Mothers of Nations, once you enroll in the “School of the Holy Spirit,” it seems as though He teaches one thing over and over until you learn it well, and then you move on to the next lesson. As I shared about last week, travail was just a part of the entire world of prayer that I was discovering. Next came lessons on fasting and prayer. Psalm 35: 13 says, “I will humble myself with fastings.”  James 4: 10 reminds us, “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.” 

I recall that my first big step in learning about prayer and fasting was a three-day fast on liquids. Eventually I tried longer fasts and more difficult ones. Along the way I started studying fasting in Scripture. I learned that fasting is essential during times of crisis, times of need, or times of warfare and deliverance. Esther went on a fast when her country and people were facing a major danger of annihilation. Daniel fasted and received insight and revelation in time of need. Ezra sought God for r...

As I was being taught by the Holy Spirit how to pray, many more prayer occasions came my way. There were opportunities to pray for people, with people, about people, and without people. Because of this, a hunger grew inside me to get alone with God and seek His face. He was drawing me into more private times with Him.

Acts 10: 9 says that Peter went on a housetop to pray about the sixth hour. He wanted to be alone and pray. You never know what revelation might come to you when you are in prayer. For Peter, it was a call to bring salvation to the Gentiles. Our secret place of prayer can bring us into a revelation like Peter had, into brokenness like David experienced (Psalm 31: 1-2), into understanding of the end times like John (Revelation 1), or into the working of miracles like Jesus (Mark 1: 35). 

One of the ways we can pray when we are alone with the Lord is called “travail.”  Now when I started out praying, I did not know what travail was nor even that it was a form of prayer. I...

Prayer is an essential part of a Christian’s life and for Mothers of Nations, an absolute necessity. Prayer admits that we need God and acknowledges that He is ultimately the One in charge. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, and He demonstrated the necessity of prayer. “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”  (Luke 5: 16)  We also read in Luke 6: 12, “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” 

In the example of my prayer experience for Peniel Bible College that I shared about last week, I had partnered with the Holy Spirit to create opportunities for God to work. Prayer opened up the heavens, brought about change in the land of India, delivered salvation to souls, and created a conduit for teaching God’s Word -- a Bible school. Prayer is not only a calling, but a necessity. God needs a vessel to pour His heart into and people to speak into existence His will and His Word.

Sometimes w...

Intercession is a type of prayer where we intimately yield to God to work with Him on behalf of someone or something else. It is like being His partner in furthering the kingdom of God on earth. A spirit-to-spirit connection takes place as one discovers the things that are on God’s heart. Some call intercession being a “gap stander,” taken from Ezekiel 22: 30.  This is where God says, “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”

There are many examples in Scripture where men or women stood in the gap for someone. We read that Abraham stood in intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18: 17-33. Abraham said he had taken upon himself to speak to the Lord on behalf of others. Moses interceded for Israel (Exodus 32: 31-35). In II Samuel 12: 13-23 David prayed for his son and Daniel interceded for the nation of Israel (Daniel 9: 1-19). 

Each one carried a burden for t...

The very next day after my night of “the baptism of tongues” that I shared about in last week’s blog, the Holy Spirit called me to pray between noon and three o’clock. My spirit sensed this tug-like feeling and a desire to pray came, leading me to my bedroom. Every day after that for a year and a half I would pray anywhere from one to three hours, depending on how the Holy Spirit would lead and direct me. I was undoubtedly on a new prayer journey! 

Those were days where I would lay on my side and groan, sometimes so deep that there were no words to say. I could feel the depth of the prayer in my innermost being. The Holy Spirit would occasionally instruct me to speak the word out, to prophesy, or to command demons to leave. Alone in my bedroom, with my young children taking naps, I was lost in the Spirit just obeying the Lord. And as I said, this went on for a year and a half, ending every day with me being led to read the whole chapter of Jeremiah 33 from beginning to end. 

When I l...

As we grow in the Lord and our prayer journey continues, God uses numerous methods to assist that growth. People who pray cross our path. Books, other media, and teachings are highlighted to us to glean from and study. Along my journey I met many wonderful believers that influenced my prayer life.

One person I will always remember is Mary. She would go to lunch with me at the job where we worked together. Just before eating Mary would always ask to say grace. I loved hearing her pray before the meal. Mary would talk to Jesus and thank Him for our day, thank Him for the fellowship, thank Him for the food, and occasionally make a request. 

Mary’s words exposed her heart and from them I knew she had a wonderful heart and an intimate walk with God. Just listening I would feel Mary’s love for her Lord and her desire to please Him. It was Mary’s lunchtime prayers that sent me on a search to experience more of the Lord for myself. I wonder how many people we could influence today if we pray...

The Lord teaches us to pray that we might hear Him, obey Him, and take dominion on this earth. Prayer is not complicated. We just make it that way when we try to be in charge or turn it into something super-spiritual or ritualistic.

Prayer links us up with God, puts us in the Spirit realm, and creates a conduit to the supernatural. Once we find our path in the Spirit, we open the channel for God to change us, lead us, correct us, and communicate with us. Because our lives belong to Him, our hearts can be fully connected to Him through prayer. 

Once you taste of the daily flow of the Spirit, you begin to hear God’s secrets, God’s strategies, God’s systems, and God’s heart. Every Bible character we read about had some type of prayer life. Each one sought God for specific things such as faith, courage, cleansing, wisdom, perseverance, or fruitfulness. Paul said he prayed in the Spirit all the time. In fact, he said in I Corinthians 14: 18 (NKJV), “I thank my God I speak with tongues mor...

Prayer has been an important part of my life since I was a little girl. Maybe it was my Lutheran Sunday school experiences that taught me to pray or perhaps it was my confirmation classes. Regardless of the initial source, I developed a heart to pray in my early years. At night I could not go to sleep until I said the Our Father, as well as my childhood prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

Matthew 6: 9-15 (KJV)  Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.

My teenage years became more stressful through a variety of circumstances and I remember praying even more. As I have shared befor...

Prayer is a significant, life-giving force for all of us as Mothers of Nations.

For the next several weeks, I would like to share with you my journey with the Lord as He taught me about prayer. Most of this instruction and insight was gleaned through what I would call “on the job training,” through circumstances and situations in my daily life where He gave direction and answers as I reached out to Him for wisdom and understanding. As an example, let me share with you an incident very early on in my Christian walk.  

Years ago my husband and I were off to a weekend retreat, excited to hear what the sponsors had to say on the topic of marriage. Upon our arrival we noticed that all kinds of people were attending this event with many different backgrounds, various church affiliations, and a wide span of ages. One of the first instructions given at the seminar was to listen to our leaders and not participate in any separate prayer meetings during the entire conference.

Well, the very fi...

Today we will be finishing our study of symbols of the Word of God.  I pray that you have been blessed over these past six weeks as we have more closely looked at these comparisons. 

THE WORD IS LIKE A PEARL. 

Pearls are precious gems formed in darkness. They have the colors of the rainbow when brought to light. Beautiful and royal to look at, pearls need to be treasured. The Bible says in Matthew 7: 6 (NIV), "Do not give dogs what is sacred;  do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces." 

The Word is not something that we should throw out to anyone at any time. Not everyone will be excited or even willing to hear it. There is always timing involved for fruit to manifest.  For many people in Arab nations with a Muslim religious dictator, the Word is not allowed in the country. If a Believer living in that nation were to take the Word and cast it before them, the Believer most likely would be killed.

Once ...