Peace, With Me Now

I feel restful, not fitful. I feel peaceful, not fretful. Very soon I will sleep.

Today was Friday. This morning I enjoyed prayer with Ang, RJ, and Andy. I was tired and quiet, though t'wards the end Ang began individually praying for various people of the house and it thrilled me. I prayed for Andy, and Andy prayed for me, and I laughed because Ang was so embarrassed for forgetting to pray for me. So instead she prayed several times throughout the day for me.
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Off to work I go. I got stuck in some construction briefly which was a little stressful, but it only lasted a little while. I called in to let Kyle know and he offered to pick me up a green tea. How generous.

Work was cold this morning. Cold winds and humidity chilled my fingers to ice. It was 3 degrees. We are fixing a house. Another crew kind of did some of it. So with inspiring work and weather, Kyle took us out for breakfast as the snow began to fly. We went back to work and lasted until lunch break. Lunch break came, and I had a revelation. I opened my lunch pail to discover a container that I had not placed there. It contained two chocolate chip cookies. The world flipped inside out and sunshine pierced the clouds. Now you have to understand I wasn't feeling bad to begin with, but now I was truly alive. I enjoyed my delicious lunch and enthusiastically dug out the passage of Jesus feeding the multitude with the boy's offering of 2 fish & 5 loaves (or was it the other way around?). What a generous boy! How kind and generous of Jesus! What a beautiful life! But what followed afterward was what stuck in my mind:

27Stop toiling and doing and producing for the food that perishes and decomposes [in the using], but strive and work and produce rather for the [lasting] food which endures [continually] unto life eternal; the Son of Man will give (furnish) you that, for God the Father has authorized and certified Him and put His seal of endorsement upon Him.

28They then said, What are we to do, that we may [habitually] be working the works of God? [What are we to do to carry out what God requires?]

29Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the One Whom He has sent [that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger].

This is the work that God asks of me. That I cleave to Jesus. That I trust Jesus. That I rely on Jesus. That I have faith in Jesus. The rest is a lot of consumption. What I eat, what I wear, where I sleep, how I paid to do those things - these cannot be what I toil at. Those are just things I do. My work is Jesus, while I do everything. And getting back to how my revelation started, hopefully what I'm doing includes a lot of serving and loving others!

I had a litre of vanilla roiboos cranberry tea, caught a quick nap and went back to work as the sunshine peeked its way back into my part of the world. We wrapped up early so Jay could drive his friend to the airport and Kyle could go get some sleep and I could go on my merry way to the Chiropracter for the next level of jaw adjusments. The kind girl at 7-11 let me use the washroom! Most of them won't. Back home I read a couple blogs before my computer's connection glitchiness took control, then I helped Sherry look for a box of CDs amongst all the other boxes in our house. We found it, and I started listening to the Joyce Heron talk that we both got a CD of (mine doesn't work). Jason called and was tired and wouldn't be coming over to pray. We chatted a little and then I went off in search of supper. I had some yummy left over queesh. Andy was sick but wanted me to go to the Global Day of Prayer for him if he wasn't going. So I hung out and socialized some more, Andy ate, Andy looked a little bit better, and off we went.

It was stellar. But now it's getting very long I'm sure and will not be stopping so you might wish to conclude here and return later.

We got there late of course but that didn't bother me at all. I was still in a gradiose mood and had even got to pray on the way over with Andy for both him, and his brother who was burglard, again! When we arrived they had just started a promo video showing some of what went on around the world on the last GDoP. It brought back memories of being there with Joe & RJ and checking out the Epic crew's painting, and dancing on concrete. It was also encouraging to see all the different cultures around the world. My favourite were the cool dance lines snaking around in Africa while they sang to God. Oh, and the timid little boy in Poland praying before such a big group.

We quickly got into small groups to pray for our representative local churches' involvement with the GDoP for a minute which was really cool because me and Andy landed ourselves with some very nice ladies (of the elders to us variety in case you're RJ and completely distorting the picture right about now). Then we read two Psalms and prayed in response to them. Also cool. Then we sang some songs which was further coolness because the band was very sensitive to the Spirit's leading and they did an incredible instrumental song for awhile. Then some people shared some prophetic words that they'd been given and we ended up partnering up with someone of a different generation so that we could pray for them. Well a kind man by the name of Ben caught my eye and came up to pray with me and Jeanine (sp?) came and joined from behind. I firmly volunteered to do the praying first because I was in a rather enthusiastic disposition and prayed using some scripture from Colossians 3. Actually I wanted to do the praying first because I wanted to honour my elders and bless them. It was really nice to be surrounded by mature adults in Christ full of wisdom and love.

Then they prayed for me. Ben fervently prayed for more fire and zeal for Christ in me. Jeanine had politely asked him if he had anything first, and after he was finished she began praying. She expressed that God loved me dearly in a way I sensed she was actually listening to him - Spirit & Truth prayer... She prayed for me to give more and more of my heart to God so that he could fill me more. She prayed for deeper intimacy with God for me - especially in the secret place, the place of rest.

Bingo! These were piercing my spirit very directly! The last prophecy I received was that of God intending to occupy me (dwell in, not keep busy, but an active dwelling...). I needed to give to God more of my heart, so that he can occupy that. Now in the previous prophecy, I was told I wouldn't actually have to do much, God had it covered. That's good. At the same time, some of what Jono responded with on the last post rings true here...

Deeper intimacy with God, in the secret place, the place of rest, has been something that I began to learn about more two years ago with some Graham Cooke books but I have most certainly not developed very well, and it's never too far from my awareness.

Next Jeanine started praying blessings over my musical abilities. Um what! God you're telling her things! She stopped after awhile to double-check I played an instrument, but not in a timid way, more in a polite way. The next question was whether it was with guitar or piano because she had a picture of my fingers going. She prayed a blessing over my fingers using a text out of Jonah. About fire going right into my bones. Then she switched directions (or so it seems) and prayed that I would covet the gift of prophecy. She prayed this over a couple times in slightly different ways and even stopped to make sure I understood the correct context of covet here. Then she prayed over misconceptions I had about this passage (out of 1 Corinthians, I know it well, God was really speaking about this same thing last Spring in Ontario).

This was very timely. In the last while I've been wondering whether I should even be coveting the gift of prophecy. Whether God has different gifts in mind for me.

Then she launched back into music. She prayed about the music I would make, that it would be prophetic and have power in the spiritual realm.

Yes!!! Very personal right here, and timely again, as Andy and I just started writing a song on Tuesday.

Oh I forgot that she had prayed for a Thorn in the flesh earlier. She knew I didn't want it, but that it's very helpful for some people, as they are going into something where they will need to remember where they came from. So I accepted it. How could I not? I trust Jesus.

She prayed some generational prayers as well, and ended by praying for my wife-to-be in other terms, except that she double-checked that I knew what she was talking about afterwards. I did and didn't and did. As in no I don't know whom she was specifically praying for, although I had mild curiousity if it was connected to a previous person who came up in prayer a while back, but didn't say anything about that, but yes I did know what she was praying about.

All in all, it was very edifying, and all that prayer for fire had me cooking too!

The rest of the evening was splended as well, but it's supremely late and Jamie thinks I've moved onto writing a sequel novel I've been typing so long.

Ha, what does he know? He's sleeping on the couch so he can be closer to me instead of in his bedroom.

So what happened after? Well I perked up in my listening! When they moved onto praying for family, I had someone come to mind right away and I didn't worry about questioning. I obeyed. And went up to the front and asked for someone to pray for me since they were encouraging us to do it, even though it feels rather funny doing it that way. They encouraged me to fill out a card so that their prayer team could pray for it for the next month too. I did. I mean do I love this family member or what? I had an impression of the desperate people who flocked to Jesus with their concerns, and I thought, yes, YES! JESUS I WANT YOU TO!

Then I went back and joined Andy who was talking and listening with someone else. I sat and basked in the thick peace of God's spirit that was bringing such rest to mine. And when they started to pray I had to join, and uplift Andy, which really turned to a lot of spirit to spirit worship (mine to God's not Andy's) that brought me to tears. I got to exchange smiles with several people, and they weren't superficial smiles. They were how could we not smile with so much joy and love in the very air. A kind elderly gentlement stopped to tell me he could see Jesus in my eyes and did I know that?

I thanked some people and hung about then walked out with Andy who was kind enough to hold my belongings while I did a cartwheel. I always liked saying I love you to God that way. I thanked God for the good night on the car ride over beforehand but man what an understatement.

I also had to repent because I had in my mind the prayers of the GDoP where they gave you mere minutes to pray and filled all the time with lengthy speeches and videos (I had to repent back then when my attitude crept up). Instead I was met with an incredible time of prayer in Spirit and Truth (as I mentioned before) with unity and love binding us together.

I wasn't done yet. I got to go home and make my way through the delightfully restful prayer labrynth set up in our basement this weekend for our 24 hour - 2 day stint (starting 7 PM Friday and going until 5PM Sunday or something like that?). My utmost respect and appreciation goes out to Andrea and RJ and Andy and everyone else who helped put the room together. It's fantastic. You're all welcome to come. I did send out an email right? I can't remember. Maybe I meant to but my internet connection glitchiness overcame that intention.