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Psalm 37:1-2

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 8, 2019
Today’s devotional, written several years ago, is so relevant to me as I face the decisive zoning board meeting this Thursday. May I live out what is said here.
 
Psalm 37:1 Of David. “Fret not yourself because of evildoers;”
 
[Praise you, Lord, for your clear commands which steer us away from our natural, selfish reactions and towards your wonderful ways.
 
It is so easy to get worked up about evildoers: selfish, corrupt, immoral political leaders here and abroad, unjust actions, destructive organizations giving unjust decisions and anti-Christian groups making brutal attacks. But you in your great wisdom and knowledge of the future, have reasons for allowing them.
 
You will use them to open people’s eyes to truth and bring many into your Kingdom, while maturing your children through difficulties. Therefore, we can rest in you and pray for and about them, rather than wasting energy and time in fretting, knowing that you are the One who takes down and sets up rulers.]
 
“be not envious of wrongdoers!”
 
[It is so easy to envy their power, the effectiveness of their ways and to be tempted to imitate their methods, desiring to use their fallen methods, of course, for good. But the good is then tainted and negated by the world’s wily ways.
 
Your command is, “Be not!” I praise you for this word that moves us towards a supernatural view of things, freeing us from what is of this fallen world. Then we can be like you and act out of your thoughts and ways: loving our enemies, praying for those who persecute us, forgiving those who harm us. Praise you for the possibility of letting go of temporary values, of holding on to what is eternal and rising above our difficult situations.]
 
 
Psalm 37:2 “For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.”
 
Here’s the freeing perspective you give us: these evil doers won’t be around for too long. You will cause them to fail and fade (think of Stalin, Hitler and Mao), while your children still stand–because you are the preserver and protector of the righteous. These evil doers will melt like snow in the Spring Sonshine, revealing the rich, dark ground of your plans that produces spiritual growth in our lives.
 
Praise you, Lord God, that you can see into the future, that you know all to come and that we can trust you to prepare us, knowing that you will work out what is best, guiding us in joining you in the process.
 
To follow worldly ways brings death; to obey your wonderful ways brings eternal life and eternal fruit. Help us to choose your ways throughout this day so we can honor you before all.
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Choose

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 7, 2019

“…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve….But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua 24:15

 

Praise you, Lord God, for the many opportunities you give us each day to choose for you or others, for good or evil, for positive or negative, for what is constructive or destructive. Many of these choices seem innocuous and unimportant, but are steps towards or away from where we should be.

To choose to read email before doing my quiet time, to choose to have extra helpings regularly, to choose to look at pictures, images or people which stimulate negative thinking, to choose to speak selfish words—these all move me in the wrong direction.

They bring a sense of guilt and remorse, of emptiness. Over time these build up in my soul, clogging the flow of grace, diminishing my first love for Jesus, sapping energy, bringing discontent, discouragement and possibly depression.

Praise You, Lord Jesus, for the continuous working of your Spirit to both convict and guide us, to teach truth and encourage, to give perspective and heal.

When I have chosen what is wrong, and feel convicted about it, you bring me to confession and cleansing. You forgive me, reminding me of your full, rich love and how each failure is a potential doorway to deeper surrender, further breaking and spiritual growth. You remind me of the effectiveness of your death in bringing forgiveness, of your unending love for me, of your knowing all about me and still delighting in me—illogical as that may be–for your love is full of grace.

Praise you, Lord Jesus, the Lover, the Liberator, the Leader of my soul. You are a marvel, so magnificently different from any human being, so majestically pure, so marvelously persistent, so mightily powerful, so perfect in your character. You never change, you never vacillate, you never alter your ideas. You are rock solid, ever loving, ever correcting, ever forgiving.

 

With you we can move through the valleys of failure and selfishness, sin and poor choices and still come out to a good place because of your grace and goodness. You faithfully work to convict us, guide us, warn us, call us, protect us, chasten us—with you there is always hope for growth and progress. You reverse the second law of thermodynamics on a spiritual level, bringing order out of chaos!

I give you honor and praise and glory, Lord Jesus, for to know you is to be given stability in your love, grace in your commitment, hope in your power, peace in your forgiveness, joy in your presence, delight in your beauty, wisdom in your Word, strength in your might, help in your compassion and guidance in your wisdom. Your goodness and desires for us are summed up with this: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13).

 

Prayer: “Glory be to you, honor be to you, obedience be to you in my life today, Lord God, that your Name may be lifted up before men and angels. Help me to hear you, to comprehend and obey you for your glory. Amen.”

—from EDIFIED!

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Travels

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 6, 2019
Another major part of our work was traveling to visit IMI workers. This entailed meeting with every worker in each of the locations we visited.
 
In a place like our country of service, we would do more than thirty interviews in two weeks. This took a lot of time and energy, since each interview was at least two hours long and included delving into the couple’s or single’s life and ministry. We were pretty drained by the end of our visits.
Most of the places we visited were not where tourists normally go. Just getting a visa for some destinations was difficult, and the travel to and from was a challenge.
On one trip to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, we first flew into Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Three planes came in at the same time, so along with hundreds of other passengers we were crowded into a long, narrow hall for processing
At the far end were just three passport booths. There were no lines, so we all pressed forward toward the booths. Many people lit up cigarettes and soon the place was full of smoke.
Barbara had not been feeling well on the trip and now weary and overcome by smoke and lack of oxygen, she fainted. I caught her and lowered her to the floor.
People around us immediately opened up a space, women patted her hands and she began to come around. A doctor was called and she took us up to the front of the room and right through the passport booths.
She spoke none of our languages, so we had to communicate through pantomime. After examining Barbara, the doctor determined that she was ok, and then took us through the baggage check. This was the reverse experience of most places, where things are x-rayed and checked when you leave. Here everything coming in had to be x-rayed and all contents listed, a process that normally took three hours. But with Barbara’s fainting, we were out in about thirty minutes!
I told Barbara she should faint every time we had to make these trips! She, however, was greatly embarrassed by all the attention and declined to do a repeat
We were met at the airport by our team leader from Kazakhstan, who took us to a guesthouse for the night. The next day we drove into Kazakhstan and were waved through by the guards at the border. On later visits, this border crossing would become a complex, two-hour ordeal.
We were hosted by the leader in his small apartment. Heating fuel was scarce, so the average temperature in the apartment during our visit was about forty-five degrees Fahrenheit.
The city looked like something out of a pre-World War II film. The buses, filled to the gills with passengers, were ancient and decrepit, belching out great clouds of diesel smoke. The cars all looked like they’d been made in the 1940s and were in poor shape.
The buildings were dilapidated, unpainted, and unsightly. The Soviets had a penchant for building unattractive concrete structures, and the break-up of the Soviet Empire had left the new little countries impoverished so no maintenance had been done in years.
All along the streets were huge rusting pipes, some five feet in diameter, all part of a central heating system that no longer worked. Everything was ugly.
 
After our visit, we went back to Tashkent where some one helped us hire a taxi to take us the three hours to the Tajik border. There we hoped to get onto a plane headed to the capital.
Our driver spoke none of the languages we knew, but he was a friendly fellow and tried to communicate anyway. Pointing to boys selling jars full of gasoline beside the road, he said, “Kuwait.” When we came to the destination and saw the big river there, he said, “Mississippi.”
Our plane was an old Soviet one. There were no frills: no seat belts, no heat, no stewardess. We sat on board, waiting in the cold. Pretty soon someone knocked on the door and somehow a passenger managed to open it. An unshaven man in a black leather jacket got on; he looked like a mafia hit man. He was our pilot.
As we flew over rugged snow-covered mountains, I thought, “If we crashed here, even if we survived, what would be the possibility of getting to some kind of civilization?” The plane, however, did not crash and made it safely to the capital, Dushanbe.
This former Soviet city was the same as the others we’d seen: drab, decrepit and depressing. We spent the night in a guesthouse. It was built around a courtyard with all the rooms opening onto it. We had our own room with a mattress on the floor.
At this point I began to feel sick, probably from something I’d eaten along the way. During the night I got the chills and had to go to the bathroom. I crept out of bed, eased out our door and ran across the cold courtyard to the little bathroom. After using the toilet, I found there was a big hot water tank in the next room, so I spent some time with my arms wrapped around it in order to garner some warmth; that helped and I felt better. Because of my illness, I made that trip several times during the night and each time had a pleasant reunion with the water heater.
Another nice touch about those night trips to the bathroom was the house owner’s dog, which greeted me joyously each time I ran across the courtyard. I couldn’t resist stopping to pet him.
The next morning, the team leader drove us for several hours through the mountains to reach the town just north of the Afghan border where he was working.
Here, we stayed in an empty apartment. The temperatures were cold, below freezing. Our only heat source was one small electric heater, but with the electricity being off eighteen hours a day, it didn’t do much to heat the cement-walled rooms. We slept under so many blankets that we could hardly turn over. It was quite an adventure.
Our workers there lived and worked under these conditions all the time, uncomplaining and diligent. It was a privilege to visit, advise and encourage them in this work.
Our return trip was well-timed. The day before we were to leave there’d been a bombing at the airport. We missed it all and were not a bit sorry about it. When we arrived at the airport the next day, all the damage had been cleaned up and the extra security made the situation very safe.
When we checked in, the baggage worker put our new suitcase with wheels on his little truck. We walked out and got on the plane, the same one we’d come in on. I watched from the plane window as the baggage worker started his little truck toward the plane. The truck moved, but our suitcase remained stationary and fell off the back, hit the pavement and popped open. The worker hopped off and put it back on the truck, laying it flat because the latches were broken.
I asked Barbara for her belt. Grabbing it along with mine, I jumped up and ran off the plane, meeting the baggage truck as it arrived. After attaching our belts together, I was able to tie them around our suitcase; this arrangement held it closed for the rest of the trip.
After stops in Uzbekistan and Istan.bul, we arrived at JFK airport 35 hours later, thoroughly exhausted. There was no one there to meet, so we called the transportation service to find that they had forgotten we were coming that day! So we got to wait three more hours for them to pick us up! Another chance give thanks in all things. Our trip was, to say the least, a most interesting experience and representative of what we often experienced in our new job.
 
Pictures: Barbara having her quiet time in Tajikistan at below freezing temperatures. Me with our Russian driver
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Psalm 118:4

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 5, 2019
From Edified!
 
“Let those who fear the LORD say: ‘His love endures forever.’”
Psalm 118:4
 
Praise you, Lord Jesus, that you are my Shepherd, that we can know that whatever comes, you have led us into it, as you led your disciples into the storm on the lake, into the opposition of the crowd, into the pain of your death. You have the larger picture, so we can trust and follow you as you walk with us into the future.
 
Psalm 118:5-9 says, “In my anguish I cried to the LORD….” This is the proper response to any situation, going right to you, O God, fleeing from self-pity, worry, fretting and anger to embrace your goodness, wisdom and love.
 
You will respond to our prayer: “In the day of my trouble I will call on you, for you will answer me” (Ps. 86:7). And your answer begins inside: “I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears” (Ps. 34:4). “In my anguish I cried out to the Lord and he answered by setting me free” (Ps. 118:5).
 
You, Lord God, are the Freedom-giver—freedom from eternal death, from punishment, from condemnation, from selfishness and Satan, as well as from fretting and fear. You are always at work to set us free from things that bind us, on a deeper level, in a higher way.
 
Praise be to you for your wisdom, your insight, your understanding. You operate with full knowledge, certain of which thing to work on next, which enemy to defeat, which sin to reveal, which point to camp out on until we respond.
 
You don’t guess and fumble as we do in life; you know exactly what is wrong and you know exactly how to deal with it, for you are the Creator, the Healer and the Freedom-bringer.
 
“The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid” (Ps.118:6). As we look away to you, fear is defeated, fretting is routed, worry is wiped out, unbelief is banished. They cannot stand in the light of your mighty, majestic, magnificent power, of your gracious, great and good heart, of your perfect, powerful, positive character, of your deep, dynamic, enduring Love.
 
Seeing you more and more clearly through worship, we can say, “What can man do to me? The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies” (Ps.118:6b,7).
 
The certainty of victory in the end, the knowledge of your present and sure help, your understanding of the fickleness and feebleness of man—this knowledge gives us the freedom to trust you in all, to praise in difficulty and disappointment. The victory you promise may come after death, but it will come.
“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes” (Ps.118:8,9).
 
You, Lord God, are absolutely trustable, while people are ever fickle; you are mighty, people are weak; you are eternal, people are fleeting; you are infinitely wise, people have very limited understanding and knowledge; you see all, people see only a tiny portion of reality; you know the future, people can only guess; you are good by nature, people are evil by nature; you are loving, people are selfish. So–who are we going to trust?
 
To trust in you is always wise, to take refuge in you is always good, to rest in you is always right. Praise be to you, Lord Jesus: Creator and King, Lord and Savior, Judge and Victor.
 
Prayer: “To you be glory in my life today and forever more. Help me to flee to you with each challenge, problem and difficulty, so the answer can come from you and bring you glory. Help me today to distrust myself and to trust you instead. Amen.”
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Following by Faith

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 4, 2019
 
Preaching the gospel to myself.

Today, Lord, as I awoke I felt far from you. Thank you for this opportunity to walk by faith, to be reminded that all depends on your unchanging character, not my senses. Although all around me seems barren and brown, the Son of your love is continually shining into my life. Praise you, Lord, for your great and gracious presence, whether I sense it or not, whether I feel close to you or not, for in your faithfulness you have promised to never leave or forsake me.

 
Your plan, your power, your purpose, your persistence are the basis of our salvation, not our feelings or will, actions or obedience. I praise you that you have provided all we need for life and godliness and our part is simply to respond in belief.
 
To you belongs the glory of having prepared all through the sacrifice of Christ; to us belongs the privilege of faith and repentance. To you belongs all honor, glory and worship, for you are the pure, perfect, positive and powerful One who has done all necessary to redeem us; to us belongs the privilege of being invited into your work.
 
I am so thankful, Father, that against all logic and law, you have chosen and transformed me. I was a seditious slave to sin, a fool fully controlled by my own folly, a criminal correctly condemned to an eternity without any good. I was a captive of Satan’s kingdom, a victim of my own evil, without goodness, without power, without hope.
 
But, in spite of what I am naturally, you called me to yourself, along with all the other sinners in this world. You made it possible for me to believe, you forgave me, transforming me into a new creature, with a new heart after yours, with the beginning of being like Christ. You placed your Holy Spirit within me, you gave me sonship among your children, citizenship in your Kingdom, and fellowship in your family.
 
You saved me because you mysteriously delighted in me and I now stand before you dearly loved, deeply cared for, doted on and delighted in—what a wonder! And all because of your great and gracious heart of love, your wisdom, grace and goodness. I do not deserve this, but I am deeply thankful that you have given me such marvelous and mighty grace.
 
May you be exalted throughout eternity for your illogical, counter-conditional, outrageous love! May I bring you honor today as I live in the light of your presence, whether I feel it or not, forgiving myself, accepting myself, loving myself as you do! And by faith joining you in what you are doing.
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Psalm 36:10-12

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 3, 2019
 
Psalm 36:10 “Continue your love to those who know you,”
 
[I praise you, Lord God, that you are love and therefore can never not love. I am so glad to be your son, chosen in love before the foundation of the world, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, rescued from the kingdom of darkness, accepted in the Kingdom of Light, adopted into your family, and brought out into a wide place. You delighted in me—not because of any quality of my own, but because you are Love itself.
 
And your love will continue throughout eternity, without end, without interruption, without diminishing. I praise you for your beautiful, majestic, magnificent character, founded on love, marvelous in balance and harmony, eternally perfect.]
 
“continue…your righteousness to the upright in heart.”
 
[You are the only Righteous One, O Lord. I praise you that your righteousness is unending, unrelenting and uninterruptable. Praise you that your always act in righteousness, in integrity, in purity, and that you have imputed your righteousness to your children.]
 
Psalm 36:11 “May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.”
 
[Yes, Lord, as we remain in the shadow of the Almighty, we are protected from the evil one and evil people. We may suffer persecution and difficulty, but you allow these as a way of growth, a way of witness and a way to honor you as we triumph over the world in faith. Praise you for the powerful and good working of your hands.]
 
Psalm 36:12 “See how the evildoers lie fallen—thrown down, not able to rise!”
 
[Righteousness will rule, evil will be vanquished: eternity will have only holiness, goodness and purity. The lion will lie down with the lamb, for all wickedness will be locked up in hell, unable to come out and influence the rest of the universe, as it has for so long.
 
You, Lord Jesus, are the conqueror, the King, the Ruler, the Lord of all. To you be glory and honor forever. May we live a life worthy of you today, obeying what we know to be true. Amen.
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Psalm 50:14,15

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 2, 2019

From EDIFIED

“Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” Psalm 50:14,15

A big problem appears on my radar screen. I ask God for help. He sends me another problem. He then uses the second problem to solve the first. This is a pattern: the important question for me is, will I trust Him in this process?

We’ve been having problems with our van for the last two years (1996-98): among other things, it quits periodically on the road. Usually it starts again after a rest, but in January as we were driving to Reading on a dark, frigid Sunday night, it lost all power and slowed to a crawl. PTL, we had just joined AAA two days before, so were towed the last 80 miles without extra charge. And the next day the van worked fine! The mechanic could find nothing wrong with it. This was perplexing.

We prayed with friends for a solution. Then my computer began having similar serious problems, slowing to a crawl. Fortunately there is a computer expert in the office who is very willing to help in such situations. As I was chatting with him about the computer, I mentioned my troubles with the van, and he gave me the name of his mechanic, whom I called. He was willing to take me the next day, diagnosed the problem and solved it (needed a new fuel pump).

Now both my computer and van are working just fine—to God’s credit. He is wonderful and worthy of praise. The question is, in the next difficulty will I praise Him before the answer comes? And when He sends another problem which He intends to use to solve the first one? I want to respond in line with our oft-mentioned verse, “He who offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me and prepares the way that I may show him the salvation of the Lord” (Ps. 50:23).

Prayer: “Lord, your ways are so different than mine. Help me to trust you when things seem to go from bad to worse, knowing that you are far wiser than I am. May you be glorified by my giving thanks when I don’t feel like it today. Amen.”

Barbara celebrating her recent birthday

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Psalm 36:8-9

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 1, 2019
Psalm 36:8 “…the high and low among men…feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.’
 
[Even in the midst of difficulty, we can eat and drink of your marvelous provisions—but we must choose to do so. You offer us so much on the spiritual side (love, joy, peace, grace, goodness, hope, purpose, wisdom and power), on the relational side (family, church family, friends) and the physical side (bodies that work pretty well, home, food, bed, warmth, water). You call on us to open wide and receive your gifts, to note and give thanks for them. You are our Source of all, you are the Provider of all. Praise you that you are the abundant, loving, giving God, the reason for all our delight.]
 
Psalm 36:9 “For with you is the fountain of life;”
 
[Without you there is only death, destruction, damage and decay. As we come to you and surrender, we are made alive, brought into a river of vibrant life that flows from the fountain of your grace and the well of your Word.
 
This life continually grows ever more rich, deep, wonderful and abundant as we see more and more of your great and gracious character. This leads us to love you more and more in response to knowing your love that surpasses knowledge as we note God sightings, offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and dwell in your Word.
 
“in your light we see light.”
 
[To know you is to begin to really see, and the more we walk into the light of your presence and power through worship and obedience, the more we can know and understand. “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining on ever more brightly til the full light of day” (Prov. 4:18).
 
You are the Revealer, the Teacher, the Guide and Protector. From you flows all revelation and insight. With you we are continually seeing more and more treasures in your Word, in your work, in your way. Praise you for the clarity, the vision, the insight and understanding you bring.]
 
I praise you, Lord God, my Heavenly Father, that you are so loving to us, taking us now (2010) through this team conflict, a difficult, hard, trying, painful, unpleasant, distressing time. On the human side, it is because of the stubbornness of those involved; on the spiritual side, it is because you are bringing pressure to bear on all of us to grow and deepen, to trust and offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
 
I praise you now for how you are going to work this out, for you are the Fountain of life, the Light of wisdom and the God of abundant grace. Yes, you Lord, are good, loving and wise. Therefore, we choose to trust you, praise you and submit to you with all our hearts. Guide us today in living disciplined and wise lives so that more and more honor may flow from us to you. Amen.
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Psalm 36:7b

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 30, 2019
 
Psalm 36:7b “Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.”
 
[Lord, I come to you to find refuge in the midst of the difficult interpersonal conflict going on among my fellow workers (written in 2010), to find hope and help in the shadow of your mighty, protecting Wings. In every situation I choose with Habakkuk to, “rejoice in the LORD, to be joyful in God my Savior” (3:18). There is no other source of help, there is no other refuge, there is no other way.
 
“The Sovereign LORD is my strength;”
 
[You, Lord, are awesomely powerful, while I am appallingly weak–powerless and frustrated in many situations. I cannot get people to budge from their destructive, self-defensive delusions. Only you can do this Lord; you are my strength, making up for my lack. And I chose to join your strength through prayer.]
 
“…he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.”
 
[Lord, help me to stay spiritually nimble, to be able to move ahead, to climb these intimidating heights, to be obedient to the Truth that you have given us. May you be our Ruler in the difficult situation before me. Answer my pleas according to your righteousness, according to your wisdom, according to your graciousness and your Love.
 
For the sake of your Name, for the sake of your church, for the sake of your glory, please intervene. Bring us all to our knees, to see our sin, to be humble before you, to be broken, to stop trusting in ourselves and to start listening to you. Bring the breakthroughs needed, Lord. And I thank you now for what you will do. Help me to leave this with you, to rest in you, to be content in you, Lord.
 
Praise be to you, Lord, for your consistent guidance and direction. I praise you, Heavenly Father, that you are my Rock and Refuge, that you, Lord Jesus, are my Shepherd and Salvation, that you, Holy Spirit, are my Tutor and Teacher. I praise you that, according to your plan, you will lead me through this disquieting, distressing time.
 
Praise you, Lord Jesus that you are the Way, the Truth and the Life, that you are the Light of my life, that you unswervingly, unendingly, unchangingly are at work drawing us on to do what is right and good and positive. Please move us all forward through this time of trouble. I praise you, Lord, for what you are doing and what you will do, you who are my Fortress, my Salvation, and my Stronghold.
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Prayer Life

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 29, 2019

 

After moving into our home in Wyomissing, PA in 1993, we began the process of getting settled into our new situation. As usual, I moved ahead quickly and began to work in the office earlier than Barbara was ready for it.

Although she had been fully in favor of this move to the US, the adjustment was very hard for her. She had left behind a multitude of friends of many nationalities, a rich teaching ministry, a clearly defined role as a field leader’s wife, and not least, the Middle Eastern culture she had come to love.

 

Here in the US, she had no clear role, no teaching opportunities and a suburban culture where neighbors rarely showed themselves except for occasional glimpses when they waved at us from a distance

This was so different from the hospitality-rich situation we’d lived in for the last thirteen years. It took her a whole year to adjust. When she and Nat felt the loss of life in Tur.key, they would play Middle Eastern music, drink Middle Eastern tea and cry a little together.

 

In contrast, my role as assistant to the Overseas Director was clearly defined and I jumped right into it. We basically acted as administrators and pastors for all the overseas workers. Along with another coworker, the three of us divided up the twenty-one countries in which we had workers. Barbara and I were responsible for the countries from Egypt to Tajikistan. This included Albania, Egypt, our country, the UAE, Oman, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

 

When I arrived at the office, it had no email, so I signed up for Compuserve (one of the first internet providers) to speed up communication. Since the office telephone system did not support connections to the internet, I would spend two to three hours in the evening doing email correspondence at home.

The foundation of our work was intercession, and I persisted in the practice of praying regularly for all those within my spiritual responsibility.

 

Whenever there has been a shift in my assignment, I have made a corresponding shift in my prayer list. While in our Middle Eastern country, I prayed for each of our workers six days a week, and each day I had different requests for each one. I did not pray through my list on Sundays because serious intercession is hard work and I took a rest from it on one day.

 

This list had expanded over the years as we got to know more about each person and his or her needs, weaknesses and strengths. Now that I had a larger area of responsibility, the individual workers in our country dropped to a lower level of priority on my prayer list. At the top now were the leaders in each country for which we were responsible. I prayed for each leader six days a week. Individual workers in each country also were prayed for next, but only on two days a week–there were too many to pray for each of them every day. I now also included as priority the staff in the home office.

 

After a while I found that praying for so many people so frequently actually fractured my thinking and my feelings. So, I divided my everyday list in half, praying through one half one day, the other half the next. That made it much more manageable.

 

This ongoing shift in the ordering of my prayer list has had a positive side effect: it keeps my praying fresh. To enhance this I also vary the way I use the list. Some days I only praise God for what He is doing in each person’s life, a statement of faith in our prayer-answering God.

 

Sometimes I pray my list from the bottom to the top or from the middle out in both directions. I work hard to avoid becoming mechanical in my prayers, to avoid the legalistic feeling that praying through my list makes me a better believer, or more righteous, or better than others. The list is simply a tool to assist me in being more effective in joining God in His work.

 

I later started to print out a fresh copy of my list each month thereby being able to make frequent additions and changes. Also, each week I use what I call my “blanket prayer” for all those on my list for that day, “covering” them with God’s biblical desires . Most of these blanket prayers are passages of Scripture. Here are some that I use, and which you may want to use in your own intercessory prayers:

 

Psalm 1: Be a fruitful believer

2 Pet 1:5-7: Use what God has provided

James 3:17: Have heavenly wisdom

1 Cor 13: Have Agape love

Gal 5:26: Have growing fruit of the Spirit

Ps 143:8-10: Surrender

 

Prayer is not easy for me by nature. Being a Connecticut Yankee, I grew up with a strong work ethic that put value on doing things. Prayer was not visibly “doing something” according to this value system, so I had to struggle against the emotional push to “get to work” instead of spending time in prayer.

 

One thing that helped me to overcome this natural negative view of prayer was to combine intercession with an activity. We lived three miles from the office, so I began to walk to work several days a week, praying throughout the hour it took to get there.

 

That combination helped to keep my prayers fresh, kept me in shape and kept me from spending money on gas. At the end of the day I would catch a ride home with another worker who lived near us, so it also provided time for good fellowship.

 

God has multiple reasons for prayer. One of them is that He uses it to change us. Through this growth in my prayer life, God was in the process of setting me free from my natural narrow and legalistic views, bringing me into an eternal, spiritual perspective on what is truly important and foundational.

 

As I pray for others, especially as I pray Scripture for them, the Holy Spirit brings new insights, convicts me of sin, gives direction, deepens my commitment and changes my desires. Intercession is one way to spend time in the light of God’s presence and that always brings transformation.

 

Prayer is, in one sense ,a statement of our weakness and an acknowledgment of God’s power. By spending time in intercession we admit that we are not capable of handling life on our own, even though it may appear to others or ourselves that we can. We are weak; embracing that fact in prayer plugs us into the infinitely rich power of God. Intercessory prayer is our primary response to God’s invitation to join Him in His work.

pic. Us in 1993

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