"The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out..." This verse from Chapter 6 of Leviticus was one of the primary motivations that spurred on the Moravians who started one of the most influential movements of 24/7 prayer the world has ever seen. One of the greatest missions movements exploded from this prayer movement, with hundreds of missionaries being released to the world, including some who sold themselves into slavery in order to take the good news to the slaves! The current ratio of missionaries to laypersons in the Protestant church is 1:5000, but within the Moravians, the ratio was closer to 1:60! This began when 24 men and 24 women covenanted together for 24/7 prayer, a prayer meeting that last at least a 100 years, one source even stated it lasted 120...
120. It is a simple number really in comparison to all the other numbers in the world. 10 times 12, or even 5 times 24. 24. 24 hours makes up 1 day. So 5 times 24 is 120, and 24 hours equals 1 day, so 5 times 1 day equals 5 days, which also equals 120 hours. Is this confusing enough yet?
Well, about a week and a half ago, I sat in the prayer room with several others as we concluded our second prayer burn of the fall. It had been a long, hard, but good week for myself, but it seemed like everyone else who had passed through the prayer room doors had really enjoyed it. My friend Chad had been reading something from the book "Until He Comes" by Billy Humphrey, and he asked if he could share it with everyone. I read it myself, noticed it was about the Moravians, and gave the green light. As he read it
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Burning the Night Away: Part 2
When I began my last post, MY desire was to share about our first prayer burn in November, but as you can see, I never got to it. No, I find my last post much more important than any recap I could have shared with you at the time. In fact, if you look hard enough, I believe anyone can see where it was that I stopped and prayed, asking God to say and share what He wanted to say and share, and the results were incredible. The vision and principle of the Church joining together for 24/7 prayer is the foundation of our prayer burns, and without being able to grasp that, one cannot grasp the prayer burns and the happenings not just in Starkville at MSU but across the world.
24/7 prayer is sweeping the world right now. Prayer burns, prayer weeks, prayer rooms, prayer furnaces, houses of prayer, and whatever-other-crazy-name-you-can-think-of-then-made-plural are popping up all over the world. The Church is grasping the need for prayer and the desire of the returning of Christ by dropping to our knees for His justice to be shown. The Lord even said He had posted watchmen on the walls to cry out day and night until He made Jerusalem the praise of the earth! This truly is the desire of God! So a big part of our vision with the prayer burns is if we can champion the vision and principle of 24/7 prayer, it does not matter what we do or where we go, we can carry this with us, impacting all of those around us, carrying on our role as the royal priesthood!
So with such a foundation laid, I feel released to share about the 68 Hour Prayer Burn! While carrying the vision for prayer in Starkville, I did not know what it would look like exactly,
24/7 prayer is sweeping the world right now. Prayer burns, prayer weeks, prayer rooms, prayer furnaces, houses of prayer, and whatever-other-crazy-name-you-can-think-of-then-made-plural are popping up all over the world. The Church is grasping the need for prayer and the desire of the returning of Christ by dropping to our knees for His justice to be shown. The Lord even said He had posted watchmen on the walls to cry out day and night until He made Jerusalem the praise of the earth! This truly is the desire of God! So a big part of our vision with the prayer burns is if we can champion the vision and principle of 24/7 prayer, it does not matter what we do or where we go, we can carry this with us, impacting all of those around us, carrying on our role as the royal priesthood!
So with such a foundation laid, I feel released to share about the 68 Hour Prayer Burn! While carrying the vision for prayer in Starkville, I did not know what it would look like exactly,
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Burning the Night Away: Part 1
This fall has proven to be a crazy busy one. It is always hard to explain that to others (at least I think so). How do you tell someone who works full time that things are busy when you do not have a job nor are in school? Sounds hypocritical to me. Yet this fall has been busy (and restful, too. That cannot be denied).
When people ask me what I have been doing, the first two months I replied, "I have been meeting with guys on campus doing discipleship and trying to make it around to visit people." Yet this was always an incomplete answer. There was always a third vision and goal I was pressing in for: fostering a vision for a prayer movement on campus. The Lord gave me a vision for prayer here in Starkville and at MSU before I left to return home, and upon returning, He started providing for it!
One crazy story:
When people ask me what I have been doing, the first two months I replied, "I have been meeting with guys on campus doing discipleship and trying to make it around to visit people." Yet this was always an incomplete answer. There was always a third vision and goal I was pressing in for: fostering a vision for a prayer movement on campus. The Lord gave me a vision for prayer here in Starkville and at MSU before I left to return home, and upon returning, He started providing for it!
One crazy story:
Thursday, December 1, 2011
The Southeast Trip pt. 5 - Nashville, TN
Upon leaving Cumberland Gap after breakfast with Bruce, I set my eyes upon my last destination: Nashville, TN! I had the opportunity to stay with another good friend, Joe Chen! He is actually a brand new uncle very much like myself, but I didn't give him any pointers on that... He is attending school at Vanderbilt, and while he might not be a missionary (the link goes to his really cool and fun photo blog!), he is a great man of God who desires to see the Church, the Bride of Christ, to be readied for Christ's return, so that makes us kindred spirits!
The three days spent in Nashville all were very different, all were very good! After arriving on Tuesday and spending the evening eating dinner with Joe and conversing with him, I traveled down to Franklin to meet with another guest lecturer from the DTS, Chris Dupré! Chris was the first speaker at my DTS, and his one week made my DTS all that it was! He is a man who carries the Father's Heart, who shares will all he meets how much God loves them! I arrived at his home that morning, spent time talking with him and his beautiful family, ate lunch with a contact from New York, visited a lovely prophetic couple, and ate dinner with another friend who works with the Nashville House of Prayer! It was a packed day, but it was actually incredibly chill, time also spent running errands like paying bills and buying a book from Target. We were able to discuss more Father Heart, share vision for my future, talk on dating/courting/pursuing a potential wife (which left me with a great peace :), and just plain goof off! It was such a treat to have had this opportunity, and he gave me a copy of his new book, "The Wild Love of God," which you can find on his website. I read it within the following 24 hours. It was very good!
The next day I was able to meet another good friend from home, Drew Cole! We were going to get breakfast together, and we chose to eat at the amazing Pancake Pantry! We had a great time discussing what I experienced in both Japan and the Philippines, sex trafficking holding a large part of our conversation because his sister is attending law school in order to become an advocate against it. Prostitution is prominent in both Japan and the Philippines, yet it is very hidden and covert in Japan while open and overt in the Philippines. But we also talked about other things, had fun, and shared the love of Christ with one another.
That night, I was able to be a part of a Bible study with Joe and some of his friends. We discussed Matthew 21, seeing Jesus entering Jerusalem in fulfillment of the prophecy of the Messiah. The people were expecting Jesus to rise up and go to war soon. So when it seemed crazy that a crowd could change so quickly and crucify him days later. I can imagine the pharisees going among them saying, "Here is this man who mocked God by entering in the city according to the prophecy, yet what has he done? Let us kill this impostor!" And that is what they did. But we discussed that maybe it was that Jesus came in and by His death, He made war upon Satan, defeating him, and removing the power of death forevermore! How amazing! Because of His sacrificial death, we do not have to suffer death! May we believe and give ourselves to Him! Afterwards, we went to the Loveless Cafe and dined on some delicious food! It was a great time!
I decided Friday morning I was ready to go home, but before leaving town, I was able to have one last pleasure of enjoying a cup of Starbucks with my cousin Rachel! It was great to get to sit and talk with her about what was going on with her and also share about my adventures. I was able to tell her about how it came about that I went to Japan with YWAM, and it was really good to share on the faithfulness of God working through it. Before leaving, we got to pray together for the future, and I jumped in my car to head home!
What a trip! I was so blessed to have had the opportunity to take time to visit so many wonderful people! My experiences along the way will be something I remember forever and will return to Japan to share! One important detail about this trip has yet to been mentioned, though. In september, another cousin approached me about driving him to Memphis before leaving for England for the next 15 months, and he said, "And your mom said you were going to take a trip to Virginia. You are more than welcome to take my car." I had prayed while in Japan that the Lord would provide a car for me to use while back so I could sell mine for support money to go back to Japan, and here it was! How amazing is that?! God is so good!
Return to Part 4: Cumberland Gap, TN!
The three days spent in Nashville all were very different, all were very good! After arriving on Tuesday and spending the evening eating dinner with Joe and conversing with him, I traveled down to Franklin to meet with another guest lecturer from the DTS, Chris Dupré! Chris was the first speaker at my DTS, and his one week made my DTS all that it was! He is a man who carries the Father's Heart, who shares will all he meets how much God loves them! I arrived at his home that morning, spent time talking with him and his beautiful family, ate lunch with a contact from New York, visited a lovely prophetic couple, and ate dinner with another friend who works with the Nashville House of Prayer! It was a packed day, but it was actually incredibly chill, time also spent running errands like paying bills and buying a book from Target. We were able to discuss more Father Heart, share vision for my future, talk on dating/courting/pursuing a potential wife (which left me with a great peace :), and just plain goof off! It was such a treat to have had this opportunity, and he gave me a copy of his new book, "The Wild Love of God," which you can find on his website. I read it within the following 24 hours. It was very good!
The next day I was able to meet another good friend from home, Drew Cole! We were going to get breakfast together, and we chose to eat at the amazing Pancake Pantry! We had a great time discussing what I experienced in both Japan and the Philippines, sex trafficking holding a large part of our conversation because his sister is attending law school in order to become an advocate against it. Prostitution is prominent in both Japan and the Philippines, yet it is very hidden and covert in Japan while open and overt in the Philippines. But we also talked about other things, had fun, and shared the love of Christ with one another.
That night, I was able to be a part of a Bible study with Joe and some of his friends. We discussed Matthew 21, seeing Jesus entering Jerusalem in fulfillment of the prophecy of the Messiah. The people were expecting Jesus to rise up and go to war soon. So when it seemed crazy that a crowd could change so quickly and crucify him days later. I can imagine the pharisees going among them saying, "Here is this man who mocked God by entering in the city according to the prophecy, yet what has he done? Let us kill this impostor!" And that is what they did. But we discussed that maybe it was that Jesus came in and by His death, He made war upon Satan, defeating him, and removing the power of death forevermore! How amazing! Because of His sacrificial death, we do not have to suffer death! May we believe and give ourselves to Him! Afterwards, we went to the Loveless Cafe and dined on some delicious food! It was a great time!
I decided Friday morning I was ready to go home, but before leaving town, I was able to have one last pleasure of enjoying a cup of Starbucks with my cousin Rachel! It was great to get to sit and talk with her about what was going on with her and also share about my adventures. I was able to tell her about how it came about that I went to Japan with YWAM, and it was really good to share on the faithfulness of God working through it. Before leaving, we got to pray together for the future, and I jumped in my car to head home!
What a trip! I was so blessed to have had the opportunity to take time to visit so many wonderful people! My experiences along the way will be something I remember forever and will return to Japan to share! One important detail about this trip has yet to been mentioned, though. In september, another cousin approached me about driving him to Memphis before leaving for England for the next 15 months, and he said, "And your mom said you were going to take a trip to Virginia. You are more than welcome to take my car." I had prayed while in Japan that the Lord would provide a car for me to use while back so I could sell mine for support money to go back to Japan, and here it was! How amazing is that?! God is so good!
Return to Part 4: Cumberland Gap, TN!
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