Category: Prayer

Praise God EL SHADDAI

Praise God EL SHADDAI, who is Almighty.

You created heavens and the earth.

Everything in it is yours.

You are the ruler of all things.

Your great power and authority is for all who believe in Jesus Christ for He is abiding in us and we are abiding in Him to walk the same way as He does.

Praise Jesus Christ, who alone is worthy of our praise.

May all the glory and honor be ascribed to You through our faithful proclamation of Your mighty name, EL SHADDAI.

In Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

Do Not Fear Sickness, But Proclaim His Truth

As Coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads from one place to another throughout the world, the OMF missionary Aril Varosky shares with me the strategy of having peace of God during the unknown situation.

Each morning, cover you and your loved one with the blood of Jesus Chris by proclaiming His promise through Jesus Christ. God’s word brings faith. And God’s blessing comes through faith. 

Each night, pray Psalms 91 for yourself and your loved ones. God gives us a strategy of using Psalm 91 to fight against COVID-19. You can proclaim God’s truth by faith and bring down His blessing to yourself and your family.

Avril said she always prays to God for strategy to pray. God often gives her bible verses to bless or fight.

When God touches our heart to pray, it’s the time God wants to execute His will on earth through our prayer. Praying in the spirit is moved by the Holy Spirit, not from the intellectual mind. Therefore, you do not need to worry how God will do it; instead, pray by faith according to His promises.

God’s gentle but firm voice affirms each praying saint: don’t look down upon your prayer. You are God’s important channel to convey His power to others through your prayer. The prayer may be unheard by people, but its effect is real as invisible wind blows on objects. God is using our prayer. Don’t doubt your privilege of praying to Father God by Satan’s lie which tells you prayer is doing nothing.

Remember God’s promise:

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3)

You may pray with Psalm 91: Abba Father, I (or someone’s name) dwell in the shelter of the Most High and rest in the shadow of the Almighty. You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. You will rescue me, protect me, for I love you and acknowledge your name. I call on you and you will answer him; you will be with me in trouble, and deliver me and honor me. In Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

禱告擴大信心的疆界

收到安的簡訊說，她的身體正在衰退中。我心裡非常緊張，揣想安到底發生了什麼事。「神啊，請你告訴我該如何為安禱告。」

十年前安曾得了腦瘤。兩年前我在聖經研習團契認識她時，她的腦瘤第二次復發，許多姊妹們為她禱告後，她恢復了原本與神疏離的關係。治療了一年，安得到醫生的許可，去年夏天得以離開美國，與在越南工作的先生團聚。今年夏天安在越南又發現腦中有新腫瘤，於是飛回美國做檢查。

再見到安時，與兩年前剛認識的她不同，她的臉上有平安的笑容。安找我和另一個姊妹蘿莉敘舊，不多話的安聆聽我們說話，不忘問我有什麼代禱事項。幾天之後神讓我想到要為安禱告，我卻因為忙碌而忽略。直到安的簡訊說她的身體正在衰退，我難過地向神呼求，「神啊，再給我一個機會為安禱告，千萬不能讓她這樣就走了。」我想到聖經說「有人攻勝孤身一人，若有兩人便能抵擋他，三股合成的繩子不容易折斷」（傳道書四章12節）。於是我找了羅莉和利亞和我一起為安禱告。利亞因為人在南美洲，承諾她會禱告。我和羅莉在電話中禱告時，羅莉有點擔心萬一神的心意是不要醫治安，所以她說如果神要把安接走，我們也要順服。但是我告訴羅莉，一年前我求問神是否會醫治安時，神給我聖經的話說：「不要怕，只要信，她必得醫治。」我告訴羅莉，除非神改變我們的想法，否則我要堅持相信這句應許，一直禱告到安得到康復為止。

我心中感動要為安禁食禱告。禱告隔天，安傳簡訊說她好多了。原來那天安彎腰拿東西時失去平衡跌倒。安一想到這可能是腦瘤惡化，她開始害怕起來。當我和羅莉在電話中禱告後，安的害怕消失了。我們才知道這害怕是來自魔鬼的攻擊，難怪神要我禁食禱告爭戰趕鬼。

一週後我們三人又約見面，這次我決定三人要一起禱告，不光是聊天。見面前我警醒禱告，因為我知道禱告就是要預備打屬靈的爭戰，不能讓魔鬼來攔阻我們。果不其然，當天羅莉說她心情不好差點要取消碰面，我說我們先來禱告吧。羅莉還一直說她覺得心情不好，不太能禱告。我說不管心情如何，就是先開口讚美。我們用媽媽禱告網（Moms in Prayer）的禱告單，先讚美「神是可親近」的屬性。當我們用經文讚美神之後，真理的光驅散羅莉心裡下沈的黑暗。我們三人受聖靈感動不斷地讚美感謝神，最後彼此代求。我們也為羅莉和先生的關係禱告，為安的先生的靈命增長禱告。

我們三人手牽著手，一起宣告神的醫治要臨到安。我們坐在戶外的咖啡廳，附近的湖面上有閃電和大雷聲，天空烏雲密佈，風雨欲來。但是我們充滿信心，沒有懼怕，因為知道神保護著我們。我問安現在除了等著照MRI，還做些什麼。安說她不知道等候檢查的日子裡可以做什麼。我心裡似乎早知道她有這個疑問。所以我告訴她，可以在家繼續為那些她在越南孤兒院照顧的孩子禱告。因為沒有孩子的安視這些孤兒如己出。我說等你回越南後，把他們帶信主，成為你屬靈的孩子。羅莉知道神可以透過我們的口彼此建造，因此在一旁仔細聆聽我說話。接著羅莉對安說：「你聽到她說的了嗎？」我健忘地問：「我說了什麼？」羅莉對安說：「她說你『回越南後』」。原來我的口已經宣告神的意思：安要回越南。於是我們又同心讚美神。

今天是安照MRI的日子，我在家裡等著，下午她傳來簡訊說：「腦瘤正在縮小，醫生同意讓她回到越南。」我喜極而泣。讚滿上帝實在是充滿恩典憐憫的天父，是我們生命中大能的主宰。

當困難臨到我們，神邀請我們來親近祂，向祂呼求，使祂在天上的心意可以透過我們的禱告執行在地上。當拉撒路病了，他的姐姐馬大和馬利亞已經盡其所能地呼求主耶穌來拯救他，但主耶穌等到拉撒路死了才來（參約翰福音十一章）。神的遲延看似祂不聽禱告，其實是神要向我們顯明祂是無所不能的神，使我們更認識、相信祂而不害怕。

當我們愈多禱告並看見神的作為，我們就更明白祂的心意都是良善的，見識到祂的大能是超過我們所求所想的。於是我們漸漸地不再只是要求神實現我們想要的渴望，而是願意承接神準備給我們更好的計畫。透過禱告看見神榮耀的經歷，會擴大我們信心的疆界，使我們能開始超越自我、時空的限制，勇敢地活出為神所用、無所畏懼、寬廣自由的生命。

The Reality of Praying

I only follow the voice and command of my Master.
While being called to fight,
My eyes are on the Master. Not myself. Not other people.

No rules. No rituals.
With a devoted heart. With an obedient mind. Abide in His words.

Repent for my sins. Being equipped with divine armor.
Claim the promises. Fight against the devil.

Being led by the Holy Spirit.
Preach the Truth. Proclaim the Promises.
Intercede for the saints, the lost and the Kingdom of God.

Ask and receive by given faith.
With expectation—may God’s will be done on the person I intercede.
Then, release the power from on High.
As the result, God’s glory shall be revealed and my joy shall be made full.

Don’t wait for the time feeling right.
Don’t take in the lies from old self or devil, but push them away.

Put God in front of me.
Worship God alone.

Open my mouth.
Let God speak through my lips.
And the stream of living water will flow out within me, the living fountain of life.

God’s word never return void.
But shall accomplish His purpose and succeed in the thing He sent it for.

This is the victory God commands for each prayer warrior.

This is the war. Day25

I went to two separate kick-off meetings of Mom’s prayer group this year. In the meetings, each mom got to pick a stone to write one attribute about God in red Sharpie pen. The first time, I picked a white stone and I wrote “Victor”. The second time, I picked a black stone and wrote “Mercy”. I look at these two stones and learn a precious lesson.
My heart of sins was like the black stone, atoned by Jesus’ blood of mercy after I confessed all my sins convicted by Holy Spirit. Then my sins were forgiven and I have peace. Then my heart was like the white stone, is being transformed with God’s righteousness and divine nature. Moreover, God equips me with His full armor of Truth, Faith, Salvation, Righteousness, Peace (refer to Ephesians 6: 13-17). And God commands the victory for me.
During the spiritual warfare, I look at myself through God’s view as a victor because the battle belongs to God, who has overcome the world. But when I come to the presence of God, I meditate the miraculous power of God to transform my status of life from a forgiven sinner (the black stone with Mercy) to the victorious saint (the white stone with Victory).
As a result, the humility and love well up from the bottom of my heart when I gaze at the wonderful work God has accomplished in my life through Jesus Christ’s blood.
The Bible says about the woman, who loved Jesus and came to Him, wetting Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiping them with her hair, and kissing His feet. She came because she loved Him. Because she loved, she was not shameful to confess her sins to Him. Therefore, Jesus forgave her many sins and she was saved by believing Jesus with love. The result is that she could go in peace without guilt any more. (refer to Luke 7:44-50)
Pursue loving God with all your heart because there’s no fear in perfect love (refer to 1 John 4:18). Then you will come to Him with confidence (refer to Ephesians 3:12) that He loves you based on your faith to Jesus Christ alone. But if you truly give your heart to love God, remind yourself to run away from the old habits of sins (refer to Jude 23) and revere God’s teaching and discipline (refer to Philippians 2:12).
So I pray: Lord, God, we praise You for sending Jesus Christ to the world, who shed His precious blood to atone for our sins, redeem us from the slavery of sins, forgive our sins, reconcile with Heavenly Father, restore our royal identity as Your child, sanctify us to do Your good work, and protect us from devil’s lies. Please open our eyes to see the wonderful work in your Word. Please fill us with the love of Holy Spirit so that we can love You with all our heart, will, mind and strength to be more than conquerors.

This is the war. Day24

How do you know you have Holy Spirit as a reborn Christian? I asked a lady, Lori, in my BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) group, who grew up in a Christian family. Her answer is simple but profound to me. She says, “I have Holy Spirit within me because I believe what the Bible says: ‘And in Him you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, having heard and believed the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.’ (Ephesians 1:13)”
The action for receiving this promised assurance is: Believe.
After this action, the result will be displaying obviously: We ought to love, have peace, hope and joy. As Pastor John Piper wrote: “’We ought to love each other’ (refer to 1 John 4:11),” he means ought the way fish ought to swim in water and birds ought to fly in the air and living creatures ought to breathe” because “God’s spirit is in us. God’s nature is in us.” (*See note)
Religious people who think they are doing good things to go to heaven make a huge ungodly mistake, which is called self-righteousness. As Pastor John Piper wrote, “It’s one or the other: law-keeping to establish my righteousness or faith alone to rest in His.”
As oil doesn’t mix with water, God-center righteousness is mutually exclusive with human-center righteousness.
Today, turn away from self-center righteousness to God-center righteousness. You will have the assurance of going to heaven through Holy Spirit sealed in you by God’s grace.
So I pray: Lord, God, we thank You for giving us Your righteousness in Jesus Christ through our faith alone. Your unconditional forgiving love only requires our faith to Jesus Christ as Your redemption for our sins. We cannot be more moral or virtuous to earn Your salvation because Jesus Christ alone is our salvation. Jesus Christ’ blood is enough to save the sinners who repent. We praise Your great work has been done victoriously!
*Note: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-new-birth-produces-love
Song: By Faith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXB8ihepUpE

This is the war. Day22

Have you seen how the sheep respond to their shepherd? There’s a video on youtube showing people testing the sheep and see how they react to the different voices. It’s a touching moment to see the sheep not only respond to their shepherd but quickly run to him (*see Note1).
Jesus Christ says in the Bible, “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)
Jesus Christ also says in the Bible, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3)
Where is Jesus Christ now? He says, “But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” (Luke 22:69)
Why can Jesus Christ sit by the side of God? It’s because He, in very nature God, took the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, not a glorious death, but on the shameful cross. Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. (refer to Philippians 2:6-10)
No matter how powerful idols you are worshiping, they all need to bow down to the only one name approved by God. Therefore, if you think you believe there’s a God but don’t know which religion to go, ask God to show you the true one. If you think you hear God’s voice but not sure, test it by asking if that voice confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. If that voice doesn’t confess Jesus as God, it is not from God. (refer to 1 John 4:2-3)
So I pray: Lord, God, please give us listening ears in our hearts and discernment in our spirits. As Your sheep, we listen to Your truth and obey Your guiding. As a result, we will know who is the true God when You come back to bring us to a better home some day. When the voice of the world tries to lead us astray like a wolf, please provide an escape for us to quickly run to you. When you call us by each of our name, make us happily jump up to follow You without hesitation.
*Note1:video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e45dVgWgV64&t=1s
*Song: The shepherd’s voice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS-UTKZH4AU

This is the war. Day21

What is prayer? Whom do you pray to? How are you sure there’s someone listening to your prayer?
In Christianity, praying is a two-way conversation, not a monologue. When you pray to God, you are not speaking to the air or throwing out your request to the unknown spiritual power without expecting the answer. First, if you recognize God as your Heavenly Father, you know whom you are talking to. Second, when you talk to God, you are sure He listens because that’s what the Bible says. Third, when you truly pray in Spirit, the result is you will get to know God more and know yourself more. And you will also learn to access the resource in God’s kingdom through the prayer.
The Bible says, “I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.” (Psalm 116:1-2, NIV)
Praying is the most precious privilege and authority God gives to the believers who receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. Talk to Him at anytime, anyplace, because Jesus Christ has paid all of the cost for you to have the unlimited line with this powerful and loving Father and Creator of the universe.
So I pray: Lord, God, thank You for always listening to us when we humble ourselves and come to You. Thank You for giving this precious privilege for talking to You anything in our mind, pleading to You for what we need, and speaking on behalf of others for their benefit. May You teach us how to pray for knowing You, ourselves, and advancing Your Kingdom through Holy Spirit within us.

This is the war. Day19

A sad but true story happened to a friend’s family: A lady attended a spiritual event and joined the group. She was taught to “be herself” for finding her happiness. Later she was asked for money contribution to the group. However, her husband found out her continuous spending on this purpose so he didn’t allow her to do it anymore. For some reason, she committed a suicide.
It is one of many reasons people may regard religious people or spiritual groups as maniac or lack of rationality.
The Bible says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1, ESV)
The false thoughts exist not only in various religions or philosophies, but also in the daily news, books, or gossip from coworkers, etc. Avoiding to have contact with these false thoughts is not an effective way of finding security; learning the truth to filter out the lies is a better solution.
There is a Creator God of this universe knows everything and He is good to always telling the truth. The truth you want to learn is recorded in the Bible, a collection of writings, in which the earliest ones were written nearly 3500 years ago without one word being changed. (*see note)
Do you want to find the wisdom of telling good from evil? Jesus Christ is the way and the truth. Coming to learn from Him is the beginning of wisdom.
So I pray: Lord God, please give us a heart of fearing the true God so that we can learn from Your wisdom. Please teach us when we open the Bible to seek Your guidance and live with peace and discernment in the truth-distorting, levity-mixing, paradox-permeating society.
*Note: https://www.biblica.com/resources/bible-faqs/when-was-the-bible-written/

This is the war. Day18

What is happiness? A mother said she wants her daughter to have smooth life without any trouble. A man said he wants to save all the money he needs for the retirement. Another man said he wants to have a pain-free life with healthy body to the end.
How you define true happiness for your life results in the direction of pursuing it.
If a student wants to be happy with one-time success in the exam, he can memorize the answers for questions within a short time and forget them all after the test. However, we grew up understanding life is not just for one or several tests but a marathon to persevere to run toward to the bigger goal.
What is the ultimate goal for humans from God’s perspective?
The Bible says, “…Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14, NIV)
All the temporary happiness from smooth journey, money, and health will fade away when we walk toward the end of the life. What we can bring to the eternal life is only by knowing who our Creator, Savoir, and Lord is so that we will desire to live forever with Him. The trouble in this life may give us hard time, but it also gives us an opportunity to seek the way out of the doom.
If you are a reborn Christian, your life is truly happier in three ways (*see note):
1. You know all your guilt has been removed because Jesus Christ paid the price of being condemned guilty on the cross.
2. The bitterness permeating in your soul is removed by the power of Jesus Christ and is replaced with joy of praise through Holy Spirit.
3. Your inner life is being transformed by the work of Holy Spirit living within you.
So I pray: Lord, God, a life not given to great things is not worth living. We thank You for risking Your only Son’s life to redeem our lives. May You give us vision and courage to risk our earthly life for pursuing the heavenly greatness. Our aim is not historical influence, but eternal impact. Then, we will press on toward the goal to win the prize You call us to receive.
*Read more from Pastor John Piper’s sharing about happiness and taking risk for life:
https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-much-of-my-happiness-is-settled-by-factors-outside-my-immediate-control
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/risk-your-kids-for-the-kingdom