Intercession

Its hard to believe im writing almost halfway through this trip in Nepal! Things are well from this side, how about yours? I pray for you all, nearly daily, with Paul’s prayers for the churches – and I know the Lord is revealing Himself and His kingdom to you.

God is challenging me as an intercessor here. Looking at Christ, who is the ultimate intercessor, He laid down His entire life for those He loves. In the same way God has been asking me if I am willing to be the flesh & blood answers to my own prayers. Its so easy to speak words to God, as mere well wishes – but the intentions of my heart are revealed in the measure of my willingness to carry these prayers into action!

The place I have been volunteering at, as service to the poor, is a government institution for abandoned children. The mornings I spend there I rock the babies, change diapers, and mostly do a whole lot of praying. Some days when I see the downside of institutionalized care, my heart breaks. The babies have enough to eat, and at least they have a place to sleep – but they are often dirty, suffering from sickness and lice, and aching for personal love and attention. The two precious Nepali women who work in the room I volunteer at – give their all tirelessly- even sleeping there. Yet there isn’t enough love to go around, simply because of lack of mothering figures present. So each morning I wrap my arms around their tiny frames, and hold them close - looking them in the eyes – and I am there to meet their need for love. God’s told me I am there as an intercessor, my touch and my words are my prayers. I often spend time with the babies I hold, reading scriptures over them and declaring the truth over their lives. I believe each of these precious ones will come into the kingdom someday, simply because God honors the prayers of His own!

Over the course of the last week God has challenged me on my intercession. He asked me how much I am willing to truly be an intercessor- how far will I go to answer my own prayers? He challenged me with the possibility of adoption. Am I willing? Not knowing the legistics of this possibility for my future, I realized God was laying a divine request before me: asking me to come into a new level of intercession by sacrifice. He exposed the shallowness of my prayers, when it came down to answering the requests I had voiced to God for restoration for the orphans. A thousand thoughts and doubts ran through my mind, at God’s challenge. What will this look like, how much will it cost? Im not married yet, and how can I provide a healthy home for a child? When does He want me to do this, and how many children? Im sure Mary had many similar feelings the moment an angel announced she was to carry Jesus! Yet she said yes, she trusted, and God came through for her. So one morning last week, as I walked to volunteer, I was pondering these things in my heart, and carefully chose my answer. Yes Lord, if you make a way for me, I will adopt. (When, I do not know, how, is beyond me!) All I know is, in that moment God took my “volunteering” and opened up my heart to be filled with His sacrificial love, so that it was then, true intercession. Since then Ive found Nepal is currently closed to adoption because of corruption issues in the government, but this is a journey I have stepped toward in my future.

God is also challenging me to have faith and believe the scriptures. Lately Ive been reading Matthew and I notice that everywhere Jesus went, He healed people! Then He commissions His disciples to go and do the same, as they preached the gospel – to demonstrate the kingdom and bring freedom! I believe God’s commission to His own today is no less, yet I often live as though the gospels are mere fables or oricles of the past. Jesus, the living breathing Word, is alive today and He remains the same: yesterday, today, and forever. So, I’ve been troubled a great deal by Christ’s commission, because I know I am powerless to carry it out unless His Spirit flow through me. Over and over I ask God to restore the babies I hold, bringing wholeness in their hearts and overcoming disabilities back into created order! I want to have a heart of faith that He will respond to.

God promised me His protection over my body these months while Im here in Nepal, as I prepared for the trip in prayer over New Years. I was curious why God promised me this, as I knew I had heard Him clearly. I always figured sickness was a natural part of adjusting into the third world, and inevitable. But God showed me He wants to change me heart. He wants me to believe He is powerful, and gracious enough – to protect me. Yet I have struggeled with sickness already – many days and nights of diarrhea and throwing up endlessly. (Why I cant seem to adjust to the third world is a great frustration to me) So I cried out to God and reminded Him of His promise! He told me He was allowing me to be tested, and showed me I didn’t truly believe He was able to heal. If I do not believe God can heal my own body – how can I ask Him to flow through me to heal the babies - or others I interceed for? I must first walk this road of intercession – to become a fit vessel of faith, for His power to flow through. I have repented of my unbelief, and I ask God to bring my experience up to the reality of scriptures, rather than judging my reality by my mere experience. I know of course, dear readers, that you all must have varied perspectives about healing – Im just sharing what the Lord has been teaching me. (I am not suggesting if any of you are sick that you have sinned or lack faith, the specific journey Im on has been one related to issues of my own heart. Please dont receive this as a message of shame over any of your health struggles, I am there with you.) All I know is, when I read about Jesus in the Bible, he heals. His name is Rapha. So I do believe, that God can and does heal today – the mysteries of this truth within the kingdom are something I am desperetly seeking to have revelation on!

I get excited for the day Jesus will reign as King upon His return! I have been reading Revelation from my rooftop, outloud, and gazing over the city I long for His return. One day soon He will COME, and restore created order and justice on this earth! May we be ready! May His grace prepare us to know what it means to “watch and pray” – being ready for His return!

Meanwhile life here is good. My Nepali family is great, lately we’ve taken to playing card games like Old Maid before dinner. Simple games are a great deal of fun, and tear down the language barrier with laughter. Ive gotten the chance to share the gospel with them through some Christian Nepali tracts, and meanwhile I pray and wait and learn to enter into life with them. Please pray God softens their hearts with the rain of His Holy Spirit, and brings good seed by revealing Jesus.

I finally bought a camera battery! So I will be posting pics on my blog from time to time, sorry about the lack of visuals the past few weeks! Well Im off, Maranatha!