The Assurance of Things Hoped For, The Conviction of Things Not Seen.

My Dear Sweet Wonderful Friends,

Today was such an incredible experience for me. Yesterday I fasted all day only drinking water and was just in this place where I was like, “Okay God, I will do ANYTHING to get closer to you… to see your face… to go to another level. I’m laying it down, I HAVE to have more, and I don’t have a clue how to get there because only YOU can draw me closer and take me deeper.”

God totally honored that today in a corporate prayer session we had with my DTS… Pastor Paul was talking about, well, a lot of things, but specifically he was talking about speaking truth into our lives and into the world, praying in the will of the Lord and KNOWING that our good and faithful Father will back up our statements… that he will “put his signature” on our requests and declarations. He said to speak out and prophesy, believing in faith that God will bring our requests to pass.

I’ve been hesitant about that in the past because I’ve been so concerned about praying GOD’s will, not mine, but I’m coming to see more and more that as we come to know God, we KNOW his will. His will is to bring people to the knowledge of him… to bring glory to his name… to bear our iniquities and heal our diseases as he said would come to pass when Jesus died for us on the cross (Psalm 103:2-3). He wants to break down strongholds of sin in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones… to bring His kingdom here on earth.

Jesus said that if we asked in his beautiful, holy name, that anything we ask will be given to us. If you PRAY IN THE SPIRIT, asking the Holy Spirit to fill and to guide you and stepping forward in FAITH, believing that HE WILL DO IT, then great and mighty things will result. WE ARE POWERFUL, not in our own strength, but in the strength of our Father who wants to bless us and involve us in His works and in whose name we have authority!

Today, God BROKE MY HEART. I’ve never felt so broken. He broke my heart for the people I love who don’t know Him. He moved me to such depths of love for my family, both biological and also my church family and my friends (because you’re all family to me). He absolutely brought me to tears, so much was my burden for those without a voice… for the orphans, the unborn, the oppressed and persecuted. LET HIM BREAK YOUR HEARTS, always knowing that he will carry the burden of it so that you aren’t weighed down.

We are called to INTERCESSION!!!!! We have to be interceeding for our brothers and sisters throughout the world!!! You don’t know these people here in Ghana, and I don’t know the people in India or Bangladesh or Colombia or wherever, but THEY ARE OUT THERE whether you know them or not and those who are in Christ make up the collective body of Christ and we HAVE to be in intercession for each other and for this world.

PRAY FOR REVIVAL IN AMERICA. And in Africa, or wherever else the Lord guides you to pray for. Ask the Lord to give you prayer missions… to put the places and people and things on your heart that He WANTS you to be praying for. He’s faithful, He’ll do it. He tells us not to be anxious, but “through prayer and supplication make your requests known to God.”

Remember, “Faith is the assurance of things HOPED FOR, the conviction of things NOT SEEN.” Faith is a gift of the Spirit, and we should always be asking for MORE of it… more of the Holy Spirit stirring in our hearts, more faith to carry out God’s works here on this earth, to bring His kingdom of light into this world of darkness.

You all bring so much light into my life and I love you more than words can convey… which is why I’m praying in the Spirit for you all! He “intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

Love and blessings to you all,
Jessie

Worship Is A Lifestyle

That’s the theme of Youth With A Mission’s School of Worship, and it has been a living lesson throughout the past week that they’ve been at the base.  The S.o.W. team got back on Monday night from their outreach, and just had their graduation ceremony last night.

Worship here in Ghana has a very different feeling to it than the worship you would experience in the States… First of all, it’s very loud!  There tend to be multiple people with microphones and everyone sings with everything they’ve got, both up at the front and from the congregation.  People often pray (and often in tongues) throughout the worship time, and there isn’t much organization to it.

Now, to someone coming from a typical church in America, the effect would seem very chaotic and noisy and out of control.  HOWEVER, when God gives you the grace to step outside of your own “life lens,” the beauty comes forth.  Ghanaian worship isn’t always orderly, but it is heartfelt.  It is honest, authentic, and genuine.   And it seems that the lack of organization leaves room for the work of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct the process.

When I went to a church service on Tuesday night (the School of Worship team led worship at the end of the service), I have to admit that I was just not prepared for the noise level or the “chaos,” as my mind labeled it at the time, even though I’d already been to another traditional Ghanaian church.  I was wrestling with some things with the Lord, and I felt like the loudness of it all was just distracting to my own prayers.  I felt foreign, depressed, and lost in the crowd.  I’m being very honest with you… I just wasn’t in the mood.

So I sat at the base of a pillar beside my seat and tried to keep my mind on seeking the Lord quietly, asking him to block out the noise and to keep me focus, but it was NOT working, at all.  Finally, a girl named Stella offered me a flag (lots of people had them and were waving them around), so taking it, I realized I would have to stand up rather than just wave it half-heartedly from the ground.

Before I knew what was happening, one of the guys from the team pulled me out into the midst of all the dancing at the front of the room, and I started going along with some of the moves people were doing and waving the flag and getting completely into it… I kid you not, in five minutes I went from sitting alone and frustrated by the pillar to jumping and dancing and singing at the front of the church with tons of other people, having a blast and truly worshipping the Lord.

What did the Lord teach me from this?

He taught me that worship has nothing to do with being in the mood to worship.  In fact, it should have nothing to do with me at all.  Worship is about giving glory and thanks and praise to the living God who gives us life and breath and joy every day by His mercy and love.  It’s about forgetting yourself and looking up and out to Jesus who sacrificed himself for us that “we might have life, and have it abundantly.”  God always deserves worship, whether you feel “in the mood” to worship or not.

But most importantly, worship isn’t something you set aside time to do… it is supposed to be LIFE.  It should be with every breath we take.  Romans 12:1 says “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.“  The way we live, whether we’re interacting with people or whether we’re completely alone, should reflect God’s glory within us and give glory to Him, because our ability to live in righteousness is a GIFT from Him.

In John 4:23-24, Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman at the well and says to her, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.“

It’s important not only to listen to this verse, but to really hear it and think about it.  To worship in spirit requires us to seek the Holy Spirit that Jesus says was sent to be our “Helper.”  He said that it was actually better for us that he returned to heaven so that we might have that Helper with us at all times, and thereby these words might be come to pass: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.“  The Holy Spirit is what allows us to live rightly before God.  It is what gives us the ability to interpret the Scriptures not in our fallen human wisdom, but with the eternal wisdom that comes from the Father.  We have so many misconceptions about God because we read the Bible without seeking the Lord’s interpretation… His truth.

Worship is not about a sensory experience or about getting a high off of God.  It’s not about making ourselves feel better, though you will ALWAYS be blessed when you worship the Lord…  worship is something that we should live out every moment of every day of our lives by living according to God’s commandments, his words, his truth.  Seek the Holy Spirit, ask him to guide you and to reveal just how worthy the Lord is of your praise.

Worship is a lifestyle.

Thanks for bearing with me, I know that this was long… “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way.  The Lord be with you all.”

“Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.” — Jim Elliot

I absolutely love that quote by missionary and martyr Jim Elliot (who ministered to the Waodani natives in Ecuador) and have been praying for a similar mindset for this journey!

PRAISE GOD, I’m in Ghana safe (as is my baggage, thank you Lord!).  I got to the YWAM base around 10 or so this morning and had time to meet a few people, settle into my new room and come over to the internet cafe with Rachel, who is also an American and will be a staff member for my DTS.  I’m feeling so blessed not only for the safe travel and warm reception, but also for having an overall feeling of peace.

Ghana is a very interesting, alive place.  It sounds strange, but I love the smells!  They remind me of when I was in Kenya (even though that’s on another part of the continent) and made it seem slightly more familiar.  I already love the laid-back attitude of the people here… it’s a very people-oriented society rather than being more time-oriented.

There have been some hard points, for example saying goodbye to friends and family and thinking about just how long I’ll be here, but I’m praying that Jesus will continue to help me to live one day at a time, and not to worry about tomorrow, “for tomorrow has enough worries of its own!”  That’s why I’m so THANKFUL for this peace!  If you’re praying for me, let that be a continual part of it, that I rest in the peace of God’s presence every day!

God taught me something yesterday that I would like to share with you all:

There is very little difference between saying “I’m leaving today” and saying “I’m going today.”  However, that little difference can have an extreme impact on your heart.  When I have the minset of “leaving,” it places the emphasis on the place being left behind.  When I say, “I’m going,” it focuses on the destination. When the Lord showed me this while I was sitting in the airport, it forced me to change my perspective from one of being sad to leave to one of being excited to arrive!

Blessings to you all, and I’ll give another update when I can,

Love, Jess

Countdown: One Week To Go

¹ There is a time for everything,
       and a season for every activity under heaven:

 ² a time to be born and a time to die,
       a time to plant and a time to uproot,

 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
       a time to tear down and a time to build,

 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
       a time to keep and a time to throw away,

 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
       a time to be silent and a time to speak,

 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
       a time for war and a time for peace.

… and, apparently, a time to wait patiently before going to Ghana and a TIME TO GO TO GHANA!!  It’s been about two months since I was originally supposed to leave for Africa, and that time to spend with friends and family (without the stress of classes) has been the most incredible blessing.  God definitely knew better than I did just how much I could (or couldn’t) have handled.

However, the waiting period is over and this week I’m finishing preparations for the trip.  I have my passport, visa, tickets, applications for DTS, and just about everything I’ll need to pack.  I’m driving over to get my typhoid and malaria meds in an hour or so (I was just going to bring MMS, but I’m going to act on the advice of others and bite the bullet).  Now all I really need is for everyone to be in prayer for me throughout the time I’m away.

I’m very serious.. I know that there will be a lot of spiritual warfare where I’m going, as well as some physical concerns, and I’m asking God to raise up prayer warriors to lift me up while I’m in Ghana.

The final and most important thing being prepared is my heart: God has worked it over in miraculous ways these past few months, from a time when leaving for 7-9 months excited me to when it terrified me to when it depressed me to the point I’m at now, which I can only describe as peace, and that has only been achieved by resting in the Lord’s strength.  Leaving everyone at CFO and in Lynchburg was hard, and I’ll miss you all dearly, but Jesus walks with me and I know He is more than sufficient.  As the apostale Paul wrote,

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me (II Corinthians 12:9).”

I love you all and you will be in my thoughts and prayers.  The next time I write, it will be from Ghana!

Blessings,

Jessie