iFast Reflection
Many of us have made a commitment to memorizing this chapter of scripture this week so I thought it would be helpful to share some thoughts around this. We would LOVE to invite you to memorize this chapter with us if you like.
Psalm 16
1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.2 I say to the Lord, You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.
Let us seek to find our refuge in Him and as we petition Him on behalf of the “least of these” that they would find and take refuge in Him.
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.
4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
Lord, let us be mindful that You are our portion and You hold our future. We are thankful that we have a beautiful inheritance in You as do those who are orphaned and suffering through extreme poverty.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Lord, I am thankful that You speak to our hearts throughout the day and also at night as we sleep. Speak Lord. We will listen. Lord, we will set You always before us so that we will not be unstable when challenges come. Lord, we pray this for the children around the world who are suffering with a “shaken” world – particularly Haitians.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
Lord, let my heart be glad in You. Let me never be moved by my circumstances but by Your Holy Spirit. Lord, I am thankful that my security is in You. I pray that the millions of orphans in the world would find their security in You also.
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Lord, I find my guidance in Your presence – thank You. I know that my joy will not come from external things but It comes only in You. May I constantly focus my life so that I am at Your right hand.
As I have sought the Lord over the past several weeks, the recurring response I feel He is giving me is that my affections should be set completely on Him. I often feel like they are set on Him but if I am willing to be honest and dig deeper they are focused on outcomes and expectations.
I really find it hard to transition to a focus on Him solely. My prayer for you and for our prayer team this week is that we would become “better” at setting our affections on Him. That we would truly seek and embrace the Giver of all good gifts over the gifts themselves.
God in a world that is completely “me” and “self” focuses help us to learn to delight ourselves in You and to find our pleasure and joy in You and You alone.
Children's HopeChest:
1. Atlanta Launch Weekend – Mangwaneni – Meg Williams, Adecar - pray for Melanie, the weather and safe travel.
2. Swazi Vision Trip - Feb 15-Feb 24
3. Our South Africa launch in partnership with Focus on the Family
4. NGO status in Uganda and Ethiopia
5. Pray for David Hames and the Haitian rescue effort
6. Russia Sex-trafficking Mission trip - deadline is Friday
7. New Orleans Fund-raiser in February
1. I will be speaking at Verge Conference in Austin, TX next week. And HELP will have a booth set-up. Pray for wisdom and favor.
2. I may be heading to Haiti with a team of doctors and nurses. Pray for an open door, and direction.
3. We are working on doing a fundraising campaign to cover stateside operations. We really need a breath-thru. Lot's of ideas, no funds in implement.
4. Pray for our shirts4help.com project. We are hoping to sell 1000 shirts, which will raise $15,000 for orphans in Haiti. So far we've sold 250 ish.
Praise for one of our grant families in South Carolina. We awarded this family a grant in December, thinking that their adoption would take another year or two. We didn't understand why God was choosing this family when they were so far away from travel. But it was clear that the grant should go to them. We obviously had no idea what Haiti would be going through less than a month later. But God did! Their son flew home from Haiti this week! God was so faithful to work every detail out.
Prayer for Board members and volunteers who are experiencing physical illnesses.
Prayer for our Guyana Field Coordinator, Angie Hemric who is still looking for monthly supporters so she can get back to Guyana.
Prayer for our April team to Guyana to fill up.
Orphan Relief and Rescue
1) Korpu- things seem to be coming together for a foster home, but it is a learning process. Pray for her continued health and a perfect match in a home where she will get the love and attention she needs and deserves. And pray that everything comes together quickly and she can make an easy transition to her new home.
2) Michael- He continues to be quite sick, struggling with the discomfort of advanced liver disease and trying to be patient as the medications can take months to really make an improvement. Please pray for wisdom for me as I try to know what is emergent and what is the normalcy of a chronic disease and how to help an 18 year old boy cope with being so sick. Also pray for a new living place for him where he can be close to the hospital and provided for.
3) Accreditation with the government of Liberia- This continues to be a frustrating process. Andrew has been going to town every day and pleading for our certificate to come through and day after day he is given more hoops to jump through. It has been more that a year and nerves are running thin, we really need a breakthrough in this soon.
4) Our field team continues to grow, Ashley is returning to Liberia on Friday (leaving Atlanta Thursday) after six months stateside. We are excited to see her back! Pray that she will be right in the center of where God wants her to be and for a quick adjustment back to the team and work here.
5) Please pray for our new fundraising campaign that will be launching soon.
It is humbling to have the opportunity to partner with you all. Thanks for the encouragement and for building us up.
Organizations that are a part of iFast to lift up in prayer:
No comments:
Post a Comment