in Brook Besor to enjoy the fruits of their spoils. However, David was a wise leader who laid down the statute that all should share alike in the spoils of conquest. This applies well to missionary work. There are those who can go to the frontlines (400 men) and there are those who can support at home (200 men). Frontliners preach, teach, pray and do the needful to build the physical and spiritual needs of the people in a different land. Home support could provide the finances, logistics and prayer covering that are crucial for such endeavours to be successful.
Our church has been prophesied to be a missions church and already we are seeing so many within the congregation going out into the missions field on their own, often times directed by the Lord, to sow and reap a harvest. There is a website that has been launched recently to promote this work i-GoMissions (iGM) at www.i-gomissions.com. May the Lord bless and prosper this work and maybe, one day, some members would become full time missionaries.
Friday, September 2, 2011
How to pray for lost loved ones
Last Sunday Pastor shared regarding the word the Lord has given to him, that is, to reach out to our parents, aunts and uncles. For many, it may not be an easy thing to do due to their years of entrenchment in what they have believed. However, the Scriptures declare that all things are possible with God and all things are possible to them that believe (Mk 9:23; 10:27). Recognising that salvation is a work of God and that it belongs to Him, we need to pray, and praying strategically (Rev 7:10; 2 Tim 2:1-4).
In this regard, I would like to share something on pryer based on the book of the above title by Dutch Sheets. Reading 2 Cor 10:3-5, taken from the NASB:
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, ...
There are three aspects of fortresses we can destroy through prayers:
1. "Speculations" or "arguments" (logismos): calculated reasoning, human wisdom or logic; this is the sum total of the accumulated wisdom and information learned over time. It becomes the person's mind set which includes knowledge of philosophies, religions, humanism, atheism, intellectualism and anything that causes one to think in a certain fashion. When a pre-believer hears the gospel, it is first filtered through the subconscious where all other information (including these logismoi) is stored. This means that he/she does not hear only what is proclaimed but also what he/she already believes. In our praying, we should focus the attention of God's powerful weapons on the logismoi fortresses of Satan in the minds of pre-believers.
2. "Every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God" (hupsoma): any elevated place or thing. This is referring to the same root word as pride. It involves a desire to rule our own lives, decide for ourselves right and wrong and basically be our own god. Pray against the spirit of pride and unbelief assailing against our loved ones.
3. "Thought" (noema): plans, schemes, devices or plots. It could be the spontaneous thoughts and temptations Satan uses to assault the pre-believers, as well as the schemes and plans he uses to keep them shut in darkness. In prayer, we must bind his diabolical schemes and pray that our loved ones would be shielded from Satan's fiery darts.
The pre-believers cannot war for themselves. We need to stand in the gap on their behalf using the mighty weapons God has entrusted to us to tear away the veils over their hearts and minds. Keep on praying in the spirit!
In this regard, I would like to share something on pryer based on the book of the above title by Dutch Sheets. Reading 2 Cor 10:3-5, taken from the NASB:
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, ...
There are three aspects of fortresses we can destroy through prayers:
1. "Speculations" or "arguments" (logismos): calculated reasoning, human wisdom or logic; this is the sum total of the accumulated wisdom and information learned over time. It becomes the person's mind set which includes knowledge of philosophies, religions, humanism, atheism, intellectualism and anything that causes one to think in a certain fashion. When a pre-believer hears the gospel, it is first filtered through the subconscious where all other information (including these logismoi) is stored. This means that he/she does not hear only what is proclaimed but also what he/she already believes. In our praying, we should focus the attention of God's powerful weapons on the logismoi fortresses of Satan in the minds of pre-believers.
2. "Every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God" (hupsoma): any elevated place or thing. This is referring to the same root word as pride. It involves a desire to rule our own lives, decide for ourselves right and wrong and basically be our own god. Pray against the spirit of pride and unbelief assailing against our loved ones.
3. "Thought" (noema): plans, schemes, devices or plots. It could be the spontaneous thoughts and temptations Satan uses to assault the pre-believers, as well as the schemes and plans he uses to keep them shut in darkness. In prayer, we must bind his diabolical schemes and pray that our loved ones would be shielded from Satan's fiery darts.
The pre-believers cannot war for themselves. We need to stand in the gap on their behalf using the mighty weapons God has entrusted to us to tear away the veils over their hearts and minds. Keep on praying in the spirit!
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