[CS-FSLUG] Sharing an editorial...

[Tim Young]

I wanted to share a quick story that Morgan Jackson 
<http://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com/leadership> once told me.  As he 
was preparing to go on a trip that he was not looking forward to, a 
strange thing started happening.  In a few churches he spoke at, 
people would come up telling him they had felt they had a "word from 
the Lord" for him.  It was always a verse along the lines of what 
people told Paul as he was going to Jerusalem.  "You are not coming 
back from this trip."

Morgan prayed about it and consulted his family.  They all agreed 
that he should follow the Lord on this one, regardless of what people 
were saying.  So he went.   A few people from the States said they 
would pray for him.  The trip went as normal until the last stop, a 
small village in the middle of nowhere.  As he was leaving there, 
this old man came out of a church he had parked next to and said, 
"Sir, before you go, I felt I should tell you something.  A few weeks 
ago, our elders started having visions.  A white man came to our town 
and died.  At first we did not know what to make of this vision, but 
after a few of our elders had the same vision, we knew something was 
up and we started praying to understand what this meant.  Then you 
showed up and all the elders who had that vision said the same 
thing.  You were the white man who was going to die here.  We did not 
think we should worry you by telling you about our vision, but 
instead, our church decided to pray for you.  During these few days 
you have been here, we have been holding a 24-hour prayer vigil, with 
someone always fasting and praying for you.  Please do not take this 
wrong, but we are very happy to see you go."

The "sending churches" that were sending Morgan did do some praying, 
but it was that church that really did not have anything to do with 
Morgan that decided that, "this death will not happen on our watch!"  
Sometimes the people we think should pray for us will not; the same 
as there are times when we should be better prayer-warriors for the 
friends and family in our lives.  And sometimes we are the ones who 
are called to stand up and say, "Not on our watch!"  The Lord does 
not have a scale that says, "If I get three more people praying, I 
will answer that prayer."  But instead He works in such a way that He 
gets the glory, not us.  It is not our praying that makes the 
difference, but rather His  actions.  Our prayers do bring Him 
glory.  But our victory is not assured by having tons of people 
praying for us or by having the three prayer-warriors who will sit in 
their closets on our behalf...  That helps.  My family is living 
proof that prayer makes a huge difference.

But my advice for getting a few prayer-warriors on your side is to be 
one for your friends.  The more your friends know you are praying for 
them during their times of need, the more likely they will seriously 
pray for you in return.  But, if you are going through that time of 
hardship and your friends do not seem to be there, (or as in the case 
of Job, the friends were part of what pushed him over the edge), 
remember that you have one "friend" who will never leave you nor 
forsake you, who has the Father's ear, and who intercedes with Him 
with "groanings that cannot be uttered."  Humans and human technology 
will always let you down sometime, the same way that we will always 
end up letting down our friends.  It is our nature.  But God will 
always be there, He will always be faithful.  It is His nature.

Do what you can to develop that network of prayer warriors.  Be that 
prayer warrior for your friends.  But remember that "The horse is 
made ready for battle, but victory rests with the Lord."

     - Tim Young