About prayer requests and such...

Do you feel overwhelmed from time to time because of all the prayer requests you are trying to keep up with?

I do. Let's be honest here. Sometimes, my prayer list gets so long that I end up praying for nothing at all. I just sit there and sigh... Yep, I admit it.

Read more about this topic HERE (my new blog) and make sure to sign up!

In, but not of this world (1)

We live in a strange world, a world full of opposites... beautiful and heart-wrenching, breathtaking and cringing, wonderful and cruel. We love this place, but we hate what is going on. We long for heaven and yet we want to stay here.

In this new blog series, I want to stop and pause and take a closer look at this awesome, crazy, amazing, rotten, wicked, fantastic world Jesus tells us to go into...  in order to share the good news!

It might be opposed to popular Christian thinking, but Jesus actually prayed to God the Father and asked Him not to take us out of this world. We are not supposed to live on a spiritual island, safe within our little Christian circles. It is His will that we are in this world, but not without protection.

I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one (John 17:15).

Don't take 'm out of this world, Jesus prayed, because the world needs to see My disciples. Just make sure You keep them safe, Father. Just think about that, we are supposed to be in this world. However, we do not belong to it. Jesus made that very clear when He prayed: They do not belong to this world any more than I do (John 17:16).

👉Please, read John 17:10-20 a few times (preferably in different Bible translations) and let that precious prayer really speak to you. It is a prayer for all of us, for today.

If we are in this world, but not of this world, how then shall we live? How do we keep ourselves from being polluted by worldly thinking, talking, and habits? A friend of this world is an enemy of God, the Bible says.

I hope you will join me in this new blog series! Feel free to share your thoughts and comments.

About prayers and frustration...

With everything that is going on in the world right now, I struggle with praying (yep). I am frustrated with my own prayers. I admit it and I know I am not the only one 😁

I find myself struggling on a daily basis. Should I pray as David prayed? Lord, kill the wicked. Wipe 'm off the face of the earth! Sometimes I feel like doing that, but somehow it does not satisfy my soul. 

Well, maybe it is better to pray a nice prayer... Lord, forgive those who oppose You, for they don't know what they are doing. Hm, quite a humble prayer, based on the words of Jesus when He prayed for His accusers. However, under current circumstances, it seems passive to me.

Or maybe I should pray a prayer of love, simply because love will never fail. Lord, thank You for being love. Show Your love to those that hate You. Well, something like that. But I find this quite difficult when my heart is restless and frustration and anger are rising up regularly.

I don't know how you handle prayers for the world's situation these days, but I have decided that the Lord's prayer is probably the best proclamation prayer, 👉 and I put emphasis on this verse:

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

It doesn't really matter how I think or feel. This is what I need to proclaim over every possible situation. I hope it is your prayer as well!

Do you have a particular prayer, you have been praying lately?

The good armor (8)

In this last post about the armor of God, I would like to take a look at all scripture verses we discussed and well in full context, that is as in Ephesians 6:10-18.

I will do so step by step for clarity sake (the words in italics are Bible verses):

• Finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of his mighty power. 👉The power is the Lord's, we should not event try to rely on our own strength!
• Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks. 👉What is the purpose of this armor? It will enable us to stand up gainst evil, even if all others and everything else is falling down.
• For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. 👉Never forget this, the fight is NEVER aginst people, it is against the powers of darkness.
• So put on God's armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground. 👉Again: let's make sure we keep standing. Do not bow down to Satan.
• So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace. 👉Stand ready, be alert, don't be sidetracked, keep attention!
• At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One. And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you. 👉At all times, don't wait for better times, stand ready now!

And so we have come to verse 18. It looks like a new sentence, even a new paragraph, but we should not seperate it from the prevous verses, If we do so, it will lose value and we will miss a very essential part of the armor.

Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people.

We can arm ourselves from head to toe ... but if we don't do so in prayer, we can't take the fight. Always pray, pray persistently. Is that possible? Yes, otherwise it wouldn't say so. Praying is talking with God, which is possible anytime, anywhere ... we don't necessarily have to sit at the table with our hands folded. Be alert. Is that possible? Yes, I believe so. It does mean that we have to put aside all things that distract us.

With good armor, we fight a good fight (2 Timothy 4: 7).

A call to resistance

One of Jesus' most famous sayings deals with the battle between darkness and light, between evil and good, between Satan and God. He keeps it simple:

The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come to give life, life in all its fullness  (John 10:10).

If He keeps it that simple, we should not complicate matters. How do we know if the enemy is at work? When we experience theft, killing, and destruction. How do we know if God is at work? When life in all its fullness becomes visible.

The work of the enemy is visible on a worldwide scale. Quite a few things are being stolen from us at the moment: freedom, joy, rights, and privileges, etc. All kinds of diseases are killing people and among things being destroyed are relationships, culture, economy, entrepreneurship, common sense, morals, values, friendships etc.

The Bible warns us ... Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith (1 Peter 5: 8). Folks, it's a spiritual battle we're in. We don't have to blame politicians, world leaders, or health experts for being where we are. They are just doing their best to keep things under control...

👉But we are not called to control the work of the devil, we are called to resist him (if you are a Christian, that is)!

I am amazed that I hardly ever hear a word from within the Christian world about how this whole crisis is the work of the enemy. Yes, I read beautiful, well-meaning, soothing messages about how to cope with the current circumstances, about how to keep our faith, and how to reposition the chairs in our churches at a safe distance. While we walk around in our churches with a measuring stick, the devil goes around devouring people.

I think the message is very simple (read it in James 4: 7):

• Humble yourselves (submit) before God,
• resist the devil,
• and he will flee from you.

The fight is never against people, no matter what position they are in. A believer's fight is against the powers and forces of darkness. Dear friends, if we are not willing to submit to Jesus Christ (who gives life), then we submit to the enemy (who takes life). There is no middle ground!

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (Ephesians 6: 12-13).

Why do conspiracies exist?

Nowadays there is a lot of talk about conspiracy theories and just as many warnings to stay away from them because they mostly fall in the category 'fake news'... well, so we are told.

The more information that is available, the harder it gets to filter true and false stories. It seems that with every secret revealed, a contra-theory rises up. It is a vicious battlefield we find ourselves in, whether we like it or not, whether we follow conspiracy theories or not.

May I point out that the Bible speaks clearly about conspiracies. 👉The question thereby is not whether a conspiracy is true or false, but rather why it exists. Let's take a look at one of the most intriguing questions in the Bible, as found in Psalm 2:1,

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?

It could be a question asked by many people today. WHY do nations (corporate level) and peoples (private level) engage in plots and schemes? Why can't we live in peace together? Why all this uproar? David answers the question in verse 2: The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.

In the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) it is written like this: Why are the nations in an uproar, the peoples grumbling in vain? The earth’s kings are taking positions, leaders conspiring together, against Adonai and his anointed.

Kings are taking positions, leaders conspiring together against Adonai, against God and against the Messiah (Messiah means anointed one)... Somehow David received this insight, that all the violence, wars, and uproar of nations were acts of rebellion against God. I mentioned it in one of my previous blogs: ultimately this is all a battle between good and evil, between light and darkness, between God and satan. It would be dangerously ignorant to deny this, simply because it plays out right in front of our eyes, every day!

Yes, there is an evil plot to overturn all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy. Yes, there was, is, and will be a plot against Jesus and what He stands for: love, grace, righteousness, peace, forgiveness, purity, and joy. The early believers acknowledged it: Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed (Acts 4:27).

The other day I saw a picture of an individual in a big demonstration. He was holding up a sign that said, 'if Jesus comes back, kill him again'. The sheer hatred against the Son of God who went around doing good and healing all who were sick and oppressed, plays out on an individual as well as a corporate level. Yes, there is a conspiracy (a huge one), there is no denying it.

Our reaction? We should pray as the early believers did (Acts 4:29-30): Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

Antidote to frustration

While the age-old battle between good and evil, between darkness and light, intensifies... one might wonder whether we have any influence at all on happenings around the world. How can our voices be heard? How can our responses be of value?

A few thousand years ago, the philosopher sighed: History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Well, I would be a fool to contradict him. In general, humanity does not learn from the past. On the contrary, I would say. Humanity forgets the past rather quickly and conveniently and acts as if every happening is a new issue.

I was reading Psalms 9, 10, 11, and 12 the other day. David cries out to God about the increase of wickedness and chaos in his time. In Psalm 11:3 he asks the following question,

👉The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?

Such a great question! Such a timely question for us today. What can we do as believers? How should we respond? What is it, Lord, you want us to do in such a time as this?

I believe prayer is the answer. Specific prayer that is! Personally, I don't think that praying for 'things to turn back to normal' will be effective. There are larger things at stake than our comfort. Remember: We are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

Once we truly realize that we are not in a natural battle between people, but a spiritual battle between powers and principalities, we can target our prayers and aim for God and His angels to move on our behalf. We should pray that:

• the evil plot will be exposed, and thus lose its power
• the truth will be revealed
• deception will be replaced with discernment, and
• love will be our language

I truly believe that targeted prayers are the antidote to frustration about the current world crisis.

My #oneword for 2020

In general, I do not participate in online games and hypes, but I do like the #oneword challenge. In the past, I posted about my words, thoughts, and experiences and it was always a good experience. However, in recent years I did not give myself the time to think about a word or to wait for a word (recognize this?).

At the beginning of this new year, however, I did get a very clear word for 2020 on my heart (from the Holy Spirit): expectation. The questions I asked myself were: do I still pray with expectation, expectation that God will do something, that circumstances will change and people will be touched? Do I still expect new things in my work, my family and my calling?

The scripture that came to my mind was Psalm 5: 4: Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. How about that? Bringing our requests before Him in the morning and then what? Wait with expectation!

I sense, I have to learn again to pray like this, with the expectation that something will actually happen. I'm happy with that word for a new year, it triggers something, it stirs up something...

Do you have a word for 2020?

30 Days of prayer

This week marked the beginning of the Ramadan, the fasting period for millions of Muslims worldwide. That same period is being used by Christians all over the world to specifically pray for the Islamic world.

You can pray on a small scale (for your Muslim neighbor or co-worker for example) and on a much larger scale (for the situation in the Middle East or Africa for example).

Using a booklet (that you can get HERE) will help you to pray for different people, countries and issues every day. The emphasis is on freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

You know, watching the evening news in horror and reading/sharing all the bad things that are happening in our world is not going to change a thing. As a matter of fact, it will sow fear and hatred. Let us pray for our fellow men (Muslims, Jews and Christians) in countries where there is no peace or freedom to receive the peace that surpasses all understanding.

The peace that only Jesus Christ / Yeshua ישוע / Yasu' al-Masih يسوع المسيح can give.

Please, act now and join us worldwide in praying (and fasting) for a world in need!

That name in prayer

Have you ever been in a prayer meeting where someone used the name 'Lord' as a filler? Annoying for sure, but it always makes me alert... how do I use God's name?

My new book In My Name offers a New Testament perspective on the 3rd commandment... Do not use the name of the Lord in vain. In Old Testament times people were stoned to death for misusing the name of the Lord. Thank God we live in a different time, because I believe we all use His name in vain from time to time. I quote from page 27:

"I remember a prayer meeting we attended, many years ago. We had joined together with a group of believers to intercede for a brother in our church who was very sick and much too young to die (so we thought). We took turns praying and pleading with the Lord to add some extra years to this person’s life. I remember that a certain man in this group used the name ‘Lord’ in his prayer about every four words.

At first I ignored it, but as he went on and on it began to irritate me. His prayer was sincere and passionate, don’t get me wrong. However; I suddenly had this thought: he is using the name of the Lord in vain. No, he was not swearing, but he used the name of God ineffectively. He used God’s holy name as just another word to make up his sentences.

Never before did it occur to me that even believers can misuse the name of God when talking or praying. How often have you been present in prayer meetings where His name was used as a common word? I think we can all relate to this."

Can you relate or not? Or maybe I should ask: are you using His name without thinking?

👉In My Name is available in Kindle format on Amazon for $2.99.

Does your family need prayer?

In previous blog posts I wrote about starting Prayer for the Nations in our town as well as prayer for our region. Well, there is more....

About two years ago, when my brother-in-law became very ill and passed away much too young, we started up a family prayer group. Now, this is not a new phenomenon as far as my in-laws are concerned; my mother-in-law and her siblings prayed for many, many years for their children and grand children. We decided our turn had finally come to take over (thank you Lord!).

We come together with the (younger) believers in our family to pray for each other, for the children and grandchildren, our nephews and nieces and for the older generation that went before us and prayed fervently that we would live a life for God! We are very thankful for the parents and grandparents that did not give up on us when we were walking away from God and his Word.

I would like to encourage you... if you have family members who need prayer (and who hasn't?), please start a group and come together regularly to pray, to thank, to bless. Two is enough to start! Prayer changes things, I am living proof!

Prayer for your area

In my previous blog post I wrote about Prayer for the Nations, a prayer group we set up years ago. Besides this group, where we focus on nations and people groups, we have also started a prayer meeting where we specifically focus on our region.

This group came into existence about two years ago when we were praying with a group of family and friends for my brother-in-law, who was very ill at the time. When He went home to be with the Lord, we decided to continue the prayer meetings and shift the focus to regional prayers.

We come together once a month and we pray for towns and villages, for the mayor and political parties, for the churches and healthy leadership.

We are small in number (10-16 per evening), but we pray with people from various denominations (such as Dutch Reformed, Evangelical, Pentecostal etc.). We share communion and we thank the Lord for what He is doing in our region: Alpha courses, prayer meetings, adding new believers, starting up new churches, vacation Bible schools and much, much more.

We thank Him for His healing and saving power and the testimonies we hear in our region. It is so encouraging to come together in this way and focus on His promises. We always get words and impressions from the Holy Spirit to share with each other. I write everything down in a special notebook, so we will know when certain prophetic words will come to pass!

Corporate prayer will not replace personal prayer, but it certainly strengthens the bond we have as believers.

Prayer WILL change this world.

If you're not involved in a specific group, may I encourage you to start a prayer group?

What about a prayer group?

Several years ago we started a prayer group in our house, called Prayer for the Nations. With a group of friends we would come together once a month and specifically pray for our European continent.

There are prayer groups in most of our cities and churches of course, but we noticed that they are often focused on people and personal needs, and not so much on nations. And boy, do we need to pray for this struggling world.

During Prayer for the Nations we focus on God's Word, not on the daily news. We proclaim Psalm 67 over the nations of Europe, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

We pray for governments, for the church, the economy and the harvests. We pray that God's righteousness and truth will be revealed, that His peace will become known and His love shared. We cry out for God's will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven. The prayer meetings are very encouraging and inspiring.

We no longer meet in our house. We have moved to Twinkeltje, a little 2nd hand shop that friends of us opened up a year ago... with all proceeds going towards our non-profit organization Traveling Light. We often present pictures from the countries we visit during our travels and that really helps to pray specifically. With contacts in more than 30 nations there is always something to pray for!

I am curious about the prayer group(s) you are involved in. Anything you want to share?

If you're not involved in a specific group, may I encourage you to start a prayer group? 

Prayer for change

One morning, earlier this week, I was reading through the prayer booklet that was published specifically for the week of prayer 2015. I found these words:

God of life, 

Let our strength

not be the result of violence,

but of love.

Let our prosperity

not be the result of possessions,

but of sharing.

Let our path

not lead to ambition,

but to righteousness.

This is what we ask

in the Name of Jesus,

Your Son.

Amen.

30 days of prayer

This week I will interrupt the law & grace, an uneven match? series for the announcement of the 30 days of prayer for the Muslim world.

Today is the start of the Ramadan, the fasting period for millions of Muslims worldwide. That period is being used by Christians all over the world to specifically pray for Muslims. You can pray on a small scale (for your Muslim neighbor or co-worker for example) and on a much larger scale (for the situation in Egypt for example). Using a digital booklet (that you can get HERE) will help you to pray for different people, countries and issues every day. The emphasis is on freedom for the Islamic countries. Freedom of speech and freedom to choose whether you want to be Muslim or Christian.

There is huge unrest in the Islamic nations at the moment, and no one knows whether things will improve or get worse for the people. But we can pray for our fellow men (Muslims and Christians in those countries) to receive the peace that surpasses all understanding. The peace that only Jesus Christ / Yeshua ישוע / Yasu' al-Masih يسوع المسيح can give.

Currently I am reading the book Prayer - The real battle by Brother Andrew and Al Janssen, wow, what a great inspirational book. It will really help you to pray effectively for Muslims.

Please, act now and join us worldwide in praying and fasting for a world in need!

(Choose any form of fasting; you can fast from sugar, coffee, alcohol, television, meat... anything)

Take time...

Thought it would be nice to treat you to some worship music from Holland!

Sit down, relax, listen....

Happy weekend! ENJOY.

Facing fear in prayer

Talking about our fears in prayer exposes them.

Do you have a fear that needs to be dealt with?

Daily bread or more?

Over the past few years every January I picked a motto or scripture to meditate on and adapt as sort of a life lesson.

The other day I visited Lynn Mosher's blog Heading Home and noticed she picked a word, yes... one word! I thought that was very interesting. At first I wanted to skip picking a motto for this year, but then this morning two words came into my mind, words that I've been toiling with for the past several weeks: daily bread. And yes, I am in... I desire to learn more about our daily bread: literally, spiritually, and emotionally.

What's with daily bread? When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, He also taught them important Kingdom principles. He shared with them how to rely on God's provision on a daily basis, and we can still do so today. Give us today our daily bread (Matthew 6:11) is not a question, it is a statement or a proclamation. For most of us in the Western world daily bread is not something we worry about, we go to the store and buy it, so for many people the prayer has lost some of it's meaning. When growing up I always thought it was weird to pray for something that was already on my plate :)

But of course 'daily bread' is more than the food on our table, it is God's Word and it is daily provision. I must admit that when I pray for God's daily provision in my life, I have a tendency to also pray for needs I can see coming up in the next week or next month. I get ahead of things and that is why this year I want to concentrate on this part of the Lord's prayer and learn more and more to rely on His provision on a daily basis. Praying for what I need today, whether that is healing, wisdom, money, peace, endurance or favor, and NOT for what I think I will be needing tomorrow or later on this month. Proverbs 30:8 says: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Such wisdom in those ancient words. Have you learned to trust Him on a daily basis? Please share...

Jesus said: I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)

Contrast of events

It was an interesting week here in the Middle East. Well maybe that is an understatement.

We witnessed first hand how a nation welcomed back their lost son. We saw how a country celebrated the safe return of one of their kidnapped soldiers, despite the heavy price tag. We learned that a human life is valued and loved here in this tiny nation. The people of Israel cried silent tears before the television as they remembered the lives of the hundreds of people who died as the result of terrorism. More than a thousand prisoners received grace and went home. Will they be thankful? 

At the same moment we watched how a people captured their leader, tore him to pieces and slit his throat. The killing of a human being is a horrible thing to watch, no matter who it is. Only one thing came to mind: the people have become as vicious as their leader. The contrast of events couldn’t have been bigger.

As I pondered about the week's events I was reading Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and just had to stop here, May you come to know His love-although it can never be fully known-and so be completely filled with the very nature of God. (Ephesians 3:19). Those words really stayed with me the whole week. God is love, it is His desire that we come to know His love. Why? Because it will fill us with His nature, which is love. And where there is love, all fear, all anger, all rage, all failure will disappear.

A word of promise and hope for believers, but I kept thinking... how in the world do we get this message to the heart of people who know no love?

Please pray!

And this is my prayer...

What do I pray for and why?
Have you ever bumped into a friend or neighbor in the store and, after they updated you about their current drama, you left them with the words: "I'll pray for you."
I've done it! And to be honest with you, if I don't write these things down immediately, I sometimes forget to follow up on my promise. And that leads to feeling embarrased about myself, about treating such a promise lightly and not being more considerate about the trouble the other person is going through. I don't want my words to be meaningless or an empty cliche, so I have decided that either

1. I have to pray with the person on the spot, or
2. write it down immediately and pray later, or
3. ask the person what I should pray for and get specific so we can agree

The last method I learned from the apostle Paul; he told the believers at Philippi: and this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight... (Philippians 1:9-11) He did not adress the people casually, 'oh, I'll pray for you...' He told them what he prayed for and why he did it, he expected certain results because of his prayer. He wanted them to gain a greater understanding of love and he clarified why, so that:

• you may be able to discern what is best, in other words you will be able to make the right choices and always act in love, and love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8)


• you may be pure and blameless until the day of Jesus Christ, because love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8)


• you may be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, you will have peace over the situation because the fruit of righteousness is peace (Isaiah 32:17)

Paul ads the ultimate goal of his prayer -to the glory and praise of God! Wouldn't this be a great way to practise effective prayer this week?