August 13, 2015

Offensive Prayer

So it has been about two years since I have posted anything in this blog and to be honest, I kind of forgot that I still had it. Is that a bad thing? Haha! I read my last post and I am amazed how time has flown and how God changed me a lot since then. I have definitely come a long way in my walk with the Lord, so instead of updating my life on this blog, I want to share different things the Lord is teaching me. When people first meet me, they know me as quiet. People who know me well, know that's a lie and that I actually have a lot to say. May you see some of my "talking" side here as I contemplate the ways God is growing me. So I recently returned from a two-week mission trip to El Salvador and Honduras and it was (to say the very least) a stretching trip! I went before in December of 2014 and I thought this trip was going to be, more or less, the same kind of trip this summer. But God, as always, proved me wrong. One of the big things the Lord taught me this last trip is the power of and need for prayer. Not just protective prayers (the "God please protect us" kind of prayers) alone, but most importantly offense-type prayers for God to open doors for ministering the Gospel! In Central America, there is so much gang activity and because God's people are praying for open doors, gang members are hearing the Gospel and some are even getting saved! I have never thought of prayer as a way to open doors for the Gospel. If God is opening major doors for the Gospel to go forth in some very dark places of the world, can He not also do that locally? And the big question is: Have I been praying heavily for God to open those doors here? I haven't until now. And guess what? He is answering! I really shouldn't be surprised, but honestly I am and that's because I hadn't regularly been doing this. It is incredible the ministry opportunities God is putting before me and He is equipping me to bring His truth to others! If you're a believer, I highly encourage you to root yourself in regular prayer for people's salvation and for God to open many doors for you to speak the Gospel to people. God actually answers those prayers because they are according to His will. I think of James 5:16 where it says, "The effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much." If God's people pray and seek Him, He will answer so that His glory is made known. This is just one of the things the Lord really taught me and it is definitely putting my life in a whole new perspective and direction. "Pray without ceasing" 1 Thessalonians 5:17