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| Touch of Glory Prayer Mountain, Antipolo |
During this time last year, our church held its annual Prayer and Fasting. Last year was about FIGHT: Fight the Good Fight of Faith, while this year’s theme is only two words, which actually encapsulates a lot of things: HONOR GOD.
It’s amazing how God can reveal Himself to us especially,
especially if we deliberately ask Him to. During last year’s Prayer and
Fasting, I prayed for something, then three weeks later, there it was! A life
changing event indeed! I’m still in owe of how 2014 was so amazing. God, You
never fail to amaze me!
Ok back to P&F…
First, it was God’s favor that I got to attend all five days
of the Prayer and Fasting Service! It was the first week of the year and so I was
expecting a busy-cannot-go-home-at-5:30-2hours-from-Makati but thank God
schedule was manageable for me to attend all the 5 days, and actually report in
our Marikina office for 3 days which meant I attended the 6:00 PM service and didn’t
have to rush getting out of office to reach the 7:00 PM service. Grateful for
God’s favor.
Secondly, I realized or was reminded of these three things. God speaks to us in different ways. For me, for the 5 days of prayer and fasting, there were mindsets that were corrected, prayer that was answered.
1.
Wait.
So of course, like all those who
took part of this, I wrote my faith goals for this year. I have specific ones
and general ones. I have small ones and big ones. Nevertheless, I know God is
telling me to wait. Wait for Him. Wait for His timing. Wait on His ways. Wait
for His answers. We have 365 days in a year and I know that every single day of
2015, He will be with me. I might not get what I pray for, but I will wait for
His good, pleasing, and perfect plan. God is so worth it!
During the second day of fasting, He
actually answered one of my prayers already! His answer was “No.” It’s okay. That’s
not where He wants me to be, so it’s okay. I will wait.
2.
Trust.
I do not know what God’s plan for my life
is. But I know that He does have a plan. I may not see the whole picture, but what I know is I have today. I have to trust Him with all my heart and
surrender everything to Him. And when I say surrender, it’s not a onetime big
time event – it’s an everyday thing to do! Sometimes I forget that. Sometimes I
forget that He is a BIG God who can do BIG things. That I have to trust Him
because He is limitless! Trust in Him. Trust in His timing. Trust His ways.
Trust that He will answer.
3. Faith.
I’ve been hearing people say “Claim
it by faith!” or “I will do this by faith!”. I initially didn’t get it, but in
the long run I did… As I was writing my faith goals, I was writing some things
that to me seemed impossible. Like how will I…. (okay won’t share that! Hehe)…
it just seems impossible to me! How can this happen? How can I buy this? How
can I have this amount by the end of the year? But I was reminded that to men
it may seem impossible, but to God, EVERY.THING. is POSSIBLE. We just need to
claim it by FAITH! To believe in the things that cannot be seen! Faith that He
has already been there. He is ahead of us. He has written our story! It will just
unfold… Believe it. Have faith in God! It can and will happen if it’s aligned
to His will! Have faith in Him. Have faith in His timing. Have faith in His
ways. Have faith that He will answer.
“Be in faith for God to move
miraculously in your life this year beyond what you can ask or imagine.”
Here are some of my random notes and reflections each day of
the P&F:
Day 1: Honor God’s name
·
All of our conversations should be honest and
hypocritical.
·
Let my yes be a yes and my no be a no.
·
I mean well but sometimes I get masungit or
mataray (or maybe because my punto is Ilocana? So matapang talaga? Hehehe reasons!)
so I actually don’t get my point across because people tend to respond/react to
my katarayan rather than what I’m actually saying (which is good naman talaga,
hehe) – am and will work on this. Looord, help J
Day 2: Honor God with our Worship
·
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
·
The bad things that happened to me before made
me draw near to Him, and I am closer to God now than I ever was in my 24 years
of existence.
·
This year I am participating in 90-days to read
the Bible. (not study but just read).
·
If we complete reading the Bible, our prayer
life will change! (I am so excited!)
·
Dancing and singing are expressions of
worshiping God – so don’t be shy – raise that hand in Church! At the end of the
day, it is God we are Honoring and pleasing, not men.
Day 3: Honor God with our Wealth
·
“Lord, you are a Big God!”
·
Giving to the Lord is a matter of the heart.
·
Need to sustain discipline in budget!
·
I would want to be a testimony of how God can
restore and sustain.
·
‘God may not literally send someone to give you
money, but He gives you favor.’
Day 4: Honor God with our Bodies
·
Mindset that was broken: Not just about the
weight! I was too focused on weight but then during our lunch fellowship, this
mindset was definitely broken. It’s not just about the weight.
·
It’s about all parts of our body! Our hands –
what do we do with our hands?
·
Our ears – what do we listen to? Does it Honor
God?
·
Our eyes – what do we look at? What do we watch?
What do we read? Does it Honor God?
·
Our lips – what do we say? How do we say it? Does
it Honor God? The same mouth that curses, the same mouth that praises.
·
On weight – you can be payat but not Honor God… like
you can be so vain
·
How do you dress? I like what Rica
Peralejo-Bonifacio said in her blog,
"I do not want to be legalistic. There are times when dressing is contextual. I sometimes see women were tanks, tees, and shorts that would otherwise look sensual on me but somehow it does not send the same message when worn by these women. (Hint, hint: they are often younger women.) But the point remains, this is a matter of asking ourselves: have we thought about the Lord’s honor enough to change even the simplest act of choosing what to wear for the day? Have we thought about the Lord’s honor before that intercourse with our partner? Because surely, the Lord has thought about your honor when He said not to do those things." (More on: http://www.ricaperalejo.ph/2015/to-die-for-honor/)
·
Pursue for noble purposes – only possible by God’s
grace!
·
Pursue for Purity – not just in physical but as
well in thoughts
·
Pursue purity not just for God’s best, but ultimately
for God Himself.
Day 5: Honor God with our service
·
It’s not about what we do, it’s what He did for
us 2000 years ago.
·
Always go back to WHO you are serving.
·
You grow in ministry.
·
Walang hierarchy sa Panginoon. Wala ring mas
magandang ministry. Hindi higher ang music ministry. Pantay-pantay lahat.
·
Appreciate the skills and talents that God gave
you. Don’t compare yourself to other people! (I was rebuked here – coz I always
ask God, ‘Lord bakit hindi mo ako binigyan ng gift sa singing?’ hehe.)
·
HOW is as important as the what. So I service
KIDS church – now what? How do I do it?
·
Serve with gladness.
·
Jesus died for us. How can we not allot time for
our ministry?
All of us have different faith goals, realizations and
reflections. God also has different answers for all of us. It’s between you and
Him. Me and Him. He’s just so personalized. Aren’t you glad He is? J
Thank you LORD, for 2015. Whatever plans You have for me, I will
accept it wholeheartedly. Surprise me!
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| Different days, different people: Eunice, Kim, Khay, Jeriel Gurdeep, Jen, Ayen, Cathy, Jaimmie, Lady. |
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| My accountability sisters and prayer partners, Diana and Eunice. Thank you so much! |
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| Pastor Alfred as he talks about Honoring God in more ways than one. |
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