_Steadfast in Prayer

.HoT fRom thE oV3n

Main Themes

1. Refocusing & restoration of believers’ hearts back to their first love (1 Chron 22:19)
2. Unity in Leadership

Specific Prayers

1. Open confession of sin
2. Break the spirit of pride, unforgiveness, gossip and lust amongst ourselves and the youth ministry
3. Bless them with a sound mind and for wholesomeness to be upon them
4. Restoration of righteousness and identity as children of God
5. Declaration of our priestly calling (Isa 61:1-3)

jun, loving Him 12:52 AM, Sunday, January 21 ..

Words Released

Psalms 119:105 "Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
- Even when you do not seem to know where you are going, God’s light shows you where to go.

John 4:13 – 15 "Everyone who drinks this water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
- Whatever failed relationships we have, He is not here for temporal relief.
- If we truly seek / thirst for Him, He will fulfill the part in your life.

Lift up your heads, people of God.
- If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed.
- Come into His presence knowing that we are sons and daughters of the Most High, reflectors of His glory.

Visions

Picture of a large pie
- Yet, there is a sense of doubt on whether the pie is safe to eat – like a sense of doubt of what God will give us.

Picture of a heart that is heartbroken.
- The Lord wants to heal, and set us free from the chains of the Evil One.
- Tears are streaming down from the heart, as many opportunities have passed the person, yet it is unmoved.

The story of the Ugly Duckling.
- We started out ugly, or we think we are ugly – but the Lord has made us to be beautiful.
- We are struggling and not looking forward. – whatever state we are at, or our cells are at, press on; look forward!
- Like a swan swimming around in a pond, we are just going through mundane things, making things work – but the Lord wants us to take flight, fly to a higher / newer place. We do not need to worry that we’ll be alone, because one we start flying, the rest will follow.

Picture of a car starting and speeding off into the distance.
- The Lord is saying that He will bless the ministry – ask God for big dreams / visions and He will fulfill.

Main Themes

The Lord as our Shepherd

Picture of a snail without a shell
- The snail represents our vulnerability, while the shell represents the protection of God.

Parable of the Lost Sheep
- Jesus leaves the 99 for that one lost sheep.

Picture of a lamb being attacked by a wolf ferociously and it is wondering, crying out for help.
- Shepherd rescues the lamb just at the right time, and washes away the dirt and grime of the lamb’s fur, and bandages and cleanses the wounds.
- Jesus wants to heal and restore – do not let the Devil take away the life.

Isaiah 40:11 "He tends his flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young."
- God wants us to feel His tenderness.

Specific Prayers

Secondary School Segment

1. Healing and release
a. Building up of trust between leaders and members.
b. When we cover things up, God cannot heal.
c. James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."

2. Distractions
a. To put our focus on God
b. Not just being in cell / church physically, but spiritually, mentally and emotionally as well.
c. 1 Peter 2:2 – 3 ; Isaiah 40:28 ; Ezekiel 36:25 – 27
i. Some of us are like a dried up pen, tired, but God wants to refill the ink in it.

3. Grow up / Maturity
a. We cannot be babies all the time; leaders grow up too.

Poly/JC Segment

1. Shepherd
a. Healing of brokenness
b. Anointing of oil / Holy Spirit
c. People to imitate the Shepherd’s nature
d. Lost sheep to be gathered

2. 4 Fires – Strong, Medium, Small, Sparks
a. 4 different levels of youths – different efforts lead to different commitments.
b. Calling us all to blaze up our involvement to become strong flames.

Campus Segment

1. Fire
a. Sometimes the fire is strong, sometimes it is weak.
b. God to be the centre of our lives, to fan our fires.

2. Being "distinguished"
a. What distinguishes us from others; what sets us apart because we have God.
b. Stay clear of the distractions and temptations.

rach., loving Him 6:01 AM, Thursday, January 18 ..

Words Released

He is our Righteousness. He has given this Righteousness to us – it is not our own.
- We can be in His Presence due to His finished work on the cross. Everything is done – we just need to enter into His presence, coming in by faith to receive.
- Come and fully be assured that our Saviour is for us, so who can be against us?
- Grow up, be stable and mature in Him.

1 Thessalonians 1
- We are like that – we want to become a model, but we are not there yet.
- We are to go in with the gospel, prayers and power, and the deep conviction of the Holy Spirit

1 Thessalonians 1:6 "You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit."
- If we do not encounter persecution when we spread the gospel, we should check again.
- James 1 "Consider it pure joy… whenever you face trials of many kinds"
- We are not bringing our ministry out of the church.

Satan will come and steal, kill and destroy. But the Lord gave us life.
- Ask the Lord to cleanse us, so that the Truth and Life of God will come.

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
- He is dying to tell us His plans – call upon Him, come and listen.

Joshua 6:14 – 21
- Everyone in Jericho died, except for Rahab.

Allow Him to reveal in our lives the secrets – the secret doors that do not want to be opened.
- Lust of life, lust of flesh and the pride of life.

We have brought ourselves before Him, and we have received from Him. The last step of the pilgrimage is to bring what we have received back to the people.
- It could be about ourselves, the people or about God.
- We cannot just listen, swallow it and lose it. We need to bring it back to where the needy are, to places that are dark and do not have His presence, and to hearts that are cold without Him.
- Take as much as we can; carry as much as we can carry.

Visions

We are on a journey, a pilgrimage.
- When we enter the house of God, at the doorsteps, do we rush in with all our baggage?

Picture of a window, when you open it, the fresh sunlight will flow in from God
- Similarly, out of our lives, we will see the light flow and reach out to touch many others.

Picture of a piece of meat on the chopping board, where parts of it are diseased.
- The Lord is like a butcher with a sharp knife, ready to slice off the diseased parts.
- Even though He slices off with a sharp knife, we can trust in His hand, His goodness, His faithfulness, His character, who He is – for He is good. He knows exactly what to do.
- The pruning is to be even more fruitful, to give us more of Himself to us.

Main Themes

Surrendering ourselves to Him

Picture of a big house with many rooms (symbolizing our Youth Division)
- Opening every single door (i.e. our cell, cluster, ministry) in the house, and allowing the wind – the breath of God – to blow through the room, letting the Holy Spirit have free reign.
- We are God’s building, of firm foundation.

Joshua 3:5 (the promise of the Land) "Joshua told the people, 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.'"
- If we consecrate ourselves, He is going to do wonders in our lives / ministries, and it will be a fruitful year.

Joshua 6:18 "But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them."
- We cannot carry with us the old junk, the sin. We have to kill that with the salt and enter the Promised Land, something new that He has created for us.

Focus not on what you can do, but what God can do.

He will give us the strength for the act of daily surrender of our hopes, dreams, desires and wants.

Truly be that living sacrifice on the altar, to lay everything before Him.
- Surrender our lives, ambitions, hopes and desires to Him.

Vision of us before the Lord, with a whole baggage of burdens.
- We are stuck there not because we cannot lift it, but because we do not dare lift it to Him, and/or do not want to.
- And as we decide to lift our burdens, another pair of hands (from the Lord) comes to lift it with us – all we have to do is to make the choice to lift it.

Playing different roles in His plans; Being equipped

Picture of a house that is under reconstruction / renewal, and there are many different roles to play in the house, and we are all equipped with different tools.
- The painters – to paint the house anew with fresh coats of paint.
- The "oilers" – to oil the rust away.
- Breaking the winders to let the fragrance of the Lord take away the staleness of the rooms.

Equipping ourselves with different tools, because we are in for many great things that are going to happen this year.

Analogy of SWAT teams
- SWAT teams have a plan, a purpose – they are systematic. They will leave no room unchecked, and they are physically and mentally well-equipped.
- When they fight in a build-up area, the odds are always against them, but they move with confidence and authority, because they know that the battle is theirs.
- They rescue hostages, who are trapped in oppression – taking hold of the captives and setting them free.
- SWAT teams all have different roles (e.g. snipers, recce & spying, clean-up etc.), but all work towards a same purpose.

Specific Prayers

Leaders
- Pray for transformation of their lives.
- The basis of faith, hope and love for the leaders.

Members
- Breakthrough in their life, for God’s Truth, Way and Life to flow into them.

rach., loving Him 5:53 AM, ..