Sunday I returned from MTW's second Global Missions Conference, and have had a little time to reflect on the weekend. Currie is right on in his summary and reflection on Skip Ryan's reminding us to show the sufficiency of God's grace in the midst of our weaknesses.
I came away challenged to be in prayer, to pray believing that my Father will answer the prayers, and that He does work through my prayers and those of my brothers and sisters in Christ. James tells us that Elijah was a man just like us, and he prayed and it didn't rain for 3 years--the implication for me is that like Elijah I need to really believe that God will answer my prayers.
After Jay Eastman's seminar, "Jesus, Broccoli, and Ice Cream: evangelism in post-modern Berlin" I decided that I was going to hang around the Berlin team's table, listening and talking with them. I was encouraged by hearing how the team has seen answered prayers, in some cases very direct answers.
In one case, Jay was fishing with a guy at night, only Jay didn't have equipment, so he only watched while the other guy fished. Jay observed this guy doing something weird with his hands after having not caught any fish, and when the guy saw Jay's puzzled look he said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you: I'm a wizard." Jay told us that he thought "Ok, what've I gotten into here" but said to the guy, "That doesn't work. There's no real power there, but if I pray to God, you'll catch fish." "OK, sure." replied the fisherman. So Jay prayed, and the guy caught fish. The fisherman said that he'd have to bring Jay each time he went fishing.
That is just one example of direct answered prayer. Another direct answered prayer: Sunday night as I crawled into bed late, I prayed that I'd be mentally alert enough in the morning to spend some time praying before work; it was a small request, but I asked it believing that God would answer, and He did. I woke up 20 minutes before my alarm went off, feeling exhausted but my mind was racing, so I prayed. As I prayed I realized that Jay and David had both said they'd pray for me, and in Germany it was already noon time and they'd probably already been praying for me. Needless to say, I was really excited to see such direct answered prayer--and I pray that the Lord will continue to build my trust in His promise that He hears and answers his sons' prayers.
Another really exciting part of the conference was that Jay Eastman told me he'd had a 'heavy thought' a few weeks ago: that God was asking him if he was ready for a harvest in east Berlin. He said he wasn't ready, and that God would have to prepare him. Well, at the conference four churches expressed interest in establishing more direct partnerships with the MTW Berlin team, and there were a number of people, including an opera singer and a piano teacher, who are interested in going to help the Berlin team. Please hold the ministry in Berlin up in prayer.
Lift up your heads, lift up your hearts: Aslan, the King, is on the move!
Posted by swanson at november 9, 2004 10:29 EM