My Witness My Voice

My Witness My Voice

Today I decided to go shopping. On my way there I was just praying and asking how I could be a witness of my love for Jesus. How can I spread his name abroad. Not to some foreign land but in Oxford,Al.  I noticed that laying there in the car were some business cards with the logo in big black letters. It simply said Jesus. The name of my church and the contact info on the back. I have been wanting to teach a Bible study or just invite people to church but I am so shy.  I picked those cards up and they seemed to glow in my hand. I know that they really did not but it did seem that way. I quickly put them in my wallet I did not know why. As I got out of my car in my hand was a card. As I walked up to the car beside mine and gently slipped it into the window stripping. I said a quick prayer and went in. I shopped at three stores and in each dressing room I left a card. Will they be thrown away....Maybe.....but maybe not. Finally I left a card in a shopping cart so lets see that is five potential souls. Who knows at least I did something. I know my efforts are for good. Maybe one day I will know the end results and just maybe I will be surprised.

Isaiah 62:6

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,

 

Prayer and Fasting

Prayer and Fasting

Fasting hurts. It is not fun or glamorous. It makes you cry and feel weird, it can even cause many other feelings to emerge but the feeling desired by fasting is a closeness to God. Fasting is no good without prayer. If you fast without prayer you are literally just going without food. In the Bible you find many examples of fasting, today it is the same and has the same effect. It makes you humble at which point it makes you want to pray which in return gets God's attention. A depth in prayer can be reached during fasting which can not be reached in any other way. Can we pray without fasting...Of course we can. Does God hear us? Of course he does. Does he answer our prayers if we just pray...Certainly he does and it is a good thing because many people do not fast. Let me interject that some people may desire to fast but for health reasons they can not. When someone is admitted to the hospital if they are very sick the doctor will order NPO...nothing by mouth. Yes even to those who are diabetic.  OUCH...Here is my disclaimer...I am not asking you to fast. Do seek a doctors advice before fasting. But if you are like me some spiritual things are more important than issues which may arise from fasting. I will enter into it at my own risk and that is what I advise you to do...Enter into fasting at your own risk knowing that your body will suffer. If you don't believe me just skip breakfast, and then dinner trust me you will think your throat has been cut.  

When you endeavor on a fast you do not need to tell those around you that you are fasting. Some will pick up on it just because they notice that you are not eating. I don't think is is wrong to answer their questions in honesty but sometimes you can simply answer by saying I just don't want anything right now. It is true because your spirit hungers for holiness and a in depth walk with God. 

I share this with you only as an example and I don't think there is enough out there about this tender subject. I used to fast at least three days a week. I have been on three day fast,a seven day fast,a twenty one day fast which I failed at, and one time in my life I did fast 40 days. Did I lose weight yes of course but that was not at all the purpose as it is not the purpose now. I desire a move of God. I desire to see revival and most of all I want to see my children saved. I have a son who does not attend church anywhere. I have a daughter who only fleetingly thinks of God and then my other daughter does go to church and just needs to be in a deeper place in her walk with God. Why do I have a right to say this....well mainly I have the right because I am their mother who took them to church when they were young. Who tried to teach them about God and who prays for them daily. There is nothing in this life of equal importance. Did I fail them I think so. When they were growing up their dad did not go to church with us so they would beg to stay home with him instead of attending church. Without fail every Sunday they would come to me with the pleas "Mom do we have to go today" to which I would always answer "You don't have to go you get to go". That is still the way I feel today. Living for God is not a chore it is a privilege. It is an honor if you are chosen to be in service for the King of Kings. Is going to church important. Yes...You need to read the word of God but you also need to hear it. Back to fasting....Start small give up one meal...then two...then a whole day...24 hours then let God speak to you because I promise you will be speaking to him. Pray and when you pray..pray for me.....

If you want to turn your world upside down then fast....

Luke 2:37 - And she [was] a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served [God] with fastings and prayers night and day.

Mark 9:29 - And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

Matthew 6:16 - Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Matthew 6:1-34 - Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.   (Read More...)

Acts 13:3 - And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid [their] hands on them, they sent [them] away.

Mark 2:18 - And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

Joel 2:12 - Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye [even] to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

Daniel 10:3 - I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

Daniel 9:3 - And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

The Spirit of a Servant

The Spirit of a Servant

Tonight I was around a lot of people yet so all alone. Of course when they spoke to me I answered with a 

smile yet on the inside my heart was distraught. The place inside which felt sadness was so because as they sat around cursing and making obscene jokes I was talking to God about their needs, about the condition of their souls. I did not pray aloud as at other times but from my heart to his. I prayed for them and their families, I prayed because the world is a dark dark place. The funny thing is that they will never know that someone sitting across from them in this very public place was crying inside. I bow my knees and my heart. No one notices as I take the back of my hand and brush away the wetness as my eyes fill with tears and I go about my day to day at a public job. Today, this day I feel broken, no not as broken as I want to be as I need to be. I fast so that my flesh will allow the spiritual part of me to cry out, to travail, to weep for my world, my city,my family, your family. Am I crazy? No I yell no but as I read in the Bible about all those great men of God who carried the burden of their time I feel the calling to pray like never before. I feel upon me the spirit of a servant and also I pray that God will never let this spirit depart from me. I am consumed with a fire a passion for the lost. As I pass people on the street I whisper a prayer. As I see people in their cars my heart goes out to them. And then I weep as someone who has lost a loved one with deep groanings which can not be quenched. Again I am encapsulated with travail. And I do not want this spirit to depart. 

2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

The Spirit of A Soldier

The Spirit of A Soldier

Today I was in my studio painting and I was so overcome with a spirit of prayer.

Today I had the spirit of a soldier, one ready for battle.

As I was crying aloud for my city for my children for the lost, my husband came in an 

in a state of panic said "What's Wrong" I said oh nothing I was just praying. He said I don't know about you. "I thought someone had died". 

I pondered this as I thought about what it means. It means that at times I am so sad about the lost. The ones

who have never felt the moving of the Holy Ghost, the ones who have not found truth in his name. That lovely name of Jesus. My hope is to be able to  share that name with someone today.

Have you been baptized in that name?

 Acts 2:38

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

A Spirit of Unrest

A Spirit of Unrest

Today I pray for a spirit of unrest. You might ask why would anyone ask for such a thing.  I feel the burden of the world on my shoulders. I shutter a cry from the depths of my being. Do I want it to go away? No by all means no. I long for a burden for the lost. For a calling to pray, a yearning that will not be quinched. So I cry, I pray that I

will never be comfortable when so many are lost. I hope that I will always feel that Spirt of Unrest as

long as there are souls who don't know Jesus. I pray that God will use me to reach someone,to tell them about bapism in Jesus name and that there is only one way. As I look at a map of Anniston, Al and the surrounding area I feel it consuming me... the burden to stand in the gap and cry out with groanings for souls...Any souls.

 Luke 23:28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children