Bridging the Gap Presents…
Prayer Updates

September 2006 Prayer Update

Dear MN prayer warrior!  The following is a monthly prayer update published by the Briding the Gap prayer team.  Our goal is to facilitate MN women encouraging MN women as we pray together for our families, communities and state.  Blessings! 

Fall Retreat Prayer Team

Interested in serving on the prayer team at the Fall Retreat, October 6-7, 2006?  We need volunteers in the areas of prayer counseling, intercession and altar ministry.  If you are interested, contact Jolene at jacassel@northcentral.edu or 763-227-6014.

Applications can be downloaded from the website or email Jolene to request one.

Devotional Thoughts

Psalm 78:39 - "For He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again" A little section in my Bible (Truth in Action) says, "Be comforted, knowing that even when you fail, God understands your weaknesses and forgives you when you ask Him." Thank you, Lord- my "flesh" is so very "fleshy" some days! I'm SO thankful You don't turn me away when I come, even if it's the "same old, same old" sin. This Psalm taks about the Israelites in the wilderness and how they'd sin and repent, sin and repent, etc., etc. Verse 41 says, "Again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel". Lord, when I keep repeating a sin, does that limit your power in my life?

It is always amazing to me how God kept forgiving, feeding, watering and defending these people who couldn't seem to remember from day to day what He was doing for them. But am I not just like them? He delivered me, brought me out of my "Egypts", has rescued me, fed me, healed me; not to mention the miracles in the lives of my family. Why is it then that as soon as anything goes wrong I often forget WHO it is that "thus far has helped me"? Forgive me Lord for having such a short memory when it comes to Your care and blessings.  (By Judy Wolf, BTG Prayer Coordinator)

__________________________________________________________

…As I walked into the room, my hands frail but callused, held a small jar.  The day had been busy with many preparations.  There was cause for a celebration.  My jar was filled to the brim with an extravagant fragrance.   I held it close, as if it was all I had.  I remembered the day I received this expensive piece.  It was priceless to me; it represented my future, my life!  Because its contents were so costly, it could be given to the man I would marry one day. 

But the room changed suddenly, where there were many people gathered around, the attention shifted.  Something in my heart pulled; there was no question in my mind this jar was for one and one alone.  It wasn’t mine to have.  It seemed like time froze, everyone’s gaze looked stunned and distant, even my siblings wondered what had come over me.

I glanced down one last time at the oil as it gracefully flowed back in forth in the intricate jar.  As I looked up I saw Him, His gaze caught mine, but it wasn’t like the others, it was sweet and tender, it was like He could see something no one else could see.

A force stronger than myself came over me; though he was footsteps away, with one lunge forward I fell at his feet.  This man had healed my brother; He spoke life into death, heard my cries and answered them.  And now in a day we celebrate, such an overwhelming emotion came over me. I didn’t even have to think about it.  There was nothing, no one, I would have rather given this moment to.   

At first, I was a bit scared as I knelt shaking and trembling at His feet.  I knew this was not my place as a woman but I had to, I had to!  I quickly opened the tightly sealed jar and began pouring the oil on the weary and blistered feet of my Savior!  As I did, even those who had come to celebrate rebuked me, exclaiming I had wasted my precious fragrance uselessly; couldn’t I have at least given it to the poor for a profit, they jeered. I began to weep and cry, each tear falling on the two feet in front of me.  As they fell I gathered my long black hair covering my face from the crowd and began wiping them dry.  For a moment I wondered if I had gone too far, if I had upset everyone.

But then he spoke, His voice so calm, so caring, so loving.  He spoke to those who had come. The words He held I will never forget, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me among you.  What this woman has done will be spoke of to all generations in her honor, for she has prepared my body for burial.”

I could have stayed in that moment for hours.  How did he use me, when all I wanted was to give to Him.  My obedience was necessary but divine!

                 (Matthew 26:1-13 Paraphrased)

~Women of Minnesota~

A call has been sounded and it is a call to pray.  My summer has been different than the past; something is stirring stronger and faster than ever before. This story depicts intercession in a very deep way.  A woman called to the feet of Jesus, to pour upon Him that which would ultimately predict His death, and an anointing that she could not have known about. However, through her immediate obedience, three things happened, God was glorified, her life was transformed and generations were marked for eternity all because in one moment, one woman set herself apart for more than what she could see in herself and stood in the gap!  A challenge to us all, there is power in prayer, and we may never see the results on earth, but something is happening in the spiritual realm every time we set ourselves apart to pray!

(By Andrea Volsen, BTG Prayer Coordinator)