Aglow prayer

Imperturbable Aplomb
The following blog was contributed by Martha Stanley.

I’ve been having some disturbing vertigo issues, so finally went to the doctor. Two different physicians said it was most likely a brain tumor from the way it was presenting, but could be a severe inner ear infection. An MRI was ordered.

With those words I had to make a decision. I could A) freak out! or B) press in to the “secret place”, lean into the heartbeat of God, and listen. I chose B. After some time in prayer I felt a peace, so refused to give in to fear. After 2 weeks of waiting, the results came back clear, so on to the ENT I will go.

I was seeking the Lord for His purpose in allowing this to happen. The answer came clearly and quickly. The enemy was rattling his saber trying to get ME rattled. Kudos on the try – didn’t work, dude.

I sensed there was more so asked…and what more, God…? There are many situations in my life that seem overwhelming, have been going on a loooong time, look hopeless, and perhaps on some level I had become weary.
He showed me that the enemy is merely rattling his saber in those situations, too.
God wants me to see the other situations in the same light – don’t be rattled – stand my ground – speak only life – victory WILL COME.

Going through the waiting time for the test results truly brought me up to a higher level of “abiding in the secret place”. He is saying, “Ok, you learned this here. Now apply what you learned HERE, and take the ground over THERE.”

I can now face the other situations from which I had grown weary, with renewed strength, hope, faith, and….wait for it….imperturbable aplomb.

Imperturbable – adj. – unable to be upset or excited; calm:

Aplomb – noun – self-confidence or assurance, especially when in a demanding situation

When He Saw, His Spirit Revived
The following blog was contributed by Martha Stanley.

Genesis 45:27 says, “But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.”

When Jacob saw, his spirit revived. Jacob suffered years of anguish, torment and grief thinking his beloved son Joseph had been torn apart by wild animals and died a gruesome death. But in reality, Joseph was very much alive, prospering, second in command under the King of Egypt, fulfilling God’s purpose delivering nations from certain destruction. In this case the paths of “known reality” and “true reality” were vastly divergent.

How many times in my life has focusing on “known reality” brought me to a place of complete heartache and despair? The “facts” that were before my eyes and known to my mind screamed of failure, defeat; they shouted that God’s ears were deaf to my cries. As with Jacob, sometimes what I “know”, and what is actually true are as different as the full light of day and the darkest of nights.

Recently, in a study of Psalm 91, I discovered that one of the meanings of the word “abide” in verse one means “to pass the night”. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall ‘abide’ under the shadow of the Almighty.”

What if…what if we could perpetually live from a place where, when a tragedy happened, we would hide ourselves in the secret place of the Most High staying under His wings until turmoil turned into peace; until we heard the heartbeat of God, and our hearts beat As One. Then, yes, then we could live in the place of peace, of joy, of prosperity until the night passed.

Jacob had 11 other children, and multiple grandchildren. Did his grief over Joseph rob him of all the joy that ‘could have been’ with the others? Did his “known reality” of Joseph act as a thief stealing the precious ‘times that could have been’ with the children and grandchildren who were there with him every day?

How many times have I done this? How many times have I allowed the grief of the ‘promise yet to be fulfilled’ to plunder my joy and rob me of the marvelous treasures of this day.

So Lord, as this day unfolds, help me to keep my heart, my mind, and my words not on the path of what I can see and feel, my “known reality”, but help me to live in the place of “true reality”, embracing the certainty that You are at work in ways I ‘cannot see or know’ bringing all things together for my good, and the good of those I love. Today, I set my face like a flint that I will enjoy all of the beautiful gifts God has in store for this day as I wait with confident faith for the fulfillment of the truths I have heard in the secret place.

Forgiveness is so much more than saying, “I’m sorry” or “It’s ok, I forgive you.” Forgiveness is freedom. Forgiveness is that heavenly Kingdom key liberating us from the bondage to hurts caused by offenses. How do we get “unstuck” from the residue of an offense enough to forgive? Good question! Maybe Job gives us a key to being free to forgive.

Job knew God in the secret place. We read in Job 19 about the agony of his losses and the pain he endured. Yet in the middle of his discourse on the severity of his suffering, he raised his voice in worship and declared, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Job 19:25–27

Job did not use his suffering as an excuse to turn from God. Instead, his suffering drove him deeper into the treasury of God in the secret place. Job also did not use his suffering as an excuse to hold an offense against his friends.

The only good thing about Job’s friends—who were not very good friends—is that they visited him frequently. But instead of offering encouragement, comfort or help, they added to his torment with endless questions, accusations and judgments against him. Finally, near the end of Job’s story, God confronted those friends. He told them that He was angry with them and that they needed to ask Job to pray for them. Only then, perhaps, would He receive their sacrifices and forgive them (see Job 42:7–9).

Once again a godly man faced the need to forgive. Something had to happen in Job’s heart to enable him to pray sincerely for his friends. He had to forgive them, too. When Job prayed for his friends, they were released from the guilt of the offenses they had caused. When Job prayed for his friends, Job was freed to step out of his pain and into his renewal. Job’s losses were restored through the grace of forgiveness: “The LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” Job 42:10 (Italics added.)

Thank You, Lord. Your forgiveness has made me free – free to pray, free to love, free to forgive.

(Adapted from Prayer – Heaven’s Open Door, Chapter 9 by Nancy McDaniel)

Lord, I celebrate Who You are in my life and who I am in You! Thank You that I am no longer overwhelmed by the stuff of life on earth. Instead, I am overwhelmed by You! I am overwhelmed by Your love and grace and favor. I am overwhelmed by heaven and how You have elevated me to live in an awareness of Your Kingdom and Will on earth as it is in heaven.

Lord, I pray that I will grow in the celebration of heaven. Release such celebration that continually raises me to a higher place of overcoming. Explode Your Light and Power in me like fireworks that light up the darkest sky! Cause Your delight to break forth in song though me that brings deliverance, hope and breakthrough to all around me. Lift my feet above the shackles of earth’s stress and hindrances in jubilant dance. Let Your life in me breathe life to Your promises for all around me.

Make me a trumpet – a silver trumpet redeemed by Your love . . . trimmed with the gold of Your glory! Blow Your breath through me to release a sound that calls people to rush to You. Release a sound that silences the wicked one and brings hope and redemption. Release a sound that breaks through the limitations of earth and releases the limitlessness of You! Release the sound of heaven’s celebration on earth!

                          Let Stillness Quiet Your Heart

Thoughts from Carolyn Suty, US Regional Director Southwest Coastal Region

Do you ever feel like your list for prayers and crisis is getting too long to handle? I am sensing a real call from the heart of the Father to draw nigh to the throne. Tuck your prayer list into your pocket and enter in to His chamber. Be aware of His presence, His peace and the quietness of His heart. He is not rattled, nor alarmed but so confident in all things. Let this stillness quiet your heart. Listen to the rhythm of His heart beat and be comforted. Lay your list on the altar and watch it disappear in the goodness of His majesty. Our response to Him is, “Holy, Holy is The Lord. Worthy, Worthy is the Lamb Who was and is and is to come!” Focus on Him, let the worship and love flow. Don’t leave or rush out. Bask until you have been transformed by His consuming Presence. Stay till your heartbeat matches His. Only then can you be one who is at peace in this storm. Only then can you give to others the greatest gift of Him.

The following blog was contributed by Dave McDaniel.
Dave is a Men’s Aglow leader, one of our Men of Issachar and husband of Nancy McDaniel. 

Job 38:22-23…”Have you entered into the treasuries of the snow or seen the treasuries of the hail which I have reserved against the time of trouble, and against the day of battle and war?”

As You spoke these words to Job, its meaning is a declaration to the hidden strategies of destruction and terror that the enemy is planning. Father, the plans of the enemy cannot surpass, overcome, or cancel the planting of prayer. Our prayers are a weapon of terror against the enemy, for they have been generated by the intercession of Jesus and in the agreement of the Holy Spirit.

No weapon formed against us shall prosper. The enemy conjures up ways to celebrate past tragedies and destructions in hopes to drum up a fear and intimidation to keep people bound. It is a tactic that brings accusation against You and Your intentionality. But You create new landmarks to celebrate in place of past tragedies…the release of Your beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning necessary to rebuild the old ruins and former desolations. As the anniversary of September 11th approaches, we are not paralyzed by fear but instead preemptive by Your Presence. We are not a people that cowers from the taunting intimidation of people groups blinded by terror. You are turning confusion upon the enemy. You are causing those who are being used to impart terror to be terrorized themselves by the Angel of The Lord who calmly stands guard over the purposes of Your heart.

Instead of looking behind us, we rewrite this anniversary with new beginnings and new intentions by being captured with new knowledge of Your character. We have no time to be mesmerized in fear because we are apprehended by the knowledge of Your goodness and kindness, and with it, we uncover the hidden darkness with the penetrating light of the knowledge of God over the earth.

This knowledge causes us to run into the battle with declarations and proclamations of Your greatness. We speak to the lands that have been infiltrated with terror and the schematic plans of destruction. We speak to the people groups that are exhibiting barbaric behavior no different from the spirit that cried, “Crucify Him,” and we ask for a Holy Visitation of Your love over them. We proclaim over the very strategies that have been secretly planned to release destruction in the seven Continents of the earth: The Spirit of The Lord is released to proclaim the acceptable year of The Lord and the day of Your vengeance. It is not a vengeance of judgment but one of grace. Grace be released over those that are blinded by their own cause, and simultaneously release grace into the secret chambers of those You have appointed as Your Elishas and Your Davids. Amplify the secret whispers of the enemy’s plans and pipe then into the throne room where You reside with Your children. Bring the knowledge of how great and majestic You are into the atmosphere surrounding evil intent and accusation. Bring revelation of Your arrival by signs and wonders into these very lands. You have positioned Your Prophets and Generals with the foreknowledge of this very moment.

The arsenal of Your snow packs and hail have been reserved for times when the enemy wants trouble (Job 38:22-23). Freeze the hatred and allegiances bred in the fear of those who know not what they do. Freeze the flow of resources designated for destruction. Deep freeze the former painful memories of the tragedy of 9-11, and bring the rain of Your refreshing presence to proclaim liberty for the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Rain upon these Continents with the comfort and consolation to heal the painful, tormenting places of yesterday. Pour down Your precious release of Presence that will take away the ash heaps and mourning pools and replace them with the vibrant, life-giving, life-changing, and life-sustaining waterfalls full of new anointing that flows freely from the Throne of Grace.

Re-fit us with a new garment of praise that propels us into battle IN Your Name instead of remaining in a holding pattern of just leaning on it. Our eyes are upon You, Father. Our hearts are in You. And our response is a choral response of unity as we release majesty into earth’s atmosphere that seals Your protection over Israel, the United States and North America, Great Britain and all of Europe, Asia, Africa, Central and South America, Australia, and Antarctica. Uncover the hidden places with the penetrating laser beam of the blinding light that knocked Saul from his horse and brought a brand new change in identity. Begin a fresh, new beginning of restoration that turns the hearts of terror into hearts that terrorize the enemy through bringing the knowledge of The Lord into the earth. Bring large hailstones upon hell itself as You release the snowpacks of the effectual prayers of Your righteous people that have been reserved for such a time as this. New changes in the atmosphere through the release of the new sound of rain is released in Jesus’ Name.

Jesus said to pray like this, “. . . And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”  Sometimes forgiving someone just means to let go of the hurt or the offense so we can be healed of the wound.  See how the Lord showed this to Martha Stanley.

While taking the dog out into the back yard several days ago, something unusual caught my eye on a small plumeria plant by the side of our house.  A single acorn was sitting upright in the center vein of a plumeria leaf.  Apparently, the acorn had fallen from our towering oak tree onto a leaf of the plumeria below, piercing it with the force of the drop. In response to the assault, the plumeria did what plumerias do in such a situation.  It secreted a sticky, milky-like substance to try to heal the wound.  In the process however, it also captured the acorn, permanently affixing it into the breach.

This phenomenon was so unusual, I asked the Lord what He was trying to teach me.  More than a week went by, and nothing came to mind, so I figured the answer would come at the appropriate “teachable moment”.

This morning I was thinking about 2 recent incidences in which I felt I had been wronged.  Asking the Lord if He would right the situations, he responded with a clear, “No”.  Shocked, I asked why.  He said, “What happened to you in both situations was wrong, but I am not going to make either of them right for you.  I am teaching you how to just let things go.”

After hearing that sobering response, my mind reflected back to the plumeria and the acorn.  In an effort to heal itself (the wound), the plumeria also captured the acorn (the offense).  Unless the acorn is removed, the wound will never heal properly.  However, the acorn is now so sealed into the wound that the leaf cannot remove it on its own.  It will need some outside help.  Removal of the acorn will open up the wound again, the milky substance will be secreted, but the wound will heal properly.  The leaf will just have the let the acorn go if it is to be healed.

The following blog was contributed by Jessica Wilson, Prayer Office Administrative Assistant:

Have you ever been hurt?  I mean really hurt.

A lot of the time this kind of hurt seems to happen when it comes from other Christians, or others who “should know better.”  I’m not going to sugarcoat it – it’s really tough to deal with at times.

Recently I was wrestling with the concept of forgiveness, in particular toward an old friend who had hurt me long ago but when confronted, never acknowledged my hurt or apologized.  It seemed so wrong that this person had never acknowledged or tried to ‘fix’ the situation.  It seemed like they got off scot free!  As I prayed and told God about my hurt, I told him how unfair this was.  Now, I’m not blind – I get that I have been that person.
I have hurt others, not known about it, and not fixed it.
I have caused others pain that God had to heal.  What I didn’t realize before is how truly powerless I am to heal.  I can be responsible, kind, and apologetic – and I believe these should be freely given as you are able and aware of your actions hurting another.  But while kind words and apologies might comfort, they don’t heal.

After I poured out my heart to God, God poured out revelation on me.  God gave me a picture of the friend, whose actions against me I had grieved for so long:  The picture was of her shooting me in the leg.  In my mind’s eye, I stood there bleeding, aghast, shocked, hurt, and angry.  But as I stood bleeding, I began telling the friend that the wound was her fault and to fix my leg.  And I felt God asked me, “Why do you keep expecting her to fix you?  Can she heal you?”

This shouldn’t be news to anyone but – whether you’ve been shot in the leg or stabbed in the back, you need a DOCTOR, not an apology.   The people who have hurt you – what are their names?  Are they called Jehovah Rapha – The God who heals?  The person who stole from you – is their name Jehovah Jirah – The God who provides?  No, their names – the names of those who hurt you and me, are “human.”  And humans cannot heal you, Jesus can.

“Fair” and “unfair” are useless concepts in this situation – what matters is “healed” or “not healed”, and I choose to be healed by Jesus.  What a privilege that our God is such a healer – healer of hearts, minds, bodies, and souls.  So take your hurt to Jesus.  It’s not “fair”.  It may not seem “right”.  But those who have hurt us, on purpose or without realizing it, are helpless in our healing.  Let us go to our loving, caring, all-knowing God, who binds up the broken hearted and who has healing in His wings.

When I was very young, a teenager in
fact, a friend shared something that really helped set my identity in a satisfying relationship with God.  We were doing a study on abiding in Christ from John 15 when Skip shared some thoughts from Albert J. Wollen.  He said that every Christian can enjoy “constant, conscious communion with God.”  Wow!  “Constant, conscious communion”  — being continually aware of God’s presence in my life moment by moment, worshipping Him and talking with Him in a practical, thoughtful way all the time.  I can just enjoy being with God no matter what I am doing, and furthermore, He is interested in being with me, too! 

Those three words and the thoughts Skip shared that day have stuck with me and marked my life with an awareness that everything about life in Christ is 24-7.  And those three simple words have been a benchmark to remind me that all the things we do to nurture our lives spiritually — like prayer, studying the Bible, worship, loving one another, stewardship – all those things are who we are, not just what we do.

A few years ago, a friend of mine was asked, “Linda, when do you pray?”  We all knew she had a very powerful, effective prayer life.  She was asked, “Do you pray in the morning, do you pray at night time, do you pray several times throughout the day?”  Linda didn’t have to think about her answer very long.  Her answer was immediate.  She said, “My life is a prayer.”

I Corinthians 6:19 says that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  And Jesus said that His house, or His temple, is the house of prayer (Mark 11:17).   So, with Christ in us, we are His House of Prayer.  Prayer isn’t just something I do – it’s who I am. 

. . . Christ in you, the hope of glory!  (Colossians 1:27)

The following blog was contributed by Martha Stanley, Aglow Administrative Assistant –  International Field:

I had a sobering experience that I’d like to share with you.  It demonstrated how God will orchestrate detail upon detail to have us in the exact place at the exact time to fulfill His plan.  It was also an example of how he can avert disaster in our lives without us ever knowing there was a danger in the first place.

This past December I was decorating the entry way to our subdivision with neighbors.  At one point we determined that we needed one more set of a specific kind of Christmas lights, so I was tasked with the reconnaissance mission.  It was about 1:00, and I was getting hungry, so decided to go home and grab a quick bite to take with me in the car on the road.  I put a Hot Pocket in the microwave, was going to take it out 20 seconds early, but felt impressed that I was to leave it in for the full 3 minutes.  20 seconds, Lord?  Really? Having learned long ago not to argue with those impressions no matter how strange they may sound, I waited the full 3 minutes then took off with my lunch down the road.  Bear with me, these details are very important. 

Driving to the exit of the subdivision the thought came to my mind to go left to Walgreens instead of right to Wal-Mart because Walgreens was closer.  I went to Walgreens, no success, and had to backtrack and go in the opposite direction all the way to Wal-Mart.  When I finally got to the Wal-Mart parking lot, my cell phone rang and it was my neighbor saying that they didn’t need the lights after all.  As long as I was already there, I decided to go in and pick up some medication my husband had waiting at the pharmacy.

This put me in line at the Wal-Mart pharmacy at that exact moment in time.  There was a frail, elderly woman next to me bent all the way over looking at something on the bottom shelf.  Suddenly, a big burly dude came around the corner with his shopping cart at Mach 2.  His cart was speeding straight for grandma’s head.  I reached out, grabbed the cart, and stopped him before the impending impact.  If I hadn’t grabbed the cart he would have hit her square in the head knocking her backwards.  Who knows what the extent of her injuries would have been?  He gave a muffled apology, backed up, and went down another isle.  Grandma, still bent over, was completely unaware of the entire interaction.  She found what she needed on that bottom shelf, then went on her merry way.  Since I was next in line when this happened, had I arrived 20 seconds earlier I would have already been up at the counter looking back at a horrible scene.

How many times in our lives has a plan of the enemy been thwarted by the God who sets the stars in motion….while we never knew……