An Everyday Nightmare

I hear screams of fear, terror, despair. Screams that seem to rip ears right off, yet all those who hear pretend their ear canals are not now stained with blood. Then I hear screams of pain, ripping open the lungs with her legs as if that would make the lightning bolts shooting up her thighs and pelvis and back alleviate. Then I hear moaning, groaning. The pain was great, but now comes the realization of what is happening to her. These moans are moans of shame, or inexpressible things like dignity being stripped away, like womanhood and childhood together being stolen. These are moans of deep shattering of soul and spirit. And finally I hear her crying, weeping, the weeping of this has happened to her, of this is life right now, of everything hurts, but the rivers of blood flowing out inside are far greater in volume than the blood flowing from between her legs now. The crying of, "It's over but I feel just as sick as when it first began." At the end I hear the door slam and I begin to cry, hunched over my knees, quietly and fearfully, for I know I am next.

The above is a story I wrote from the perspective of a girl caught in trafficking who can hear her friend being raped from the next room, all the while waiting for her rapist to come in to her. I believe God gave me this story as revelation to feel the kind of terror and despair every girl caught in trafficking feels every day. I have only few words, just a cry of prayer out to God to save her, to save them. Join me in crying out to God. 

Isaiah 37:20 "Now therefore, oh LORD our God, save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the LORD, You alone." 

Rejoice Always, Pray Without Ceasing, In Everything Give Thanks

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thes. 5:16-18

This is God's will for me. No matter what I do, no matter what I see, no matter what I know, still I must rejoice, pray, give thanks. When the shackles carve into her wrists and she writhes in pain as she is raped over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, and no one even cares where she is, still I must rejoice? Give thanks?

How God? How can I rejoice when still she is not free? How can I rejoice when the bonds have still got just one in their clutches?

Because in this is freedom: when we rejoice, give thanks in everything, and pray, then the captives are truly set free because we can rejoice that no matter what God still sits on His throne and has conquered sin and death, and in this knowledge is freedom. I can give thanks that God loves me--all people--and nothing I do or say can ever change that. 

In this love is freedom. I can pray, oh yes, I can pray, speak God's words at the darkness, the Sword of the Spirit, and I can break the strongholds with God's very words, with His sword, my sword. 

Rejoice. Pray. Thank. 

And find freedom "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 

The will of God is the foundation and the embodiment of freedom. Amen.

 Prayer:   Thank You Lord for freedom. It is for freedom that we have been set free (Gal. 5:1) and I proclaim freedom in Jesus' name for all those who are trapped still in bondage. I rejoice because of the great breakthrough of justice we saw at the Superbowl and we rejoice because we know that there is hope. Yes, Lord we give thanks that Your will is that we might be free and in that freedom bring hope and salvation and more freedom to the captives of the world and the nations. Thank You Lord for overcoming sin and death that we might spend eternity in joy with You. We love You. We rejoice that in You there is truth! YOU ARE TRUTH! And the truth will set you free! Amen!! (John 8:32)

Prepare the Way of the Lord

I feel the burden of Your people crying out day and night in bondage, "Please God, please God please help me escape." And I see the darkness and the forces that hold them like an unbreakable thick black cord choking them to death, their hands and feet bound, and it is so strong. And I hear the screams that could curdle blood and the people in the street, passers-by, walk on without missing a beat. And I see the marks on her face and the bruises on her legs and I hear someone say, "Serves you right, anyway," for the look on her face contains nothing but dismay, hidden in disdain for the world she lives in, loves and hates. And I feel her indescribable pain. And my Father takes her hand, and in the midst of the pain, He takes her place in death with only love in His eyes. And His blood pours out and it washes all her filth away. And she says, "I remember no more my shame." 
And I cry out, "Prepare the way of the Lord!" (Is. 40:3)

Prayer:
"Behold the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him, behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him." Isaiah 40:10

Our God, the God Most High, Our Father, Our King, Our Ruler. There is no question, but He will come. There is no if. His mighty arm will rule and with it He will judge and decide. We will be at His mercy, and "His mercy endures forever." (Ps. 136) He will reward the righteous and condemn the wicked. Even now His work is being manifested in this world, through His Word. All we want, all we need is in His words, but even now the veil covers our eyes so we cannot see clearly. Even the shroud covers His Words. No more! NO MORE! No more lies! I declare in Jesus' Name the truth will set you free! The enemies' lies have no hold on me, on us, the powers of darkness flee at the light, and the chains are broken! Amen! There is no oppression in Jesus! There is no slavery in Jesus! There is no pain in Jesus! There is no emptiness in Jesus! No More! All the promises of God are yes and amen in Jesus' Name! (2 Cor. 1:20) Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, yes to these! (Gal. 5:22-23) Yes to these in Jesus! Yes to Your promises Jesus! Yes to You! Cut the chains for the King is coming! Prepare the way! Pray! Fast! Speak! Sing! Don't stop! Prepare the way! His way is paved with peace, paved with no more oppression, bondage, slavery, but with FREEDOM! Prepare the way! Shout "Freedom!" in the streets! Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, bringing us freedom. I believe in Jesus. I believe in FREEDOM. Amen. Hallelujah!

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.