Experience God In Prayer

By Annie Hickey

David posed this question to me recently: "Do you have an experience where you encountered God in prayer?" Wow!! I had to think about the best way to relate that to the people who might read this. I spent a few days contemplating the challenge. As that was going on, I received a phone call from an attorney I had worked with in the past. He had represented me in a very unusual litigation matter that had been on-going for a couple of years. Although he was not representing me at the time I received the phone call. I need to back this story up a little. The attorney had a legal assistant working for him by the name of Denise. Denise and I had grown very close during the litigation process. Denise has a wonderfully calming voice and a soothing personality. I think that is a real gift. I've never had that. I've prayed all my adult life to be empowered as a woman of quiet spirit. Instead, God seems to give me more boisterous personality with each passing milestone. It reminds me that he has a real sense of humor. But I digress. There were times because of the length of time I worked with this particular attorney in litigation that we had grown very comfortable in our conversations. You know what they say about familiarity? It breeds contempt. I often think of this in terms of families. When people are close to each other, they say things to each other where given exactly the same circumstance with another individual, they would exercise much more restraint or choose words more carefully. The attorney and I had reached this stage early on. When I would be particularly frustrated, Denise just offered such a calming influence that my frustration and anger would just dissipate.

I showed up in the law office two years ago just before Christmas to bring gifts to the attorney and to Denise. I thought a good will showing was certainly in order. Things had been a little strained. I had arrived there from another legal meeting that had been extremely emotional and had gotten what I felt was horrible news in transit. My mind frame was very strained at this point. I entered the office noticing immediately that there was someone else at the front desk that would normally have been occupied by Denise. Upon being shown to the attorney's office, I asked about where Denise might be. I explained that I had brought her a special gift for Christmas.

The attorney began to tell me an unbelievable story. He said that Denise was being deported to Haiti where she was originally from. I had not known she was from Haiti. Both as a Christian and as a person with some political knowledge, I knew Haiti to be a place of social and political unrest and poverty. I also knew that often that environment was very unfair and unforgiving. The attorney further explained that Denise had been attempting to take a trip somewhere that required a passport when something from her past in Haiti had been discovered. It was very likely that the discovered thing was not even true. Crimes and such matters were very often fabricated there. However, Denise had been arrested and sent to an INS detention center to await a hearing that would result in her being sent back to Haiti. Denise's children were born in South Florida and as such were American Citizens. Denise was divorced and I was told she had enough time to get her children to her Sister's home prior to being detained.

I sat there devastated and dejected. I immediately asked what was being done to help. I was told there was nothing to be done. I was told that it was not possible for me or anyone else to help in this situation. I left the office in shock almost immediately. Denise would not even be allowed to apply to return to this Country on a visa for at least 10 years. Being a single mother, my heart broke for her. How could she be torn like this from her children? I knew her to be always caring and concerned. I knew her to be a very diligent worker. It hardly seemed fair. I began making phone calls before I even reached the car. I called anyone of political influence I knew and asked about how to go about helping. I had people making phone calls. I had people with political influence offering to contact the attorney. I was told that there was hope if acted on fast enough. I felt lost. My friend, Doug who had been with me both in Miami and in the attorney's office took time out to pray with me for Denise's safety and for the impossibility of overcoming the government machine that had been set in motion.

Despite our efforts, I never heard of any outcomes nor was I able to track the course of Denise's circumstance. My heart was truly burdened for this young lady. Doug and I spoke of her often and prayed for her often. I could not help but to feel that I had somehow let her down. I was somewhat angry at the attorney for not doing more to help. He was an attorney for crying out loud! Surely he could have filed a motion or something.

Between this past Thanksgiving (2007) and Christmas, my church was sending a missions team to Haiti. I was so excited when the trip was announced. I was determined to be a part of the team so that I could find Denise and reassure her that God had not forgotten her. I was hoping to be a bridge between her and her children also. I figured that was the least I could do. My health had been of some concern. I was recovering from something life-threatening at the time and although I had made significant progress, my physician said it just was not wise to make the trip. I reluctantly agreed to stay behind. I was disappointed and felt that I was letting Denise down all over again. I could do nothing more, so I prayed. "God, you have laid such a burden on my heart for this young woman. Let me never forget to lift up her situation to you. Put someone in her path who can help." I had told Denise's story to several people and I gathered prayer warriors to help in lifting up her situation. I knew that God would make good of this even if I did not know how he would manage that.

This brings us back to the phone call I received last week. I was shocked to see the attorney calling me as identified by my caller ID. I had at some point after Denise's departure moved the case to local lawyer where I lived. The attorney who had represented me in the past worked and lived several hours away from where I lived. He was calling me to ask how I was being treated up here by the attorneys and just get an update on how my litigation was developing. During the course of the conversation, he dropped the most wonderful bomb on me. "You'll never guess who's back working for me?", he teased. "Kathy Mehaffey, I thought she was practicing real estate law now?" I countered. "No...not at all. I think she's doing well though.", he replied. "Then I'm afraid I am not going to have a clue who might be working for you that I would recognize.", I answered honestly. "It's Denise.", he said with excitement in his voice. I stumbled over my own brain at this point. I could not even format a response. That's not possible. I must have misunderstood him. "But Denise was deported to Haiti...", I exclaimed in utter disbelief. "Well...funny thing...she got up to the INS hearing and the judge listened to her story and sent her home. Told her to go be with her children." "That just doesn't happen. " I exclaimed. He said he knew but it had.

Immediately, right then, I felt God's presence in every aspect of my life and my own situation. I felt him right in the vehicle with me. I knew that the burden he had given me for this dear woman was done so that she would be constantly brought to his throne room. I knew that while I had not been able to physically intervene, he had given me a much more significant role. He had wanted me to be undiverted from the ever important task of prayer over her situation. Prayer does not just have it's place in our lives, it should be the foundation of our everyday existence. Prayer keeps us in God's presence. The further we go in our walk, the more our lives should become a means of breathing prayers as well as speaking or writing them. Prayer is the means by which we share our lives with our Creator's.

My own story, as I am sure your is as well, is sometimes unbelievable and incredible. I am still amazed after all the places I have walked to find that God is so concerned with my everyday life. To say that I am thankful for all he is and all he has done is a weak choice of words compared to how my heart really feels. We experience God in prayer and in his answers. Experience him today.

Prayerfully Yours,

Annie Hickey

Author of Faith You Can Borrow

Ladies' Intersessory Prayer Meeting

Anonymous Friend

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[The blog this week is a guest posting from one of the elder's wives in our church. This prayer meeting happened around the first week of March, 2008]

The Tuesday this prayer meeting happened I woke up experiencing some negative physical things in my body, I was hemorrhaging almost like I was having a miscarriage. This caused me to wonder if I should stay home from the meeting, but I sensed the Lord saying that He wanted me to go and also asking me if He could use my body as a sign--so I went.
As I came into the meeting a wave of deep sadness took hold of me and I could not do anything but lie on the floor and weep in intercession. I was not sure of the burden God was putting on me but suddenly Cheryl [the pastor's wife] handed me the mike and asked me to pray. Since I was not sure what it was all about I just prayed in tongues. At this point the Spirit of God started falling all over the room. A group of women over near the door were wailing in deep intercession, feeling like they were birthing something. Another group started dancing around in a circle in the middle of the room. Still others looked confused, like they didn’t know what was going on. One woman came over to ask me about a scheduling item but I couldn’t even answer her.
I was wondering what to do next, when I felt I should go to the wailing group and lay hands on them and pray over them. That was easier said than done as I was still so weak under the power of the Spirit that I couldn’t stand. After several tries I finally just crawled over to the group of ladies and prayed for them—the Spirit told me later I was helping in their spiritual birthing process as a midwife.
At this point I felt the Lord say that I was praying against abortion, both physical and spiritual. Cheryl came over and laid her hands on me as I was praying for the others. As soon as her hands touched me another wave of the Spirit fell on me in power and I struggled to my feet and began to do what felt like an Indian war dance. It was just like you would see in an old western on TV—I was twisting and spinning and raising and lowering my body. The Spirit was on me so strongly that I was almost out of control At this point a spiritual lady named Christine came up and began prophesying that God was using my body as a sign--the very thing he had told me that morning in private!
After this I felt spent but was very aware that the hemorrhaging had ceased. As I continued in intercession I heard the Lord say that He was shaking everything that could be shaken and was responding to the cries of His precious aborted ones who were crying out for their destinies to be fulfilled in this generation!
One of the first things I read when the meeting was over was the following from the Elijah List. God was just confirming to me that the deep intercession I was feeling was about abortion. I also felt a deep sobering in my spirit to pray that what God was trying to birth in us as a church would not be aborted but that we would indeed fulfill our destiny in this season! x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

The Room of the Aborted [from The Elijah List]
(by Shawn Boltz)

In heaven, there is a special room that a few prophetic people have seen through visions and trances. I saw it first when I was sixteen years old and it helped me to understand God's justice system. Recently I saw this spiritual place again and discovered it is a room within the Courts of Heaven. It is called the "abortion room" and in this room there are millions of innocents who were destroyed through abortion before their purpose on earth could be completed. These precious ones are crying out before the Mercy seat. They long for a recompense to be delivered by Jesus in response to their lives being cut short.
I heard the cry of one of the females who was aborted and she was pointing down at a girl her exact same age on the Earth who was still alive. "Lord you know that I was killed and my calling was aborted, not just my life; will you expand her calling (finger pointing to the young lady on Earth) and give her my purpose that you had created for me before the beginning of time so that you can inherit your full reward?" To this God said "yes", and the girl on Earth was expanded supernaturally to walk in more anointing and purpose than she would ever be able to accomplish by her own calling.
I began to hear a roar of those in this "abortion room" in heaven as they shouted forth their similar requests, pointing to those who were on the earth and appealing to God to release their callings upon a generation. I could see people who were in this generation receiving as many as seven callings from those who were in heaven petitioning their God.
How is God going to inherit the earth through a generation? We need to begin to understand how the justice of God works: a sevenfold anointing is being released!
Yet if he [the thief] is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house. Proverbs 6:31

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
[Ed. Note—The woman who had this experience, though a very spiritual and godly lady, has never been used in this way before by the Holy Spirit, and in fact the whole prayer meeting was highly unusual, not at all typical for our church. But I think it points to a higher level the church must rise to if we’re really going to defeat such entrenched, demonic foes as abortion. The answer to abortion and so many other critical issues facing the church is not more political action, not sympathetic Supreme Court justices, not more laws enacted, not even more (and I say this carefully) "prayer." What we do need more of is the power of God moving like the ladies experienced.]

How Do I Get Into the Presence of God?

By David Hobbs

#1--Defeating Inhibitions

Christians pray all the time, yet rarely get into the felt presence of the Lord.
What do you think of when the words “prayer meeting” are uttered? Do you think of some guy (maybe yourself?) kneeling down at a chair, burying his head in the seat, whispering a few prayers, thanking God for a few blessings, and soon spacing out, thinking about other things or falling asleep? Or do you think of someone praying out loud, droning on and on about all kinds of things while others say an occasional “amen,” much like your wife might rattle on about her day while you’re reading the newspaper and occasionally uttering a “yes dear,” so she thinks you’re paying attention? Why does a silent but collective groan go through the congregation when the pastor announces a special prayer meeting? Does prayer seem like the deadest form of religion there is? Are you surprised when a prayer actually gets answered and wonder why?
In churches all over America, these and similar scenes are being played out every week. And yet the Bible seems to put a high premium on prayer. Elijah ended a 3 year national drought through prayer, Jesus and Peter raised people from the dead through prayer, as did Elisha and Elijah in the O.T. Moses did all kinds of crazy things through prayer, like splitting the earth open and swallowing up opponents, bringing the plagues upon Egypt, etc. So where is that kind of prayer power today? Certainly not in most of our churches!
What if I told you that you could walk in that kind of a powerful prayer life? Could you believe it? What would it be worth to have it? What would you be willing to do to get it?
“Is it easy?” I didn’t say it was easy, but few things in God are! The question should not be “is it easy?” (no it’s not), but “is it possible?” Yes yes yes!
The problem is: in American Christianity we try to see how many things we can do without God. We have programs we follow every week, money-raising systems, skilled musicians, talented preachers, Sunday school curriculum that spell everything out, salvation material, follow-up material, counseling materials—there’s nothing wrong with these things per se, but where does God and the Holy Spirit fit in? If God stayed home from our church for a week, would anything about the service change or would it be just like any other week?
It reminds me of a story I heard of a prophet of God visiting a mega church, sitting in the back. As the worship service was going on with great sound and fury, suddenly he had a vision of Jesus walking down the aisle towards him. “Lord, where are you going? He asked as Jesus passed by.
“I’m leaving,” said the Lord.
“But why? Everything’s going so well!”
“I know. They can do it all without me so I’m leaving.”
Prayer is definitely one thing that can’t be done without the Lord. The Bible says we don’t know how to pray as we ought (Rom. 8:26). The disciples were always asking Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus taught that some people’s prayers were listened to and answered (Matt. 6:6) while other people were only praying to themselves (Luke 18:11)!
Beloved, like I said before, the secret to a productive and satisfying prayer life is getting into the presence of the Lord. Then we are praying what’s on His heart with His power.
So how do we do that? I have found the biggest thing that stands in people’s way is their inhibitions. An inhibition is “*a feeling or belief that prevents somebody from behaving spontaneously or speaking freely.”
[*Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.]
We are so bound up by religion and the fear of man that we are not free to let the Holy Spirit move through us. The Holy Spirit would lead us right into the presence of God if we would yield to Him. I know because I was one of the most inhibited people on the face of the earth. I was a lot like my great Uncle Eslie in Out of the Fire (P. 309). My best friend in college called me “obsequious” and “wishy-washy” (p.6). I’m still much the same--the Holy Spirit hasn’t changed my basic personality a great deal over the years except in the area of prayer and spiritual pursuits.
The Holy Spirit used to move on me mightily back when I was first saved, and I was impelled to go out and preach on the streets of Marysville. I got used to getting prayed up until I felt the forceful power of the Holy Spirit and then going out and preaching as I felt led. Later on I felt moved to make a commitment and a covenant with God to preach every Sat. night on the streets until either revival came to Marysville or He moved me out of town. This created a problem in that I could no longer just go out and preach when I felt led or especially empowered. I had to go out now whether I felt like it or not.
But this led to a great discovery. I had the power to create my own anointing, with my mouth. Week after week I would walk (usually alone) the 5 blocks from our house on 7th St. to the red light district from 1st through 3rd Sts.--a weak, fearful, anxious human being. But once there, in front of this little diner—the only well-lit spot, and the only establishment that didn’t sell booze—I would open my mouth and launch out into preaching or reading the Word at the top of my voice, and the Holy Spirit would meet me right there with the anointing every time. With the first sound out of my lips it was like I was changed into another person—powerful, confident, fearless. Indeed I’ve had my Bible ripped out of my hands and torn up page by page in front of me; I’ve had hotdogs from the diner stuck in my mouth as I was speaking—nothing mattered. I kept on preaching or reading or proclaiming in power, and the Holy Spirit was always with me. But no matter how many times it happened, I always had to take the first step of faith and open my mouth and launch out, like Peter had to step out of the boat before he could walk on the water, and the Levites had to step into the water with the ark before the waters stopped flowing and the river dried up (Joshua 4:15).
We can “create,” as it were, reality with our mouths. It’s just like a robber walking into a bank. For awhile he is like any other anonymous patron, until he opens his mouth, “THIS IS A STICKUP!” With that statement he has crossed over into a whole ‘nother reality that will change his and everyone else’s lives in the bank forever. Some people will never get over the fear that suddenly strikes their heart, the robber will either be launched into a life of crime, or quickly arrested and imprisoned for years, with a record that follows him the rest of his life. And it all happened with that one ringing declaration.
Prayer can be the same way. Through prayer under the unction of the Holy Spirit we can set whole new realities into motion. We can judge and punish demonic forces (Psalm 149:6-9), launch ministries into being, set people free from bondages, heal the sick . . . anything the Holy Spirit wants to do through us we can pray and proclaim into existence. But we have to defeat our inhibitions and the concurrent fear of man or we will never do anything. Half hearted doesn’t cut it (see the story of Jehoash in 2 Kings 13:14-19).