Reminders Unstuck Us

Yes, I know that is a weird title. But hear me out.

This week began with some great reminders for me that I want to share with you. It started with a powerful message given on Sunday, January 27, by Pastor Steve P. of NDGC, on what effective prayer is and within that, how there are two prayers God will not grant: 1) what He has asked us to do, and 2) something He has already done. (If you don’t understand this, please subscribe below and I’m happy to give you scripture and clarify these points.) Then I was reminded of how good it is to be a fool for Christ (1 Corinthians 4:10), as Youth Pastor Antoine W. shared his testimony. As my husband and I were talking about what we personally learned from Steve’s message, he said the following phrase concerning prayer: You have to put a demand on God. This sounds harsh if you don’t understand the underlying principles of what Jesus teaches, which I won’t go into here. My point is simply this: It’s good to be reminded of things we learned because even in something previously learned, we can learn a new layer. It’s good to be refreshed and encouraged because it motivates us to dig in and extrapolate that word God has just for us. Being reminded also causes us to share with others. Lastly, it’s good to be reminded because sometimes we just plain forget, especially when we aren’t putting the lesson into practice. Then we get stuck. Sometimes our lenses get dirty and that dirt prevents us from seeing clearly (Ezekiel 12:2; Proverbs 28:27; Luke 6:42). Sometimes our ears get clogged with the wax of itchy ears (2 Timothy 4:3), and it prevents us from hearing the truth to change. And, then sometimes, our noses are so stopped up, that we no longer smell of “the fragrance of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:15, HCSB).

On Monday, January 28, I prayed at 6 AM with a sister. We bumped into each other at church and confirmed to pray together the next day. We decided after our prayer time to do this every Monday. It reminded me of the power we have when 2 or more gather in His name. As she began praying, she said the word “intentional.” I was reminded about the power of being intentional. That one word has so much power in its application. On Tuesday, January 29, I jumped on the prayer call at 5 AM where people from all over the world gather to pray and praise God with one voice and then individually. It is also from these times that I have grown. I’ve shared about this in previous posts as I’ve been a part of this prayer group since July 2018.

So, following are tidbits of what I was reminded about that I share with you. My prayer is that you, too, will stop running, and learn to rest so that you may hear what it is you need to do to become unstuck.

1. Circle your prayers, desires, requests. Pastor, author, and teacher Mark Batterson wrote an excellent book about this called The Circle Maker. Read it! (Thanks Joi Freeman, for this book!)
   
2. Be intentional about everything you do. Bible study, reconciliation, prayer, exercising, going after the desire God has put in your heart, eating right, taking proper supplements…
3. If you are in Christ, you have been born again, and therefore, you have the authority. There is so much happening in our world because of the rise of the spirit of Molech, the spirit of promiscuity, and more. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you are not reading your Bible nor are you paying attention to what’s going on in the government. How can you pray in power if you don’t know the power you have? But we have the power. Question is, are we using it? (Jeremiah 1:10; Matthew 10:1-8)
4. Shout out to Cast Out & Bring Down. Fear has no choice but to bow in the presence of God. Chains have to choice but to break in the presence of God. Shame has no choice but to leave in the presence of God (Joshua 6). (Listen to the song “Cover the Earth” sung by Kari Jobe & her husband Cody Carnes. The song was written by Daniella Young and Cody Carnes. Thank you, Chris Calderon, for this song!)
5. Let the church rise. This phrase is a title of a song we sometimes sing in church. My question is, do we study out the words of the songs we sing? Don’t you know the songs we sing take us back to scripture? Don’t you know how powerful this is? Scripture songs, I call it! This is why I created the blog “Faithful Melodies” (read my About section). My more important question is, why are you sitting, Church? You are the called out! Do you know what you have been called out to do? Those people I gather with on the prayer call every Thursday and every last 3 days of the month, whom I have never personally met, are part of the church. Let the church arise! We come together with one voice, lifting our concerns, requests, intercessions, to The One Who Sees (El Rai, Genesis 16:13) and to God who is near (Elohei Mikkarov, Jeremiah 23:23). Let the church awake from its sleep and give care to the manifestation of the rise of evil. We have the power to destroy it, according to Matthew 10:1-8. Let the church slumber no more in selfishness but instead, give way to walking in the celebration of its diversity (cultural, social, economic, and spiritual), using the gifts we have been given to enhance the Kingdom (I Corinthians 12, 14).
6. Confess your selfishness. Then take on the burden of the Lord.
7. 2 Chronicles 20. Perhaps your first response is like that of King Jehoshaphat in this passage. But read on to learn what he did next. It is a powerful reminder of what we, too, need to do! And then flip over and remind yourself of Isaiah’s words in Isaiah 55:17.

I look forward to hearing what the Lord impressed upon your heart. I look forward to hearing your questions. I look forward to learning from you. So, please share with me. Subscribe below or leave a comment. Let’s begin to rise by simply having a dialogue. Then in being reminded through the encouragement of sharing with one another, we will become unstuck, no longer sitting, but standing to rise and walk.

#TheCircleMaker, #markbatterson, #karijobe, #daniellayoung, #codycarnes, #stopsittingandstand, #ndgc, #worshiparts, #faithfulmelodies