Friday, February 29, 2008

Find Me in the Night?!

IHOP-KC Nightwatch

So it's approaching 4:30AM as I write this.
Usually, if I'm highly eager, this is the time where I would be awaking from my slumber to get ready for the day (that rarely happens but it has a couple times).
Anywho, today I am already up, and have been since approx. 8:00AM yesterday. I wasn't feeling very well in the morning and missed my regular Prayer Room time for the day.
After a fairly mundane day, I was feeling dry and really just wanting to dig into the Word and press into God for a while. So after watching a movie I wouldn't recommend to anyone, I decided to wash myself in the water of His Word for a while. I walked into the Prayer Room at 11:45 and have been here since. I actually think I'll just camp out here until Noon today. I love it.

The Prayer Room really varies in atmosphere depending on what section you're in. Including the nightwatch now, I have been to most sections and still love the morning section (Yes, I'm biased). But, in reality, it's pointless to compare for one reason:

Having the opportunity to be in a Prayer Room with live worship and intercession at any time of the day is a gift.

When I go home from the PR here, it's kind of easy to forget that just because I've stopped, it hasn't. When you're asleep, there's still (here and in many other cities and nations across the world)incense rising to God; perpetually, never ceasing...it doesn't stop. Pause and think about that for a second...it never stops.

What a great reality.

I love it here but my time is drawing to a close. In one month I'm back home and I'm not 100% sure how I feel about that.

O well, I will savour as much as I can! For now, it's back to Alisha Powell's intercession set :-)

Blessings!

Friday, February 22, 2008

The Inner-Geek Cries Out

Photobucket

So I can't contain it much longer....

My inner-geek cries out.
Those who may not know, I am a closet geek and it wants to come out...
This will sound incredibly geeky but....

I miss making network cables. I miss talking with other geeks who actually know what they're talking about. I miss subnetting (that's a wonder in itself). I miss the OSI Model, Network fundamentals, TCP/IP Protocol, Packets, bits, Topologies, Routers, Servers, Programming....tearing apart computers and building them from scratch.....MOBO's!

I could list things forever but 1)I've probably lost a majority of people already and 2)I'm a procrastinator and don't feel like listing more.
All that needs to be known is that I miss staring at the guts of a computer more than I thought possible....it's crazy.
It's sad...I saw a box of Cat5e Cable sitting in a hall in the Prayer Room being fed into a ceiling tile opening...I knew what they were doing, and I wanted to do it too. I yearned to make a cable...pathetic. Anywho, life goes on...

Friday, February 15, 2008

1 Year Older...

So today was the day of my birth 19 years ago. Do I feel any older? No. Do I look any older? That's up to you to decide, I'm not sure. Have I grown mentally in the last year? Most definitely. But I won't bore you with those details ;)

I will, however, tell you how my day went. It was a great day, very mellow and relaxed.

I'll start by saying that I have Winnipeg friends here which I'm LOVING! It's nice to see familiar faces (again) and to hear Canadaian "accents". I had a difficult time waking up this morning and slept in until 8:00. At 8 I was supposed to be at Higher Grounds meeting with my Prayer Room team (Joanna, Jennifer and Katie) for coffee as a fun day but didn't make it in until 8:30. So we ended up going to breakfast at Panera (with the Winnipeggers) and I was treated! It was very sweet, thanks guys:)

Afterwards I spent a couple of hours in the PR just before the Lord; no studying or anything, just sitting before Him. I've sorta missed the simplicity of that and I think I'm going to have to put that back in the schedule, it's pretty important!

Next was lunch at Dean & Deluca's with Steph, Kristen, Audra and Matt. Yummy food and good company; what more could you ask for!

I spent some more time in the Prayer Room after that and then relaxed at home for a bit. A mini-surprise was coming next that I really didn't expect.

Jessica, Audra and Nick came home in the evening after previously sending me to my room so I wouldn't see what they were doing. When they finally allowed me to come upstairs, I walked into the kitchen where they were singing happy birthday with this on the kitchen table (the candles were all lit at that point. Flowers in the background aren't mine.)



I was treated to a baby sized burrito for dinner with the three of them and then made my way back home.

The night ended with one more hour in the Prayer Room and a quick trip to Walmart with Steph and Kristen, and now I'm at home ready to pass out from exhaustion only to begin another day tomorrow bright and early. Thank you to all who emailed or facebooked or said happy birthday to me today, I appreciated it and I felt and feel loved. My prayer this year is that I'll develop a greater hunger for the things of God, an increase in wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, a love that abounds still more and more everyday and that I may be filled to the fullness of God (i know that won't happen in one year but one can dream;) I really just pray that 2008 will be a year of great significance in my life:)
Here's one last picture of the presents I got today:)



Blessings!

Monday, February 11, 2008

A.D.D in the PR

I've had a good schedule going in the PR for the past couple months. Unlike previous times of visiting IHOP where I'd fall asleep from exhaustion in the Prayer Room, I've been focused and haven't fallen asleep once!

However there are days where I have the attention span of a fly and I can get pretty distracted fairly easily and it frustrates me.

It's usually one of a couple things. I'll get in some sort of daze after singing in the spirit for a while then look up and realize that a new team has started and I spent the last 25 minutes of a set catching flies with eyes wide open. Or I'll be pacing for a while and then realize that I've just been watching the room but not actually dialogging with God or even reading or something...just walking.

Another form of it is bringing multiple focuses into the room; all legit but way too many. The other night when I was packing my bag, I realized that 1)I had no room to pack all that I wanted to and 2)I had more things in there than I could possibly get through in one day. My bag had 3 books, 2 study guides (with teachings on my computer), my computer, a commentary, my Bible and my journal/notebook. In reality I really only needed my Bible, notebook, 1 study guide and my computer. I don't particularly like going through many different focuses in a day. It's almost pure chaos to do so. We're usually encouraged to pick one thing and stick with it for the day at least or even for the week or a few weeks. It would be hard to do so if you have a limited amount of time out here and wanting to do many studies in the atmosphere of the PR. Oh the joys of figuring out life down here. AHHH!

If you ever thought sitting in a room and praying, or reading the Bible, or studying a book was easy, think again! You have to work really hard to maintain your focus and I'm learning that; slowly but surely :-)

Thursday, February 7, 2008

The Excellencies of Christ

I've just started going through the Excellencies of Christ on my own; a course taught by Allen Hood here on the base. Session one is titled Beholding Christ in the Beauty of Holiness. This is just a quote that I've been trying to grasp the magnitude of and it may take me weeks or longer to truly grasp it. God is fascinating.
He is pleasure immeasurable and delight consummate. The highest honor and joy He could give us is to base our relationship (with Him) around the subject matter of Himself

When you dwell on God, He'll seriously mess you up!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

GBF Thoughts...

I love GBF.

Everyone on the base comes together as a family for a couple days, joining together in intercession for mercy, salvation, transformation; the Kingdom of God to be made manifest here on earth just as it is in heaven.

At one point in yesterday’s 10AM intercession set, one of my housemates came next to me and whispered, “Isn’t what we get to do so great?”
I couldn’t have agreed with her more. It’s such a privilege to stand before God, day in, day out and minister before Him. I’ve had some sweet times here of just encountering God in new ways.

Back to GBF. Fasting is one of the most vulnerable places to be; voluntary weakness is a special treasure. In my experience, it’s been the quickest way to connect with God. It kicks out the props that would make me think I’m strong in my own strength and allow me to fully rely on God and truly realize that my dependence is on Him. My every breath is dependent on Him. It’s at these times that I realize just how fragile life is and how quickly it is fading away; here today and gone tomorrow…
The team that I’m on here was doing a Worship with the Word set on Isaiah 40 Saturday night. The second cycle focused on verses 6-8.

6 The voice said, “Cry out!”
And he said, “What shall I cry?”
“All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.”

So, why waste this life, which is quickly fading, on things that are temporal and also fading? If the Word of the Lord is what stands forever, I want it hidden in my heart. I want to meditate on it day and night. His Word (Bible) has moved from being read every now and then, to my daily bread, and I love it! If you’ve never tried prayerfully reading or singing through Scripture, I encourage you to do so. It works on your inner-man in more ways than you’ll ever know.

I’ll end with that bunny-trail and three encouragements for you:

  • If you’ve never fasted, or fasted for an extended period of time, try it. Of course prayer is an essential part of it, otherwise you’re just skipping meals. Really take the time to commune with God; you won’t regret it!

  • Contemplate your life and it’s focuses/priorities. Are your eyes set on things above or things beneath that are fading?

  • Prayerfully read or sing through scriptures. It will get into your spirit and it totally opens up and awakens the scriptures in your life.


Be Blessed!