"I have never felt the Holy Spirit before I came in here," confessed one of the ladies in the Bible study. I was in my block and I actually felt Him there.
"Which block were you in?" I wanted to know.
"Four."
I was not surprised when she told me this. It was the very block I had asked for prayer a few weeks before. A group of intercessory pray-ers told me that they would pray for the women, and specifically for block four because that is where we had been having so many problems.
Some people believe that prayer is wishful thinking. We want it to be so, so it is. I had never told the inmates that I was asking for specific prayers for them. I had never mentioned a certain number block.
Some people think that prayer is a useless exercise. After all, the argument goes, why does God need us to pray. Doesn't He already know what's going to happen?
I have wondered that myself. Many "experts" of prayer have weighed in on the subject, and one of my favorites is E. M Bounds.
He says,
"Prayer is no little thing, no selfish and small matter. It does not concern the petty interests of one person. the littlest prayer broadens out by the will of God till it touches all words, conserves all interests, and enhances man's greatest wealth, and God's greatest good. God is so concerned that men pray that he has promised to answer prayer. He has not promised to do something general, if we pray, but He has promised to do the very thing for which we pray."
I don't know why we must pray, but we must pray. It is required of us, believers -- and it is a privelege and a delight.
I am thankful that there are people who pray for those in jail and those caught up in addictions.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Prayer for the Addicted
She is on the streets again and not taking my calls. How quickly from "I Surrender All" to "Where can I get another ...." -- fill in the blank with whatever the addiction requires to be satisfied: drink, hit, snort, sexual encounter, brawl, new purchase -- whatever it is that makes me feel whole and complete...
How those addictions control us; how they sap us from the energy that could be turned to better uses --
Inside jail, people are determined to stay in the word, stay on their knees, surrender their lives to Christ...but once they get a taste of the old drug on the outside, that resolve is weakened.
It just doesn't seem as important anymore when there are so many more, better ways to feel good.
In fact, following Christ often does not feel good. It exposes all the wounded parts that the alcohol and drugs have been good at disguising. It takes guts. It takes resolve. It takes grace and power and faith to be willing to subject yourself to the Holy Spirit scanner.
But oh, the result! The result of surrendering yourself to God is so sweet -- and that's the part that few get to...the peace, the joy, the abundance -- not material abundance, but the meaty substantial abundance of life that comes with oneness with the Vine. There is no drug that compares.
Who knows that? Every ex-addicted, Christ-follower I have talked to. Many of us have experienced a whole range of substances that took the place of God in our lives, and each one will attest to the fact that in this universe there is no drug of choice that supplants the delicious
experience of walking in unity with God.
Here is a prayer from one of those ex-addicts, who now ministers to the wounded of the streets., Pastor Marvin Pedigo:
Father in the name of Jesus I lift these people to you. Some in name and others that you know without naming. We thank you for sending your ministering angels into each and every one of the camps of these named and un-named people. Let them minister hope to the weary and tired souls. Let your Spirit become evident even in the midst of the darkness. Send them to us, Lord you are preparing us to be there for them. Let the deception of substances or whatever the addiction, be revealed as what it really is. Instill a hunger into the void that has been filled with less than the truth. Let the truth touch the void and remind all that there is only one that really will fit and stay in place if allowed. Thank you for protecting all that operate on the front lines in this ministry. Thank you for the finances that sustain us all. IN Jesus Name, AMEN
How those addictions control us; how they sap us from the energy that could be turned to better uses --
Inside jail, people are determined to stay in the word, stay on their knees, surrender their lives to Christ...but once they get a taste of the old drug on the outside, that resolve is weakened.
It just doesn't seem as important anymore when there are so many more, better ways to feel good.
In fact, following Christ often does not feel good. It exposes all the wounded parts that the alcohol and drugs have been good at disguising. It takes guts. It takes resolve. It takes grace and power and faith to be willing to subject yourself to the Holy Spirit scanner.
But oh, the result! The result of surrendering yourself to God is so sweet -- and that's the part that few get to...the peace, the joy, the abundance -- not material abundance, but the meaty substantial abundance of life that comes with oneness with the Vine. There is no drug that compares.
Who knows that? Every ex-addicted, Christ-follower I have talked to. Many of us have experienced a whole range of substances that took the place of God in our lives, and each one will attest to the fact that in this universe there is no drug of choice that supplants the delicious
experience of walking in unity with God.
Here is a prayer from one of those ex-addicts, who now ministers to the wounded of the streets., Pastor Marvin Pedigo:
Father in the name of Jesus I lift these people to you. Some in name and others that you know without naming. We thank you for sending your ministering angels into each and every one of the camps of these named and un-named people. Let them minister hope to the weary and tired souls. Let your Spirit become evident even in the midst of the darkness. Send them to us, Lord you are preparing us to be there for them. Let the deception of substances or whatever the addiction, be revealed as what it really is. Instill a hunger into the void that has been filled with less than the truth. Let the truth touch the void and remind all that there is only one that really will fit and stay in place if allowed. Thank you for protecting all that operate on the front lines in this ministry. Thank you for the finances that sustain us all. IN Jesus Name, AMEN
Monday, February 2, 2009
How's That Working for You?
"When am I going to stop being so hateful, judgemental, combative? When am I going to stop running into the old, dead me -- full of anger and competition?"
That's not the inmate talking, that's me.
That's the "born again, redeemed, perfect, renewed, crucified with Christ, living on the outside of the bars" ME talking.
Oh God! I know what Paul was talking about in Romans 7 -- the constant battle going on even now, when things should be calm and good and smooth and graceful.
I am still clunking around in my old flesh -- leather grinding leather -- taking on the world in a worldly way.
I go around snipping at people, noticing their mistakes, correcting their grammar, wondering why they don't lose weight, control themselves, talk more clearly, do the right things for the right reasons...
If it happens out here, with all my resources and peaceful surroundings -- how much more so for them -- both inside their cellblocks and when they get out on the streets?
They are bombarded with the clutter of past dramas, the wrong people, bad habits, expectations from the people who have known them all of their lives and don't want to see them change.
The only chance either of us has -- both them and me -- is to submit our clay to His Hands day by day. Don't beat yourself up too badly, recognize that you've made a mistake and continue. To do otherwise is to play into Satan's clever plan to keep us so focused on ourselves -for better or for worse -- that we forget the real goal of this life we are living.
That's not the inmate talking, that's me.
That's the "born again, redeemed, perfect, renewed, crucified with Christ, living on the outside of the bars" ME talking.
Oh God! I know what Paul was talking about in Romans 7 -- the constant battle going on even now, when things should be calm and good and smooth and graceful.
I am still clunking around in my old flesh -- leather grinding leather -- taking on the world in a worldly way.
I go around snipping at people, noticing their mistakes, correcting their grammar, wondering why they don't lose weight, control themselves, talk more clearly, do the right things for the right reasons...
If it happens out here, with all my resources and peaceful surroundings -- how much more so for them -- both inside their cellblocks and when they get out on the streets?
They are bombarded with the clutter of past dramas, the wrong people, bad habits, expectations from the people who have known them all of their lives and don't want to see them change.
The only chance either of us has -- both them and me -- is to submit our clay to His Hands day by day. Don't beat yourself up too badly, recognize that you've made a mistake and continue. To do otherwise is to play into Satan's clever plan to keep us so focused on ourselves -for better or for worse -- that we forget the real goal of this life we are living.
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