Thoughts for Life: #105 Communicate Regularly

C. Peter Wagner shares
on the importance of our
communicating with prayer
partners:

"Communicating is the part
that takes time.

One of the best known
cases of missionary
history where evangelism
was stimulated through prayer occurred when J. O. Fraser recruited prayer partners for his evangelistic work among the Lisu of Burma.

For years nothing happened outwardly as he preached the gospel, but inwardly he learned that the real battle he faced was a spiritual battle.

He said,

'I know enough about Satan to realize that he will have
all his weapons ready for determined opposition. He
would be a missionary simpleton who expected plain
sailing in any work of God. I will not.'

Fraser then wrote home his mother who for years had ministered as what we would call his I-1 intercessor.

He asked his mother to recruit 'a group of like-minded friends, whether few or many, whether in one place or scattered' to join with her in prayer for the Lisu.

The results were dramatic. Hundreds of Lisu families came to Christ in a short period of time. But that is not the immediate point.

The point is that when James Fraser requested her to find prayer partners he was wise enough also to say to his mother,

'If you could form a small prayer circle, I would write
regularly to the members.'

Fraser was very serious. He said,

'I am not asking you just to give 'help' in prayer
as a sort of sideline, but I am trying to roll the main
responsibility of this prayer warfare on you. I want
you to take the burden of these people on your
shoulders. I want you to wrestle with God for them.'

And his role? He saw himself as an intelligence officer.

'I shall feel more and more that a big responsibility
rests on me to keep you well informed.'

He was prepared to invest the time necessary to communicate with his prayer partners.

John Maxwell, from whom I
learned most about personal
prayer partners, gives
communication with
intercessors a high priority.

The 100 men who pray for him
have privileges that other church
members do not have, particularly
to accessibility to the senior pastor.

John does not send a Tychicus to them, but he meets with them personally four times a year, three times for breakfast and once on an all-day partner retreat where they eat together, play together, learn together and above all pray together.

He meets with one-forth of them every Sunday morning
before the service on a rotating basis. He shares his needs,
and they lay on hands and pray God's anointing on their
leader. John has lunch once a month with this I-1 intercessor,
Bill Klassen.

Because my intercessors are scattered around the country, I do not find it as easy to keep in contact with them as I might if they were in the same church.

Doris and I were frustrated about how to communicate with the I-3 intercessors until Jane Rumph, who is one of our original I-2 prayer partners, agreed to become the prayer coordinator for our ministry.

Jane keeps the mailing list of more that 100 up to date and is in personal contact with several of them.

When we put off writing for too long, Jane gets on our case, as we have instructed her to to."

#105 Communicate Regularly,

in the series taken from C. Peter

Wagner’s book, PRAYER SHIELD,

How to intercede for pastors,

Christian leaders and others

on the spiritual frontlines.

(pgs. 181-183) by Regal Books

Let’s pray:

Father, I see the importance

of communication, now.

May I write, call, text, or see

personally, those who pray for me.

If I can be of service to my pastor

in writing to his prayer partners, I

ask that I be willing to do so.

I ask this in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Today’s Bible verse: Is. 40:31a "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength."

Today’s quote: Fran Pasch – “God has given us a gift, the greatest gift of all—His Son, Jesus Christ. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of everyday activities, we forget Him, burying Him in the attic of our minds. But unlike the world, Jesus offers us a second chance. He forgets the past and wipes our slates clean when we put aside those things we’ve kept hidden from Him and begin anew by making Him the center of our lives.”devotions and poetry

Some thoughts today: When the devil keeps coming against your efforts for the Kingdom, keep on "digg'n" and try the next "well" of opportunity God gives you.

- You need to get up and take some risks and do what God has instructed you to do. Don't talk too much about any success, as it hinders what God's doing.

- Whatever you've imagined is far less than the huge opportunity before you. Don't despise small beginnings, as God's the One with great ideas for you, as you learn to walk in obedience to His leading.

31st- Thursday’s post: #106 Letters to Intercessors C. Peter Wagner

8/2- Saturday's post: Discernment vs. Criticism Part 2 Jean Oathout

3rd- Sunday's post: Walking Through Dark Valleys Dr. Charles F. Stanley

3rd- evening's post: Tenderhearted Ginny Merritt

A popular post: A Meeting for Reconciliation  Dutch
Sheets - “…Psalm 85:10 states, ‘Lovingkindness and
truth have met  together; righteousness and peace
have kissed each other...  God had a dilemma seen
through four words in this verse. He not only is a God
of lovingkindness..."