Happy December First and Delight Thyself 12/1

Psalm 37:4, KJV "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." 

I prayed and said, "Lord, I had question about this verse whether or not to put it into this Manna." I felt led to read the part of articles from the book called, "Partners in Prayer" by John Maxwell. To make story short, Bill Klassen was called by God to become prayer partners to John Maxwell. John already had a great ministry, yet God called one layperson to pray for him.

"John," Bill said. "I believe God has called me--a layman--to disciple, encourage, and pray for pastors. The reason I came here today was so that I could pray for you." Note this: John never had a layman come just to pray for him. As they prayed together, John wrote, "Bill fulfilled a need for personal prayer that I didn't know I had, and he sparked a deep desire for an additional prayer covering over me, the church, my family, and my ministry." 

That part impressed me. Bill, his prayer partners had sparked a deep desire in the pastor, John Maxwell that Bill was able to pray for him. They had delight themselves in the Lord for an hour and then, John was able to share his deep desire for an additional prayer covering for John, the church, his family and his ministry.

As a result when John shared his heart desires to Bill, God had blessed the church from 1,000 to 3.500 people, and the rest is a history. In case you might want to know the ISBN 0-7852-7439-1 to order the book. It is well worth reading because his letter mentioned the importance of teaching the partners in prayer. He quoted:

"The prayer needs of pastors are so great. This year, one-third of all local church pastors will consider resigning under the weight of their responsibilities. In America, one denomination alone sees an average of four pastors resign every single day because of discouragement, personal and professional failure, and loss of purpose. During the more than 25 years I spent in pulpit ministry, the best decision I made was to develop a prayer partner ministry." 

I like this quote: "When we work, we work; but when we pray, God works." [Foreword from Max Lucado] Dorothy: What can we Deaf people do about this? You could learn to become prayer partner for someone who needs YOU. Just like Bill who became prayer partner for a pastor. It is something to think about.