Prayers of the Pleading Heart...

"Pray Continually" 1 Thess. 5:17

I don't know if I have ever experienced the reality of this Word from the LORD more than I have on this journey! From the very beginning, my prayer was, LORD use me, show me the purpose of this journey, keep my heart undivided, go before me and show me the way, and may my life bring You glory! From there, I have added prayers for strength, perseverance, other people, contentment, surrender, and the like! When I arrived in Kalighat, my prayers were for even specifically for friends, where I would get food and clean drinking water, where I would stay, HOW IN THE WORLD can my compassionate little heart pass a beggar and not feel compelled to give them something (side note, I learned that I was able to give them something, it just wasn't material...I prayed for them!)...When I reached my final destination in Cambodia, my prayers have been for a revealed purpose, for a revival to start in Cambodia, for these FREEDOM seekers to find release of their chains in the ONLY Person who offers true salvation, for Logos International and their mission, for the kids, the staff, and ESPECIALLY for one of my best friends and sister, Dani-D!!!

One of the best things about my friendship with Dani is that we are both completely captivated by the love of Jesus!!!!!! For those of you who don't know, we were roommates a while back in college, and easily became close, but I think this past week, I have gotten to know her heart on a level I never experienced in my time while I was living with her. God has also so obviously matured and brought her nearer to Him while she has been able to live here!!! It is just incredible!!! While I have been here, God has given us so much precious time to talk about Him, life, deep questions, ourselves and how we work, Cambodia, and the school in general! Also, Dani is just a praying machine! That has probably been the BIGGEST blessing of my time here so far is praying with her!! We pray so much, out loud, for specifics, for Cambodia, whatever is on our hearts! I love it, the openness, seeing the necessity to cry out to God!....

Attending Dani's classes has been more fun than I could have imagined! The kids are so cute! My favorite class was the 2nd grade, becaue when D introduced me and said I would be there for 3 weeks, they all screamed and went crazy like they thought having me here was the best thing to happen to them since steamed rice!!!!....Dani teaches all grades, except 6th. The classes are P.E., swimming, ballet, pre-algebra, and health!...I have been able to help her out as much as I can, but more than anything, I have been able to see God's hand at work, in having her here, exactly where God wants her, teaching these kids!...

We normally just leave for the school at around 7 in the morning, ride through the Cambodian traffic on our bikes(praying the whole time for safety! :) ), have class until 3:30 (sometimes having break periods where we get to go to the staff room and talk), stay at the school until 4-ish, ride back, and then we just sort of hang out, which includes reading, writing, talking, or watching a movie, and then typically try and go to bed at a decent hour! It is sooo great!!!...Today was a little different, though. D had an off period, so we got to stay in the staff room a little longer than normal, and just talked and talked about life, about some hard stuff, and then we just prayed over it!!!!....Then, after school, we went a different way home, and stopped in at the coffee shop (The Terrace Coffee-Cambodian Starbucks...LITERALLY, it has the same logo as Starbucks, but with some other god in the middle...haha!) We got to just sit there, hang out, and talk, about Jesus, her life after Cambodia...then, she opened my Bible to one of her favorite stories, 2 Chronicles 20 and read it to me...if you know D, you know she LOVES stories-to tell and be told...We were both just getting fired up hearing of the faithfulness and POWER of the LORD, and how these people were ON THEIR FACES praising Him, even BEFORE He did what He said He was going to do!!!...You should read it, but the story basically is about King Jehoshaphat and Jerusalem and Judah being afraid to fight against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, so they were crying out to the LORD, His response:

"Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's...You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Oh Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you." (20:15-17)...then, it goes on to say they did what the LORD said, He told them once again to have faith, they praised Him, and the LORD had them men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir TURN ON EACH OTHER AND LITERALLY FIGHT THEMSELVES!!!! When the men of Judah and Jerusalem approached the place of battle, all they saw were dead bodies, because God had fulfilled what He said He would...duh!!!....from this Dani said, "I mean, He can do that, but we still question if He can tell us specifically where He wants us to go and what He wants us to do. I mean, He is so powerful that He could TELEPORT us there, if He wanted. Why do we even worry or doubt?".....I said fist that's crazy that she said that, because I HAVE been praying for teleportation, b/c I REALLY do not like flying (hahaha!), but I understand it would take away the opportunities to talk to people on the journey!...Then, she wanted me to tell one of my favorite stories, and since we had been talking about David earlier, I had already shared the story of David and Bathsheba and how God had blessed them after His punishment...Only recently when I was going through Beth Moore's book, "A Heart Like His" did I realize that after David had sinned with Bathsheba, gotten her pregnant, killed her husband, the LORD killed that son, but provided a new child right after and that child was SOLOMON....are you KIDDING ME, God!!! How LEGIT are You?!?!?!?!...talk about blessing us when we don't deserve it! So, I decided to turn to 1 Sam. 5 and talk about Samuel for a little bit! One of my favorite stories is of when the Philistines stole the Ark of the LORD and they brought it to the temple of Dagon(a statue...it's found in 1 Sam. 5:1-6-12, if ya wanna read it!!). Let me just write this story out, because that is how FYE it is!!!...

"After the Philistines had captured the Ark of the God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashod. Then, they carried the Ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashod rose early the next day, there was Dagon FALLEN ON HIS FACE ON THE GROUND BEFORE THE ARK OF THE LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, FALLEN ON HIS FACE ON THE GROUND BEFORE THE ARK OF THE LORD! HIS HEAD AND HANDS HAD BEEN BROKEN OFF AND WERE LYING ON THE THRESHOLD; only his body remained." (1 Sam. 5:5:1-4, emphasis mine)...then, The LORD's hand was so heavy upon the people, they decided to send it back. They put the ark on the back of two cows that have calved and had never been yoked, and took their calves away. For those of you who that makes no difference to you, understand, there are two very important things to know. Because these cows had calves who were there (even though they were not with them), the cows would typically not go down the road, because they wanted to watch over them. Also, if they had never been yoked, that means they don't know the roads, so they would get lost if they did decide to move, going off the roads to graze and such...They had told the people that if the cows made it back, then it was the LORD who had done everything with Dagon and making their hearts heavy, but if the cows did not make it there, then it was just a coincidence, SO BASICALLY, they were trying to rig this "returning" of the Ark of God!...Well, God had different plans, "Then the cows went STRAIGHT UP toward Beth Shemsh, KEEPING ON THE ROAD AND LOWING ALL THE WAY; THEY DID NOT TURN OT THE RIGHT OR TO THE LEFT" (1 Sam. 5:12, emphasis mine)....ONCE AGAIN, ARE YOU KIDDING MEEEE?!?!?!?!...Can I get an AMEN!!!!!.....Just incredible! When God wants something done, He does it, all for His glory, all for His Name's sake!....

Then, later tonight, we came home and just had a sweet time of praise and worship with the LORD and Kari Jobe...just pure devotion lifted to His listening ears, wrapped up in His arms receiving the praises of His beloved ones....We were so moved, that afterwards, we couldn't help but cry out to the LORD in prayer over so many different things!...Tonight was SUCH a picture of how the body is to be used! We are to bring one another to the light, encourage, cry aloud from our desperate hearts to Him to move, to be glorified in out measly lives, to use disobedient and wayward children like ourselves for His Name's sake!

Anyways, then we made banana chocolate smoothies with her roommate, Elaine!...Today was INCREDIBLE!!!...SUCH a freedom we have been able to walk in, and we know the enemy does not like his enemy (the LORD) providing such freedom! Please be in prayer that God will continue to stir the hearts of His loved ones, that He will continue to work in our lives, in specific ways, that He would speak and show! I also pray in NO WAY that you are giving any of the glory due to the Father to us for our simple response to the beckoning of our Jesus! He EVEN provides the desire to do that!!!!


" NOW TO HIM WHO IS ABLE TO DO IMMEASURABLY MORE THAN ALL WE ASK OR IMAGINE, ACCORDING TO HIS POWER THAT IS AT WORK WITHIN US, TO HIM BE GLORY IN THE CHURCH AND IN CHRIST JESUS THROUGHOUT ALL GENERATIONS, FOREVER AND EVER! AMEN!" Eph. 3:20-21