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I think my word for the year is WRECKED. You know how people have a word they use to define the year or speak into the year. Usually its things like WORTH, DEPTH, RESTORATION or something like that. Mine is wrecked.
I was wrecked at the end of River Youth Revive Camp last year when I cried for an hour on the Saturday night watching God move powerfully in and to and through our young people. Young people were still getting prayed for at 10.30 at night, friends were bringing friends, brothers bringing sisters to the altar for prayer. Wrecked by the goodness of God. I’m so grateful to get to do what I do.
I was wrecked on the last night of River Youth last year when 6 people gave their lives to Jesus for the first time and hands went up all over the place to take that next step in knowing God and making Him known.
I was wrecked watching a youtube video just this week of some worship at Passion Conference where 55 thousand Gen Z and Millennials packed an statium and without music and with the worship leaders on their knees, mics on the floor sung holy holy you are Lord God Almighty for over 20 minutes. Wrecked. In my living room watching and worshipping with them. Wrecked.
The other morning I woke up at 4. Not a great start to the day. I like my sleep.
I tossed and turned for a bit and then thought, oh well, time to catch up on my latest serial killer podcast. I listened for about 2 minutes and then had a better thought. This is the perfect time to catch up on what I call a God podcast. A church message, an interview with some cool Christian doing it for real. A podcast about God, not killing people or solving the case.
And it wrecked my day.
Legit. The day was wrecked.
Because I didn’t just listen to one message but a whole series by an amazing leader and pastor called Banning LIebshier who did a series of messages at his church Jesus Culture Sacremento on the vision and early years of their church.
I love a good backstory and I love stories of how God works in real peoples lives to do real awesome things.
So I was fully hooked.
Here’s the bit that wrecked me.
He shared a testimony of a girl from their church who had been at a conference and just inspired to believe God for anything and everything. That being a Christian is more than just being nice, that we as children of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, receive power to be God’s witness and to lay hands on the sick and they’ll be healed, to see the impossible happen, to have authority over the works of the devil, to release God’s blessing and power into a situation and to tell the good news and bring hope where there is none.
She had been at the conference, was all fired up and then went back to their hotel to chill out and process.
She was in her hotel room with her husband when screams came up from the poolside. A 3 year boy had drowned. Family were wailing and called out for people to call 911.
Something within this girl rose up and she was not on my watch and ran out to the pool pushed past the crowd. There lying on the deck was this tiny boy. Not breathing. Not moving. He looked like rubber she said. She pushed forward and people must of thought she had medical experience because they moved back. She knelt down beside him, laid her hands on him and in the name of jesus commanded life to come back into his body and for him to be raised and alive. And literally the boy began to ripple and then gasped and came alive.
So okay at that point, the girl giving the testimony is crying and the audience she’s sharing to are clapping and whoop whooping and praising God and im lying in bed, its now about 6 oclock also crying and praising God – quietly because other people are sleeping but I was like WRECKED.
WRECKED.
That podcast has run around rent free in my head since then. It has become my roman empire.
As Christians we are children of God. We KNOW – not just conceptually, not just intellectually, not just imaginary – we know God the almighty who created the heavens and earth, who is above all things, who has all power and authority, who is near and personal and for who nothing is impossible.
As Christians we have that invitation to come right into His holy presence by faith to ask for help when we need it.
As Christians that same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us and gives us power from God to be His witnesses in all the earth, and gives us power to see signs and wonders in Jesus name. These things will follow those who believe, they will lay hands on the sick, they will cast out demons, they will see God move.
We are called to be light in the darkness, pointing people to a real God with real answers for real people with real problems.
We have sometimes made what Jesus can do so small.
We pray for a good carpark, or God to bless me, or the bus will be on time, or whatever and that’s not wrong. It is good to invite God into all things and all situations but sometimes that’s all we’re asking for. Putting my hand up to confess to that one right here.
I want every single person in here to be like that girl. Not on my watch.
Not on my watch will my friends suffer with anxiety or take their own lives
Not on my watch will darkness take over my school
Not on my watch will other agendas have a louder voice
Not on my watch will people go without hearing the good news
Not on my watch will the enemy kill steal and destroy
Not on my watch will our kids walk away from God
Not on my watch will marriages fall apart
Not on my watch
Now hear my heart here because you might have got your ears stuck when I said not on my watch will my friends suffer will anxiety or take their own lives or marriages falling apart and kids going off the rails and you’re like that IS me, that’s where I’m at right now.
Sometimes life hits hard and we’re in the process ourselves of learning how to find hope in the darkness, peace in the storm and Jesus in the mess.
Sometimes life is messy.
Sometimes there are spiritual things going on behind the scenes – we have an enemy who wants to kill steal and destroy.
Sometimes we’re dealing with bears and lions so we’re ready for goliath.
However you’re feeling about life and whatever you’re going through, you are so welcome here. None of us have it all together and none of us have it all figured out. All of us are going through something. All of us have mess in our lives. All of us need Jesus. That is why doing life together matters – because we can lift each other up, pray for each other, and support each other.
Being a Christian doesn’t give us an escape pass for life in a fallen world.
But it does give us light and purpose and a mighty God who is with us always and says with me nothing is impossible and says tag you’re it – you are the light of the world says Jesus, we are representatives here on earth of God, filled with real power to see real change.
That’s why we make worship at church such a priority – it’s not just 2 fast songs, 3 slow songs and repeat the bridge 4x – it’s not just music and lyrics, we’re declaring the truth of who God is. It reminds our heart and our soul and our mind that God is our waymaker, that God is above all things, that He loves us and is God.
That’s why we make room to pray after the service here – because that invites God into things and believes that God can do what only God can do. Things literally change physically, emotionally, spiritually, supernaturally, situationally, relationally because we come up the front here and invite God to do a miracle.
That’s why we talk about going into the world and being a disciple who makes disciples, about being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus and doing the things Jesus did because without God the world is lost and broken and messed up.
That’s why we talk about how to pray for someone, how to share the gospel, how to tell your testimony so that when God needs something done and someone reached we’re not looking around going bags not, pick someone else, we’re hands up here I am Lord, pick me, send me, use me.
You know what else wrecked me. Paul Saunders message at the end of last year when he said we have not because we ask not, our neighbours have not because we ask not. He said the quiet bit that I have always wondered out loud!
He said the bit that none of us want to really think about. My neighbour has not because I’m praying not.
Now I was convicted by that. I was challenged by that. I was condemned by that but I don’t want anyone to feel condemned today. I want us to feel encouraged and inspired and yes challenged to begin again with prayer.
Prayer is one of those things that is on our to do list and we know we’re meant to do but it often gets relegated to the last in line or an afterthought or a jesus take the wheel moment.
We hear the inspiring quotes like Martin Luther who said ““I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”
That’s hashtag prayer goals but I am like hashtag 3 more hours of sleep please God!
We know it’s more than a “give me give me list” and that its about relationship and all of those things but we often haven’t got a hang of it and then give up on it because we figure everyone does it and it’s just us that haven’t sorted it out yet. Or is it just me?
We’ve got this tension.
We see time and time again in the Bible that jesus prioritizies prayer. He stepped away from the crowds, he took himself to quiet places, he put down the phone and stopped scrolling, he had time where he would go and pray.
The one thing the disciples asked Jesus to teach them was – not how to heal lepers or make paralysed people walk again, raise the dead, or 5 points to nailing a powerful presentation, or how to multiply lunch every day, was how do we pray.
Earlier this week we begun clearing up our attic. SHOW BE REAL PICTURE.
It is not a fun job. Not a fun job for Caleb or Tony who get up in the attic and bring the boxes down. Not a fun job as there are layers of dust and cobwebs that make me shudder.
There is one fun part though. Discovering old treasures. Like a Walkman. And cassettes. The cassette in the Walkman – shout to the lord by hillsong. It has been hilarious watching Eva navigate this ancient relic of the 80s and 90s. There is a side A and B – how do you find a song – and telling her that the Walkman just ate her tape and how to fix it with a pencil. Am I right?
I also found my very first bible, my very first bible journal and my first prayer journal. Now when I say prayer journal I am not one of those people that write out beautiful prayers for people and let my words and prayers fill the pages. I am a bullet point prayer jounaller. It’s a date. A name. A need. And cool to see a bunch of ticks beside some of them which means I guess they were answered….
One of the early prayer bullet requests – dated 1994 – my commitment to prayer. No explanation. That’s it 4 words.
Praying that one again for 2024. I’m praying for myself that God would help me be a good pray-er.
An interesting aside – last term during one of my HEAR readings I felt God challenge me to start a prayer journal again and I had a very specific journal that I wanted that I had seen at the warehouse.
The Plan A journal.
Because prayer is our Plan A. It’s our first response. It’s our mission as people who be with Jesus, become like Jesus and do the stuff Jesus did.
When I googled the Martin Luther quote from earlier I was blown away by how his life really is prayer goals.
Here’s a couple more of his truth bombs:
The less I pray, the harder it gets; the more I pray, the better it goes.
To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.
As is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.
Martin Luther was a “not on my watch” kind of pray-er. He knew his call and mission as a Christian to know the heart of God and to see things shift and to ask, seek and find, to knock and the door of heaven would be opened. He knew that if he wanted something to go and ask his heavenly Father and would keep on asking until things moved.
He knew that when He prayed God heard and moved in response. That lives changed around him because He asked God for that change.
The start of the year is a really great time to refresh a habit.
For some of us it’s time to give prayer a go again.
We’ve tried and then we maybe forgot about it or it felt weird and then it slipped our mind. Or we don’t pray because we didn’t pray and so we avoid it more. Like leaving someone on read.
Sometimes we don’t know if there are right words or what to do. In case no one has told you – there are no special words or formulas when it comes to prayer. Help is a prayer. Thank you is a prayer. Um is a prayer. Ugh is prayer. Hey God is a prayer. Tears are prayers. Prayer is a discovery in all the many different varied ways that you can connect with God and talk to Him.
For some of us we need to set specific times and schedule it in and find a place for just that purpose.
In Matthew 6:6 it says When you pray – WHEN YOU PRAY – NOT IF YOU PRAY – WHEN – go into a private room, close the door, and pray unseen to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
Having a routine, making it a habit and a priority and a rhythm are all tools to get past our human nature to be too busy or to forget.
Where are my gym peeps at? You guys know that it takes the regular routine to make the habit and get the gains. You live that. Apply that same mindset to prayer and get even better gains! Some of us need scripture before screens and prayer before posts and get the gains before all the other things grab our time and attention.
For some of us we need to start a prayer journal – which is really my fancy words for a list. It is not unspiritual to have a list of things to pray for. You can even have prayer prompts for certain days – on Monday I’ll pray for my kids, on Tuesday I’ll pray for my work, on Wednesday I’ll pray for the leaders of NZ, on Thursday I’ll pray for myself etc – they can be springboards for conversations with God.
For some of us we need to remind ourselves of the privilege and the power of prayer. How amazing is it that we can talk to the Creator of the universe and He listens to us. How amazing is it also that prayer is a conversation and as we make time to listen God speaks to us. Us. Humans. The created.
Maybe we’ve assumed that prayer is wossy. Prayer is what nanas do while they’re knitting and listening to amy grant. It’s what people with socks and sandals do.
Or we’ve assumed that it’s boring. You know, talking to the creator of the universe who breathed out the stars and is incredibly good at maths and knows all the secrets of everyone’s heart all at the same time and invites us to “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 yeah, boring. Totally. NOT!
You know, it’s a really good tactic by the enemy. When you’re faced with an armed and dangerous opponent who is guaranteed victory if they press in and take ground… the best thing to do is to make them think they’re small and insignificant, unarmed and defenceless.
We need to hack our brains to see that this is the most incredible invitation ever.
People are healed because of prayer.
Situations change because of prayer.
Relationships are restored because of prayer.
Battles are won because of prayer.
Demons are defeated and cast out because of prayer.
People get saved because of prayer.
We hear God speak to us in prayer.
Prayer changes us from the inside out.
Prayer will succeed when all else fails.
The kingdom of darkness is pushed back because of prayer.
When we pray, God moves from heaven. When we pray, things happen that would not otherwise happen.
Great things are done THROUGH our lives because of prayer.
All of those things we want – for ourselves and our families and our neighbours – happen because of prayer.
One last Martin Luther quote
Prayer is climbing up into the heart of God.
Prayer is more than Plan A. It’s about relationship with our heavenly Father. When Jesus taught the disciples to pray in Matthew 6:9 He starts with “Our Father in heaven, holy is your name.” He begins by establishing that connection. It’s not about rules, it’s not about religion, it’s not about getting it all right, it’s about relationship. This is the goal of prayer. It’s not just about situations changing, about us changing. It’s about being with God. It’s friendship, it’s connection, it’s relationship.
Prior to Jesus, no one — not in Judaism or in any other religious tradition — spoke of God or to God as Father in the personal ways Jesus did. In quoting Jesus here, Matthew remarkably uses the Greek word Pater, the equivalent to Abba in Aramaic — the common, everyday term that everyone used for father.
This familial way Jesus referred to God scandalized and outraged the Jewish leaders. They understood God as their Father the way a potter might be called the father of his clay creation but they saw God as holy and untouchable and other and powerful. He is the God almighty, the lord of hosts, the king of kings, the lord God. In fact the name of God written in the Torah – YWAH is written without the vowels and was more said as a whisper because they viewed the name of God as too holy to write and to speak.
Jesus viewed God as his “Abba, Father” the way a child views their parent, as their, dare I say it, their Daddy. Jesus is blowing things up when He dares call God Father, Abba.
I became a Christian when I was 16. Before that I had gone to catholic mass and even a catholic high school. God was about rules and been good enough and I wasn’t good enough. God was some dude I imagined on a cloud far far away who didn’t care about me and didn’t care about anything here on earth.
Becoming a Christian wasn’t my plan A. But I met with the reality of God at youth group when someone prayed an ordinary prayer before some ordinary worship in someones ordinary living room.
There is not one second that God does not love you and wants you to know the grace and freedom He offers and has done EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to make real.
He isn’t far far away but more near and personal than we could dare imagine. Let’s dare imagine that in 2024.
Prayer helps us see the heart of God. It helps us see things from His vantage point. It helps us remember who He is. Prayer invites God in.
We can talk to God anytime, anywhere about anything. When I say anything I mean anything. We can bring to God our hopes and dreams. We can bring to God those things we’re worried about and haven’t said out loud to anyone. We can talk to Him about our darkest fears, our anxiety, our freaking out, our sins, our shame. We can bring to Him our overthinking, our fears about our kids and our relationships, how we feel about our bodies, what’s not working in our lives and ask Him all the questions about all the things. There are no untouchable subjects. If you ever think “can I ask God that?” Yes you can! That is exactly the things we should be talking to God about and listening for His responses to. He has answers for our anxiety. He has answers for our relationship status. He has answers for us. There is no too hard basket with God.
Hebrews 4:16 says let us step boldly to the throne of grace, where we can find mercy and grace to help when we need it most.
Some of the things in our life are only going to change with prayer. Prayer at its simplest definition is talking to God. In our own times of prayer we’re talking to God one on one. When we’re praying for someone its like we’re talking to God about that person.
When I first became a Christian prayer was like a weird thing that seemed really mysterious and if im honest was kind of confusing.
This is my phone. It can watch videos. Take photos. Send texts. Play games. Keep track of my budget. Do the banking. Buy stuff. Browse stuff. Find stuff. Direct me places. Its pretty amazing right. Phones are cool. But if its not connected to wifi… or worse not connected to a power source and charged then its useless. It’s a paper weight. If we are not connected to the power source and connected to the wifi then its just an expensive rectangle that can do nothing. We are like the same with God. Annalia, whats the percentage on your phone right now? Who here is lower than that? I feel the stress!
There is nothing worse than being out and you realize you didn’t charge your phone and its going to go flat unless you do something about it.
We create a routine of plugging our phone in at night so its charge in the morning, or we take our chargers with us or we plug it in as soon as we get home from school. It’s a priority right? Cos we know that if we run out of battery then it cant do all the things we might need it to do.
Your life and the connection to God is through prayer and like your phone needing it every day to stay powered up – you need it every day to stay powered up to live this life and powered up to know God and make Him known, to be with Jesus, become like Jesus and do the stuff Jesus did.
Time and time again in the bible we see jesus made it a habit to make time to spend it with God. He found a quiet place. He got up early in the morning. He drew aside from everyone to pray. Time and time again. Regularly. And that makes me think – if Jesus needed to do this and wanted to do this then it’s a good thing! It’s obviously important.
Jesus wasn’t just doing this to be powered up – though that is part of it – he did it to have relationship and connection with God His Father. Prayer isn’t just about a to do list or a God do list it’s a conversation – us talking, us listening, God talking, God listening.
Did it matter what words I used? Did it matter what name I prayed to? Did it matter where I did it? Did it matter what type of things I prayed about?
Do I have to get the words right?
Some people might think there is a special code or a right combo of words to make prayer work. Prayer isn’t like a magic spell – it is your heart and thoughts to God. It is you talking to God and asking Him to do stuff. You don’t have to know any right words. There are not special words that are going to make God move faster or unlock a magic treasure chest of answers. What matters is our heart attitude.
In fact so many times in the bible when Jesus talked about prayer He said the secret to prayer that works was perseverance. Not giving up. Doing it again and again and again. The bible says in James 5:16 that the effective fervent persevering prayers are effective and accomplish much. That’s the kind of prayers I want to be praying. Prayers that work. Prayers that move. Prayers that change things.
I want each one of us to know that when we pray God hears and moves. Our prayers just don’t go up to the sky into nothingness they go directly to God and then God actions stuff to answer them. If we could see behind the scenes when we prayed we’d be blown away. When we pray angels are assigned and sent out. When we pray situations and things behind the scenes and in the future change. When we move peoples minds change and they act differently. When we pray bodies are healed and physical stuff can happen. Our prayers changes things.
Sometimes we pray just once though and its like oh God blah blah blah blah and if you could do this amen.
In Matthew 7 it says Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened.
A better way to put it would be for everyone who keeps asking, who keeps seeking and keeps knocking. What’s the pay off – they’ll receive, they’ll find, the door will be opened.
There is a story in Daniel where Daniel is praying and an angel appears to him and says that he is there in response to Daniels prayer 21 days ago and that during that time there had been intense behind the scenes spiritual battle. Sometimes answers to prayer take time. Sometimes that answer is a maybe, sometimes it’s a not yet trust God for the timing, sometimes it is a no, not because God isn’t at work or doesn’t care but because He does care and knows the right answers and the right things we need.
The most important thing to get is that when it comes to prayer and doing the stuff Jesus did Jesus showed us that he made time for prayer every day and that it was his power source and that he encouraged us to not give up and to keep on praying.
Am I connecting with God every day? Am I connected to the power source for my life? When I pray, when I draw aside and meet with Him I’m recharging my life. Just like I dont charge my phone once and expect it to work for the rest of the week so to prayer works the same way.
Let’s do what Jesus did. Pray. Pray without giving up. Praying, believing that God is at work. Praying and connecting with our amazing God.
So let me try to deconstruct this idea that God doesn’t delight in you, doesn’t delight in you and just wants you to do what He says and stay out of His way. Let’s just start out with the obvious one. He saved you.
Now, it’s really important that you understand how salvation occurs. Because if salvation occurs because you did it, then that has no implications on God’s affection or love for you. It puts all the weight of the exchange on you. “Yeah, Jesus died, but I’m the one who put my faith in Jesus.” That’s a great idea that just lacks a lot of biblical credibility. In other words, that would be a great idea if it wasn’t for what the Bible actually teaches. So if you are a believer in Christ, if you’ve been given a new heart, if you are regenerate, born again, God did that. You didn’t do that. God did that. Now you can say, “No, I clearly got out of my pew, I walked down, I shook the pastor’s hand and repeated after him.” But I will contend until the return of Christ or my death that it was God who gave
you faith in your chair which lead you to get out of your chair. You walking the aisle and praying that prayer didn’t save you. The act of salvation occurred and got you out of your chair. That was what moved you. Because death doesn’t choose life. It’s dead. So God saved you.
What makes it even more astonishing is when all of that took place. I’ll give you some of my favorites. Ephesians 1:4-5 talk about how God chose us before the foundation of the earth was laid. So before the earth was, God chose us in Him (Jesus) to be holy and blameless in His sight. So let’s do a little bit of work here. God, all-knowing, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, before He created the foundation of the earth, knows you. Not just us, but you. And before the foundation of the earth was laid, He decided that in Jesus Christ you were going to be holy and blameless in His sight. To question the affection of God for you is to question the cross of Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:29 is another great text that talks about just how thick God’s love is for you. It says, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” So before anything was, God had decided that in His fore-loving, predetermining plan, He was going to rescue you, save you and conform you to the image of Jesus Christ. Now that is profound, because all of that is taking place in light of a knowledge of every act of rebellion, every wayward thought and every God-belittling moment of your life. And still He says, “No, I love him/her. I’m going to rescue them. I’m going to make a way for them.” And God Himself puts on flesh and blood, empties Himself and comes like a servant to save and seek out those who are His children. Throughout the Scriptures, the Scriptures want to communicate for us God’s deep and unshakable love for those of us who have been called according to His purposes.
I love everything about this song, and its video.
The light bulbs.
The carpet.
The instruments.
The lyrics.
The heart.
And yes, its kiwi worship.
“The reason why many fail in battle is because they wait until the hour of battle. The reason why others succeed is because they have gained their victory on their knees long before the battle came.” (R.A. Torrey)
Lord, give me Your wisdom, Your grace
help me to serve You and love others
to not lean on my own understanding
but to seek Your ways as my own ways.
Help me to see things as You are weaving them,
not through my own filter.
God, I so need You.
There is something you get in the secret place that you can get no where else. Do everything you can to establish a secret history with Jesus.
~ Banning Liebscher
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“Can i let you in on something? there is a place i escape to that allows my soul to braethe and rest and reflect. it is the place where i can drop the “yuck” the world hands me and trade it in for the fullness of GOd. it is the a place that God reassures me, confirms that He has everything under control, and gives me a new filter through which i can process life. the bible calls it the remaining place (John 15:4). i call it my sweet secret place.” page 51 WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WOMEN SAY YES TO GOD // Lysa Terkeurst
ahhhh i get this.
i need this space.
i carve out the time to spend time with God, not because its a good idea and its what good christians do, but because i need it.
I need His presence.
i need His peace.
i need His love and grace and power.
i am pulled in many directions and that stopping, pausing, remaining, dwelling is where i am pulled in only one direction. towards Jesus.
its where my heart is realigned and renewed. refreshed and restored.
sometimes all it takes is for me to close my eyes in the busyness of the day and say “hello Jesus, here i am.”
other times i like to take time, to meet with Him.
to lie on the sofa, music on, heart open.
in winter there is a space on a bean bag by the fire with my name on it.
in summer, the deck calls to me.
at night, when everything and everyone is quiet i read my bible, following a plan, day by day soaking in His Word and truth and revelation.
sometimes i talk to Him, pray, bring my needs and wants before Him.
sometimes i share my feelings.
sometimes i am still. quiet. listening.
every time i meet with God like this i come away changed.
i wait on the Lord, He restores my soul.
The coming revival must begin with a great revival of prayer. It is in the closet, with the door shut, that the sound of abundance of rain will first be heard. – Andrew Murray
i was sure i had written down what i would specifically intentionally pray for on {Pray Day} days… but i cant find it… so here it is:
Monday – Family
Tuesday – Revival/New Zealand
Wednesday – Housegroup
Thursday – Me
Friday – Church
the purpose of {Pray Day} is to have intentional targets to pray and seek God on – its “part” of my time with Him and may sound more like ticking a list or “work” than love relationship but it works for me to keep my focus as well in those areas i am called to have authority in.
One Passion One Devotion 