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

H.M.S. Richards on Ellen White and Her Prayers

I had to post these quotes written by H.M.S.Richards about Ellen White. An Elder shared them with me last Friday, after I preached for vespers about prayer. I found the quotes really powerful and inspiring. 

"You can give me a lot of proof of the Spirit of Prophecy, and I accept and believe it. But if I didn't have one of those proofs, I would believe in her [Ellen White] because I heard her pray. That, to me, was the greatest proof of her prophetic office. Within thirty seconds after she began to pray, we were all in the presence of God. I was afraid to look up, lest I should see God standing there by her side. She was talking with Him, and she was completely oblivious of others around her. Within a minute you could hear sobs all over the building. That great congregation was in tears. There was one mind, one conviction of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Holy Fire, the Spirit of God, as she prayed.

I'll tell you, my friends, it made many changes in lives. People were surprised by the power and presence of God. They have never expected that. They came to see a prophet, something strange - but God took hold of them. They were weeping and crying out. Talk about psychology if you want, there wasn't any of that there. She was quiet until she started to pray, and then, just like that, it was there - a tongue of fire. She had it when she prayed. I was there, and I know. When she got up, she was just a dear old lady again." H.M.S. Richards, Feed My Sheep, 407 *

I want to have that power! And I know that God can give it to us, if we ask for it! Let's all press forward and ask the Lord to give us that tongue of fire. Because it is then that we will be able to finish the work! We need the Holy Spirit more than ever! And God is ready to give it to us if we ask Him to.

 "There is nothing that Satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance, so that the Lord can pour His Spirit upon a languishing church and an impenitent congregation." Messengers to young people, p.133

May we all seek Him with all our hearts and may our lives be a testimony of the transforming power of the Almighty One!

*For those who want to read the book, you can find it here: Feed My Sheep.

Generation of Youth for Christ and the Blessings of the Prayer Room

It's been almost a month since I came back from GYC (the Romainan version of GYC, of course) and I wanted to take the time and write about the things that the Lord has done there, but I had to catch up on my work and had no time for it. So, here I am, to testify again that we serve an amzing God! 

Who would have thought what the consequences would be when, less than 4 months ago (to be exact on  May, 10), I offered to fast and pray with a girl I barely knew and who grew to be on of my best friends since then? Who would have thought that the difficult times that she was facing would bring such a blessing upon each of us and upon God's work from Romania? Who would have thought that God could change those difficult times in one of the greatest blessings we have ever received? 

In order words, if I am a new person, if I have finally found what I have missed all along, if God has taken be deeper and deeper in my walk with Him and has drawn me closer and closer to Him, if He has impacted other lives since then, it is because he allowed trials in the life of a girl whom I did not really know, because she chose to take them to Him in prayer, and because I was inspired to tell her that I want to fast and pray with her for 10 days (I ended up fasting only 5 days because of a headache that was hindering me from being able to work). We "met" (online, of course, since we were separated by the ocean) and prayed for an hour, an hour and a half for 10 days... And we did not stop there... From time to time, whenever she is not traveling, we like to get together and pray again! What a blessing this is to both of us! Thank you, Melody! You are more than a prayer partener, you are one of my best friends and I am sure that only eternity will fully reveal the impact that your friendship and faithfulness to God had on me and, through me, on other people. 

GYC has been an amazing experience for all of us who have been there. God worked more than I expected Him to. There were two things I asked Him for. The first one was that I could feel His presence and see Him at work and the second one was that He will give me a burden for these people even though I did not know them, that He would keep me on my knees to interceed for them. And He was more than faithful in granting me what I have asked for. If for the first two days I could not really feel that He is present, on the third day I was simply aware of His presence. And so were other people I talked to.

The GYC leadership was really supportive of the prayer room, even more than I expected.  In fact, they confessed that we were an answer to their prayers. Since I went there earlier to help them finish the preparations for the camp, we had time to get together as a team and pray! What a blessing this was for all of us! One time, we got together to pray for an hour and we ended up praying for an hour and a half. I simply could not stop them. Whenever I wanted to make the transition to another section, there were people starting to pray. The prayer room was also a blessing! I had someone share with us that the Holy Spirit kept sending him to the prayer room but he resisted the voice of the Holy Spirit. Finally, he gave in, and obeyed. What a blessing the prayer room was for him! He said that God showed him who he really is and how deceitful his heart is. We had some other people who came over and over again to the prayer room, people who confessed that they could feel God's presence there and who where so happy to be in His presence. 

We had two prayer rooms opened for 5 hours on Thursday (one in Hungarian language that was hosted by Rita and one in Romanian language which I led) while everybody was doing outreach. I have to admit that I did not believe that God will bring too many people to the prayer room because most of the people wanted to go for the outreach. But God was good and not only He sent around 16 people to each prayer room but people also could feel His power and presence while doing outreach. I had several people come to me and tell me that they could feel God's presence working on their behalf, that they have never experienced something like that before and they knew that it was because of our intercessory prayers. Praise God that He is poweful and more than faithful!!!

I cannot help but be amazed more and more at the power of united prayer! And I know that this is only the begining... God has already started to open doors here in Romania and Europe for united prayer! And remember how it all started??? With God allowing difficult times in the live of someone who trusted Him and wanted to take her problems to Him in prayer. And though I am so happy to see united prayer spreading in Romania and Europe, I am scared at the dimensions of the work! But I am glad that I am scared because this will keep my on my knees and will make me depend only on Him.

I once thought that the 5 years spent in the mission field were the best years ever and that nothing would ever change me more than these years did. Now, after experiencing the power of united prayer for the last few months I believe that experiencing united prayer is the best life-changing experience ever. Sometimes I wonder how would my mission service have looked like, had I known and experienced the power of united prayer while I was there. But, I guess that God is taking me deeper and deeper and this is what brings tremendous joy to my heart.

So I praise God for faithful friends, for being so faithful and for doing wonderful things in my life, many more and more beautiful than I have ever dreamed. 

I'm in the Lord's ARME

Some of you may think I have made a mistake. No, there is not a spelling mistake... I'm in the Lord's ARME.

If you read my blog entry A Call to Prayer you remember that I have written about God tapping on my shoulder and telling me that He wants me back into full time ministry, He wants me to have a fervent prayer life, to be a prayer warrior. My life has been changed as I realised things I have been missing all along and as I allowed Him to take full control of my life.

Than, if you read my blog entry In His Presence, you remember that God made me give up my plans for this summer (going with my youth group to the seaside) so that I do something meaningful. When God asked me to change my plans, I thought He wants me to go to Upper Colombia ARME Bible Camp. So, I started praying and talking to my friend Melody about it. I was really excited since I have wanted to be part of an ARME Bible Camp for a long time. But, as we were making plans and praying about it, I simply did not have peace in my heart regarding this decision and I did not understand why. Since I know my Lord and since I know that He does that every time I am about to make a wrong decision, we decided to wait and continue to pray until I understand what I need to do.

It was in this period of time that I found out about the GYC Convention that they are going to organize in Romania. I remember telling Melody: "Wish I could organize a Prayer Room there!" But I knew that I could not do that since I did not to do it alone and there was nobody to help. You see, after being in the mission field for 5 years and being alone most of the time, I told the Lord that, if He ever wants me to do something for Him, He has to give me a team or at least one more person I can work with, dedicated people who share my values and desire to work for Him. So Mel and I started to pray about it. I did not tell anybody else about my desire and I did not know anybody who had a burden for prayer. So, I have to admit that I did not believe that God will send someone.

I was one day talking to Rita, Melody's "adopted" Romanian sister who had just come to visit her Romanian family. I had just met her (Melody introduced us) but felt that I have known her for a long time. I do not know why but I mentioned the GYC Convention and asked her is she is not interested in coming. "Maybe we can organize a prayer room there ," she told me. I was shocked even though I did not show it to her. Could it be this God's answer to my prayers? Could it be this why He did not want me to go to the Upper Colombia ARME Bible Camp? (Btw, both GYC and the ARME Bible Camp will take place in the last week of July). I had not told her anything about my desire to oganize a prayer room and that I had been praying about it. We decided to take a week to pray and make a decision whether we want to do that or not. As we finished the conversation and as I got on my knees to pray, I knew that I did not have to pray about it. I knew that this was God's answer to my prayers. He made it possible despite my lack of faith.

The rest is history... I wrote Rita right away that I believe that she is an answer to my prayers and that I know God wants us to do that. Than, we wrote the GYC committee about it and waited for their feedback. A week ago they let us know that they will be more than happy to have United Prayer and a Prayer Room open for a few hours a day.

So, here we are, getting ready to lead United Prayer and a Prayer Room in a month. Though I am excited, I realize what a responsibility lays on our shoulders. I do not know why God chose to trust us so much, but I sulrely feel the need to abide in Him and to give myself up to the control of the Holy Spirit. And I realize more and more that this is His work, not mine. So, I just want to make sure that I am fully surrendered so that my sins do not block the way for His blessings and for His power to be manfested in people's lives.

I know that I have said it many times, but I am more and more amazed at the ways God is working and at the plans He has for my life. And I am more amazed of how He choses to answer prayers. I am also thankful for godly friends like Mel and Rita whom I have not known for a long time but whom I feel like I have known for years because of our love for God and mutual desire to abide in Him and to serve Him.

So, I'm in the Lord's ARME and I am so humbled by His calling!

God's Strange Ways 2

I have written about God's strange ways a couple of weeks ago... how I lost my Bible and how God replaced it right away.

Oh well, there are a few things that I haven't told you and the time has come that I share them with you.

I have to admit that, when I got the Bible, I was a little bewildered. Why? First, because it reached me so fast. It usually takes 2 weeks for a parcel to get here from the US. Than, it has been brought to my work place. Normally in Romania, parcels sent through the regular mailing sistem are not delieved. One receives a notice from the post office and has to go there to take it. And there is only once postal office where one can get the parcels coming from other countries. Then, the third strange thing is that the guy who brought it has not asked to open the parcel and check it. Parcels sent from foregin countries pass through customs.

Another thing that was strange was the fact that I got only one parcel. Melody told me that she sent me two of them. She posted both of them in the same day, at the same post office. Hmmm... strange... So I waited and waited and kind of lost my hope to get the other parcel. I thought it simply got lost.

I was working at home yesteday when the secretary called me to tell me that I received a notice from the postal office. I have to go and pick my parcel. This is a little over two weeks after I got the first one. So I went and picked it...

God definitely knew that I need a Bible and I need it soon. So He worked on that. I got it 5 days after is had been posted and it has been delievered to me. There is no logical explanations for that. Two parcels sent by the same person, in the same day, from the same post office get here at different times and in different ways. Aren't God's ways strange? Yes, they are. And that is why God is God. He can do the impossible. He can do irrational things when you expect Him the least and even when you do not ask Him to. He loves to surprise us and give us gifts. I love surprises! But I love God more.

I am wondering what is going to be His next surprise.

Pressing on!

I have been challenged this week to think about my passions. What is it that I put all my power and energy into? When people look at my life, what passions do they see there? Do they see my passion for traveling? For mission in isolated places? For music? For education? For translation?

Yeah, I might me known for the things I have just mentioned but I know that I want that to change. Not because these things are wrong but because the focus should be different. I want people to look at my life and say: This person has a passion not for ministry, not for missions, not for evanghelism, not for education but for God. Yes, I want people to see that I am passionate about God. I want people to see my desire to abide in Him and be His and only His. I want people to see that He is everything to me. That He is my first and only love.

And this is what He has been working on in my life lately. I know that He wants me to focus on Him and to press on! I asked Him to do everything it takes to make me passionate about Him and He promised to do so. Sometimes He has to take from me things He has given me, just to change my focus on Him. Mission work has been one of those things, but there are many more. And even though it hurts and it is hard to let go of all those good things, I know it is Him who's asking me to give them away. So, I am ready to give them away because I want Him more than anything. I may walk through the vally of loneliness and darkness, I may have to give away the dearest things to me, I may have to face waiting seasons, I may have to drag my bleeding feet, I my get wounded in the fight, I may stumble and fall, but I want to press on. Because I want Him to be my first and only passion.

Press On by Selah has been helping me a lot in my journey...

Press on

When the valley is deep

When the mountain is steep

When the body is weary

When we stumble and fall

When the choices are hard

When we're battered and scarred

When we've spent our resources

When we've given our all

Chorus:

In Jesus' name, we press on

In Jesus' name, we press on

Dear Lord, with the prize

Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on.