Aletha's Journal

Satan's Two Lies

2012-05-31T17:20:31Z

Please pray for Beth Coppedge, our beloved CTTF speaker, who recently had surgery and will be undergoing cancer treatment this summer.

Satan has two lies he tells us to damage our confidence that God hears our prayer. First, he tells us that our prayers do such little good that it really doesn't matter if we skip prayer.

Then after we've heeded his advice, he follows that with, "Because you're so unfaithful in prayer, there's no reason for you to think you can receive anything from God."

What he doesn't want us to remember is the old saying, "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees."

David realized God heard him even when he thought he had been cut off. "In my alarm I said, 'I am cut off from your sight!' Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help" (Psalm 31:22).

Thank You, Jesus, that You hear our faintest prayer.

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you" (James 4:7-8).

Memory Verse for May

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6, 7).

All Power is Available to You

2012-05-30T15:39:13Z

Today's request: Pray that all leaders of Come to the Fire will be God-infused.

F. B. Meyer told of a clergyman who, when tempted to feel great irritation, would look up and claim the patience and gentleness of Christ. He had developed a habit of claiming from Christ the patience he lacked within himself.

When we try to love with mere human love, it often falls short. Rather than reacting out of our frustration, we can flee to the One who wants to give us His thoughts and His reactions. Because we have access to the mind of Christ, we don't need to respond out of our human weakness.

We pray, "Dear Lord, what are You about this child?" and suddenly possess fresh love and understanding that enable us to deal with a troublesome situation calmly and kindly. Kindness and gentleness are gifts to those who keep in step with the Spirit.

F. B. Meyer said, "Act as if you had omnipotent power, and you will discover that you have it allied with you, and working through you, to the accomplishment of purposes of which you had not dared to dream in the wildest flights of fancy."

Whether it's additional patience, love, or wisdom we need, we can do all things through Christ.

Thank You, Jesus, for the authority we have through You.

"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age'" (Matthew 28:18-20).

Memory Verse for May

A Key to Revival

2012-05-29T17:28:44Z

The remarkable response to last Friday's call to prayer and fasting indicates God is moving our hearts to seek Him. I have a special email I will send you if you would like to join the prayer team. Today's request: Pray for a spirit of intercession for all those committed to fast and pray this week.

A friend reported that the Lord called her to fast one day a week for her church. On Wednesdays she only drinks water, and, amazingly, by the end of her workday, she feels better than on the days she eats. The Lord has given her a picture in her mind of her church with flames coming out of the top of it. She believes God wants to break out in revival in her church. Her hunger to know God's glory in their midst motivates her to fast.

God is giving desires to fast. "[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you-energizing and creating in you the power and desire-both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight" (Philippians 2:13 Amplified).

Because it is God who gives us the desires we have, we should seek to respond to the desires He gives.

I've been amazed at the wonderful sense of intimacy I've felt with the Holy Spirit after fasting. I have read that one of the benefits of fasting is the increased communion with God that occurs either during or after a fast.

Another benefit is increased direction for ministry. The early church recognized the value of fasting. Twice fasting is mentioned in Acts 13:2-3: "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off."

This last verse says "they" sent them off. The next verse adds that the two were "sent on their way by the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit and the people were moving as one when fasting was combined with prayer.

Dear Lord, guide us into the fasting that will prepare the way for Your Spirit to be outpoured.

"Even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning" (Joel 2:12).

Memory Verse for May

Prayer Request
We praise God for all those who have committed to fast and pray for an outpouring of God's Spirit at Come to the Fire. Please respond to this email, if you wish to join the prayer team. Where there is more prayer there is more of His Spirit. Pray that God will pour out a spirit of intercession upon His people and that many will be faithful to prepare the way for a visitation of God's Spirit.

Guidance Continually?

2012-05-24T15:28:03Z

According to Evelyn Christenson, prisoners who accept Christ while incarcerated often pray, "God, get me out of this hell-hole." If God doesn't, their response to his refusal is, "If that's the kind of God I'm serving now, I don't want anything to do with Him any more. He let me down."

Frequently, however, inmates who have recently become Christians share that they have already grasped that God knows what He is doing, that it is for their ultimate good, and that they can trust Him completely. Then their response to God is, "Thanks, God, for leaving me here. You have a purpose. What is it?"

God does what we trust Him to do. Do you believe a loving God controls every detail of your life? If you believe He is doing that for you, then He is!

God delights in giving moment-by-moment guidance to those who look to Him. Trust and praise Him for the guidance He'll give today-the interruptions, the help in your work, the interactions with others.

Those who seek Him with all their hearts find Him. And if our seeking Him includes looking for Him in the ordinary routine of our everyday lives, we will find Him there.

A key truth God teaches us through His Word is that when we're living in the Spirit, all our circumstances help us. God can make all things, even others' sins, "work together for good to them that love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). Seeing God in everything is the only way to find a completely restful life.

Thank You, Lord, that You delight in guiding us in all situations.

"By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night" (Exodus 13:21).

Memory Verse for May

Prayer Request Where there is more prayer there is more of His Spirit. Pray that God will pour out a spirit of intercession upon His people and that many will be faithful to prepare the way for a visitation of God's Spirit.

Dr. Roseveare's Wrong Medicine

2012-05-23T15:15:56Z

A large truck drove into the hospital compound and delivered over four tons of medical supplies for Dr. Helen Roseveare, a missionary in the Congo. She and her helpers sorted and stacked the bottles on to shelves but were a little disappointed that the most needed drugs were missing.

Instead there were two cartons of 24 pint-sized bottles for treating a rare type of food-poisoning. They relegated them to the back of the top shelf since such food poisoning was virtually unknown to their people.

That week, the villagers ran short of food during a wedding feast and gathered, cooked and distributed wild yams to the guests. Within six hours, the whole village was gravely ill with food poisoning. Over twenty people died before they could help them. Of those who managed to reach the hospital, 48 of the most severely ill were treated with the medicine Dr. Roseveare gratefully retrieved from the back of the top shelf in the pharmacy. Those 48 lived.

Dr. Roseveare had no doubt that most of those 48 would have died without that particular medical aid which she had never owned before and never received again. It had arrived the very week that the need arose, and she never learned who sent it.

Dear Father, Your ways are truly mysterious and awesome.

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

Victory Every Time

2012-05-22T15:58:18Z

When the Holy Spirit places His desires in our hearts, then we can and should pray until we know He has heard. It would be foolish to think that a person we are talking with can assure us she has heard our request, but to doubt that God can assure us He has heard. John implies this "knowing" is possible when He says, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have whatever we asked of him" (1 John 5:14-15).

Our need is to learn to allow Him to give us His desires. In 1 Chronicles 5:22, God's people won the war because the battle "was of God" (KJV). Whenever the Israelites sought the Lord regarding which battles to fight, and then went at His command, they always had victory. On the other hand, if they went without God leading them, they lost the battle.

Prayer is our battleground, and we, too, must expect God to help us to know which battles are "of God." Sometimes when we begin to pray, the Holy Spirit lets us know our request would not fulfill His desire. It is as though He says, "You mean well, but I have a higher desire." As we continue to pray, at times exact words will form in our minds, words that we recognize the Spirit is pleased for us to pray. It may simply be a heartfelt, "My deepest desire is for You to be glorified in this situation."

An amazing phrase is repeated in 2 Samuel 8: "The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went" (vss. 6, 14). Earlier David had prayed, "Do as you promised, so that your name will be great forever." When the desire for God's name to be honored is the basis for our persevering prayers, God gives victory 100 percent of the time.

Teach us to pray, dear Lord, so we ask for what You desire to give us.

"We do not know what we ought to pray...the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will" (Rom. 8:26, 27).

Memory Verse for May

Prayer Request
Call on the Holy Spirit to convict believers of hidden sin and move them to confess and repent.

When Darlene's Faith Failed

2012-05-17T18:47:39Z

Darlene Deibler Rose writes in Evidence Not Seen the story of her four years in a Japanese internment camp. She spent weeks in solitary confinement with very little food and much harsh treatment. One day with real effort she climbed up to look out a window to watch some prisoners in the courtyard and saw a woman grab some bananas from a hand that shot through a tangle of vines while the guard's back was turned.

Darlene began to crave bananas. "Lord, I'm not asking You for a whole bunch like that woman has. I just want one banana." She looked up and pleaded, "Lord, just one banana."

Then she began to rationalize. How could God possibly get a banana to her through those prison walls? She would never ask the guard. She bowed her head again and prayed, "Lord, there's no one here who could get a banana to me. Please don't think I'm not thankful for the rice porridge. It's just that--those bananas looked so delicious!"

The next morning, she heard officers coming. "Lord," she prayed, "officers are coming. Give me strength to make a proper bow." But with her guard was Mr. Yamaji, a camp commander, where Darlene had previously been imprisoned.

He said, "You're very ill, aren't you?" After a few words he and the guard left. Then it hit her. She had forgotten to bow. She heard the guard coming back and knew he was coming back to beat her.

He opened the door, walked in, and laid at her feet--bananas! "They're yours," he said, "and they're from Mr. Yamaji." Darlene sat down stunned. She counted them. There were 92 bananas.

Darlene said, "In all my spiritual experience, I've never known such shame before my Lord. I pushed the bananas into a corner and wept before Him. 'Lord, forgive me; I'm so ashamed." He answered back in her heart, "That's what I delight to do, the exceeding abundant above anything you ask or think." She knew in those moments that nothing is impossible with God.

Thank You, Lord, for even answering prayer when our faith fails.

"Consider the great love of the Lord" (Psalm 107:43)

Memory Verse for May

Prayer Request Pray for a continued summoning by the Holy Spirit so that every woman who should be at the conference will learn about it and be drawn to attend.

Could Practice Make Perfect?

2012-05-16T16:48:16Z

The practice of praise is to be continual, but it will only become that as we discipline ourselves to practice the praise of God.

In The Hallelujah Factor Jack Taylor tells of a converted atheist who related how he and his atheist friends would gather in their meetings and take turns publicly blaspheming God. They were so adeptly trained that they could stand for hours and hurl insults and ridicule toward God without ever repeating themselves.

How can we train ourselves to praise God? Perhaps David was so skilled at worship because he did it often. He wrote, "Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments" (Ps. 119:164).

To begin practicing the praise of God, let's declare with the psalmist: "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise" (57:7).

Dear Jesus, I need Your strength to continually praise You.

"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise" (Hebrews 13:15).

Memory Verse for May

Prayer Request Pray for a continued summoning by the Holy Spirit so that every woman who should be at the conference will learn about it and be drawn to attend.

The Perfect Husband for Ann

2012-05-15T15:28:05Z

From a secular worldview Ann's marriage is miserable. Her husband is not affectionate, never calls just to say "hi," and is often critical and sarcastic. Nor does he live a Christian lifestyle. At times, Ann has wondered if he cares about her at all. She has even thought about divorce.

But Ann says that coming from a Christian worldview, she has the perfect marriage. Twenty-eight years ago, Ann married Ron. She was blind to her own faults and thought she deserved a perfect husband--someone who would always be there for her and wipe away every tear. Little did she know then that the only one who can fulfill all her needs is God.

During the first years of their marriage, their home turned into a battlefield. She was filled with anger and remorse. She blamed herself for not making better choices and blamed God for allowing her to make those choices. Then she blamed her husband for everything else.

But somewhere along her journey she began, in desperation, to call out to God. By the power of the Holy Spirit and by her own choice to follow God's lead, she stopped fighting so much. Gradually she began to awaken to the purpose God has for her life--to love and serve God. It felt good to agree with Psalm 16:5: "Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure."

Now she says that Ron no longer wears the countenance of someone created solely to bulldoze her joy. Today Ann thanks God for her husband. Mostly, though, she is thankful for the changes she sees in herself. She now answers a harsh question or comment with a soft reply. She now tolerates things that in years past would have sent her into a rage, and she can now love unconditionally a man she knows God has placed in her life simply because He loves her. She is no longer in "wait" mode--waiting for God to change her husband so she can live happily ever after.

Thank You, Jesus, for knowing the best ways to teach us patience, self-sacrifice and unconditional love.

"The LORD will indeed give what is good" (Psalm 83:12).

Memory Verse for May

Prayer Request Pray for a continued summoning by the Holy Spirit so that every woman who should be at the conference will learn about it and be drawn to attend.

A Mother's Promise

2012-05-11T14:53:15Z

Gwen's son was contemplating a decision that was outside God's will. When he told his parents they were heart broken. They knew God would never bless such a decision, nor would it bring any true happiness.

As always, the only thing for Gwen to do was to go to her Heavenly Father. As she talked to Him about their need, she noted a promise from Isaiah and claimed it for her son: "Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and streams in the desert."

This fit the situation perfectly. She prayed that God would make a way in the wilderness of his life. She knew He would do so; He had promised!

Gwen clung to this promise and continued to pray for him, often reminding God of His Word. Then one day her son said it was no use. He was going to make the wrong decision. Their hearts sank. He left after his parents shared God's Word with him. Gwen did not give up even then because God had promised. However, she did not know God's timing. She and her husband decided to meet with other members of the family for comfort and strength.

When they arrived, they rang the doorbell and who should answer the door but their son! With outstretched arms, he said, "It's all over, Mom. It's okay."

What a day of rejoicing that was! His Dad offered a prayer of thanksgiving to God for His love and faithfulness. They celebrated with pie and ice cream.

Thank You, Lord, for mothers whose prayers change the lives of their children.

"The Lord is good to those that wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him" (Lamentations 3:25 KJV).

Memory Verse for May

Prayer Request
Please pray for Beth Coppedge, our keynote speaker for Come to the Fire.