oops!

Actually, I just realized that the story I referred to in that last post, I only posted half of here..I just sent it in messages to people. So here is the story..somewhat backwards and out of order, but here nonetheless! :) (So read this first, then the one that's called "I want to yearn for You...") :)


Hi guys, I know I've already asked this, but I must ask again. As I said before, the house we are at this week has some major spiritual warfare going on. It's honestly like nothing I've ever seen or felt before. I sensed it Friday when we visited the house, and tonight it has reached the strongest it's been. My roommate, who is also on my site, and I were talking about the day, and we sensed it here. Well, first, I'll tell you about today. Actually, let's back up to yesterday..

So I went into the week really hoping that ministering to the homeowner was my job, and excitedly looked forward to what the Lord would do through me. I tried several times to leave whatever job I was doing to go speak with her, praying I would not miss an opportunity. But every time I would try to talk to her, it seemed the conversation went nowhere, except to talk about anxiety, which I have struggled with and can relate to. But I just knew God was working, so I waited patiently. Then, I saw that a lady from the church group was talking with her outside on the swing. Of course at first there was a small sense of jealousy, because after all that was my job! but I was really all right with it, because I realized that it is not about me being used, but about her seeing the Lord. God gave me a total peace about her talking with the homeowner instead of me, but I continued to be in constant prayer.

Then today, I was working on scraping some window trim on the outside of the house, and I felt the most calm I've felt in 2 days, and I just prayed and talked with God and just had a good ol' time alone on that ladder. And I prayed for her. The homeowner had her best friend over today, and the two of them plus the lady from the church (Sharon) sat in the bedroom literally all morning talking, and I could tell it was a very good thing. Her bedroom is open to the walkway that leads to the washroom (which the precious girls scraped for 2 days, then found that the sheetrock underneath was molded and needed to be replaced..needless to say, they enjoyed demolition :) ), so we could see them talking. There came a time when the girls needed a break because the room is so small and hot (by the way, I was totally put in charge of that project, and we were rockin it!). So while they were gone, I was going to go see what needed to be done next, but I stopped outside the room to just listen to the conversation. I didn't hear much, but Sharon, the lady from our church group, was saying something about how God frees us from guilt. I felt the need to pray, and to pray vigilently.

So I went into the kitchen and sat down and just prayed. Then I looked over into the pantry, where there is a staircase in the floor that leads underneath the house. This, I believe, is where her husband had some of the computers set up for watching the boys, so I knew it was just an awful place. I could feel something, some spirit, as I was going down, but I knew I needed to be there. It was secluded and quiet. And I got down on my knees, in the nasty dirt, and just prayed. I thought of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, and how He prayed so passionately and so hard because the devil was all around Him. The more I prayed, the more I felt the need to pray, as I began to feel that the devil had a huge stronghold on the house. I realized that where I was is possibly one of the most unholy places there. I prayed and prayed, and then a song came to mind that says "Blow, mighty breath of God, move upon this place. Oh, mighty breath of God, come in power and grace...". Then I prayed some more and came up from underneath the house, where I joined the group to eat lunch.

I got the opportunity to pray over lunch, which was cool. Then after lunch I was taken off the site and told to go to another, which desperately needed to be finished today. There, I enjoyed beautiful scenery, while at the same time feeling like I was in a third-world country because of the condition of the place. It made me excited, because that's where I want to be one day! :) And there was this dog there, named Dixie, who seemed to have very little human contact. She was chained to a tree, with a very short leash, she had no bowl but her food was lying on the ground, and it was rather obvious that she couldn't go far because of the massive buildup of droppings to the side of where she was. So I played with her, layed with her in the grass while she layed on top of me, and then shoveled poop in the Name of Jesus so that she could have a cleaner environment :) And that made me happy..a great blessing in the midst of all the craziness.

But then tonight, my roommate and I came to our apartment, where we talked about some things. Then the conversation turned to the house, and we talked about materials we need for tomorrow and things like that. I shared with her the story of today, and how I prayed under the house. And then we both agreed that we felt a very strong spirit there in our apartment, and it was not the Spirit of God. So we vigilently prayed. We just prayed and prayed and prayed, because there was nothing else we could do. Then I began to sing. And so we sang. And prayed some more. Then we talked about other things, and then we prayed again. Then we decided we needed to go to bed :) And so she did, but well now here I am typing this, because I wanted to do it before I went to bed. But before she went off, we decided that tomorrow while Sharon and another lady from the church take the homeowner and her friend out to lunch, we will get the entire group together and pray over each room of the house and over the neighborhood. And so that is what we plan to do. And I have a peace that by tomorrow all will be well. I really do. And I praise my God, and I rejoice, because He is revealing His power to us. And His glory will be over this house like no other. And that, dear friends, is the power of our God, and the power of prayer. "If My people, who are called by My Name, would humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear, and I will forgive, and I will heal their land." And so let us pray. :)