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I'm guilty. I've planned ministry initiatives, had them all on paper with all the key people lined up and committed to carrying them out, then invited God to bless my work. It really was more my work than his when I stop and think about it. Prayer was the last component.
As we think about four Pushing Back the Darkness initiatives, where does prayer fit in? It's got to be first and foremost. Today we're praying . . . before we know the countries where these initiatives will be birthed, before we know the people who will be sent, before we know the strategy. This prayer is with the understanding that if God is not in these initiatives from the start, they're sure to fail. If God's power is absent, we'll be fighting with the weapons of this world. Instead, my heart's passion and longing is to fight "with weapons that are not of this world, that have divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Cor 10:4). The places where these four initiatives are likely to be birthed will be places that are strongholds of darkness, where intentional barriers have been set up to keep anything and anyone associated with Jesus Christ out. Only God's power can break down these centuries-old strongholds.
So I'm praying. Many others are praying. You're invited to pray. The first probe team is on the ground now in Central Asia. Pray for God to guide them, for favor with local people, for great connections with those already seeking and serving Christ in these difficult places, for eyes of faith to see what God wants them to see, for his revelation of what he wants to C&MA to do to help push back the darkness. The desire of our hearts to invest among people who today have critically low access to the gospel. This is high risk . . . hard, rocky soil with many potential weeds to choke the seed . . . extremely difficult . . . and quite frankly overwhelming from where I sit. But prayer gives me hope. It strengthens my heart and the hearts of those on the probe team today. And it demonstrates desperation for God's involvement, leading this right from the start.
This is not about us going in, then inviting the King of Glory to follow us. It's about his going in ahead of us, then our discerning how to follow him!
As we think about four Pushing Back the Darkness initiatives, where does prayer fit in? It's got to be first and foremost. Today we're praying . . . before we know the countries where these initiatives will be birthed, before we know the people who will be sent, before we know the strategy. This prayer is with the understanding that if God is not in these initiatives from the start, they're sure to fail. If God's power is absent, we'll be fighting with the weapons of this world. Instead, my heart's passion and longing is to fight "with weapons that are not of this world, that have divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Cor 10:4). The places where these four initiatives are likely to be birthed will be places that are strongholds of darkness, where intentional barriers have been set up to keep anything and anyone associated with Jesus Christ out. Only God's power can break down these centuries-old strongholds.
So I'm praying. Many others are praying. You're invited to pray. The first probe team is on the ground now in Central Asia. Pray for God to guide them, for favor with local people, for great connections with those already seeking and serving Christ in these difficult places, for eyes of faith to see what God wants them to see, for his revelation of what he wants to C&MA to do to help push back the darkness. The desire of our hearts to invest among people who today have critically low access to the gospel. This is high risk . . . hard, rocky soil with many potential weeds to choke the seed . . . extremely difficult . . . and quite frankly overwhelming from where I sit. But prayer gives me hope. It strengthens my heart and the hearts of those on the probe team today. And it demonstrates desperation for God's involvement, leading this right from the start.
This is not about us going in, then inviting the King of Glory to follow us. It's about his going in ahead of us, then our discerning how to follow him!
