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Pray for St. Louis

Posted by on Aug 12, 2014 in Ferguson, Prayer Perspective, Updates | Comments Off on Pray for St. Louis

An ugly cloud has been cast upon this region of the nation with the shooting of an 18-year-old on Saturday by a local police officer. The young man, Michael Brown, was allegedly unarmed when the officer shot him, allegedly in the back, allegedly more than once. Details are unclear at this time; the FBI has been called in to help investigate. [Note: later reports revealed that Brown was not shot from behind; the shots were fired as Brown faced the officer.]

After a peaceful prayer vigil Sunday night, the protest that followed quickly deteriorated into chaos. At least sixteen stores were vandalized and looted; a Quik Trip was gutted and burned; and there have been dozens of arrests in connection with the lawless activities.

Pray. This part of St. Louis county has experienced renewal and a renaissance of sorts in recent years, and the tragic loss of this young man and the ensuing destructive bedlam has brought a cloud of suspicion, mistrust, “I-told-ya-so’s”, reawakened fears, and unnecessary and unearned finger-pointing both locally and nationally.

I have frequently shopped in the area. I have friends living in the area. I had lunch with my sister in the area last week. This area has been a success story of an integrated community working together to improve the quality of life for as many as possible. And one thing the devil despises is a harmonious success story; hence, he seeks to steal, kill, and destroy.

As for the looting, I felt I must give my opinion here, seeing as the mother of the deceased young man has publicly and very vigorously decried and denounced every bit of the destruction, calling it extreme disrespect to the memory of her son. And after watching the news Sunday night into the early hours of Monday morning, I developed a theory that may offer some insight as to how to pray.

The reports revealed that looters had removed or covered the license plates of their vans, SUVs, and large-trunked cars. Many also wore masks or covered their faces with cloths. As I thought about it, I realized that these were very likely not spontaneous crimes of grief or even racially-oppressed anger. I became suspicious that the looters—prepared with concealed license plates and roomy vehicles—were more than likely not from the immediate area, but might have arrived from other townships and cities. I have a feeling that many of these people pre-meditated their moves and used this tragedy as an opportunity to grab some goods to sell online. It’s my belief that few—if any—of the looters gave a second thought to the grief of Michael Brown’s family as they yielded to greed and violence, destroying businesses that contributed to the well-being of this community. When I hear people speaking ill of the region—and one area commentator not blaming QT or others if they chose not to rebuild there—I get angry.

And although—as of Monday night—unrest is still brewing, I am convinced that we are not really dealing with merely a racial issue. We are dealing with a sin issue. We are dealing with a devil who is taking advantage of anyone he can to stir violence, chaos, and destruction. Don’t join with the naysayers. Instead, pray for the grieving parents, family members, and friends. Pray for the authorities to work with integrity as they seek to learn the facts necessary to bring about justice. Know that the majority of souls living in this community despise the destruction; understand that Satan seeks to use anyone he can to steal, kill, and destroy. Use your authority to stand against the spirit of lawlessness seeking to control minds and behaviors. Use your faith to stand for God’s will to prevail in this region—and in yours.

I won’t stop believing that God can turn this around for good—as ugly and painful as it is—and to use it to bring men and women, boys and girls to a saving and healing knowledge of Jesus Christ. God will be glorified. To believe less is to doubt His almighty power and mercy. But—we must stand in the gap through which Satan seeks to enter, and pray—with the help of the Holy Spirit—to block, thwart, and restrain the enemy’s evil strategies.

Standing fast,

Dorothy

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Ephesian 6:10-13

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Another urgent plea for prayer

Posted by on Aug 10, 2014 in Prayer Perspective, Updates | Comments Off on Another urgent plea for prayer

Another urgent prayer plea came through my email today from my trusted friend. Dr. Bob Bakke, a pastor in Minnesota received this urgent request from a believer in South Africa. In the email is correspondence from a senior minister in Baghdad, Rev. Farouk Hammo. Rev. Hammo wrote his email on August 7th, and although President Obama has since authorized some missile strikes to slow ISIS, the area is still in desperate need of prayer. I do believe some of the carnage has slowed down, but slowed down carnage is still carnage, not peace or security. May each of us find the grace of God to stand in prayer with brethren across the world and be effective as we yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit on their behalf. As Jane Hansen Hoyt (of Women’s Aglow) mentioned in an email she attached to Dr. Bakke’s email, “Together, we rise up in the authority of the name of Jesus against the hellish works of darkness taking place in the world. He reigns!”

Dorothy

URGENT PRAYER NEEDED THIS SUNDAY!

Dear friends –

 This urgent call to prayer comes via my friend, Bernie Mostert in South Africa. I’m sure you are hearing similar things. We will pray Sunday at my church, Hillside of Bloomington. This is a call to prayer everywhere NOW.

 It could not be more heartbreaking, terrifying, or urgent. Please consider what you can do through your networks. The people on this email alone could mobilize millions of people across various parts the earth in the next two days. It necessary that we try.

 Should Jesus tarry – and If this ISIS tide is not stemmed – a new darkness will settle upon the earth for hundreds of years. May I plead with you not to ignore this email. Do not forward it before you have prayed through it. THEN send it to as many people as possible.

  • Send it to friends and Christians you may know.
  • Send it to your prayer group.
  • Send it to your pastor to pray on Sunday during the service – making a special time of prayer for this. You can be certain that by Sunday many more Christians will be dead. Not maybe. Many will be dead.

Here is my friend’s urgent email:

  Date: 07 August 2014 at 1:30:10 PM SAST

  Subject: Urgent prayers needed

Greetings in Jesus name.

The situation for the Christians has being deteriorated badly within the last 36 hours, as ISIS has overtaken new areas:

  • Sinjar ( North west of Mosel) and around = 30,000-plus being scattered around and on mountains as they were fleeing for their lives.
  • Telkeif; Batnai; Tel Esquff ( I.e. Bishops hill); Bartella; Qara-quash; Al Gure; Ba’ashiqa; Bahzani.

Apart from Sinjar which is a mix of minorities, all the above mentioned cities are mainly Christians. ISIS has attack churches and raise their flags on churches; and call upon their gods inside our churches.

 There was a massive exile yesterday and all night as the the Kurdish army have left their position and fled for their lives, thence people walked out leaving every thing behind just fleeing for their lives – I mean everything.

 I was on the phone all night on the phone with brothers and sisters trying to help them find some sort of shelters as Erbil and Duhok were over-occupied. Families covered streets; kerbs; schools & parks. All churches ground being occupied with families. It’s a symbol of the abomination surfaced and emerged recently in this land.

 We have called for urgent fasting and prayers. I believe it’s a spiritual warfare more than a ground battle. During my personal prayer and the intercessory group’s prayers I found it’s the old days monster, the old stingy serpent filled with hate and poison.

 In Sinjar, they kidnap young girls and women and sold them as slaves. Kids and seniors died of thirst and hunger on the mountains.

  I trust the Almighty for a Divine intervention, yet we need an urgent move of the Holy Spirit to turn the scale & balance of the situation on the ground.

We need all sort of help:

  • We need you pressing on your government and authorities to step foreword and get involved.
  • We need NGO to mobilise their gears and move into the country to save life and treat the injuries.
  • We need supports to provide: food; medications; shelters; clean waters; baby milk, etc.
  • Your prayers and intercessors will make a big difference.

May the Almighty bless richly always, Amen. Thank you

Sincerely Yours,

Rev. Farouk Hammo

Senior Minister/ Baghdad- Iraq

One of the things you can practically do is to replace the picture of your mobile phone, Twitter account and Facebook with the following picture – as a sign of solidarity. This is the Arabic letter “N” painted on the houses of Christians (marking them for destruction), which is the first letter of the the word Christian.

Under His mercy,

 

Dr. Bob Bakke

Senior Teaching Pastor, Hillside Church, Bloomington, MN

Executive Leadership Team, OneCry

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My validation

Posted by on Apr 28, 2014 in Updates | Comments Off on My validation

I’ll be taking one more week off from the blog. However, I wanted to share something with you first. Last week I picked up a book I wanted to reread. As I finished the third chapter, I thumbed through the rest of it to look at the underlinings and notes I had written inside way back when I originally read it, and I found something I had jotted down in the back inner flap—a personal manifesto, of sorts. Hope it encourages you in your relationship with the Lord, because it is not only true of me; it is true of you, as well. Here it is:

“My validation comes from God Himself. If I never pray another prayer, read another Scripture, sing another song, or share with anyone else, I remain validated only by the Blood. I will never again do any of those things to assert my value; I am valuable because God deems me valuable.

“It is because of my union with God through Christ that I am compelled to pray. It is because of His wonderful love for me that I love His Word. It is because of His complete redemption for me from my sin that I can sing with joy and thankfulness to Him. It is only because His deep calls to my deep that I can reach out to those in darkness and extend the Light to them.

“It is a privilege to pray, to read, to sing, and to share. It is not a burden or a performance. It is not an obligation. It is a compelling from the Spirit of God and is not born of a need to appear spiritual. If I pray, read, write, sing, or share to get acceptance, to maintain appearance, to make a name for myself, or to ease into certain circles, then I am out of line and need to swing some braided cords at my motives (see John 2:15).

“All that I do, I do because I have a vital love relationship between myself and the living God, forged in the blood of Jesus, paid for at a price more costly than I could ever afford. I will walk free because He wills it. I will throw off all shackles because He paid the price for my freedom. I will move by His Spirit because He paid for my right to do so, and I will move by His Spirit because He wants to use me to help release others from bondages, burdens, and boxes imposed on them by devils, sin, religion, and men.

“He whom the Son has freed is free indeed!”

Thank God for this wonderful liberty!

Please check back on Monday, May 5.

Until then,

Dorothy

Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.  Romans 8:33

So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

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After Easter update

Posted by on Apr 21, 2014 in Updates | Comments Off on After Easter update

Hi!

Hope you had a blessed Easter and were able to spend some time with the Lord, rejoicing in all that He has done.

I will be taking a week (maybe two) off from the blog again. God has given me some prayer direction for the nation, and I want to be able to focus on that for a season and find out if He wants me to share any of it here with you.

I want to encourage you to continue praying for the United States. God is not finished with this nation yet, but is seeking to give each one of us His wisdom about how to pray for the issues concerning America. And if you’re not sure how to pray, then pray in the Spirit! You’ll be praying mysteries (see 1 Corinthians 14:2). I don’t know about you, but a lot of the stuff currently going on in the nation and the world is a huge mystery to me, so praying out mysteries in tongues sounds just about right at this time!

Be encouraged that the truth found in God’s Word about prayer is true all the time, not just when everyone’s prospering and the world is safe. In fact, time and again, the biggest miracles in the Bible (and since!) have been during times of distress, turmoil, and confusion. If that’s so, then what must we be sitting on brink of? Trust God; He is one hundred percent trustworthy. He’ll lead you in your own life and in your prayers for others as well.

And if you want to check out some of my favorite devotionals while I’m away, here they are!

Of course, if you want, you can also scroll back and check the archives right here at www.FirstOfAllPray.com.

Check back here at the website on Monday, April 28. I’ll either give an update or be back to blogging full time. In the meantime, enjoy pressing on in God!

Dorothy

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Catch up

Posted by on Mar 3, 2014 in Updates | Comments Off on Catch up

Is it ever good to be back to writing! Through writing I have discovered what 1924 Olympic gold medalist Eric Liddell meant when he said, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure” (Chariots of Fire, 1981). When I write, I feel His pleasure.

I took the last three weeks off from the blog here at www.FirstOfAllPray.com to play catch up in a few areas of my life, particularly taxes and deep housecleaning. After completing the writings on the book of James, I was unsure of the Lord’s leading for my next writing project, and since taxes were looming (hello, April 15) and the house was bulging with various and sundry items conveniently misplaced in terribly inconvenient places, I knew that Uncle Sam, my house, and my mind needed my attention drawn to less spiritual and more mundane activities. And, bonus—sometimes I can hear the Holy Spirit more clearly when pursuing commonplace tasks.

As it stands now, the house looks much better, glory to God; I have direction for the next phase of the blog; but as for taxes…I’ve completed the federal, but still have the state to play with. More fun to come!

It’s funny how our plans can be interrupted at the drop of a hat. The first Sunday morning of my break—with three weeks ahead of me to organize papers, figure taxes, and bring order to the chaos in my house—I went downstairs before church to scoop the three litter pans I set up for the herd of cats living here.

Each litter box was surrounded by gigantic puddles. Who peed the big one?! I fumed as I was pummeled by irritation mixed with concern at the veterinary implications of such an active feline bladder. And then I saw it—water was trickling down the wall from the ceiling. Relief flooded the pet owner/trainer part of me while panic invaded the homeowner/anti-mold crusader/financier aspect of my being.

I ran to the internet to learn how to shut off the water to my house. Turn the faucet near the water meter counterclockwise it said. Nothing. I called one of the premier plumbing conglomerates in the area. Yes, I was told, counterclockwise is correct. Again, nothing. I put in a nearly hysterical call to the man who remodeled my home a few years ago and left a message—How do I turn off this water!!? Picturing him at church worshiping God, I thought Come on, man! Pick up the phone!  Although I was still in my church clothes, I certainly wasn’t being spiritual. I ended up asking the Lord for forgiveness—and told the devil, Yes, I did say that [censored]—but I’ve talked to God about it and He forgave me, so you lose anyway! Bug off, in Jesus’ name!

When my contractor called back (and I never did make it to church), he set the record straight; just as I suspected, you turn the faucet handle clockwise. I guess I thought the water would stop automatically—what do I know?—but he advised me to turn the basement bathroom faucets on full blast to hasten the whole deal. Sure enough, it started emptying the water from all of the pipes, and the trickle of water down the wall finally stopped. Remember this word of wisdom: Righty-tighty, lefty-loosy. It’s the law. Forever and ever, Amen. No matter what the internet says.

After splashing clean-up bleach on my new black top (forgot to change it before I started cleaning) and saturating my fuzzy leopard slippers with water from the Great Basement Flood of ’14, the peace of God nonetheless resettled upon my mind and heart. I had confidence that somehow this inauspicious beginning to my three-week break would work together for good and God would prove Himself to me all over again. This—peace in the midst of the maddeningly mundane along with expectation of turn-around in the middle of chaos—is poised and ever-ready to be accessed by every child of God who needs it.

And sure enough, God did come through for me, granting a good outcome—better than expected—and He revealed sparkling slivers of His wisdom in the very thick of it.

I’ll share more about it in the blog this week.

Until then,

Dorothy

Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O Lord, and whom You teach out of Your law (NASB); that You may give him power to keep himself calm in the days of adversity, until the [inevitable] pit of corruption is dug for the wicked (Amplified; emphasis added). For the Lord will not abandon His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance (NASB). Psalm 94:12-14

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A break

Posted by on Feb 10, 2014 in Updates | Comments Off on A break

Hi! I hope all of you are well as you press on in God. It amazes me to think that I have been writing this blog for the past eight months—with nearly 190 posts! And the more I write, the more I realize that I’ve hardly scratched the surface of His infinite, intricate wisdom. He is so vast and immeasurable, yet He has chosen to dwell among us and call us His own through His Son Jesus Christ. The more I gaze at Him, the more humungous He is to me and the smaller I become to myself. But that’s not a bad thing—first, because it’s true; and second, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. The majestic God of the universe delights in me—little, speck-of-dust me—and masterminded the most significant turning point of the ages to conquer sin, Satan, and the grave on my behalf. Wow! And He did the same for you. Bask in it. Rejoice heartily because of it!

I will be taking a three-week break from the website. In my absence, I’m leaving some sites I visit frequently. (Yes, I was a school teacher; these are sub plans.) The links are various daily devotionals from different denominations and perspectives. I have found gems on each site.

Some of the sites have advertising; I do not endorse everything on these sites, including the ads. Nor do I necessarily agree with everything I read in each entry. However, I believe that you, my readers, have discernment, Bible understanding, and wisdom sufficient to “have as much sense as an old cow—eat the hay and spit out the stubble.”

I plan to return to active duty on this site on Monday, March 3, by the grace of God. Until then, may you be blessed as you continue to persist in faith, devouring the Word, and seeking the face of God.

Dorothy

See you in March!

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