Invitations

The world began to more fully open. Many were making their way back to the real world, however, there were still others who chose isolation and the security of home. I knew God had more for me and the people around me.

Launching Corporate Fasting and Prayer Gatherings

I had been hosting small private groups of fasting and prayer and now it was time to open it up to a larger audience. With the vision of corporate fasting and prayer at the church, each fast would end with a twelve hour day of prayer.

Our first corporate day of prayer would focus on our missionaries. The opening hour was full of praise and worship preparing our hearts for the day. After that we would spend each hour focused on a missionary family and pray for them, their families, their ministry, their country and whatever specific requests they had submitted. We recorded prophetic and encouraging words that were sent to them at the end of the day. And our final hour was again dedicated to ministering to God. We would all break the fast together with corporate communion.

Children Stepping Into Prayer Ministry

Corporate fasting invitations continued quarterly. Participants who stepped in and said yes to God were the focus. Families began teaching and inviting their children to fast (in healthy ways). Children walked through those doors for an hour, two, or more. Some of those children began attending our weekly prayer meeting sitting with seasoned prayer partners, learning different ways to pray, and being introduced to the gifts of the spirit. We saw healings, mighty acts of God, and his favor on those who came.

Also, It was a humbling moment to see the children (9-15) dedicated to prayer ministry. How else would God have wanted it?

Receiving God’s Love and Provision

It was in this season that God was further preparing me and reminding me whose I was showering me with His love. I received a Prayer Shawl from Israel. It took quite a journey to get to me but landed at my front door with my name on it. It had been prayed over by a rabbi and I could sense the love and the spirit in it. It was so unexpected and spoke to my heart.

The missionaries from Malawi were preparing to move out of the city into a village to create and live on a self-sustaining farm. They had been given the money for the land and now they needed to raise funds for the electric and water. The cost was about $15,000 US. The Lord put it on my heart to pray that money in. I certainly didn’t have it. And so I prayed. I invited the prayer team to pray with me.

As the Lord began to put people in my mind, I reached out to share the story and the need. In a very short time, God has moved in the hearts of people and all the money they needed was generously donated and then some.

God was showing me his provision. He was aligning my heart more fully with his. Doing not what I would have necessarily thought I could do, but what he wanted to do through me. Simply by my obedience.

God’s Word During Trials

The enemy was about to intervene, but God was already preparing me. It was a Monday when God spoke to me “You will be there for Christmas.”

Wednesday: A lady in the church was getting evicted. The church had arranged for us to go in and get her stuff as she had been locked out. I spent the next two days packing up everything in her apartment and getting it loaded into a storage unit. It was physically tiring and mentally exhausting. In the back of my mind I continued to wonder if my move or eviction would look like this. Strangers showing up and putting everything in trash bags. Should I put post-it notes on everything I wanted and leave the rest?

Wednesday evening: As I came home after the first night too tired to eat and sat on the couch. A friend stopped by so while I was outside, I picked up the mail. There it was. Official notification from the court that my hearing would be coming up. The courts had re-opened and they were back to me. “You will be there for Christmas, he said.” That was a few months away. How is it possible? Was I willing to believe?

I had already seen him move on my behalf, but it had been three years. I was exhausted from all the packing. I needed his truth and I asked for a scripture. He led me to Psalms “My heart will not fear. I will not be shaken.”

My heart is not afraid. I wrote it along with the other truths he had given me to cling to.

Declaring God’s Promises in Hardship

Jireh, you are enough!

The heavens declare your glory

How can I do any less?

I will be content in every circumstance

Jacki, you are going to be okay

Just trust me!!

You will be here til Christmas!

My heart will not fear!

I will not be shaken!

My heart is not afraid.

Your whispers in the night give me wisdom

Showing me what to do next

Because I set you close to me,

My confidence will not be weakened.

TRUST ME

I will never leave you or forsake you!

Choose Me and Choose My Way

Cling to them! Declare them! They were my life line. I had to Choose to believe them even when I didn’t understand. I was learning a fear of God versus a fear of man and I didn’t even realize it. Soon, I would understand that courts, bosses, and people of authority did not outrank God. His ways would always prevail.

Thursday: I met the movers at 8am and finished packing while they started loading the truck. I didn’t have time to be afraid as long as I kept moving. But in the quiet moments, I would recite his promises. My mind was shaken. But my heart was not.

After three long months, court proceedings reconvened via zoom. The entire thing lasted less than two minutes. There was a technicality on the prosecutors side and a continuance was issued on my behalf. They would need to refile. My next court date came in January. Right after Christmas. Yes, his word was true again. Yes, I was there for Christmas.