Hitting the Road One More Time

Yes, it is time to hit the road one more time. No, that does not mean that I will not be working for Hope Channel. I am still a Hope Channel employee.

A month ago a friend suggested that I join them and go to the AMiCUS International Congress organized by the EUD to present there the prayer room. They are going to have some time dedicated to projects. How can I do that if we do not have a prayer room there? I asked myself. We simply can't. So, I decided to send a proposal to the organizers. And, praise God, they have accepted it. Two more days and I will be on my way to Paris, France to host an all day prayer room for the AMiCUS International Congress. God provided wonderfully the means and also someone to help me with that. It will be so exciting to meet Irene from Indonesia, whom I have never met.

And this is not all....

A couple of weeks ago Irene asked me if I know anything about the Congress that is going to be held in France at the end of October. I imediately realized that it should be GYC France. I checked it out on the internet and my suspicions were confirmed. Why not to send them a proposal for an all-day prayer room? I asked myself again. So I sent them the proposal. Not only were they happy to have us come there, but they also said that we are the answer to their prayers. They have been looking for someone to have a workshop on prayer and did not know anybody to do that. So, God sent my proposal at the right time.

Walking in His Steps

I remember telling my good friend Melody that I need help with the prayer room. I was afraid that nobody will be able to come because ARME has a Bible Camp in Hawaii the very next weekend. I knew that God will provide, but I wanted to know who will come so that I can tell the organizing team of GYC France. The very same morning (in fact, an hour later!) I sent Melody an email telling her that I really need to know who is coming, I received a text message from Irene who told me that she has exciting news for me. What could it be? I simply could not figure it out. Not long after that, she sent me an email and I understood her excitement. She told me that she could make it to GYC France and that the Lord impressed her to ask somebody else to come with her and the person said that he is willing to come. Wow.. I could not believe it that the Lord provided sooooo fast...

And still, this is not all...

A few days later, Irene told me something about GYC Indonesia that is going to take place the very next weekend after GYC France. I remember thinking: I wish I can go there! But than I thought: I cannot go. Why? First of all, God has not called me there; I have nothing to do there and I don't want to go just to attend. It will be a waste of money. Secondly, I have no money. And thirdly, I cannot dare to ask my boss for a 2 week leave. I was not sure he will allow me to go for one week since he already agreed to allow me to go to Paris for a week in September.

To make a long story short, Irene told me that she needs help with the prayer room. Hmmm... one obstacle down. Than, I went to talk to my boss and he was happy to let me go. When I told him that I can take an unpaid leave he said: "No, you do not need to do that. We are working for the same cause." Second obstacle down. Not long after that, the money issue was solved and I had no more obstacles in my way... So, in five and a half weeks I will be on my way to GYC France and from there to GYC Indonesia. I am more than excited!!!

From Trials to Triumph

I cannot expressed how blessed I am to be able to work with ARME Ministries. It is by far the greatest blessing I have ever received. I have seen God working in and through my life before, but it seems to me that I have never seen it clearer than now. I know that this is the result of getting closer and closer to Him. And I know that I have said this before and that I will also say it in the future because, the deeper He takes me in my relationship with Him, the more I can see Him at work!

What is next after Indonesia? Only He knows. But I am sure that it will be even more exciting! I am still looking forward to going back to the mission field, but I believe that the Lord wants to keep me here for a little longer. So, stay tuned for more exciting news!

Every Breath a Prayer

I have always been a daydreamer. Dreams were my fortress every time my family moved to a new place. Every time I had nobody to understand me, I would go to the daydream land. Most of the times I would dream about Prince Charming, sweeping me off my feet, understanding all my challenges and being there for me. I went to bed creating a whole new world and new friendly reality in my mind. And when I woke up, I wanted to stay in my bed and go on dreaming... I walked to school and dreamed. I rode the car and dreamed. I loved being all by myself and dreaming. I remember feeling so empty when I had to face the reality... I realized that the daydreaming is making me incapable of enjoying life... the real life... the life that I was living.

I have tried so many times to break this habbit. But I only found myself going back to my wonderland whenever the reality was hostile. I failed every time no matter how hard I tried. This went on until I found out and experienced the blessings of unceasing prayer. I am still a dreamer, but now I dream about Him. And at the end of the day, instead of dreaming myself to sleep, I am praying myself to sleep. When I wake up, I do not feel empty, I do not feel like I do not want to wake up! Instead, I am ready to face another day... with Him in my thoughts.

I like so much the following quotation. It reflects so well the challenge we are all facing and it gives us the solution:

"The reason why so many are left to themselves in places of temptation is that they do not set the Lord always before them. When we permit our communion with God to be broken, our defense is departed from us. Not all your good purposes and good intentions will enable you to withstand evil. You must be men and women of prayer. Your petitions must not be faint, occasional, and fitful, but earnest, persevering, and constant. It is not always necessary to bow upon your knees in order to pray. Cultivate the habit of talking with the Saviour when you are alone, when you are walking, and when you are busy with your daily labor. Let the heart be continually uplifted in silent petition for help, for light, for strength, for knowledge. Let every breath be a prayer."—(E. G. White, The Ministry of Healing, 510, 511.)

How can you do this? How can you make your every breath a prayer?

1. Some of you might not even want to spend time in prayer. I know it! I have been there! First of all, you need to ask Him to make you willing to spend time with Him in prayer. Make a habit of surrending, asking God to take full control of you and make you willing to pray first thing in the morning, before you get out of bed. You might not feel like you want to pray, you might not have the power to say no to the temptations, but God has promised in Philippians 2,13: for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. He promised to make us willing if we are willing to be made willing.

He promised to make us willing... this is so freeing... Here is what Ellen White says about surrender:

Many are inquiring, “How am I to make the surrender of myself to God?” You desire to give yourself to Him, but you are weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits of your life of sin. Your promises and resolutions are like ropes of sand. You cannot control your thoughts, your impulses, your affections. The knowledge of your broken promises and forfeited pledges weakens your confidence in your own sincerity, and causes you to feel that God cannot accept you; but you need not despair. What you need to understand is the true force of the will. This is the governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision, or of choice. Everything depends on the right action of the will. The power of choice God has given to men; it is theirs to exercise. You cannot change your heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but you can choose to serve Him. You can give Him your will;He will then work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Thus your whole nature will be brought under the control of the Spirit of Christ; your affections will be centered upon Him, your thoughts will be in harmony with Him. (E. G. White, Steps to Christ, 47)

2. Than, I recommend that we ask the Lord to send you someone to pray with. Someone who seeks Him with all his heart and who wants to spend time praying with you. It helps so much to know that there is someone you can pray with. Ecclesiastis 4:9 says that Two are better than one...  And the Lord also promised that where there are two or three gathered in His name, He will be there.

3. Every time the temptation comes, pray to Him for delieverance! Every time you are tempted to daydream, or think negative thougts or... you know better what, ask Him to help you do what's right. Instead of listening to the radio or to music, listen to the Bible in audio format or to sermons. It will help you cultivate the habit of thinking about Him and talking to Him.

What a blessing it is to be able to go to sleep with Him in my mind and to wake up with Him in my thoughts. What a blessing it is to be able to talk to Him and surrender everything to Him and do this first thing in the morning, before doing anything else. Here is one of my favourite quotes from Ellen White:

"When you rise in the morning, kneel at your bedside, and ask God to give you strength to fulfil the duties of the day, and to meet its temptations. Ask Him to help you to bring into your work Christ’s sweetness of character. Ask Him to help you to speak words that will inspire those around you with hope and courage, and draw you nearer to the Saviour."—(E. G. White, Sons and Daughters of God, 199.)

My dreams have never been sweeter... and they are getting sweeter every day as I make my every breath a prayer!

Some of My Favourite Quotes on Prayer

Walking with God down the avenue of prayer we acquire something of His likeness, and unconsciously we become witnesses to others of His beauty and His grace. -- E. M. Bounds

Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty. - E.M. Bounds

Prayer succeeds when all else fails. - E.M. Bounds

All that true prayer seeks is God Himself, for with Him we get all we need. - The Kneeling Christian

Our prayer must not be self-centered. It must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellow men that we feel their need as acutely as our own. To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them. - John Calvin

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties. - Oswald Chambers

Satan laughs at our toiling, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray. - The Kneeling Christian

He who knows how to overcome with God in prayer, has heaven and earth at his disposal. - C. S. Spurgeon

Pray alone. Let prayer be the key of the morning and the bolt at night. The best way to fight against sin is to fight it on our knees. - Philip Henry

The secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer. - The Kneeling Christian

People may spurn our appeals, reject our messages, oppose our arguments, despise our persons; but they are helpless against our prayers. - Thomas Lindberg

The prayer of the saints is never self-important, but always God-important. - Oswald Chambers

Unless the heart is right the prayer must be wrong. - The Kneeling Christian

There is no greater test to spirituality than prayer. The man who tries to pray quickly discovers just where he stands in God's sight. - The Kneeling Christian

 ...a man who kneels before God will stand before men. - Leonard Ravenhill

... he that is never on his knees on earth, shall never stand upon his feet in heaven. - C. H. Spurgeon

The purpose of prayer is to reveal the presence of God equally present all the time in every condition. - Oswald Chambers

Every work of God can be traced to some kneeling form. - Dwight L. Moody

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties. - Oswald Chambers

We think of prayer as a preparation for work, or a calm after having done work, whereas prayer is the essential work. It is the supreme activity of everything that is noblest in our personality. - Oswald Chambers

Prayer is not getting things from God, that is the most initial stage; prayer is getting into perfect communion with God; I tell Him what I know He knows in order that I may get to know it as He does. - Oswald Chambers

It will be a wonderful moment for some of us when we stand before God and find that the prayers we clamoured for in early days and imagined were never answered, have been answered in the most amazing way, and that God's silence has been the sign of the answer. If we always want to be able to point to something and say, "This is the way God answered my prayer," God cannot trust us yet with His silence. - Oswald Chambers

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. - Phillips Brooks

. . . every preacher who does not make prayer a mighty factor in his own life and ministry is weak as a factor in God's work and is powerless to project God's cause in this world. - E. M. Bounds

When the devil sees a man or woman who really believes in prayer, who knows how to pray, and who really does pray, and, above all, when he sees a whole church on its face before God in prayer, "he trembles" as much as he ever did, for he knows that his day in that church or community is at an end. - R.A. Torrey

Enthusiasm is more active than faith, though enthusiasm cannot remove mountains nor call into action any of the omnipotent forces which faith can command. Activity is often at the expense of more solid, useful elements, and generally to the total neglect of prayer. To be too busy with God's work to commune with God, to be busy with doing church work without taking time to talk to God about His work, is the highway to backsliding, and many people have walked therein to the hurt of their immortal souls. - E. M. Bounds

No man can do a great and enduring work for God who is not a man of prayer, and no man can be a man of prayer who does not give much time to praying. - E. M. Bounds

Prayer makes a godly man, and puts within him "the mind of Christ," the mind of humility, of self-surrender, of service, of pity, and of prayer. If we really pray, we will become more like God, or else we will quit praying. - E. M. Bounds

A holy life does not live in the closet, but it cannot live without the closet. - E. M. Bounds

No man - I don't care how colossal his intellect - No man is greater than his prayer life. - Leonard Ravenhill

Fall on your knees and grow there. There is no burden of the spirit but is lighter by kneeling under it. Prayer means not always talking to Him, but waiting before Him till the dust settles and the stream runs clear. - F. B. Meyer

A loving spirit is a condition of believing prayer. We cannot be wrong with man and right with God. The spirit of prayer is essentially the spirit of love. Intercession is simply love at prayer. - The Kneeling Christian

He who is too busy to pray will be too busy to live a holy life. Satan had rather we let the grass grow on the path to our prayer chamber than anything else. - E.M.Bounds