By Josephine Lim Weston
1 Samuel 16:7
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
There has been a long delay in producing this blog article but I believe this article will encourage you as much as it has encouraged me. Homeschooling my active and cheeky eldest son Jean-Luc for past 2 weeks hadn't been easy but by God's help it got better each passing day. Only possible by the grace of God.
As all of you are aware I've been praying for Jean-Luc every single day when he's attending school because his teachers find him quite a challenge to handle. So I have made a point to pray for him during my intercessory prayer usually at noon but lately due to having to homeschool Jean-Luc I have been doing my intercessory prayer midnight or late night. I am not here to boast of my intercessory prayer but the true reason of me having intercessory prayer is a result of an urgent necessity for the sake of people I love and care about (for my family and friends).
Three weeks ago on a Friday, my eldest son Jean-Luc's class teacher was very crossed with him for not listening in class. I continued praying for him at noon during my daily special prayer time. I would stand up and walk around and speak forth what I want to see happen as I pray for my sons, husband, extended family, friends, nation and other countries.
Mark 11:22-24
22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Two days later, from Monday till Wednesday (before my son and his classmates were being instructed to self-isolate for two weeks due to Covid-19 cases involving 2 staff members) his class teachers gave him stickers “Well done” and “Superstar”. His teacher even gave him two thumbs up when I enquired her about Jean-Luc as I fetched him home from school. What a miracle! The Lord is faithful to answer our prayers.
Jean-Luc drew his family portrait:
Stickers from his teachers.
John 16:23 "In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you."
This doesn't mean that Jean-Luc is a good and perfect boy now. He is still work in progress and far from perfect but he has improved bit by bit with God's help. As nothing is impossible with God and it is only possible because of prayer and trusting in the Lord.
I know that some of you have been praying for your dear family members for a long time and it can be quite discouraging and disheartening not seeing results yet, but I want to encourage all of you to keep on praying. Some of you might say I have been praying for years and things aren't getting any better. My word of advise is for a special and urgent prayer is best to set a special time each day starting off with once or twice a week to really pray for that particular urgent request that you've been longing for breakthrough. I know many of us pray our urgent prayers together with our morning prayer when we wake up and at night before we go to bed but through my personal experience our morning prayer can be a rushed and/or a repetitive or dutiful prayer while possibly half awake. As for our before bed time prayer can be a repetitive, standard, tired, rushed or half-asleep prayer.
Mark 9:29
29 Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer (and fasting).”
Some of you might ask how should I pray or how long should I pray intercessory prayer in order to see results? My answer or reply to a friend was to pray and declare what you're believing God for. What miracles you are praying for and declare it in Jesus's Name. Rebuke the sicknesses, symptoms, diagnosis, etc and replace them with healing, wholeness, preservation, longevity, health, peace, joy, strength and grace upon grace on you and your family members. Pray and intercede for one another until your spirit is liberated and satisfied in the presence of the Lord.
Luke 18:1
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:
As you begin to have this private prayer time or intercessory prayer time once or twice a week before long you want to do it everyday because you're beginning to see results and improvement in the situation or you are so charged up in faith that you know in your spirit God is working in that situation the more you pray.
So I would encourage all of us to spend some time for private prayer if we truly desire to see God works miracles in ourlives, family, work situation, finances, church, ministry, country, salvation of family members, relatives, friends, colleagues, etc. We are the temple of God and we are called to be a house of prayer. Be sincere and real in our prayers, be passionate and have God kind of faith when we pray and intercede. Keep praying, keep believing and don't give up. Our prayers shall surely be answered sooner or later.
Much more now private or intercessory prayer is so vital due to the Covid-19 lockdown as we can't attend church services like we used to. So take this opportunity to be real and passionate in our prayer life if we want to see God works miracles. Nothing is impossible with God.
Matthew 6
6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Do pray in the Spirit (in tongues) as often as you can if you have the gift. Praying in tongues led by the Spirit of the Lord helps us utter the perfect prayer for situations that we just don't know how or what else to pray anymore.
Ephesians 6
17And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit (in tongues) at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
For those who are interested to know more about what praying in the spirit actually means please read Romans 8:26-27 and 1 Corinthians 14:14-16. Let scripture interpret scripture.
Very important as well that when we pray we don't put our needs above God as if all we want is for God to answer our prayers. The more we want God to answer our prayers instead of wanting God more it will take us longer to see our prayers answered. Listen to what He wants us to know and what He wants us to pray for and do. I've learnt as Matthew 6:33 says Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. So when we pray focus our eyes on the Lord enjoying His presence and worship Him and then allowing Him to lead us to pray for whatever He placed in our hearts to pray and/or do and then pray for your own prayer requests. Jesus said before you pray He already know what you need so no need for us to be in a hurry to put forward our own prayer requests first. The more we allow God to work in us and through us the more our faith rises, we are more patient and develop our confident trust toward God and the promises in His word.
Finally we are never too busy to pray. I’ve learnt that busyness is a weapon used by the enemy to stop us from praying, interceding, study God’s word, worship, etc. So let us be mindful of that and still pray, intercede, study God’s word daily no matter how busy we are and believe me God is a debtor of no man and He promised if you seek Him first He will add all these things (that you need) to you. If you invest time to pray and intercede, not only you’ll see miracles and breakthroughs but He will also give you time, wisdom, strength, resources, divine connections, etc that you need to complete your daily tasks.
Jeremiah 29
12Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.
I would like to encourage all of you to watch this and be blessed:
The Mighty Influence of a Praying Mom: Rhonwyn Kendrick’s Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWvPqfXTvLE
Last but not least, "Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year" everyone!
