Pornography: Part 2

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." Romans 8:5-7

     To be carnally minded is death. Pornography is not simply a sin, but a mindset leading directly to death. Death in the inner man. The spiritual mind is alive and at peace. There is no room for worry or anxiety in the spiritual mind. I know this to be true because when I find myself worrying and anxious it is because I have forgotten about prayer or when I have skipped quiet time in the morning or when I'm letting my thoughts drift to daydreams and ponderings pleasing to my flesh. It is through the mind set-on, determined, fixed-on Christ, and only through that mind that I find true peace and life. And the mind of my flesh? It is the enemy of God. So whenever I allow my fleshly mind to take hold of me and to rule in my life, I am God's enemy. The mind set on pornography is an enemy of God the Father. It is dead and has no peace. Live according to the and the Spirit with peace will have dominion in your mind. Live according to the flesh, and the flesh and death, unrest, and addiction will have dominion in your mind. 
     This week as we pray, let us pray for those who according to the flesh's desires have given their minds over to pornography:

     God we believe You are powerful enough to break the chains of pornographic addiction and release the ones from bondage who are prisoners to their flesh and their eyes. God, we know pornography is a strong addiction which can only be broken through the continual power of Your Holy Spirit working in and through the lives of those addicted to it's power. God we pray for those believers who are addicted, that they would feel the Holy Spirit's power rising up in them even now, knowing in their weaknesses You are strong. They are not condemned before You but rather have peace with the Father. So they don't need to seek peace in their addiction any longer for they already have peace in You. We pray also for those who do not yet know Your power, that they would have a powerful encounter with You in Your goodness so they might see themselves as they are, in need of a Savior. I pray that they would come to You and in Your open arms find freedom, peace and truth they have so desperately been waiting for. Thank You for Your grace which covers all sins like a scarlet red tapestry and Your mercy which endures forever, longer than the burning sun or oldest stars in the galaxy. Truly You have set us free from sin. We choose to walk in that freedom and claim it for all those addicted to porn. Set ALL the captives free, oh God. In Christ's Name we pray, amen.

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." Philippians 4:8

Pornography: a gateway to trafficking

Many people may not know this, but pornography is also a gateway to human trafficking in the world. In fact, many porn stars are victims of human trafficking. This huge industry also fuels men's desires to buy women and children for sex, thus multiplying human trafficking abundantly. I feel led to pray for the men and women enslaved in the addiction to pornography and as I was praying I saw three eyes. 

I asked the Lord to show me what these were, and He showed me that these were the three eyes of pornography. The first is the eye of desire. Desire is the lust of the flesh, or men's eyes desiring what they see. The second is the eye of lust for money. The love of money, the desire to be rich, and to simply attain wealth is in this eye. The third is the eye of pride/ego. Pride or ego is the desire to be seen as important or to be noticed. These three eyes of desire are what is driving the pornography industry currently out of control. 

Let's pray for the men and women addicted to pornography:

Dear God, we ask that you would cause those addicted to pornography to delight in You that You would reveal the true desires of their hearts that You might grant these desires to them. I thank You that in You all our desires can be fulfilled. I pray that You would change these desires from the flesh what the Soul truly longs for. I pray against the love of money, that You would replace it with generosity. I pray against the lust of the flesh that You would replace it with true love for You and our neighbors. I pray also that You would cast down the desire of pride and ego and replace it with the desire to bring glory to Your Name. You are the Way the Truth and the Life, Jesus. We are nothing without You. Please reveal Yourself to all these men and women as the "Desire of all Nations" (Haggai 2:7). Thank You Father for Your power at work in these hearts already. In Jesus' Name amen. 

Let's agree in prayer for this addiction to be eradicated in Jesus' Name! Keep the faith.

Return

"So you, by the help of your God, return; observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually." Hosea 12:6

So there again God calls me. Here again God seeks me out. I am a sheep, I follow what I do not know, I avoid what is not there, I feed on that which is refuse. I seek after the things which I can see, the things which will fade away, and God breathes, "Return." But I cannot return of myself. I must return by the help of my God. I cannot do it on my own. He pulls me, coaxes me, puts thorns in front of me and bars the way until I see Him again. Until I again behold His beauty and return. And when I do I "observe mercy and justice." I observe mercy by forgiving unabashedly, without prejudice or pride, without thought, I forgive. And justice. For justice I pray day and night that God would set the captives free, for justice I make all efforts to tell the world what goes on behind closed doors, what they don't see when they see a girl selling her body on the street is the eyes of a child-scared-cold-alone. I seek, then I forget. I get hurt. I don't forget the pain. I hold grudges, I think of only myself, I indulge and delight the daydreams of things I would like to enjoy. Only by the help of my God can I return again to mercy and justice. And then, "wait on your God continually." He doesn't come when I thought He would. He doesn't come how I think He should. He is late. He doesn't seem to be doing anything, and aren't they fine anyway? Without Him aren't they okay? I am blinded by greed and selfishness. I want this now. I don't think I should have to wait any longer for this. It's not fair. "Return." Again He breathes on me. I hear His voice, I know His voice because I am one of His sheep. "My sheep hear My voice and they know Me." Again He reminds me. "I have better for you. Greater for you. Just wait on me. I AM FAITHFUL." 

Pray:

I believe You are FAITHFUL God. Help me to return, to observe mercy and justice and to wait on You continually. You are coming. Coming for your people. Coming for Your lost sheep and I KNOW You are faithful. I know You will come. I know You will save. I know You will set the captives free because of WHO YOU ARE. So make bare your holy arm in the eyes of all the nations for all creation waits in eager expectation for your sons and daughters to be revealed. Cut the chains, oh God, that bind. And I want to continually return. Help me to continually return and wait for You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Encounter to Salvation

In this is the beauty ~ as we encounter the least of these, we encounter Christ, and they encounter Christ through Him alive inside of us.

"Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." John 4:42
"You search the Scriptures; for in them you think You have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life." John 5:39-40

Salvation is a person, an encounter with the One who changes lives and hearts. The people heard the testimony of the Samaritan woman at the well, but they didn't believe until they themselves had an encounter with Jesus. They said, "we ourselves have heard Him." 
One chapter later Jesus claims to be God's Son and says to the religious leaders they search the Scriptures, but will not come to Him to encounter Him. Salvation cannot come apart from an encounter with the person, Jesus Christ. 

When praying for the captives of human trafficking across the world, I cannot pray for them passionately until I have an encounter with Jesus. Where is Jesus? He is waiting on the street corner, in the brothels, plastered in a picture window of a red-light district wearing nothing more than sexy lingerie, in the men-pleasure bars, in the business rooms. The orphan. The homeless. The most hardened atheist. Loving the least of these means encountering them, to know Jesus.

Prayer: Jesus I pray that I would truly encounter You this week. That as I see the least of these in front of me that I would stop and encounter them, love them in Your name. It doesn't matter if I look crazy or stupid. Loving the least of these means loving You, and I pray that the captives would encounter You through Your presence in me. Encounter Your daughters and sons in slavery throughout the whole world that through encountering You their salvation would come. Jesus' Name, Amen.

Sought Out

"'My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them'...For thus says  the Lord God, 'Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples and and gather them from the countries , and I will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,' says the Lord God. 'I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and strong and feed them in judgment.'" Ezekiel 34:6;11-16

God is seeking His lost sheep. Throughout the whole face of the earth His flock is scattered, and He is seeking them out. The ones working in forced labor for no wages, He is seeking them out. The ones trafficked for commercial sex and forced to have sex while their money and dignity is stripped from them by their captors, God is searching for them. The children whose innocence has been stolen because they are being sold for sex by their own parents, He is seeking them out. The women and men caught up in the pornography industry and the lies it is selling them, God is seeking them out. The ones who feel their lives are hopeless and no one cares, God is searching for them. He continues to search for them because they are HIS. He says "My sheep" have been scattered. He is seeking and searching for His sheep. When He finds them, He will bring them to a safe place. He will give them rest and good food. He will heal them, strengthen the sick, and they will know that they have finally been found. 

A prayer for the oppressed, the orphan, the weak, and the broken:
Dear Jesus, 
No matter what, You never change. Though we are finite, You are infinite. When this life doesn't make sense, when we have sorrow like the deepest ocean, when we despair, when we experience pain and suffering, we can look into Your eyes and know true beauty. Please comfort the sorrowful, give rest to the weak, relieve the oppressed, Father the orphan, and love us with Your everlasting, unrelenting love. You are there when we are alone, You hurt when we hurt, You know what it means to be forsaken by all, even Your Father, You know what it means to carry a burden You did not deserve. You are the One who understands. Be here with us, Jesus, in our own life, right where we are. That is all we need. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Gathering the Outcasts

 ^“Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

⁸ The Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.”

Isaiah 56:7-8 God is gathering the outcasts of Israel to Himself. Right now the oppressor is trembling upon his bed with visions and terrors in the night for the terrible day of the Lord is coming.

Is. 2:11-12
The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,
the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,
And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
¹² For the day of the Lord of hosts
Shall come upon everything proud and lofty,
Upon everything lifted up—
And it shall be brought low—

Isaiah 1:16-20
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
¹⁷ Learn to do good;

Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;^[a]
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
¹⁸ “Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,

They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
²⁰ But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Awaken your hearts to the cry of the oppressed. Let God show you what you can do. Start with prayer and don’t cease to pray until God has opened your eyes to the needy around you. I urge you, the time is now, don’t delay. 

Oh Lord God I pray the oppressor would cease to prosper. I pray the captives would be gathered into Your loving arms. I pray that the church, Your body, would arise and defend the cause of those who cannot defend themselves. Arise oh God and make bare Your holy arm in the eyes of all the nations (Is. 52:10). Let them see Your glory and let Your enemies be ashamed, but let the righteous rejoice. Surely Your salvation is coming for Your little ones. In Your name I pray Jesus, amen. 

Prayer update

Sorry for the delay in this blog as far as posts go, things have been crazy lately with the move across the world. Update: I have moved to South Korea for 1 year of teaching and prayer. I am continuing to pray for an end to human trafficking so if you feel called to pray for this issue please follow my blog and encourage others to do so as well. As of right now, Cambodia has been a country laid on my heart to really adopt in my heart as a place of prayer. So many girls are sold into slavery in the country of Cambodia, and if you watch the film "Nefarious" you will see that about an extremely large percentage of families are selling their very own children as sex slaves every day. Seeing the girls, and the extreme child sex culture of Cambodia simply breaks my heart every time in a way that I cannot describe. Please join me in prayer for these girls, some as young as 7 years old, who are being sold for sex every day, every hour having their innocence stolen again and again. 
Pray Psalm 72
Exodus 3
Isaiah 61-62 

Oh God we cry out and join our voices with those who are in captivity. Many do not know there is a Father out there who truly loves them and cares for them. I pray that You would reveal Your Father heart to these girls and cause their cry to come up before you that you would raise up a deliverer for them. Deliver them , oh God, from bondage with signs, wonders, and a mighty hand. Only You can set the captives free. We ask for this God in Your Son Jesus' name, Amen.