Fresh water

Posted by Admin on Nov 13, 2016 in Sword of the Spirit | Comments Off on Fresh water

Every morning I call out to my three cats, “Who wants to go potty?” and like clockwork, all three without hesitation trot down to the basement where I keep the litter pans. I do this because one—Gideon—was having issues with not using the litter box. The Lord directed me to make litter pan time as pleasurable as possible, and for cats, that means not only clean litter, but also treats, strokes, and congratulatory baby talk for proper litter pan use. Don’t knock it; it works for us.

I also keep a water bowl downstairs, up on a counter. After litter pan scooping and treats, I call out, “Who wants fresh water?” and rinse out the bowl and refill it. This is a big deal for Gideon who likes to drink the water off of his paw, similar to the way three hundred men did who were chosen for his namesake’s army, the biblical Gideon.

One morning Cammie beat him to the water bowl. I must have been extra groggy, because evidently I didn’t announce the fresh water for his highness, Gideon. Cammie daintily lapped up some of it, and then Gideon noticed that she was in “his spot”. Shoving her out of the way, he sat. And sat. And sat. He looked at me as if to say, “Have you lost your mind, woman? Where’s my fresh water?”

Have you ever tried reasoning with an animal? I tried; it didn’t work. There Gideon sat, on his throne, staring at me, waiting for his fresh water.

Grumbling, I poured the perfectly fresh water into the sink and made a show of refilling the bowl. Gideon was meowing up a storm as I set Fresh Water 2.0 in front of him. Happy, he pawed it and drank his fill.

And then as soon as Gideon shut up, the Lord began talking. He showed me that even though the cat had already been given fresh water, he didn’t believe it. Gideon expected his water to arrive a certain way every day or he’d have nothing to do with it; he expected a showy presentation.

We believers have a tendency to be like Gideon if we aren’t careful. We have fresh, life-giving water available 24/7 in the pages of God’s Word, ready for the drinking, and yet so often we search here and there to “get a fresh word”. Like Gideon, we want to sit at the water bowl, refusing to drink until we get some showy presentation. Instead of majoring on drinking from the Word ourselves, we want to know “But what does Brother or Sister So and So have to say about it?” In other words, we wait for someone else to serve our water; all too often we don’t trust that the Bible water we get on our own is “fresh”.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s imperative to join regularly in fellowship with others to hear the Word. But what about in between these “pit stops”?

If the only water you drink is from another person’s hand once or twice a week, be careful—you’re in grave danger of dehydration. And by the same token, if your primary source for spiritual edification is random “words” from various people, you may not be getting true water at all! There is only one “sure word of prophecy” and that’s the Bible, sitting right there on your table or desk. Don’t be afraid to open it on your own and drink long and cialis kopen zonder recept living-guide.uk often. It’s guaranteed fresh, 24/7.

It’s sort of cute when Gideon the cat expects a showy presentation before he’s willing to drink his fresh water. But for grown Christians to search for a “word from God” everywhere except their own Bible? That’s not cute. That’s dangerous.

Dorothy

So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 2 Peter 1:19

A Word from God Received June 29, 2008

Posted by Admin on Nov 10, 2016 in Prayer Perspective, Praying for America | Comments Off on A Word from God Received June 29, 2008

The following revelation came to me on June 29, 2008, while meditating on Scriptures as I was drinking coffee at Panera Bread Company after my church’s 9:30 Sunday morning service. (You can hear from God anytime, anywhere.)

“I’ve made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with two edges. You’ll thresh the mountains and beat them small and shall make the hills as chaff.” Isaiah 41:15 (my paraphrase)

“For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and acheter du viagra sans ordonnance marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12

As I studied that morning, I was picturing that one job of the Isaiah 41 threshing sledge is to separate wheat from chaff. The word of God, which is also two-edged and of the sharpest substance known to man, is likewise used to separate, this time to the division of soul and spirit. This is the sword of the Spirit we are to wield as we embark on our new, sharp threshing sledge with two edges.

At this point of my study, the revelation began.

As we yield to the Spirit of God and abide in the Word, we will be directed in the job of threshing mountains of opposition and intimidation and “beat them small”. We will do this under the direction of the Lord and will possibly be unaware of the effectiveness of our act of threshing, beating, and pulverizing. Telltale signs will emerge, however; strongholds will start to lose both their “strong” and their “hold”; institutions and systems set up to mock, block, or defrock justice, just laws, and the righteous will start to totter, falter, and fail, and men and women who have exalted themselves and agendas not of God will be challenged, exposed, and will flounder and fall, seemingly out of nowhere.

Those who know their God will find their places and their parts in this new economy. To the world, the bulk of the vibrant, vivid vigil of victory energizing these folks will be unseen as believers take their stand in this hour.

God will move in churches and in meetings and will visit these gatherings in sweet and unusual manifestation.

However, He will also move in the pastor’s quiet study; He will move on the young mother as she returns from seeing her children off at the bus stop; He will move on the grocer and the shelver, the checker and the bagger. He will move on the gristly retiree as he sits on his porch with his coffee. He will move on the rush hour commuter as he breathes a quiet prayer. He will move on the working woman pumping gas into her car. Wherever humanity lifts its face or bows its knee in humble faith, God will move.

We—believing humans—are far more potent and powerful than we have ever imagined.

“In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”  Psalm 5:3

In the midst of an orchestrated assault on the values and advantages of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, men and women of worldly privilege and power plot and plan to gain leverage over those they deem small-minded, narrow-minded, and shallow. Webs are woven, snares are set, and global corralling of capital and thought is being brokered. Wonderful inroads, to their way of thinking, are being paved into the lives, livelihoods, and loves of this current generation. The confident expectation emitted by these celebrity candidates and their power-partners seems to sweep through the nation like a flood with one aim: the capitulation and conformity of the American Dream to a new paradigm, their paradigm, “Land of our Greed, Home of our Slaves”.

Climbing in confidence, conquest, and coverage, the elite prepare for their ascendency and establishment upon the summit of our time. The bases are covered, they think; the stage is set. Those who offer resistance are growing weary, losing support, and fading in appeal. With time, even these voices will be silenced and forgotten, so they believe.

However, God has reserved for Himself a weapon, a secret weapon—hidden, trained, held in the wings for such a time as this.

“In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”  Psalm 5:3

In the morning.

In the quiet, private personal time of the day, men and women of faith have met with their Father, the Lover of their souls, for years. Quietly, faithfully, nearly daily, verses of scripture here, whispers of prayer there, the army of God has seemed scattered, disjointed, incongruous, ineffective in the eyes of the world. Yet one Master, one General, has trained them all, daily, morning by morning (or evening by evening), verse by verse, prayer by prayer…the small and the great, the mighty and the weak. And such training, although intensely personal and private, has been coordinated and orchestrated from above, from the Headquarters of the Ancient of Days Himself. And the time has arrived and now is that a corporate anointing will rest upon the many in their individual quiet times, bringing forth a multitude of pieces to  the puzzle to unite the Body of Christ as never before in binding and loosing, confronting and confounding, exposing and expelling the designs of the wicked. Impenetrable plans will be toppled and forces of darkness will be held back and stymied in the fulfillment of their schemes.

In other lands and other times, during seasons of persecution and distress, the Holy Spirit has, on more than one occasion, gathered a body of believers from the North, South, East, and West to one place for assembling without one word uttered or published by human agency.

Thus we ourselves will become participants in the greatest series of “corporate” gatherings this side of Eternity—and each one of us—each one—will have a part—a key part—to play!

The very depths of darkness will be shaken to its core; men and women who insist upon their sponsorship and establishment of this new slavery will cry and gnash their teeth in fury as this quiet, unseen force wreaks havoc on their carefully calculated constructions. Indeed, throughout the earth where plots of wickedness are being devised, they will be revealed to men or women of faith and be thwarted. More than a few times will the evil engineers be enraged as was the king of Aram in Elisha’s day when he discovered that “…Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” (2 Kings 6:12)

Supernatural knowings, Holy Spirit-directed thwartings, reworkings, and recoveries will be the rule of the day, not the exception, in the time of the end.

Wickedness may, indeed, pour forth as a flood, but the righteous God will lift up a standard—His people and His Body—against it! We are witnesses and participants in this day of confrontation between the consolidated forces of darkness and the supernatural, almighty workings of God which He is orchestrating and directing through the prayers of His people!

[The above entry can also be found in the back of my book First of All Pray: Prescription for a Nation in Crisis (© 2013 by Dorothy Frick). It can be viewed or purchased at https://www.amazon.com/First-All-Pray-Dorothy-Frick/dp/0985756438/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471536193&sr=1-1&keywords=first+of+all+pray ]

My guy won. What now?

Posted by Admin on Nov 9, 2016 in Prayer Perspective, Praying for America | Comments Off on My guy won. What now?

I posted this on my Facebook page today, the day after the presidential election. I wrote:

Like many of you who stayed up most of the night last night, I am operating on fumes. I know many of you are rejoicing in this outcome, but today my heart has returned often to those—and they are many—who voted for Mrs. Clinton, for Gary Johnson, for Jill Stein…or who left the “president” section of their ballots blank.

I’ve been praying for them. I know they feel hurt, devastated, even broken, and I don’t revel in their pain. They are part of this wonderful American experiment and we NEED them.

If you are so inclined, join me in praying for those who now feel like some of us felt in past post-election days. God has NEVER called us to gloat or mock the pain of others, but rather to love, to minister to, and to pray for them.

Friends don’t always see eye to eye; families may experience strong disagreement among themselves; but we are called to peace as we pursue our future with confidence and an eye to Him who cares for the sparrow.

Remember this: “A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish” (Isaiah 42:3). If God doesn’t crush someone when they are down, then we have NO right to do so, either.

May God bless and bring His peace to us all.

Dorothy

Response to a lawless culture

Posted by Admin on Oct 7, 2016 in Prayer Perspective, Praying for America | Comments Off on Response to a lawless culture

Setting your compass aright

Posted by Admin on Sep 17, 2016 in Help from God, Prayer Perspective | Comments Off on Setting your compass aright

If you’re anything like me, you get distracted all too often. Not too long ago, I sat at my computer from morning until late afternoon, only to break away to eat, feed the cats, and use the restroom.

And what did I have to show for my time? I had commented on several Facebook posts, I joined an online “I ♥ Cats” club; I watched several cat videos; I stumbled onto some “prepper” sites; I learned about homemade compasses; I caught up on the latest political conspiracies; and some stiffness in my spine and “sitter” returned. Productive. Yeah, right.

Needless to say, I was a tad disgusted with myself (although I was pleased with the “likes” and comments I received on the post and pic of an old cat I once owned); so when I drove to church that evening for a prayer meeting, I was telling myself and the Lord, “Something’s gotta change! Help!”

In these particular prayer meetings, my pastor gives us about a half hour or so to pray on our own before we come together as a group, so there I was, still irritated at myself for allowing technology to so perniciously consume my time and my life. Therefore, as I walked the sanctuary I continued my quiet complaint to God. Out of nowhere, I heard this:

“Set your compass aright in the morning, and you will maintain the right direction throughout the day.”

“Set my compass in the morning,” I muttered to myself. “Set my compass in the morning!”

The lightbulb came on. DUH! I thought to myself; my day will go the way I set it first thing in the morning! I knew that; I’ve lived that. But I had gotten sloppy again.

But here’s where my earlier technology marathon came into good use. The instruction I had wandered onto about homemade compasses drove this fresh revelation home.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR DAILY COMPASS IN THE LORD

You see, to make a compass at home, you first need to magnetize a tiny piece of metal. The metal is not a magnet, but by contact with a magnet, it will start acting like one. You do this by rubbing a bit of wire or a needle against a magnet—rubbing it the same direction several times. Then the metal, which was once not magnetic, is now magnetized, and will, if floated on water, point due north.

You also, as you come into close interactive contact with the Lord each day, will become “magnetized” with a godly magnetism. Remember, a sewing needle is not a magnet, nor are you God. However, with close interaction, that needle acquires a measure of the magnet’s properties, and you acquire a fresh measure of the divine nature.

A magnetized needle will point due north when carefully placed on water, and again, although the needle is not a true magnet, its association with a magnet gives it the ability to be a reliable compass.

You yourself will more likely find true direction easier to access as you daily interact closely with your Father.

And here’s an interesting tidbit about many hand-held compasses that I didn’t know: Most of the traditional ones contain liquid. The reason? The needle moves more smoothly and less erratically when suspended in liquid.

Think about your life. You spend time with God, worshiping and interacting with Him, but for some reason, you may find receiving direction from Him to be a bit erratic for your liking. What do you do?  Suspend that needle in some water!

Paul analogized the Word of God to water (see Ephesians 5:26), so follow me as I continue this analogy: Just as the liquid in a natural compass brings smoothness and enhances true direction, so too does daily access to the Word of God, along with worshipful interaction with the Father, stabilize and enhance smooth direction for your life day by day.

“Set your compass aright in the morning, and you will maintain the right direction throughout the day.”

Dorothy

Urgent update: Impact to the left temple

Posted by Admin on Sep 13, 2016 in Prayer Perspective | Comments Off on Urgent update: Impact to the left temple

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men… 1 Timothy 2:1

You have a massive prayer assignment. It is because of this that God has armed you with secret weapons to accomplish your task. Praying without ceasing (see 1 Thessalonians 5:17), praying in the Holy Spirit (see Jude 20), and staying alert in prayer (see Colossians 4:2) can work together within you, whether you are in your prayer closet or just going about your daily routine. As you move through your day, you can pray quietly within yourself, whether in the Holy Spirit or your own language, trusting that God will toggle your understanding when necessary with important and urgent updates in the Spirit about this man or that woman, this nation or that situation. As you allow yourself to participate in the process, you recognize that God wants you to be available and ready so He can give you His insight for the purpose of prayer. This empowers you to do your part in praying for all men.

I encountered one of God’s urgent updates in 1997. As I was driving home one night after a meeting at church, I experienced an unnerving sense of impact to my left temple as if I was about to be struck by gunfire. I found the nearest semi-truck and drove right next to it for cover against flying bullets!  Thankfully, as I precariously hugged that truck, I realized the Lord was giving me an intercessory assignment for someone. I entered into prayer as I pulled back from the semi, entreating God for safety for myself, my relatives, my friends, my colleagues, and anyone else in danger of impact. The sense of danger lingered, so I continued praying both in the Holy Spirit and with my understanding until it lifted.

When I arrived home I called my friends from a neighboring church, John and Janet, who had joined us earlier that evening. No one answered, so I left a message.

The next day John called and told me that he and Janet were involved in a head-on collision on their way home from the meeting. He was fine and Janet would be released from the hospital that day. John explained that upon impact, Janet, who was not wearing a seatbelt, flew over him and shattered the windshield with the left side of her head. She fractured her wrist upon impact in an attempt to protect herself, but her head was unharmed. In fact, for the next few days as she combed her hair, she pulled out clumps of it along with fragments of windshield, leaving an unscratched, quarter-sized bald spot on her left temple! Fifteen years later, she and John are alive and well and very involved in effective street outreach and missionary work. (From my book First of All Pray, copyright 2013.)

Praise God for the urgent updates from the Holy Ghost! Help us, Lord, to heed them.

Dorothy

UPDATE: Now 19 years after the accident, John and Janet are still going strong in the Lord, serving Him in remote regions of Alaska for months at time among the Inuit people.

September 11

Posted by Admin on Sep 10, 2016 in Prayer Perspective, Praying for America | Comments Off on September 11

Sometime in 1997 I awoke with a jolt in the dead of night. Trembling, my heart pounding in my chest, and my skin covered in the cold sweat of fear, I leapt out of bed to shake the dream out of my mind…

The dream started innocently enough; I was sitting in a field with several of my dear friends on a beautiful late summer morning. Soon a Christian convert from Islam appeared, interrupting our pleasant conversation, eyes filled with terror.

“They just hit New York City!” she panicked.

I started to make a joke of it, but looking to the horizon I saw tops of skyscrapers exploding in the midst of the famous skyline.

I rarely have nightmares. But this, so vivid and horrible, knocked the wind out of me. I spent the rest of the night pacing my living room in my pajamas, praying with urgency, pleading for mercy, wondering if any of it was real…

All that week I prayed. I couldn’t shake the urgency. I knew two things: 1.) New York City was a target; 2.) Muslims were involved.

Sharing it, however, didn’t help to bring wisdom or ease the burden. Instead, those I told assessed the dream lightly as something to simply “bind” and forget. I felt the lead weight of self-doubt crash upon me; who was I to presume God would speak to me about anything of import? I summarily blocked the urgency tightly bound in my belly and went about my life.

Fast forward to September 11, 2001. My eighth grade pre-algebra class was finishing up a test. One of the girls returned to the room from the restroom and whispered to me, “Ms. Frick, was there an accident at the airport?”

“No, honey. Why do you ask?”

“Mrs. McDuffy and some of the other teachers are in the hall crying, and I heard someone say something about an airplane.”

“No; I don’t think anything has happened,” and I sent her to her seat.

But when I poked my head out of the classroom door, I saw tears streaming down my colleague’s beautiful dark cheeks. “What’s going on?” I whispered.

“Girl, they’ve hit the World Trade Center! Looks like America is under attack!”

As I reentered the room, I paced the rows of desks, privately consumed by restless agitation, waiting for the last few students to finish up. I had to know more.

After what seemed like an eternity, the last test was face down on my desk.

I stood in front of the class and quietly told them what I had heard. I decided that since they were 13 and 14 years old, they would be able to process—at least as much as any of the rest of us—what was going on in our country; in fact, I felt they needed to know—and I had to know. I turned on the classroom TV bolted high on the wall in the back of the room, and all of us watched in shocked silence as we stared at the screen.

And there I saw it before my very eyes…my dream of horror, playing out on breaking network news.

I have learned that God is no respecter of persons; He doesn’t choose to speak to us because of our pedigree, our ministry title, or even due to whether we exude the “it” factor which naturally draws people to us. No; He speaks to whoever will listen; to whoever is available. He warned many about 9/11 before it happened; for some reason, we didn’t thwart it.

I am convinced that His warning came to so many of us so that we could thwart this vicious attack on our soil. But living, as we were, in relative “peace and safety”, I guess we didn’t take His warnings as seriously as He intended.

We find ourselves today not much different than we were on September 10, 2001—things are fine. Life is good. But on September 11th that year, the veil was stripped away, and we were forced to behold the hideous face of evil.

My prayers for the last few years have largely been directed toward awakening vigilance and alertness in the American people and particularly the American church. I know the burden of “seeing” evil before it happens yet being considered odd or peculiar—even paranoid, negative, or in unbelief—when sharing that burden with others.

But, praise God, things are changing. The sleeping giant is shaking itself and is starting to stand up. In this hour, we must pray all the more as we find our way in this shifting, changing landscape. We need God. We must hear from Him, individually and corporately. Lives and souls depend on our sober response to His leading.

It is time to pray.

Dorothy