In Preparation - Our Defining Moment

Hands family every person, family, community and country had defining moments—moments they will look back to and say “that was a turning point!” I am convinced we are in one of those defining moments – it started this year with our watchword.

“I will wait for the Lord,
my soul does wait and in His word do I hope.”
—Psalm 130:5

It continued with many shakings and now I believe we are responding to God this weekend in the appropriate way. The appropriate way is:

Firstly to set time apart for Him that is worthy of having our time! I encourage you STRONGLY do not do anything else in this time – let go off all the things and give this 24 hours to our God!!

Secondly I ask you to worship Him in spite of what happened so far. Job say something amazing, “I will worship you even if you slain me” Wow what an attitude! Think of all what happened and then chose to worship like never before.

Thirdly be very aware of each other and the pain around you. God cares about the person next to you and if you are full of Him you would care too. Ask Him to show you the pain in others and stand in the gap for them. I want to ask you something weird… don’t pray for yourself this time – worship Him, give thanks and pray on behalf of others. Remind God of His goodness and how He loved the children. Call on His Name to come to our help!!

We are together more than ever. Not just with each other but with Jesus! Tell Him we are together!! 

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Prayer for Mozambique

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This week please join with us in prayer for Mozambique.

We praise God that after years of delays and challenges the registration of Hands at Work as a foreign NGO in Mozambique is within view. Also we thank God for His provision in finding a Hands at Work office and accommodation for visitors and volunteers in Chimoio, Mozambique – which is a larger center than where we were previously located now we also have high speed internet!

Please stand with us in prayer for:

  • The work in Mozambique among the poorest-of-the-poor.
  • Carlos, Manuel and Timossee and their families as they transition to community leadership roles.
  • Those serving in the communities of Gondola, Nhamatanda , Amatongas and Dondo and their families.
  • For Abel, who is the coordinator for Dondo community. He and his 2 small children are grieving the death of wife and mother who recently passed away.
  • Dara, an American volunteer who is serving in our office in Chimoio and going through the process of adopting a child from Mozambique, that nothing will stand in the way of God’s will and for Dara and Nede’s (her adopted daughter) for their new mother-and-daughter relationship.
  • Marc Damour, a Canadian volunteer who is managing many projects in the area.
  • Our ongoing relationships with all those whom we are serving in Mozambique.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers! Check our prayer room daily for updates this week as we prepare for our 24 hour time of dedicated prayer.

In Preparation - On Meditation

It has been an exciting week preparing our hearts for our prayer weekend: a time set aside to both speak to our Father and to hear from him. Before we begin tomorrow, here are a few thoughts to encourage you in the powerful spiritual practice of “Meditation”, a practice which God uses to speak deeply to His people through His word.

Scripture has the power to change us and to speak directly into our lives and situations, but first it must get deep inside us; it must get past all of our distractions. As Jesus said, we have ears to hear but yet most of us still do not hear what God is saying to us. We must quiet ourselves and get ourselves in a position for God’s words to abide in us, to become alive within us. David was very experienced in this. In Psalm 63 David wrote: O God I earnestly seek you: my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you...I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night. (Psalm 63 vv 1, 6). And in Psalm 1 David explains that meditating upon the law day and night helps to make a man like a tree planted by a stream whose leaves do not wither. 

Meditation has been an important practice among Christians for centuries, yet the meaning of the word is sometimes misunderstood today and associated with strange religious practices. The Hebrew word “Hagah” that is translated in the English Bible as the word “meditate” is actually a word with amazing meaning. It is a strong action word. Eugene Peterson explains that the meaning of the word is actually close  to the English word “growl,” as in the way a dog growls over a bone, or the way a lion growls over its prey. A dog hunches over a bone, chews on it, turns it over and around in his mouth.  This is what we are to do with the words of scripture: chew on it, turn it around in our minds and in our heart, keep it alive in our hearts and minds, taste it and discover that the words are living and, through them, God is speaking to us. In Revelation, the angel tells John not just to read the book, but to “eat” the book!

Here are a few easy steps that can help us to “chew” on the scriptures:

  • Read through a passage of scripture
  • Identify a sentence or a phrase that really sticks out to you.
  • Underline the sentence. Memorize it. Repeat it to yourself.
  • Write in your journal about this scripture. What is God saying to you through this scripture? What application does it have to your life?
  • Write a prayer to God relating to what He has spoken to you.

I pray that this week God will take each of us deeper together into understanding the great hope, the great inheritance, the great strength we find in Him, and that He will open our ears to hear His words for individuals and for the Hands Family in a new, fresh way.

In Preparation - Doing It All in His Strength

With our weekend of prayer and fasting we can hold onto God’s promise for strength:

Summon your power, God;
 
   show us your strength, our God, as you have done before. 

—Psalm 68:28

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:

   “In repentance and rest is your salvation,
 
   in quietness and trust is your strength.

 —Isaiah 30:15 

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
 
   to the woman who diligently seeks.
It's a good thing to quietly hope,
 
   quietly hope for help from God.

—Lamentations 3:25-26 

Let us as a family of God humble ourselves before God in quietness and trust and know we do spiritual warfare in HIS STRENGTH.

In Preparation - A Word on Fasting (Isaiah 58)

First we see fasting is not about God being more available to answer our cries.  In a loud voice He is telling the prophet to yell at us because our prayers won’t be effective the way we are now. The condition of his people is all smoke and mirrors, He says. We are doing many things that look correct but the “walk” is not in step with the “talk.”

Then He tells us why. Dare we look?

He talks about “the bottom line.” It is easy to read His list and see that it doesn’t fit me. He is calling us to look at the similarities not the differences. He is asking us to answer for ourselves, judge ourselves, be honest with ourselves. He challenges our religiosity ... the things other people say are pious, the things that the world “thinks” are Christian, the plastic stuff, the mask, the deceit.

The serious element of a fast, in God’s view, is a heart issue. It is all about us recognising our sin and the repentance, OUR repentance ... His forgiveness and making the 180 degree turn-around after facing the Truth of who we are really and turning our back on the "factors of our being" that form a chasm between Him and me ... the sin in our lives.

When we make this commitment by taking action we become usable and teachable toward the goals of fasting acceptable to the Lord:

  •     To break the chains of injustice
  •     Get rid of exploitation in the work-place
  •     Free the oppressed
  •     Cancel debts