Lord God, at the beginning of this morning

May my offering be a pleasing aroma to You.

May I offer you the fat of my portion, the best of what I have, honouring You first above myself and all others.

You alone are God, and this day I consecrate to Thee.

And in the Name of Your Son, I proclaim victory over any obstacles that the enemy has set before me through Your Spirit. May You be glorified in all that I do.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen!

Genesis 18: Intercession

So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

- Genesis 18:22-33

Absolutely. Insane. Passage.

Abraham speaks to God and actually takes the courage to make requests, of the God who created him and holds the whole universe in His hands. And God actually listens to his requests.

Bizarre. Crazy. 

I wonder if sometimes we forget who we speak to when we pray. I think sometimes we take it for granted and forget to take off our spiritual shoes since we stand on holy ground when before Him. 

Intercessory prayer is bold, it’s exhausting, and the Scriptures are full of examples of men and women, seeking after the lost and fearing God in reverence, interceding.

Here’s a few points to take away and remember about intercession:

• Appeal to God’s nature, as He will be true to Himself. Notice that Abraham presents his requests to God not by asking God to please him, but by praising God for who He is. “Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the  Judge of all the earth do what is just?”  When you are in intercessory prayer, remember that it’s not about trying to convince God that He should answer your prayers because you are great or deserving, but that intercession is about appealing to His own nature and glory. It’s about reminding God of His steadfast love, of His mercy. When I pray in intercession, I praise God for His mercy and blessing extended to me, when I was so undeserving. As His people, we know that He is good. It’s not about manipulating or convincing God, it’s simply reminding ourselves and praising Him for who He is. I often pray this prayer for others, as I do for myself: “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?” (Psalm 30:9). Remember that we intercede for others for His glory, and that is the purpose, that He would be glorified through our prayers and though the answers He so generously gives. 
• Recognise who you are before God in humility.  Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.  Every moment you speak to the Mighty LORD is an incredible privilege. Intercession is not about demanding a list of requests. It’s about coming before the LORD, praising Him for the joy of prayer, that we can approach Him and make our desire for others to experience His blessing known to Him. Remind yourself of that, for there is no other way to speak to the Lord of Lords.
• Be BOLD. Abraham makes bold request after bold request. Each made in humility, recognising that he is in no way more powerful than God. We see in this snapshot of their conversation that God does respond and listen to what Abraham is asking of Him. Recognise that while God is great, and mighty, He loves you, His child, greatly, and He will always be true to His character. Make your requests bold, and specific, and trust that God is listening.
• Be patient. Be still, and be focused.  …but Abraham still stood before the Lord. This is a really painful one. Intercessory prayer takes time. It’s exhausting. Other things are all too distracting. But know this. Intercessory prayer is about praying until you are certain that the request has been heard, that the answer has been given. And until then, you commit yourself to praying and praying and praying. You need to be focused. If you find yourself getting distracted, quietly bring your mind back, ask the Spirit to help you fix your eyes on Christ, and continue back in prayer. You cannot get on your knees in intercession when you are watching TV. Intercession in this case is not just a quick arrow prayer. It will take energy, but it will be worth it. He is glorified when we commit to prayer to honour Him with all our hearts.

It’s not easy, but I do feel that we are losing sight of how great a mission we’ve been given, and how much help we are granted through prayer. May we remember always the words of Christ:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” - John 14:12-14

I have built an altar

I have built an altar made of the most worthless things.

I have made productivity, the management of a household, the running of errands - I have made these more important than You.

I have busied myself with the things of this earth, and not the things of heaven; I have cared more for bread and oil than I have for the manna of heaven.

Oh Lord, strip me of this. My heart is so prone to wander from You, so prone to be proud. 

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

To all my followers, and especially to those who’ve just started following me,

I pray that He will make His face to shine on you. I pray that He will open your eyes to behold wondrous things out of His Word. I pray that you will see that the heavens proclaim His glory. May you trust completely in Him. May your refuge be in Him and in Him alone. May you never fear, even in the shadow of death, for He is always with you.

I pray for Him to strip away whatever is stopping you from his blessing. I pray that the psalmist’s longing will be a reflection of yours:

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

May this be the very desires of your heart.

Much love to all of you. Please feel free to flick me a hello in my ask or to see how He’s worked in my life as you read my testimony :)

‎”I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

1 Timothy 2:1-4

At times our faith is weak. But know that GOD will increase it, know that if your desire is for Him, know that it pleases Him to intercede for others, as He DESIRES for them to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. If our faith is weak, then let us not trust in our own ability to comprehend the weight of what we’re asking for. Let us trust in His Word, let us trust in its faithfulness. This earth will fall away but His Word will remain. Trust in the strength of His Word.

But Noah found favour in His eyes

An act of mercy.

I wonder what it feels like, for Your creation to be made so very good, only for it then to turn against You in rebellion. I wonder what it felt like when You watched as what was beautiful turned rotten and perverted. For we saw what was attractive and just took it as we wished. We didn’t care who was hurt in the process; we didn’t care for Your will. We saw what would bring themselves pleasure, and we took it.

Isn’t this inherently the problem with our world? That people see what attracts them, and we make up their mind to just take it?

And it grieved Your heart. I’ve felt regret before. When that pain of, “what if I hadn’t?” just tears into your heart. God, we forget that You have a heart. We forget that You grieve. A Father, who provided only the best for His children, stands by as we tear down everything that He made to be good. And Your heart breaks. We had no intention to ever turn back to You; We had every intention of continual evil. 

O Lord, may sin grieve me as it grieves You. May the pain of man’s rebellion pierce my heart as it pierces Yours.

And yet, there was a glimmer of hope. A man called Noah, who found favour in Your eyes. You could have started again completely. We failed You. We were given the power to choose, and we failed You. You could have wiped us out, every one of us. You could have started again with a new batch, made without the mercy and gracious gift of the choice of obedience or disobedience; without the choice of life or death, of what You wanted for us or what we wanted for ourselves.

But You didn’t. You knew already that You were going to redeem Your people and restore this brokenness. You were willing to be patient.

And so, Noah found favour in Your eyes.

The hope of life after the flood. 

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth

O Lord,

You spoke creation into being

You took delight in Your work;

You named the Heavens, the Seas, the Day and the Night.

Every living creature exists at Your merciful hands.

My every breath is a blessing given to me from You, o gracious Lord.

How delightful are your sunrises, and yet nothing gives life and light like Your presence.

How breathtaking are your mountains, your valleys, and yet the highest of heights could never compare to the height of Your majesty and power.

How wonderful are your lavender, lilies and roses, and yet they have no beauty when compared to the wonder of Your righteousness and holiness.

How creative are You, O Lord

You are the source of all colour

You are the source of music

You are the source of the senses

You are the source of life

And there is none but You who is worthy of glory, of honour, of power and all praise.

Amen!

The lame begger healed.

What a story.

I’ve known it since I was young and did all the actions to that song. But the LORD gave me new eyes to read this passage (Acts 3:1-10) today.

¹Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. ²And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. ³Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. ⁴And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” ⁵And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶But Peter said, ”I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” ⁷And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. ⁸And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. ⁹And all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Here is a man who, because of an infirmity, was expected to do nothing more than to beg. He was cut off from the rest of the society, and had no hope for life except for the coins people would throw to him occasionally. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine having nothing to do all day except to lie at the feet of strangers and ask for their money and pity?

Then Peter and John come. They come, and they can’t meet this man’s material needs. But that’s not what they’re here for. Rather than throwing him a coin and going about his day,  Peter and John look directly into this man’s eyes. The look at his heart. They hear his request for alms but they see a greater need. They see why the man is kept at that gate every day. They have little to give when it comes to cash, but much to give when it comes to freedom. So Peter tells him, in the name of Christ, to stand up and walk; to walk away from the chains that held him to that darkness every day. Peter took his right hand and helped him up - and the LORD did it all. He made the man’s feet and ankles strong. The Spirit empowered him to go walking and leaping and praising God.

Many of you will know that the vision that the LORD has given me for my life is for ministry with the homeless, the poor and the mentally ill. I have a friend who sits out on a street corner, bound by his situation, every single day. He’s been there for over eight years. He asks for money, but I know he’s needing more than that.

I don’t want to put much more out there about this situation on my tumblr, but I am needing a group of prayer warriors to join with me in prayer. I will be sending out regular updates on how the LORD is answering them. The LORD is our strength, and we need the walls built around this man’s heart to be broken down. Like the walls of Jericho crumpled, I trust that the LORD will knock down the barriers to this man knowing life. If you’re interested in joining with me to pray and to see God do marvellous things in this man’s life, please write to me in my ask and let me know. When God’s people offer up their times and lives to His kingdom, great things happen.

I have two psychology final exams

They’ll be my last two before honours, & they’ll determine whether or not I get in.

I’d really like to. I’m on a student committee for mission at our uni next year, and if I don’t get into honours I won’t be at uni anymore.

Please keep me in prayer, it would be so appreciated. I’m banning myself from tumblr. I finish on Wednesday, and then you can expect many a post :)