A Prayer - I Listen

A Prayer - I Listen

Binding the enemy to silence in Jesus’ Name
I quiet my soul and listen

I listen for the voice of the Lord
Speaking knowledge and wisdom
Words of love
Holy revelation
Priceless treasures of understanding

I long for my ears to be opened
To hear the soft whisper of my Lord
Sweet melodies in the night
A calling to “Come!”

I wait for clarity and recognition
To know His voice from my own
and from the enemy

Time passes and gradually
I will hear more and more

So I listen

Debra Miner, May 2009

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live. Isaiah 55:2b-3a

A Prayer - Cry For Humility

Cry For Humility

I am nothing without You.
I can not even come into Your presence without Your grace.
I can never be good enough.
I do not deserve it.
You alone are my Salvation. You alone are my Righteousness.
You are Mercy. You are Hope.
You are Compassion. You are Peace.

I fall so short of the mark.
I am blinded by pride.
I am prone to distraction, to busyness . . .
I am in no way exempt from sin.
You alone are my Protection. You alone are my Forgiveness.
You are Holy. You are Redeemer.
You are Light. You are Truth.

I am not the center.
I am one among many servants and ministers.
I have little to offer.
I am not a cure-all.
You alone are my Direction. You alone are my Freedom.
You are Wisdom. You are Life.
You are Power. You are Healing.

I can refuse, but I choose to obey You.
I can receive praise, but I pass it to You.
I can analyze, but I will hear only You.
I have much, but it all belongs to You.
I can go my own way, but I choose to follow You.
I am a teacher, but I will be a student.


Debra Miner
(February 2009)

“For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.” Psalm 149:4
“The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.” Psalm 25:9

A Prayer - Enraptured With His Love

Enraptured With His Love

Overwhelm me with Your Presence
You are my heart’s desire
Flood in . . .
So that You are preeminent
So that my heart would burst because of You

You call me with sweet words of love
To soak . . .
To sit with You as if time had stopped
You whisper Your longing for me
You delight in me
You desire me

Your gaze pierces my heart
One look of Your eyes and my heart leaps
I lay against You and feel Your tender embrace
My heart is full of You, heavy with Your intimate love

One touch and I am ruined
I long for that touch once more



Debra Miner
(February 2009)

“I am my beloved’s, And his desire is toward me.” Song of Solomon 7:10

A Prayer - I Am Desperate, I Am Lovesick

I Am Desperate, I Am Lovesick
A declarative prayer of a sacred pursuit.

I am desperate.

I am thirsty and hungry.
I am poor and needy.

I earnestly long for You.
I fervently desire to know Your heartbeat.
I must have You more than life itself.

I don’t want to move without You.
I don’t know all the answers.
I don’t understand a lot of things.
I don’t want to mess up.

I need to hear Your voice.
I need to taste Your sweetness.
I need to smell Your fragrance.
I need to touch Your hand.
I need to see Your face.

My heart aches for Your presence.
My soul yearns for Your touch.
My strength cries out for Your life.
My mind pleads for Your revelation.

Remove the filth and grime.
Purify the deepest recesses of my being.
Stir up this holy passion.

Bring me to the rivers of Your pleasure.
Only You can satisfy.

I am lovesick.


Debra Miner, (February 2009)
My soul longs, yes, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Psalm 84:2
My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” Song of Solomon 2:10

Balance For Life in Abiding, Part 2

“I have so much to do that I spend several hours
in prayer before I am able to do it.” - John Wesley

If the secret to balance is abiding, what is the secret to abiding?

With our eyes focused on the right goal—abiding, rather than balance—we are on the road to success. Balance will eventually come. However, we have not been promised a life without struggles. We must pursue this abiding whether or not we ever attain balance. It is our very survival, spiritually speaking. The root of the problem, for me, is that my heart is really not so desperate for Him. My soul does not really long for His presence so much that I am willing to sacrifice my time, my comforts, or my work. Oh Lord, make us desperate!

This is where fasting can be a way to breakaway and make a radical effort to show the Lord our desires and to show our physical existence that it will be subdued under the Lordship of Christ. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” Romans 12:1 (NIV). We must sacrifice our bodies, our schedule, and our time, so that He can breathe His very life into them.

Still, there are practical things in our life that the Lord will teach us when we continually surrender to His training. I have experienced this in the weak areas of my daily schedule. As I persist in submitting that weak area of my schedule to Him, the Lord is so gracious to guide me into a better way. It takes time, but He steadies those areas that are out of balance and brings them into a centered, focused life.

Learning to prioritize my activities and tasks allows me to see what is robbing me, so that I can cut it from my schedule. Simplifying my home and my lifestyle can help bring order and peace into chaos. There are many helpful books written on setting goals, organization and simplifying. They are not, in themselves, the answer. But in our pursuit of the Lord, with our eyes fixed on Him, they can give ideas to lessen stress.

When life takes over, it might be the point in which we need to surrender our time to the Lord. Otto Koenig, missionary to New Guinea, tells of how he eventually experienced freedom and joy in a season in which he no longer had control of his days due to the people taking every moment. His complete story is packaged on CD under the title The Pineapple Story. The second audio explains this battle for time and is available to listen online: http://www.freewebs.com/snakestory/pineapplestory.htm.

The text version is also available: http://missingdoulos.blogspot.com/2007/11/pineapple-story.html.

It is a struggle, a battle, a war . . . that requires resolve and relentless determination to pursue the Lord Who can bring peace, joy, and focus. We must choose to fight. Without His refreshing presence in our life, moment by moment, we have little to give to others. With the power of His Holy Spirit, we can breakaway!

This concept of abiding and “practicing the presence of God” is precious knowledge. But it will do little if not put into practice. It is a secret quite easily forgotten. It is a gift of vitality. It is a costly prize that must be protected with everything that you are. Be relentless! Fight for it! Practice His presence!

“But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalm 1:2-3 (NKJV)


Breakaway
by Ronnie Freeman/Adam Moritz

Do whatever it takes, whatever you need to make a change – to see a new day

Leave it all behind, every lie and substitute for peace and love

These things you long for more ofGet desperate, get hungry

Get tired of, get angry – and

Breakaway, Breakaway/Say goodbye to yesterday

Swing the hammer, crush the chains/and breakaway

That’s why He came – wore the crown, took the pain

All to pay the price for our freedom

So we could have life, real life, real hope, for the future

Not just now but forever

So get desperate, get hungry

Get tired of, get angry, yeah - and

Tired of the same thing, tired of the same game

Tired of the drab and the mundane

Tired of the needless pain, and the selfish gains

And the sin stains, tired of the insane

Tired of the shame, having it my way

Ready for change, ready to sing

And dance in the rain, cause I have a new name

And I have been washed clean

Balance For Life in Abiding, Part 1

I have discovered again the secret to balance. It is a mystery that the Holy Spirit reveals to His own. It is a special knowledge that you may know already—but it is easily forgotten. So easily!

The secret is tucked away in a little word – “abide.” But what does that mean??

Jesus says, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” ( John 15:9). Later the apostle John wrote about abiding in Jesus, “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (1 John 3:24).

Abide in its original meaning is “to stay.” There are different applications to that word, “stay.” As a believer in Jesus, I have become a part of God’s family. When I mess up, I don’t leave His family. I stay. However, I do leave His presence. This is the deeper application . . . . how to stay in His presence.

It’s the same concept that a French monk in the 1600s described in his writing compiled in the book, Practicing the Presence of God, which he lived out in his daily life.
“Brother Lawrence retreated to a place in his heart where the love of God made every detail of his life of surpassing value. ‘I began to live as if there were no one save God and me in the world.’ Together, God and Brother Lawrence cooked meals, ran errands, scrubbed pots, and endured the scorn of the world.
He admitted that the path to this perfect union was not easy. He spent years disciplining his heart and mind to yield to God's presence. ‘As often as I could, I placed myself as a worshiper before him, fixing my mind upon his holy presence, recalling it when I found it wandering from him. This proved to be an exercise frequently painful, yet I persisted through all difficulties.’” (http://www.ccel.org/l/lawrence)

Jerry Bridges describes the sin of ungodliness that most do not even recognize. Many excuse it as acceptable and really not a sin at all. He defines this ungodliness as, “living one’s everyday life with little or no thought of God, or of God’s will, or of God’s glory, or of one’s dependence on God” (Book title: Respectable Sins) . But there is a different way.

“Abide in My love” ( John 15:9). It is a love invitation that Solomon wrote, “My beloved spoke, and said to me: ‘Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away’” (Song of Solomon 2:10). Jesus, Himself, calls us to a deeper, intimate relationship with Him. But we must “come away”!

And, herein, lies the struggle of balance. How can we possibly have the quality time that our hearts long for in the busy muddle of our daily lives?

This is “where rubber meets the road,” so to speak. The discussion of abiding sounds good, but is it possible? There are thousands of people out of the richness of their experience who would shout, “Yes!” But it is not easy. We must fight for it . . . not once, but continually. Nevertheless, it is a fight well worth engaging in and winning!

For me, this fight begins with fasting. I find that although my heart desires to live in His presence, my flesh is stronger and overrules my desires. Fasting is an opportunity to pursue humility and exercise my spiritual muscles, so that, by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, I can overcome the pull of my fleshly nature. Oftentimes, prayer is the last thing we want to do when we are angry and frustrated. The same is true with fasting. It is not at all what we want to do—but it can be a key to victory.

With spiritual resolve, I can push through, drag myself out of bed, and carve out time for Jesus in the quietness of the morning even if I’m too tired. His joy gives me strength. His Spirit enables me to practice His presence.

To learn this important lesson, the Lord will allow you to become so busy that there is little room for Him. He will allow you to experience the stress and anxiety. He will watch as you become irritable and overwhelmed—because, it is in our desperation that we will finally come to Him in dependency and determination to fight for a different existence. As the song by Cory Asbury expresses (below), it really is Where I Belong.

"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it."
- Brother Lawrence

Resources:
Secrets of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge
http://www.practicegodspresence.com/reflections/others_words.html
http://www.practicegodspresence.com/reflections/words-br-lawrence.html

Where I Belong by Cory Asbury

Verse:
Your presence is all Im longing for, here in the secret place
Your nearness is all Im waiting for, here in the quiet place
Here in the secret place

Pre-chorus:
My soul waits for You alone/Like the watchmen wait for dawn
Here Ive finally found the place/Where well meet, Lord, face to face

Chorus 1:
I've finally found where I belong/I've finally found where I belong, in Your presence
I've finally found where I belong, it's to be with You, to be with You

Bridge:
I am my Beloved's and He is mine
So come into Your garden and take delight in me, take delight in me

Chorus 2: Delight in me, delight in me; delight in me, delight in me
Outro: Here in Your presence, God, I find my rest/Here in Your presence, God

Training From God

I received this from a friend in Malaysia who gave me permission to post it anonymously. It encouraged me very much! I hope encourages you also.

Every week, God had given me little tests to remind him of his sovereignty and also his care and love for me. But at times, I get too impatient and frustrated and hence, am not willing to listen to him. Yet, he is still waiting for me to repent and come back to his kingdom once again. Our God indeed is an awesome God and loving God. Though there were many times where I chose my own desires over Him, but he still did not give up on me. Like the prodigal son's father, my Father in Heaven too waits for me everyday for me to repent and come back home again. I am thankful to have such a Friend like him who is always with me in my joy and also in my sadness.

It was through the VBS that God revealed to me the purpose He had in mind for me. He wanted me to reach out to the unreached people. That is not an easy purpose to have and God had been training me via situations, obstacles, trials, temptations, testimonies, and many more. Even in Malaysia, in the company where I am working now, God is continuously training me even while working. To be honest with you, at times, I felt so stressed (juggling from work and wanting to stay closely to God’s purpose for me) that I felt like wanting to give up and forget about the whole purpose thing. But, God’s love for me is so great and I love God too much to walk away from it. I could not live my life without God and my life would be so empty without the purpose He had for me. Sometimes, tears will just well up in my eyes as I think of His great love for me, to send His son Jesus to suffer on the cross for my sins so that I may have eternal life. That true love is too great for me to reject and to walk away. And that true love is too great and I will be too selfish if I keep that love to myself and not share it with others.

Of course, during the trials and temptations, God never leaves me alone. He is by my side always, guiding me and leading me on. He did not save me from all those trials, but He went through them together with me. With that, I was able to learn and to grow. Besides, God reminded me in His words that He will never tempt me beyond what I can bear and when I am tempted, He will show me a way out so that I can stand under it (1 Corinthians 10:13). He also reminded me that He only trained those he called as his children whom He loves dearly. I should be really happy that I am receiving so many “trainings” from Him. That means He loves me and cares for my spiritual growth. Does that sound familiar? If you can still remember, I have two great worries when I made up my mind to go back to Malaysia for good. First, what if I could not get a job in Malaysia ? And that God answered me by blessing me with such a good job that I have currently. Second, what if I cannot grow in my walk with God? And now, God had been training me and helping me to be a better child of God through my work (by giving me opportunities to share) and through my church (by giving me opportunity to learn from the leaders as well as from the children too :) )

Hearing Comes After The Word

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

I have heard this so often, but have always felt that I was missing something in this verse. Usually, I hear it explained that faith comes from hearing the word of God--which is true. But it just seemed like there was something else in that little word "by."

As I read this verse again this morning, I added words that we normally take out to avoid redundant conversation. So I read it like this, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the word of God.” My understanding then was that: as I read His Word, I learn to hear. As I hear Him, I am filled with faith.

Wow! I already knew that I learn to distinguish His voice by spending time with Him. But understanding this verse in a new way is so energizing to my faith.

So, "love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). Then, as you read His Word, you will learn to hear. As you hear, you will be filled with faith.

Hearing The Voice Of The Lord, Part 3

“How do you know the Lord’s voice?” I asked our boys this question over lunch today. Their answer? “Spend time with Him!” Most definitely! Without spending time in the Word and in prayer, we can not hope to distinguish the voice of the Lord. However, when we have built a love relationship, we can know His voice.

But even then, we can be tricked. This has been a blind spot in my own life. I have been
so desperate to hear the Lord, that I haven’t evaluated the source of what I have heard. Whether someone of a reputable nature or in my own mental processing, I filtered what I thought was the Lord and clung to it. But I never challenged it! I should be testing any spiritual phenomena; signs, wonders, dreams, prophecies, revelation, or any voice in my mind that I think might be the Lord giving me direction to pray or believe for a situation. More than once, the Bible instructs us to “test all things” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and “test the spirits, whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1). However, I had failed to do that in my own life.

“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God”(1 John 4:2). It’s a simple thought. In challenging the spiritual source, I can have confidence in distinguishing the voices. We can even “know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:6b)! What hope!

We have been given the gift “to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14) But I had not used it in these instances. And, so I had been left vulnerable. However, Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Truth brings us to repentance. We can take authority over the enemy and command him to silence. We can humble ourselves before the Lord and confess our wrong, ask forgiveness, denounce the enemy’s influence in the name of Jesus, and walk in freedom. As a daily practice, we can use the belt of truth (Eph 6:14) as a protection against the enemy and pray as Jesus taught, “And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:13)

And as a friend of mine wrote,
“I make sure to ask forgiveness for my sins. I bind all thoughts, voices, and distractions of the enemy in the name of Jesus. I also find that I do a lot better in hearing (and knowing that I hear) when I write down what I believe I'm being told. I believe as human beings that we are all going to fall prey to being victimized by the enemy throughout our daily lives. The more time we spend in prayer listening for that still small voice, the more we will know our Shepherd’s voice. There will be times when we are so tuned in that nothing can be mistaken for His voice, and other times with outside distractions, worries, and an uncertain spirit that we will fail. God knows our hearts and appreciates us for desiring to spend time with Him and be obedient to His will.”

You know, I think I finally discovered the answer to my question of how so many other religions started with the basis of theology in a revelation from the heavens....

Hearing the Voice of the Lord, Part 2

Here is a paragraph quoted in The Bondage Breaker by Neil T. Anderson, by Hannah Whitehall Smith:

“There are the voices of evil and deceiving spirits, who lie in wait to entrap every traveler entering these higher regions of spiritual life. In the same epistle that tells us that we are seated in the heavenly places in Christ, we are also told that we shall have to fight with spiritual enemies. These spiritual enemies, whoever or whatever they may be, must necessarily communicate with us by means of our spiritual faculties, and their voices, as the voice of God, are an inward impression made upon our spirit. Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit ay tell us by impressions what the will of God is concerning us, so also will these spiritual enemies tell us by impression what is their will concerning us, though not, of course, giving it their name.”

Hearing The Voice Of The Lord

As I was reading The Bondage Breaker by Neil T. Anderson, I came across a couple paragraphs that talked about four people in his church testifying that a church member who was fatally ill would not die. The church's faith in healing began to increase and they began to celebrate. Unfortunately, three weeks later, this man died.

Anderson writes, “If God was the One who told these four people that Dick wasn’t going to die, what does that make God? A liar. But is God a liar? Of course not; He’s the truth. Lies come from the father of lies: Satan himself. Deceiving spirits had circulated a lie about Dick in an attempt to destroy the congregation’s confidence in God.” p. 133

One of my biggest spiritual struggles has been the desire to hear the voice of the Lord. There have been times that I thought I heard Him speak--only to find out later that the information I received was not accurate. Obviously, God is not a liar, but why can I not hear Him? Especially in light of this verse: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." John 10:27

I never before considered the possibility of an enemy attack in this area of my spiritual life. It seems like an "a-ha" moment. I suddenly understand that the enemy can plant lies that we think are truth when we're searching! I knew that he is a liar, and these lies pervade Christianity in various areas--I just never saw it apply to specifically searching for the voice of the Lord. The next step is how to combat the lies.

I also remembered having this information from Listening Prayer Guidelines (by the PRT of The Navigators): "Resist the Enemy. Take your place of authority by saying something like, 'In the name of Jesus Christ, I prohibit the enemy from speaking or interfering with this time.'"

Being aware of the problem is always the first step in dealing with it. By the Lord's grace, I now have another tool in my spiritual toolbelt to hear Him and discern His voice . . . rather than hearing mine or the lies of the enemy.

Thank You Lord for Your grace! May Your Truth be made known!

Praise & Thanks

Sometimes I feel distant from the Lord. I yearn for a deeper intimacy with Him, but it seems like life steers me in every direction except towards Him. I want to make time to sit down and read the Bible. I want to pray. But at the end of the day, I fall into bed hoping tomorrow will be better. All the while, my heart grows colder towards the Lord.

I have found that, in these times, there is a way out of the downward spiral. Praise & Thanks. We have a spiritual enemy that wants to draw us away from the Lord. Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) As a result, when I begin to turn my attention to the Lord in praise . . . just for Who He is . . . the enemy begins to run, and I begin to find freedom. My heart is rekindled, and I sense the presence of the Lord once again. I must practice thankfulness and praise. It does not come naturally, especially in difficult circumstances and the daily frustrations of life. However, when I choose Him, I invite Him to lift me up from where I have fallen. And He says, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away.” (Song of Solomon 2:10)

1 I will praise You with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing praises to You. 2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. 3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul. 4 All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O LORD, When they hear the words of Your mouth. 5 Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, For great is the glory of the LORD. 6 Though the LORD is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. 8 The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
Psalm 138