Counting On, Pressing In, & Requesting Prayer

"We must not reduce ministry to what we are capable of doing."                                                                                                       ~Bill Johnson

When I heard this spoken out loud, my spirit wanted to cry out in agreement and my flesh wanted it to take root down deep and bear fruit right away!  Oh how I am guilty of this... and not just 'ministry' but life at large.  We forget that we are in relationship with a God who is intimately, ridiculously in love with us and He is at work when we can see/feel/hear/know Him, and when we can't!

Last week was rough...

I thought I knew Hard Eucharisteos before... but then we got a bad report, a confirmation of something we had been praying against for awhile now and I was so unwilling to give thanks for it.

So. Much. UNWILLING.

Sometimes the hits just take your breath away and sucker punch you right where it hurts the most... while gasping for air and blinking away the dizzying stars, we can tend to invite the enemy just right on in and we can reduce ministry, life, -God, to what WE are capable of doing (forgetting He is in this equation too!) and in the midst of bad news - the grey skies and thunder rolls scream at us that we can't do much. Not anything 'right' anyway.

And yet... we count on.

It may take awhile to count the cancer as a gift... (if ever, really) - but we can see His hand in other ways - Peace that is unreasonable in the face of illness and uncertainty; Love that draws us in close and reminds us how fragile we are... how this life is temporary when all the while, we are eternal... we see His hand in reminding us of the power of prayer... of 'keep on keeping on' and building our faith, of how we are not made to live alone - disconnected, but we are part of the Body of Christ and we so often need others to come alongside us and hold up our arms... and that means that we have to be willing to be real and to ask and to allow others to see that we need help, that we don't - in fact - 'got this'!

Sometimes that alone is scary... we can think it is safer to keep it all to ourselves and (sadly) sometimes it is... but we were made for community and it is easier to Count On when we are surrounded by others whom we are truly grateful for.

If we can't count the eucharisteo,
we can count the ones who are willing
to go through it with us!

With that said, my sister and her hubby took a risk... they got real and real transparent and they risked having to battle fear all the more by letting others in. But this - this - they couldn't (and didn't want to) face alone!  A very small handful of people, us included, have been praying against cancer for quite some time.  After doing natural treatments, and seeing some success... after several prayers and the laying on of hands, and seeing the lump shrink, it was concerning that the wound was still not healing.  So they came to the conclusion that it would be better to know for sure - all along the way - praying that the report would be good.

They have lived this out... this - another quote that I heard Bill Johnson say regarding how to have Breakthrough:

"In private, you cry out for more, and in public you take risk."

They have prayed and cried out in private - individually on their own, with each other, with us... and now they are 'in public' taking risk but clinging to the power of prayer and open to prayers of friends and family - and strangers who are family at large...

This is Jack... my brother-in-law and my brother in Christ... simply my brother whom I love...

He is my sisters' other half and they intertwine and mix as one flesh more than anyone else I know... he is an amazing husband, a loving father, a trusted friend... this man is an anointed worshiper and song writer whose gifting and voice has yet to be heard as it should be! He is a faithful worker, and a beloved son... a man of honor and a man of the Word... I could go on and on... but mostly, this is a man who is in love with Jesus and has faith in a healing God... in 'on earth as it is in heaven'... and we are asking for prayers for him and his family.

We believe that one day every name shall bow to the name of Jesus...even the 'name' of cancer. We are believing and praying for healing and wholeness and a long life ahead; that cancer will bow, and Jesus will lift Jack up - healed and whole and ready to continue the work of the Kingdom!

They go in today to meet with the doctors and schedule surgery... and now, more than ever, we count on...

Speak Life.  Be Love.  Shine On.

~Karrilee~

I am linking up with Ann Voskamp today and her Multitudes on Mondays as we count to #1000Gifts and beyond:

3 Gifts found in your mother:

#1209 - She is a Giver

#1210 - Sense of Humor/Quick Wit

#1211 - Commitment - when it's easy, and when it's hard!

3 Gifts found in His Word:

#1220 - His Promises are Yes and Amen!

#1221 - His mercies are new every morning!

#1222 - He heals all my diseases (Ps 103:3)

3 Gifts Unexpected:

#1226 - Jonah, sleeping in the new dog carrier on his own! 

#1227 - My girlie - WANTING to spend Friday night with us!

#1228 - Online friends - praying from afar