Ministry Profile: Breaking the Cycle

I love this blog. I love it’s heart for the Lord and for people. This post touched me even more than the others, of course, because it’s about India:)
Please do read it, and pray with me for A. Konduru.

Father, please break the cycle in A. Konduru. Break the bonds of hopelessness, of fear, cultural lies, and spiritual oppression. Equip Your workers there with the strength, wisdom, love, compassion, and endurance they need to see this through and change lives for Your glory. Send workers into Your vineyard, Father. Remind us to keep our brothers and sisters there in prayer as if we were serving and suffering with them, and remind us to keep this next generations in our prayers so they may be saved by You, know You, and live for You. We thank You that You are sovereign, that You are relentless to draw people to Yourself for Your glory, that You are faithful to equip Your people and bring them through every trial, that You are full of compassion and mercy, and that You are mighty to make Yourself known through all the earth.
In the name of Jesus and all that You are,
Amen

Ariel

Click here to see the post:

Ministry Profile: Breaking the Cycle.

via Ministry Profile: Breaking the Cycle.

Prayer for the Deaf and Disabled Children of India

When I began this blog, I hadn’t yet been to India. These posts were mostly prayers. This post is a return to that. Please, pray with me today:

Father,

You know the deaf and disabled children in India. You know them each by name. You know everything about them – every hurt, every joy, every dream. You know their needs. So, we come to You today, and we ask you to meet their needs through Your presence, through Your people, through us.

Feed them and clothe them. Grant them clean water and good health. Let them see themselves the way You see them. Bring people into their lives who love them and will care for them, who will be Your hands and Your feet, Your hugs and Your kisses, Your provision and Your tenderness. Give them hope. Give them joy in your presence.

And give us prayers for them. Give us the wisdom and the resources to help them. Fill us with Your Spirit and give us the boldness to do hard and seemingly crazy things to lead them to You and to the life You desire for them.

We thank You that You are with them now. That you are breathing in our prayers. That Your glory is unstoppable and Your love is already at work changing the world. Make us like You.

You are love and You are holy.

Your will be done, Dad.

Amen

Ariel

When I Grow Up

I’ll finish my story about the mountains and what I found in the smoking tent and the work the Lord provided for me to partake in here. But not just yet. There’s something I feel a burden to talk about first. It’s a little bit about dreams and a little bit about the world changing and a little bit about growing up.

It also involves a little backstory: I changed my mind like most kids do about what I wanted to be when I grew up. When I was seven I wanted to be a spy. At around age eight I wanted to be an electrical engineer… who wrote poetry. (Yeah, I’ve basically never been conventional.) Then I wanted to be a singer. I think, at one point, I wanted to be a dancer… and a computer programer. And when I was fifteen I really wanted to be a children’s book author and I wrote a children’s chapter book with one chapter missing in the middle haha. After that I just wanted to have ten children, home grown tomatoes, and a cow. But I find that as time goes on I haven’t really narrowed down my ambitions and settled into one thing, at least not exactly.

I want to be a hundred things at once – a teacher, a nurse, a nutritionist, a linguist, a foster mom…. the list goes on. I guess I’ve taken Gandhi’s advice too seriously. I want to be the change I want to see in the world, and there is just so much in the world I want to change. I want to be a teacher because I want everyone to have the gift of learning and knowledge. I want to be a nurse because I want every one to be healed and a nutritionist because I want everyone to be well. I want to be a linguist because I want to communicate to everyone in every language that they are loved and to give them hope. I want to be a foster mom because I want every lonely child to have a loving home. Again, the list goes on. For every lack and hurt and heartbreak I see, I want to do something that will change it. I want the world to be healed and loved and whole and know God.

But no one could do all of that, even in a thousand lifetimes. No one could accomplish all of that.

Still, I look out on my ever expanding view of the world, and I see need. I see deaf children who need sign language. I see disabled children who need sign language. I see children who need education, children who need love. I see so many languages the Word needs to be translated into. I see so many hopeless people who need to be saved. I see people sick because of ignorance, and I hear of people dying because of lies. And I can’t help but beg God to train up and raise up His people to be the change He wants to see in this world, by being like Him. I can’t help but beg Him to accomplish through others what I have to admit I could never accomplish no matter how much I gave up and no matter how hard I tried. I beg Him to stir in people’s hearts a desire to learn sign languages, to learn how to teach, to learn how to heal, to learn how to feed and clothe and love. I beg Him to bring people who will be family and home to the homeless and helpless children of this world. And I beg you to pray with me.

I’ve realized that in a world that is constantly shifting, uncertain in its future, and insurmountable if alone, that there is only one choice for me. If I could become anything or anyone… I would be a woman who prays.

Because while we are limited, the God whom we pray to is limitless, and His desire to see this world healed and whole and saved is greater than ours could ever be, and His ability to bring about those things unstoppable. Our burden is not to do every conceivable thing, but to do the things He has made for us to do and to pray for others to do likewise and for His will to be fulfilled on earth.

Please, pray with me.

Prayers with “Hallowed by Thy Name” Exploding

“You know, you can tell when somebody’s theology is being turned upside down by the way they pray.” Because we just were praying differently. Texts like “hallowed be thy name” were just exploding. That wasn’t a throwaway phrase anymore! “Hallowed be your name” was a request to God to make himself strong in the world and great in our hearts. So I’m asking you, How does your discovery of God affect your praying? … We say, In Jesus’ name I pray, amen. Because that’s the name. On this side of the cross, we know the name. It’s Jesus. God has put his son forward to exalt his own righteousness and preserve his own justice in the saving of sinners, so that when we call down mercy, totally underserved, who are we going to appeal to—ourselves? Nothing works except: For your name’s sake, O Lord. Make your name great in forgiving my sins and using me, broken and imperfect as I am.

– A Holy Ambition

Wow. I will certainly be praying this prayer now. This is the prayer for every missionary, every child of God at home or abroad. Please, pray it with me.

The Name

This morning I was reading Piper’s book “Let the Nations be Glad.” In it, he talks about The Name. He points out that Jesus’ ministry and prayers were focused around the glorification of the Name of God. His call to people is to leave everything and follow Him for the sake of His name. (Matt 19:29) Is this our goal in life and in missions? The glory of His Name?

In the following posts we’re going to find out more about His Name and how it affects our mind in missions, our prayers, and our lives. For now, please join me in prayer that we will know His name and abandoned all else for the sake of His name.

Father, turn our eyes upon You. Teach us Your name. Stir our hearts to seek out what it means. Make our missions not centered around Your work but around Yourself and Your glory. May the persecuted church, those who are translating Your Word, and the missionaries You are now raising up delight in Your name and, forsaking all else, pursue It’s glorification. We praise You because You a a glorious God Who has called us and equipped us for this task. Fill us with Your Spirit, Father. In Your Name we pray. Amen.

A. Ariel

Workers

The Greek word for laborers here is ἐργάτης (ergatēs). ἐργάτης means “someone who does something” (Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary) With this reasoning, what this passage is really saying is “The harvest is plentiful – there are a lot of people out there ready to receive Christ. But there’s hardly anyone out there who is doing something to reap that harvest.” Ouch. Am I a worker? Am I doing something? Am I doing something to reap this huge harvest? Am I doing something to advance the kingdom of God?

2 Timothy 2:15 uses this same word ἐργάτης when he writes “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” This is the kind of worker we are called to be as missionaries, as Bible translators, as mothers, as daughters, as a Church. This is the kind of ἐργάτης I am called to be right here, right now, by the power of the Holy Spirit Who lives in me.

;

Father, make us a ἐργάτης who does not need to be ashamed. Make us workers who accurately handle Your truth, and make us workers who do something for Your kingdom and glory. Open our eyes to see Your harvest and then move us to reap it. Fill us with Your Spirit so that we may do the work You have called us to do and make us faithful in prayer and faithful in fulfilling Your command to be diligent to do. We praise You because You are so faithful to fill us with the power to do the things which You have asked of us. We praise You because You are very near and are powerful beyond our comprehension. Amen.

Ariel

Plentiful

The word for plentiful here is the Greek word πολύς (polus.) Jesus says that the harvest is πολύς – plentiful, abundant, great. What an incredible thing to realize: The harvest is PLENTIFUL. Later on in the verse we also learn that the harvest is the Lord’s (“His harvest”). The fields, as the Lord says in John 4:43, are white. The harvest is His and it is ready to be harvested. What’s preventing it from being harvest?

Our prayers. “Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Lord, thank You for revealing to us that the harvest is plentiful. Thank You for the security and power that comes with the knowledge that it is Your harvest. Please Lord, send laborers into the vineyard. Send me, send my family, send my friends, send the people I meet at school, the people I meet at my church. Send Your people into Your harvest. May the harvest be reaped. Thank You for Your compassion that moved You to die for us so that we might be saved and moved You to give us Your Holy Spirit so that we may know You intimately, be comforted, and boldly do Your will. Thank You for those who are already laboring in the vineyard. Reap through them, Father. Reap through us. Amen.

A. Ariel

The Compassion of Christ

;

The Greek for compassion here is splanchnizomai:

;

This splanchnizomai kind of compassion isn’t a mere thought of pity: Christ-like compassion moves our inner man so deeply that we feel it in our gut. It is this kind of compassion that moves us to show compassion, just as it moved the Lord to show compassion (Mt 14:14). It was when He was filled with this compassion that he went on to tell the disciples in the following verse to “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Mt 9:38). Compassion should move us too to living out compassion in deed and prayer.

Lord, You are a compassionate God. We praise You for the compassion that moves You to save us, sanctify us, and one day glorify us in Your presence. Father, fill us with Your compassion. Make us like You in this way. Move our hearts to feel deeply for the lost and the needy. Move our hearts to pray more and more for You, the Lord of the harvest, to send out laborers into Your vineyard. Open our eyes to see how great the harvest is, how white these fields are. Open our mouths to tell of Your name, to bring justice to the oppressed, and to lead these lost sheep to the good Shepherd. Fill the prayer warriors and future missionaries with compassion. Fill the translators and the persecuted church with compassion. Fill the hearts of all believers, Father, with Your compassion, for the sake of Your glory. Amen.

Ariel

Giving up on Prayer

Lord,

forgive us for giving up on prayer – for giving up praying for certain ministries, certain needs, certain people – because it’s been so long and things have only gotten worse, things have only gotten more painful for us as we pray for them. Change our hearts, Father. Help us see them through your eyes. Help us see You as You are. Help us persevere. Lord, right now, call to mind the things we have failed to bring before You. We pray for them now – for the ministries, the situations, the needs, the missionaries, the family members, the friends, the people in the church, the unsaved people of the World, the people who have as yet not entered our prayers. We thank You Father, for being such a forgiving God. We thank You for giving us Salvation through your Son, and the power through Your Holy Spirit to be steadfast in prayer.

Amen

A. Ariel

Declare His Glory As The Heavens

I look out at this pastel, Tennessee morning sky, and I think of all the skies throughout the world – parched or rainy, dark or bright. My brothers and sisters are all over the world, but wherever they are, there’s the sky.

How reaffirming, how exhorting to know that even the sky is telling the people of this world about our God and Savior Jesus Christ. How reaffirming to know that His glory is constantly being declared. The earth cannot help crying out about how glorious, how magnificent, how blessed our Lord is. And How exhorting to us to tell of Him. If the soulless sky can declare His glory, how can we who have experienced His Word, salvation, sanctification, and the fullness of His Holy Spirit, be silent?

Lord, I pray that Your children around the world may declare Your glory. I pray that our mission as believers, missionaries, translators, persecuted Christians would be to be worshipers and call others into Your kingdom that You may be worshiped yet more and more. We praise You because You are so worthy of our praise. We praise You because You, Oh Lord, are SO glorious. We thank You for the creation You have made, for the reality that even the sky gives You glory. We pray that You would fill us still more with the Spirit, and we thank You that the Holy Spirit You fill us with gives us the power to praise You boldly and in truth. May Your Name be glorified yet more and more. Amen

A. Ariel