Tag : holyspirit
Tag : holyspirit
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20, NIV)
Every couple of months I drive about forty minutes to a good friend’s house so we can pray together. She and I fellowship over lunch (she’s a great cook), and we catch up on each other’s lives, but the focus of this time together is prayer. We pray for our families, we lift up our ministry concerns, and we intercede for our country. Even though we both have busy schedules, this time of prayer is a priority.
As I was reading in the book of Jude today, I felt the Holy Spirit confirming that He is pleased with this commitment. Jude 1:20 says, “But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit…” In Jude 1:22 it says, “And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others…”
That’s a part of what we do in this time of prayer. We pray for family members who are not followers of Jesus, and ask to be merciful to others. However, the main focus of our prayer is to ask for God’s wisdom for many life scenarios. We don’t want to do anything in our own power.
Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” And there is a sense that the LORD is with us when I pray with my prayer partner.
What about you? Do you have someone you can pray with, a person you trust, with whom you can be totally transparent? If not, ask God to reveal who that individual is in your life and set up an appointment to pray. There is power in numbers.
Categories: Blog
“Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21).
With a “Type A” personality, it’s difficult to go into an event like the National Religious Broadcasters Convention (NRB) and not push. Push to make contacts. Push to get shows done. Push to attend every event possible. However, while it’s taken a number of years to get to this place, I’ve learned to let the Holy Spirit lead.
Before NRB, I prayed for divine appointments and for God to place people in front of me. I asked the LORD for a couple of specific meetings, but did not fret if they didn’t happen. What I’ve found is there is less stress and disappointment if we release our schedules to God, and let Him move on our behalf.
One example. I saw First Baptist Church Dallas pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffers, walking around. I have always wanted to meet him so I could tell him that my great-great grandfather, Abram Weaver, was the second pastor at First Baptist Dallas. I also wanted to share with him that I admire him for being willing to mingle with the people, even though he is a well-known pastor and Fox News expert. I prayed that if I was supposed to speak to Jeffers that God would place him directly in front of me.
And that occurred. It’s as if the LORD said, “Here you go. Now what are you going to do?” So I did take a moment with Jeffers, and he was gracious.
While at NRB, I had a book signing at the Expo for my latest book, The Root that Never Died: A Christian Woman’s Journey Back to Her Hebraic Heritage. Because the book was written during the pandemic, it never gained much traction, so I prayed that God would open doors for this book at NRB. I am thankful for my POP Team members, Dr. Lynnette Simm and Rosemary Legrand, who helped tremendously with the book signing. Dr. Lynnette even placed the book in author, speaker and actress Priscilla Shirer’s hands saying, You really need to read this book!
On one of our POP Talk television shows, we interviewed best-selling author of political thrillers, Joel C. Rosenberg. Like me, Rosenberg had a Jewish father and a Gentile mother, but considers himself Jewish, as I do. I wanted to give him a book, but prayed that someone else would open the door, so I wouldn’t appear to be pushy. Amazingly, the LORD placed Rosenberg’s publicist, Larry Ross and his fascinating wife, Autumn, at our table for a Media Leadership Dinner two nights before the interview. So when it was time to speak to Rosenberg, Ross said, Lisa, tell Joel about what you are studying. I was able to share about my work on a Doctor of Ministry in Messianic Studies, plus that gave me an opening to hand him The Root that Never Died. Whether he read it or not, I don’t know. That’s another prayer…
When we let God guide us, I believe it’s more exciting. Instead of choosing how we want a scenario to play out, we see how creative our LORD is. He thinks of ways to connect us with people that we never would have fathomed.
Do you hand your schedule over to God? Do you trust Him with your connections? I’ve found it is more interesting and fulfilling to let Him lead.
Categories: Blog