Only Ask {And Praying for Bolivia Trip!}

“Only ask, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession.”  Psalm 2: 8

Father, You said, “Only Ask.”  Lord, we ask for You to send Deeper Still to all the nations.  We ask for the healing message of Your Gospel to go forth through Deeper Still to all the ends of the earth.  We ask for the truth of abortion to be known and for the abortion wounded to be freed.  We ask for You to give us the nations for Your inheritance.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

I opened my email.  In my inbox that day was an email from a lady in South America.  She was desperate.  Her heart was broken over having an abortion.  She had read my other blog, Living Free in Him, and had read my story and about Deeper Still.  She pleaded through her words for help.  She asked if there was a Deeper Still where she lived in Guyana, South America.  I sadly had to tell her there was not. The closest involvement of Deeper Still was in Ecaudor, 2200 miles away.  Same continent, but not exactly next door. 

My heart was broken for her.  All I could do was encourage her, share the truth of God’s love and grace, and pray.   

One thing Deeper Still has been praying for years is to expand to reach more people like her, desperate for healing. 

Well, this coming week, Karen Ellison (the founder of Deeper Still), Carla Martin and Sharon Kinder are all heading out on the first international Deeper Still Mission trip with Life International.  To say we are excited, is quite an understatement!  They are traveling to Bolivia, which is also in South America! 

We have asked the Lord to expand Deeper Still to the North, South, East and West to reach the abortion wounded, and to see this prayer beginning to be answered is exciting! 

The great commission is to go into all the world and preach the Good News (Mark 16:15).  Deeper Still started with going into its community, which is part of all of the world, and it is so amazing to see how God is expanding its borders into more of the world.   My prayer is that someday when we get an email from a lady desperate for healing, whether in Guyana or Uganda, Deeper Still will be there to bring the message of Good News. 

Please join us in praying for Karen, Carla, and Sharon as they travel to Bolivia to share the Good News of healing and freedom with Life International. 

  

With a Nature Like Ours

“The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”  James 5:16

Father, we thank you that the fervent prayers of the righteous avail much.  We thank you for hearing the prayers of Deeper Still and answering.   We ask for you to meet every need of Deeper Still in 2015 and to do above and beyond all we can think or imagine in setting the abortion wounded free.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

Someone recently shared with me how she was praying for something but didn’t think her prayers would be heard because of the verse above.   She went on to explain that she was not righteous.  She had a sinful past, so how could her prayers be effective based on the verse above. 

Perhaps you have held a similar thought before.  If so, may you find freedom in what I also shared with her.

I first asked if she was still living in the sin or if it was in the past, just to clarify.  She answered that it was in the past and that she had asked for forgiveness. 

Habitual sin does hinder our prayers and separates us from the Father (1 Peter 3:7).  But, as soon as we go to Jesus, confess our sins and turn away from them, we are in right relationship again.   If you happen to be reading this and know there is an area of unconfessed habitual sin in your life, confess it, renounce it and cast it off (Acts 3:19-20). 

My prayer is for you to understand your position in Christ and the power you hold in Him.  Your righteousness has nothing to do with you.  It has everything to do with Jesus.  Because of the blood of Jesus, you have been made righteous (2 Cor 5:21). 

If you are in Christ, there isn’t one thing more you can do to be more righteous than you are at this very moment. 

And your prayers are heard and answered not because of who you are, but because of who He is. 

In the next verse, James 5:17-18, it says, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain for three years and six months.  And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.

Elijah is often viewed as some sort of super hero because of the miracles God performed through him.  However, he was just a man.  In fact, he was just a man with a nature like ours, a sinful nature like ours.  He struggled with sin just like we do.  He had a flesh just like we do, and his prayers were powerful and effective. 

There is a reason God put the example of Elijah following James 5:16.  And there is a reason the Lord pointed out that Elijah had a nature like ours.  Friends, your prayers are just as powerful and effective.  Yes, Elijah was amazing, but he was also just a man.

Your righteousness has nothing to do with you and everything to do with God.   He has already made you righteous through the blood of Jesus.  There is not one man more righteous than you.  Not Billy Graham.  Not your pastor.  Not sister so-and-so on the prayer team at church.  You are righteous and your prayers are effective and avail much.   

Half the Story

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   Romans 6:23

Father, I thank you that because of the blood of Jesus Christ we don’t have to pay the wages of our sin.  I pray for you to bring people in the path of  Deeper Still  who need to hear this truth.  I pray for those who are walking around with shrouds of shame to be released into new life and grace in You.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The phone rang.  On the other end was a sweet person I had just briefly met the day before.  Her child was sick with a serious diagnosis.  As we spoke, she stated her grief in that she believed her child’s sickness was a result of a past sin.  Shame covered her as a shroud, wrapped up tight with no room to breathe in grace.

 

She went on to explain that the wages of her sin was death, so her child’s illness must be the result of her sin. 

My heart sank.  How could this person be brought up in church and believe this lie.  What about the second part of that verse?  Of course, that is just like the enemy to use only half a scripture to torment those who belong to the King.

 

What the verse actually says is:

“For the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   Romans 6:23

That is a one big BUT you don’t want to leave out!

 

How many Christians are living out their Christian walk with only half the story? Can you do much with half of anything that requires the whole?  Can you use half a computer?  Or half a phone?  Half a lamp?

When it comes to the Word of God, we need the whole. 

Similarly to the person mentioned above, it is common for post-abortive men and women to fear retribution for their sins.  They fear God will strike them or their children in punishment.  That is simply NOT OUR GOD.   Our God is a God of mercy.  And mercy triumphs over judgment.  Every. Single. Time.

Some may point to the Old Testament to argue otherwise.  The Old Testament wasn’t under the blood of Jesus.   We entered into a New Covenant when Jesus took our death penalty for our sins.

Jesus paid the price for our sins so we could have eternal life.  When one is in Christ, one is covered by the blood of the Lamb.  He has already paid for ALL sins and we are forgiven.  Jesus Christ paid the price we should have paid. 

   

He is our Redeemer and Savior.  He is our Life, Peace and Healer. 

If you are only holding half an ice cream cone, you are missing the best part. 

We walk around half alive with a shroud covering our new life in Christ because we are missing half the message. 

The story needs to be told.  The whole story needs to be heard.  He wrote it for our ears to ring with His Truth so loudly that the shouts of the world and the enemy would dim in comparison. 

If you have any fear of retribution for past sins, my prayer for you today is to hear the whole story.  May truth unwrap the shroud that has kept you bound.  May God’s all sufficient grace breathe new life into you and make you whole. 

Don’t miss out on the best part.