African Pastor's Prayer

This written prayer is found among notes, papers and books by a young African pastor in Zimbabwe after he was martyred.

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I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His and I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I'm done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power.

My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear.

I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of the adversary. I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He does come for His own, He'll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear!

Source Unknown

The "Empty Seats" Syndrome

Syndrome =  A group of signs and symptoms that together are characteristics or indicative of a specific disease or other disorder. 

I was inspired to write this brief article after hearing a quote from Apostle Paul Wondracek, Pastor, Praise Church in Cary, North Carolina.  In his sermon, he said, "Empty seats speak louder than filled seats."   

When I heard him say those words, I was immediately reminded of three local assemblies in which my husband and I were lead by the Holy Spirit to be a part of for a season.  Each of them had one thing in common-empty seats.  At first I did not concern myself with the fact that the church had more empty seats than filled ones.  But as the pastor continued to minister the Word to us, it was as though those empty seats kept crying out to me for help.  About several months later, I finally asked the LORD for the reason that that local church was not growing.  It was in the Women's Intercessory Prayer that He answered me.  You see, even though the pastor, who was of Jewish descent, taught the written Word, he had a tendency to mention what theologians would say; and the LORD revealed to me that the church was controlled by a religious spirit.  The LORD also said that He would not send flock there to be taught by a religious spirit.  Therefore, the seats remained empty.  After the LORD exposed the stronghold of that local church to me, the pastor and the lady in charge of women's prayer began to control prayer and turned mightily against my husband and I.  This was my first experience with the "empty seats" syndrome.   

I will not go into details about the next two experiences, but will only name the strongholds.  They are a "spiritual clone" and a "spiritual bat".  All three of these local assemblies had one thing in common.  They all lacked corporate intercessory prayer.  Which resulted in only a few people showing up for services which caused more empty seats than filled ones.   

You may be wondering how can we avoid the "empty seats" syndrome in our local church.  There's only one way!  And it is through corporate intercessory prayer (which include men and women).  It is when the members of the Body of Christ come together and rely on the Holy Spirit working through them to make intercession.  This is the only way these strongholds can be pulled down in the local church.  Now I'm not talking about people coming together and praying what they think or feel they should be praying.  I'm talking about allowing the Intercessor, the Holy Spirit, to pray along with our spirit what He know should be prayed.  This is the ONLY way to rid the local church from the "empty seats" syndrome!  And it is ONLY by the Holy Spirit Who intercedes through and for us.  He knows the mind of God.  He knows EVERYTHING. 

Romans 8:26

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 

If you are a pastor and it seems as though the "empty seats" syndrome is evident in your local church, please check the church's prayer gauge.  First of all, do you have corporate intercessory prayer (which include men and women)?  If so, are you allowing the Holy Spirit to make intercession or are you controlling the prayers?  The Holy Spirit's desire is to set your church free from the "empty seats" syndrome; but He can only do it as you allow Him.  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Shalom †

The Sin of the Parents

There’s one thing I ALWAYS appreciated of my mother.  Growing up, she never acted as though she never did anything wrong.  She would often admit to her failures and thanked the LORD for helping her through them.  As a child and teenager, she often would look at me and say, “Terry, the way you’re behaving now is not the way I behaved when I was your age.  You did not get that from me because I did the wrong thing.”  By her not being ashamed to admit her failures in front of her child meant a lot to me, because I could remember this one particular thing she did wrong and I did not want to follow in her footsteps.  When I was 15 years old, I heard a voice speak to me.  This voice said, “Terry, if you do not ask me now, you will be just like your mother.”  I immediately started to cry.  I understood exactly what the voice meant.  I cried out and said, “LORD, please do not allow me to do that.”  Then suddenly, a peace came over me.  You see, even though I hated this particular sin that my mother committed, hating it would not prevent me from falling in the same footsteps.  Some parents may not have been good parents and the child grow up hating the things that their parents did—thinking that by hating it, it will cause them to be good parents to their children.  This is not true.  What really would happen is that they will only end up doing the same thing their parents did to them to their own children.  When truly the ONLY way is asking the LORD with a contrite heart to help you not to go the wrong path as your parents did.  This is what the voice was saying to me.  And praise the LORD, it worked!

Go And Sin No More!

During my teen years, I attended a small bible study group every week. I was just beginning to enjoy meeting with the group without my mother forcing me to go. The Enemy was not happy in that I was beginning to pay special attention to the teaching. I would even study my bible at home. I learned a lot in God's Word. So to confuse things, the Enemy accused me of fornication and the pastor started to teach about fornication. As he taught, he noticed that I was excited about the teaching and witnessed to every word. This confused him and then he thought, she must not be guilty. So he then proceeded to say these words, directing his aim at me, "If you have not committed fornication but thought about it, you just as well go ahead and do it because you're guilty." I knew I was not even thinking about committing fornication, but his words confused me. As I meditated on what he said, suddenly a voice said to me, "No. I said, go and sin no more!" I knew exactly what the voice meant. I had recently read that when the religious leaders brought a woman to Christ Jesus that had committed adultery, He forgave her of adultery and then told her to sin no more. I understood that if a person has sinned in their heart by lusting after another person, then they should repent of that sin and sin no more, which means, do not proceed with the next step--the physical act. Selah.