As I kept hearing and seeing news of the Abducted Nigerian school girls and the call to action, I caught myself thinking "But, what can I do?" It was easy to go through my day, listen to the news, watch the different social media stories and simply scroll on past it without feeling a sense of responsibility at all. I believe my lack of sense came from an overwhelming sense of helplessness and the reality that I can't really do anything to help them anyway. Then , like He always does, the Lord reminded me that He has equipped me with the most powerful weapon in the world. PRAYER. I can pray. And I call other to pray as well. There is power in the name of Jesus. I believe this. I know this. I believe that there is no other than by which we are saved, eternally and temporarily. I believe that that God hears the cries of His people and can save. I believe that as we cry out in the name of Jesus, he hears and responds. Pray.....Pray....Pray!! "So Lord in Your mercy, Hear our prayer. Lord, Save those girls and all those who are in danger there in Nigeria. May their eyes be turned to you, Jesus the one and only. Comfort the mothers, comfort the fathers, comfort the families of all who are suffering. Bring healing to Nigeria. Heal their land in the name of Jesus. Amen and Amen!!"
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Oftentimes, I sit in my backroom with my piano and make up songs, not to record or sell, but simply as a way to worship my Lord. This is how my music ministry started (sitting at the piano singing prayers to my Savior) and this is what will never change. My songs are prayers to my Lord..... Imperfect, flawed, not completely structured, but simply what comes out as I sit and worship. This is what I prayed today. Welcome to my "Backroom Prayers" "You See Me Through" by Mia Koehne c.2014
You are My savior and I need You every hour. You part the waters of my sorrow and my doubt. You see me through You see me through You see me through And I will worship You Trials and temptations come all common to this world But God your faithful giving strength to do Your will You see me through You see me through You see me through And I will worship You Though I may wander, I may fall Your grace sufficient for it all My sin so calloused and so mean Your mercy flowing like the streams of life Now I'm alive! You are My Savior and I need You every hour. You part the waters of my sorrow and my doubt. I am on a mini retreat vacation in Chicago staying with my brother and his family. I have no plans...I sleep, I wake up, I laugh with my nieces, watch my nephews play baseball...oh and have a personal massage therapist come to the house...all in a day's work! This morning as I was sitting at the breakfast table with my brother and sister, we talked we laughed and then I opened my bible and the first verse I read was “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord." Deuteronomy 23:1. Well, that was a buzz kill to our laughter. Then I read on through Word and got to the place where Moses addresses nocturnal emissions. At this point I thought, how can it get any better? (insert sense of humor.) Not really fun to write about these verses (trust me, there is a reason and I will get to it before I share the verses about women eating their children and their afterbirth) but there was something that struck me deep in my heart through it. If God addresses things like this, lays out rules, guidelines and how to handle THESE situations....HOW MUCH MORE will he address our daily concerns WHATEVER they are. We simply need to "Seek and read from the book of the Lord.." Isaiah 34:15 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." The Word that God has given us, His book, the Bible is life, truth and necessary. It will guide us, teach us, and comfort us in ANY situation. Open it.... you can't live without it LITERALLY. I would love for you to share about an issue you struggled with and where you found God addressing it in His Word and how it helped you. I would also love to hear if you are struggling to find the answer. Let's search it out together, maybe someone else has struggled and found where God addresses your particular need. It's there! Let's Praise: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too." 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 It is sometimes easy and always a joy for me to write blog entries of what God is doing in my life, the joys I see in others and the encouraging truths He reveals. Today is not one of those days. Today is the day that I typically don't write about because it doesn't make me look very good, but today I think I need to. I always tell people how imperfect I am. We all are right? But sometimes we (and by we, I mean, I) don't showcase our real imperfections, our secret struggles because people might really know who we are and who wants to do that...to really do that. But I have learned repeatedly that it takes to much energy to pretend to be something that I am not, so here goes! There is a sweet lady that I knew growing up, her name is Mary. She really is "perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). OK, obviously she is not and she would probably give you a list of her sinful flaws, none of which I would believe except for the fact that no one is perfect on this side of heaven. Enough of me avoiding the point of my sin. As I was reading in Matthew 5 today, the heading for verses 43-48 said "Love Your Enemies." I read it as I have read it before saying of course I will pray for my enemies, for those who are against me (Yes, I have a few.) Yes, Lord I will pray for those that don't like me, I will pray for them, my enemies, that's easy! Maybe I'll just pray that they like me and we'll all be good, right? God did not let me slide through these verses today. He stopped me and said, "No, YOUR enemies, the ones that YOU are against, the ones that you dislike, the ones that make your stomach turn, the ones that slander rolls so easily off your tongue about....THOSE enemies!" To which I quickly replied "I don't want to pray for THEM!" (There are so many times that my birth order reveals itself in my conversations with the Lord. Yes, I am the baby of seven.) As I sat there with my Bible and my pouty lip, knowing what the Word said, knowing what God revealed to me, I had a choice. I could refuse to pray for them, I could pretend pray, or I could ask the Spirit of God to guide my words. Today, this was a tough one to swallow. I have learned my lessons the hard way about disobeying the Lord, especially when He speaks to me and makes it crystal clear. So, I asked the Spirit to guide my words and I began to pray blessings on my enemies, those two people that I just don't like. God gave the words as my stomach literally turned to the point that I wanted to throw up. I guess I felt a little like Noah, not even wanting these people to be blessed. At the end of it, God showed me that it's gonna be difficult, it's not always fun, but as I release these people from the wrong I "feel" that have done to me, He will bless them and He will bless my heart with a peace that I will not even be able to understand. So, now, I sit hear...heavy hearted and a little bit teary, because I know the battle that rages in my heart as I learn to forgive people who probably have very little clue the bitterness I have towards them. While I may not be outright mean to these people, I may not even cross paths that often with them, for me, the danger is deeper, because it's a bitter-root in my heart and it pops up at the most unpredictable times. Yesterday, God laid two beautiful women on my heart to pray for...that was easy, THAT was a joy. Today, God called me to pray again, but for my enemies, That's NOT easy, But God's strength is perfect and I know that as I pray His will, He WILL change my heart. That's a JOY. I am humbled. I surrender. LOVE WINS! Love Your Enemies
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. I feel as though I entered a cave and three days later suddenly emerged. Not sure where the last three days have gone, but I do know that there has been a lot of long work hours and some amazing music going on. Please know that I am not complaining Camping out in a recording studio is probably one of my favorite places on earth!!
Watching my producer get the very best out of the musicians who are already at the top of their game is a thrill to watch. The creativity and the expertise is pretty astonishing. What also amazes me is how through the direction and wisdom of my producer Jeff McCullough, I am also able to give my very best. It is a growing and stretching experience for me to be pushed vocally and emotionally in ways I have never been pushed before and see the fruit of that captured in sound. Thank you all for the persistent prayers. It is humbling to see how God responds. His faithfulness is overwhelming. Thank you for going to the throne on behalf of me, my family, the ministry of music and all of us that are pushing through to see this to completion. God is so much bigger than it all and it is truly an honor to be a part of something that he is doing. PRAYER REQUESTS Continued health and strength as we finish off the vocals For our families at home Doors to open so that many have the opportunity to hear this music |
The BlogA collection of writings from a life based on the truth that about midnight anything can happen. AuthorAs an imperfect servant of the Lord, I often feel I am fumbling my way through life, looking upward for guidance and outward to love. So, I write about it, to break up the noise in my head. Categories
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