As I sit to write this, we are on the eve of our second day of prayer and fasting. We are again excited and perhaps a little apprehensive about what God might be about to say to us during the day, either directly or through those who are joining with us.
When we sat down to talk through what we’d heard during the first day, initially we were a little disappointed, as we didn’t feel that we’d received any real direction. A friend sent us a scripture the day before we were praying, that she felt God had given her for us, which raised our levels of expectations, but we didn’t receive anything else from anyone on the day or since. We do know that someone has got something for us, but hasn’t been able to send it so far and is awaiting to send through feedback for both after tomorrow. We’d been hoping for more feedback and that it would have all been pointing in the same direction.
What this experience has challenged me about, is that when I say to someone that I will pray for them, then I need to ensure that I do, because that person is relying on me. In addition, I need to provide any words or pictures that I believe God gives me for them, no matter how strange it may appear. It’s not my responsibility to censor the words, it’s my responsibility to give what I receive and to leave the testing to the individual. As I say, this is what I’ve learned and is not meant as a criticism of anyone else, but I don’t think that I am the only person who has done that in the past! Unfortunately, it’s the polite, easy thing to do, to say that you’ll pray for someone when we feel challenged or we just feel obligated to offer to pray, because it’s the “Christian” thing to do! Being on the other end, I think that I’d prefer people to be honest and only say they’ll pray when they actually want to. I came across a great quote from American theologian Howard Thurman that sums this up, “The power of prayer is directly connected to your willingness to be a part of God’s answer.”
A few days after the first prayer day, while reflecting on what we felt God had said, it was apparent that what God had been saying to both of us was that we should spend time reviewing the words and promises that He’d given us in the past. Which we started to do and were encouraged that we’d seen so many of them happen, whether in terms of jobs, healing, providing resources etc. We were chatting on Tuesday evening with some friends on Zoom about a preach we’d all watched, entitled Don’t Forget To Remember! In it the preacher was talking about the feeding of the 5,000, which was followed later by the feeding of the 4,000. He asked why, when the disciples had seen the first miracle, why did they have doubt and worry about how the second crowd was going to be fed? Why do we, when we’ve seen God’s provision in the past, worry about whether he can do it again?
Just yesterday, we sat watching another preach that a friend had shared with us. The theme was It’s Time To Occupy The Land That God Has Promised. There was explanation of Joshua leading the Israelites into the promised land and also about the taking of the city of Jericho, they were told to march round the city for 7 days, with the priests carrying the trumpets and it was only on day 7 that they could blow them. They’d had the tools in their hands all along to take the city, but it was their obedience and God’s timing that was key. It was likened to individuals carrying a vision from God that will come to pass. The preach finished with the phrase “the camels are coming”, which comes from Isaiah 60:6 “Great caravans of camels will come, from Midian and Ephah. They will come from Sheba, bringing gold and incense. People will tell the good news of what the LORD has done!” (GNB)
So now just a few hours before we start our day of prayer and fasting, having reflected on all this, we’re much more encouraged than a few days ago. We are expectant that whether we have any words or pictures tomorrow, that God will bring about the vision that he gave us for Time2 and that he will provide all that he promised.
THE CAMELS ARE COMING!
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