Cross the Field

How can we someone worship someone we don't know? Worship was designed to be an intimate transaction between God and His people. Many worship God because of something amazing He has done in their life or because they are "supposed" to, but just a few experiences with God or because we are "supposed to" will not sustain our desire to worship. There will always be something that needs our attention and/or affection...always.

We must seek the face of the One whom we worship, we must get to know Him, if we are to sustain that desire. When you pursue God you can't help but worship Him, because you are developing a relationship with Him- the very thing we were made for. Meeting God face to face leads to a transformation of not just our hearts, but the way we think...about Him.

God pursues us, but for a relationship to work- for real intimacy both must pursue (and no ladies this isn't an excuse to go pursuing that man you may have on your mind or have your eye on). God pursued us first, We love because He first loved us... 1 John 4:19. Its more about responding to His invitation. We must accept His invitation just as a girl must accept the marriage proposal to enter into the intimate marriage relationship (in God's design).

I imagine myself as one of two people in a field, one at either end- both of us must move toward each other to come together. While God will and does certainly come towards us, its part of our design to move towards Him. When two move towards each other, they come together much faster than if just one moves. I then can imagine the forest that lines the edge of the field, it's my wilderness. A place of shadows, no clear path, etc. (yes I know a walk through the forest can be lovely, but stick with me here.) So often we have the choice to respond to God's invitation- the path is wide open, just as the field is, because of what Jesus did on the cross, or to turn around and head back into the wilderness. The Israelites faced this dilemma. The Israelites came to the edge of their "field," their promised land and out of fear began complaining. When we complain we back away from our promise because we begin distrusting what God said and trusting what we "see." When we complain or are hanging our heads staring at our feet in saddness or self-pity, we are not seeing who God is, what He has in store for us and we certainly don't see Him standing there or hey- even walking towards us...with the most amazing relationship and plan. Remember David said in Psalm 84:10, "better is one day in your courts, Oh God, then a thousand elsewhere..."

So if your facing the line of the trees and the wide open field, God's invitation still waits...I don't know about you, but I'm going to "cross the field."

Esther Siege India- Update

While the Esther Siege in India was in November and I am just NOW updating on it, I still feel it important to share.

Realizing these girls were in school throughout the day and on normal days wouldn't be able to have 48 hours of non-stop praise and worship I felt the Lord saying to teach them about doing an 8-hour Esther Siege. One they can do on the weekend. This group of girls came in while was worshiping to my ipod and looked at me strangely. You see, we can worship through various means, in India these girls have their hearts and voices only...something the Lord cherishes deeply. As I turned my ipod off, and let Winnifred lead us in worship with her guitar and the very few chords she knew (and used for many worship songs)...I was literally brought to tears. We get so concerned with worship sounding "right" and being perfect...I was brought all the way to India to listen to perfectly "imperfect" worship from the very hungry hearts of these few girls. I wept as I was so honored to listen to their voices surely bring the Lord God to tears and be so strongly in their midst. These girls are hand-chosen by the Lord to bring tears to His eyes, their hearts are pure and hungry to see God and just as the king asked Esther, "up to half the kingdom, what is your request?" these girls surely have the attention of the Lord and all they have to do is ask.

Esther Siege goes to the Nations

A Modern Day Banquet 48 Hours of Non-Stop Praise and Worshipthat leads to the prayer and petition for the end of abortion and the lives of generations to come.
An Esther Siege is based on Esther 5. A time of honoring the King of Kings with what better than a time of worship, "a modern day banquet."
Based on Esther 5- often true warfare comes through worship. Esther had the favor of the king before she even approached his throne room- it’s written in scripture (see Esther 2:15-18). We have the same favor with our King and God- we have it before we even approach His throne room. It is God’s will for abortion to end- He gives life. God can overturn abortion with one word (Psalm 2) yet, we often focus on the problem and not on God. It’s all about how we approach the throne, for whatever our request/petition is.Esther replied, "My petition and my request is this: If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king's question." Esther 5:7-8
*We are the Esther's of our generation- we have been called to go before our King and honor Him for no other reason than because of who He is. We are to then to bring our desire before Him- to save not just one generation but those to come.
The Lord has also given me revelation in 1st & 2nd Kings about how Solomon turned from God and essentially led the nation into idol worship including the idol Molech (abortion). It was Josiah who brought the nation back into covenant and restored true worship and tore the idols down. Specific revelation from my prayer time I wrote down:
In my prayer time this morning I was reading in Matthew 5 and happened upon the definition of hell and the clarification of the two compartments (in the Spirit filled life bible- which gives you word wealth and Hebrew and Greek meanings) hell and hades/sheol. Hell it says is also known as Gehenna or "Valley of Hinnom" which is where they offered their sacrifices to Molech. So I followed the 2 Kings 23:10 reference- which talks about Josiah and what he did to tear down the idols to Molech- the chapter heading is "Josiah Restores True Worship". I then followed the 1 Kings 11:5 reference which led me to Solomon and how he turned his back on God and "went after milcom/molech- the abomination of the Ammonites". The Lord spoke to me and said, Solomon turned his back and to tear down this stronghold/idol Josiah used worship. I really feel that this revelation combined with what the Lord has shown me about Esther and the type of warrior she was- she worshiped/honored the king BEFORE she made her request known- just as God has instructed us in other things. An Esther Siege is 48 hours of non-stop praise and worship allowing no intercession/asking God for anything. Just honor and worship him...I really feel this is key to unlocking this. I also feel like this is why God has given me the task of an Esther Siege in India.
In 1 Kings 11:5 where it talks about how the worship of Molech came in- the word wealth and references state "Ashtoreth was the Canaanite goddess of fertility whose worship involved not only sexual rites, but astrology. The worship of Milcom or Molech included human sacrifices, especially of children"