Living the Journey

Does the idea of a prayer meeting really get you excited?

Do you sometimes feel like your prayers are hitting the ceiling?

Do you have a problem falling asleep when you pray?

Every Sunday morning for the next seven weeks, we will explore one aspect of powerful prayer that can completely transform your prayer life. Enjoy!

~

Key #1: Form a Group of Two or Three

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).

Powerful prayer is a function of the Body of Christ. His Body is made up of different parts, but each part must function in harmony with each other under the headship of Christ. Jesus is also the head of the Church; which when functioning properly is so dynamic that even the gates of hell cannot resist giving up those who are trapped and destined for eternal destruction. (Matthew 6:18)

Church does not happen only when a group of believers meet Sunday morning or Sunday evening. Church “happens” whenever two or three believers gather together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to edify one another and to advance the Kingdom of God.

~

Have you formed a prayer group of two or three? Who do you have in it? Leave a comment and check back next Sunday for another key to praying with power!

2 Comments »

In the beginning of July, I was blessed with the privilege of attending my fourth Journey to the Heart. The Lord used those ten days of self-examination and time alone with Him to reveal Himself to me in great and powerful ways! I found myself asking the first day, “Lord why am I here this week? What are you going to teach me? Why is Your Word not coming alive to me today like it should?” It was as if I took a step forward, and threw all my burdens before Him in a huge tangled mess. He spoke to me in a quiet voice that morning. He said, “Ye receive not, because ye ask not…” Such a simple answer!

God is not a God of intellect or human reasoning. He doesn’t care how you word your prayers, or if you sound “put together” when you come before Him with all your worries. He much prefers a child that is desperate for Him, lost without Him, and no longer concerned about anything but Him. He wants you in your lowest, weakest state – the REAL you – void of all human strength, empty of all self. That is when He draws near and whispers in your ear the perfect answer; that is when He fills you up with Himself and provides a solution that heals every problem and destroys every burden.

My Father taught me to pray at Journey. He didn’t whip out a gigantic list of problems that I had and tell me to fix them all. He simply said, “Ask, and ye shall receive from my hand…”

So I asked!

Prior to the Journey, our family had been in Pennsylvania visiting relatives. During our time there, the Lord had placed on my heart a tremendous burden for some of our unsaved relatives. That first day at Journey, I felt the Lord leading me to ask for their salvation again. I knelt by the bed in my room and found myself pouring out my heart before the Lord. He gave me peace as I laid it all at His feet! I was able to cast my cares upon Him and spend the remainder of the day rejoicing in His love and feeling a new awareness of His presence!

It was just the next day that I was talking by phone with my younger sister Bethany, who is 12. She shared excitedly with me how they had decided to stay in PA one extra day for no reason at all. That day, our cousins came by to visit. (This was the same day I had prayed). Bethany poured out her story of the conversation she had carried on with our cousin Emily, who is very close to her in age, and how the Lord had led her to share the gospel with Emily. She told me that Emily had received the Lord as her Savior and had dedicated her life to Jesus!!! “Ask, and ye shall receive…”

Perhaps the greatest lesson God taught me at Journey is this: Solutions to my problems do not come by a method, but by a relationship with Him. On Friday evening in the Northwoods, 6 teams (64+ girls) had gathered to pray in the upper prayer tower. For the first time, I witnessed one-accord power in prayer throughout an entire group of girls and not just a single team! I watched as young ladies committed and re-committed their lives to Jesus, confessed hidden sins, cried out for freedom, and laid their requests at the feet of their Maker. During this time our team cried out for salvation for lost friends and family, healing for the sick among us, and various other needs. The Holy Spirit was present among us that night!!! Others who were far beyond the walls of the prayer tower testified that they had heard us crying out to Jesus – a noise like thunder.

continue reading…

6 Comments »

Trina knew from her last Journey what it was like to get away and spend ten days with the Lord. This second Journey ended up being even better than the first one as she came to an even deeper level of joy in her relationship with the Lord.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3 (4 min)

~ Trina
May 2010 Journey

1 Comment »

We have an amazing account in Scripture in which Satan complained about the hedge of protection that God put around Job. (See Job 1:10.) We are able to experience the same protection today by asking God to put a hedge around ourselves and our family, as illustrated by the following testimony:

“After learning about the importance of praying a hedge of protection, our family traveled to Georgia to visit friends. We were going to ride four wheelers on the first day, so our fathers prayed a hedge around us boys. We did not get hurt.

“However, they forgot to pray for the girls, who were going to ride horses. My sister lost control of her horse and hit a big oak tree. She loosened and chipped her bottom teeth and slightly injured her neck. We prayed for everyone in detail from that time on.

“Shortly thereafter, I was allowed to operate a huge tractor to move a big pile of dirt. We prayed for a hedge of protection. As I took a large load of dirt, I hit an uneven piece of ground and lost control, but God protected me. My friend’s father was close beside me on a Bobcat. If I had flipped, he would have rolled down a steep hill.

“The next day we rode horses on an old road and of course we prayed a hedge around us. I was galloping down the road around a slight bend and a truck pulled out of a hidden driveway. I reined in my horse just in time. If I had been two seconds late coming down the road, I could have been killed.”

~ Paul
September 2008 Guys Journey

3 Comments »

As I look back over this Journey to the Heart I am amazed at how God met with each of us in a special way. I remember praying before the Journey that God would do a mighty work that none of us could ever orchestrate – that it would be clearly Christ’s power working in us by His Holy Spirit. He truly did answer that prayer.

God quickly drew our team together and every day there were profound insights shared that the Lord had given. One evening, a team member told how she had called home that day to confess something to her parents. That convicted the rest of us to make things right with our parents no matter how big or small the issue seemed to be. As we confessed our sins and yielded up competing affections and things we had held back from the Lord, He allowed us to focus on Him and to hear His still small voice.

Some of my fondest memories are the times of prayer we had as a team in one accord. As we cried out to God, He heard our prayers and answered in miraculous ways!

The times of laughter, singing, sharing, confessing, crying together, and examining our hearts were invaluable, but the time spent alone with the Lord and together bowed in His presence are what made the Journey for me.

God became very real and personal to us. We saw Him restore a marriage that at the beginning of our Journey was headed for divorce. He delivered a team member from an addiction, brought new love for family members, and made scripture come alive to us.

A few days into the Journey my physical strength was at an all time low due to lack of sleep and a health problem I’ve had for several years. Lack of energy had long become the focus of my daily life and I was always looking for answers and questioning why the Lord did not heal me. Now, I knew I needed God’s help to make it through this Journey.

I bowed my head and gave God unconditional control of my body and health, without expecting healing in return.

As the Journey continued, I was amazed at how little sleep I was getting and yet how inwardly refreshed I felt! God was giving me grace and strength for each day. I had been letting my health run my life, but now God was teaching me that He must have first place and that I needed to trust Him with my health no matter how I felt.

The Northwoods is a beautiful place to meet with the Lord. The messages we heard on the Journey and the counsel of the staff were a wonderful learning experience.

It is always humbling when God works in our hearts and uses us despite our failures and shortcomings. He heard our cries for brokenness and reminded us “Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up” (Hosea 6:1).

~ Miranda
July 2009 Journey

4 Comments »

Enjoy listening in as the Wilkes brothers recount all that the Lord taught them on their recent Life Focus Journey to the Heart!

Matthew:

I went to Northwoods not sure what to expect on a Journey to the Heart. I had heard testimonies; but what was my experience of it going to be?  While going through the each day, the Lord deeply encouraged me with particular passages of scripture that gave new purpose and, in addition, forged a deeper desire to study and apply Christ’s commands.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3 (3 min)

Joshua:

Through embarking upon this Journey, I recognized anew the fruit that results from coming apart to rest a while. (See Mark 6:31.) The usual busyness to which we subject ourselves provides a natural tendency to overlook the needful thing of sitting at the feet of Jesus. For almost an entire week, the team reaped unspeakable joy (see I Peter 1:8) that comes through searching our hearts, acknowledging failure, meditating upon God’s Word, and partaking in one-accord prayer. I returned with a renewed vision, powerful tools, and the life changing principle of Psalms 119:165, “Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3 (4 min)

1 Comment »