Friday March 08
God Answers Prayer
Psalm 138:1-8 A Psalm of David
1 I will praise You with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing praises to You.
2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O LORD, When they hear the words of Your mouth.
5 Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, For great is the glory of the LORD.
6 Though the LORD is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.
8 The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
In verse 3 David said, “In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul.” David said that he prayed and cried out and God answered him and gave him inward strength to face his challenges. It is amazing how Psalm 138 is so fitting for our time in both India and Jordan these past several weeks!
For sure the Lord has given us strength for this amazing journey! I can’t thank you enough for your prayers and support. Today is our last day and we are preparing to catch a flight back to the U.S. tonight. Our time here in Amman Jordan has been very interesting, exciting and rewarding! It is amazing what all can happen in such a short period of time.
We have participated in several distributions of food and household goods for several hundred refugees over the past week. In each one we had the opportunity to share our testimonies and a message of God’s love and grace which was received very warmly. Our team of 6 divided up into two groups and probably went into at least 15 homes of refugees from Syria and Iraq. On many occasions we all went together. We listened to story after story of how family members were killed as they fled for their lives from ISIS in 2014.
At the same time, we heard amazing testimonies about how the Lord brought them to salvation and miraculously answered their prayers and has provided for their needs. There were many tears as we heard them recount their suffering and even their present situations where unless a miracle happens, they have a very bleak future.
In one of our last visits a dear older lady shared how her son and brother was killed one night by ISIS in Iraq. She went into detail about what she went through in her pain and loss but the whole time she had the most amazing smile, countenance and glow on her face! She shared how finally a pastor’s wife prayed over her and she was able to forgive the men who killed her son and brother and begin to pray for them. At that time a peace came over her that lifted her out of her despair and set her free with a peace that was indescribable.
We also spent three mornings visiting three different ministry centers where most of their staff took the time to share with us what they are doing to bring hope and hands on help for refugees and many who have suffered physical, emotional and mental trauma beyond our ability to describe. As we listened all we could do is weep and put our faces in our hands and pray. We plan on partnering with at least two of these ministries as they desperately need both financial, prayer and volunteer support! They have websites that we will share later.
Needless to say, because of Arab culture here in the Middle East, at every visit we were served tea, coffee, sweets and on many occasions full Iraqi, Syrian or Jordanian meals! I have gained several pounds but really enjoyed every moment of our time with these precious people. We have anointed many with oil and prayed over them for special healing.
Again, Psalm 138 is an awesome reminder of how our God is still at work in His harvest fields. And we had the firsthand experience of seeing and hearing of the great movement of the Holy Spirit in opening the eyes and hearts and minds of multitudes of precious souls in this region. Truly He is magnifying both His Word and His Name as He manifest both His lovingkindness and His truth to so many here and around the world today!
God bless!