Sharing on prayers (Part 1)

The sermon preached by my pastor today was on prayer (Acts 4:23-31) - “when the church prays”, so i think it was the opportune time for me to write a post to revise on the things which I had learnt from the book the intercessory prayer by Dutch Sheets, share my experience in my journey in intercessory prayer for more than a month, and also share a few important pointers on what my pastor has shared today. It would have a part 1 and 2.Ok. To revise on the three chapters on intercessory prayer, I would summarize into 3 main points.

The first I believe is the importance of persistance in intercessory prayer. This is because God is really into marinating while we are into microwaving. The parable of the persistent widow clearly teaches us this (Luke 18:1-8). While we are into marinating, our faith increases to the point where we claims the promises of God.

The second is seeing ourselves as important in the involvement of the works of God on earth. This was illustrated in Ezek 22:30,31 where God searched for a man to stand in the gap but found no one. It was depressing. Therefore, we are representatives of God to fulfill his works on earth. And intercession is part of that work we can do.

Thirdly and lastly, there’s an intercessor for us in heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ, and by his name we can bring our requests to God (1 Tim 2:5). All our intercession would be futile if not for Christ. 

February has passed in a flash, as you may know, I went on a holiday trip to Japan from 6 Feb to 15 feb. And I started on learning intercessory prayer on 12 Jan. On the first day of the Japan trip, when we touched down at Tokyo Narita Airport, we proceeded to take a train which travelled overnight to bring us to Hokkaido. In my learning on intercessory prayer, I have been praying for my cousin Yingwei, because she is a backsliden christian and to say sheepishly, I have not maintained a good relationship with her all these while to see the possibility of inviting her back to the church. On this first day, by grace of God, I managed to rebuild my relationship with her. We had a good conversation and laughs while consuming a night snack at a restaurant on the train (it occupied one cabin) with other relatives.

At night, I was thanking God for breaking the ice between us and helping me to build a bridge to her. This would opened up doors for me in the future to invite her back to church. At the same time, I was interceding for my family as well as relatives, going through my usual routine of intercessory prayer for different groups of people. When i finished the prayer and said “Amen”; incidentally, the train shook. It had stopped perennially at a stopover station – the eminent presence of God.

In the sermon preached today by my pastor, in Acts 4:31, the place where the believers were meeting shook after they prayed. The shaking signified the presence of God. It was very coincidental that the train shook at the exact moment I said “Amen”. I wouldn’t be reading too much into this but what I would believe is this - this prayer had shaken situations in the spiritual realms. End of part 1.. Look out for part 2.  

Ouch, Ouch !!!

Yesterday marked the end of my first acupunture experience which lasted 10 complete days from 21 feb to 1 march 08, a 10-sessioned Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapy. It cost me a hefty $30 per session.

I’m a staunch believer of TCM. Essentially, TCM advocates the use of natural ways to heal, the theory is much complicated though. Practically, TCM practitioners use cups and fire, needles, their own knuckles and hands to heal. I am a qualified foot reflexologist. I was so absorbed into foot reflexology one time that it became my idol; I have repented since. I sprained and injured my left wrist twice while administering this therapy to customers during the stint of working as a foot reflexologist for about three months; the repercussions being a chronic wrist pain starting from my left wrist now extending also to my right wrist due to poor posture while using the pc.

Comparing acupuncture(A) and foot reflexology(B) …

A is a more torturous process than B. B can be very pleasurable if the pressure is controlled well throughout the 40 min or 60 min standard process.

However, I can say A sees results faster, and is less labour intensive method than B. I can attest to the effectiveness of A in reducing the discomfort of my chronic sinus very soon in the 10-day period. See, B can easily harm the practitioner if you have not enough experience and the furniture did not give you good ergonomics.

Overall the experience of acupuncture was one of ouch, ouch. I feared it. But I couldn’t deny its effectiveness and mystification (a few needles can stimulate your nerves and in turn curing your conditions, cool isn’t it). But needles do prick. Ouch, ouch. I still opt for B if the need doesn’t arise for A.

28 Feb 08 – new words and phrases

Recently I have overhauled my routine on my way to work to pick up a copy of “My paper, 我报“, it’s free-of-charge.

I liked it more than the established Singapore English papers – The Straits Times, firstly because it’s bilingual, english and chinese, each territorizing half the papers; I seldom want to learn new words in chinese though, having a conversational vocab on the language will do. Secondly, it has a small box called the helpdesk, 我的字典 on most of the articles, be it the english or chinese sections. This has simplified my process of learning new vocabularies as these boxes have highlighted and placed the difficult words on potshot in the small boxes, giving a concise explanation of the meaning at the same time, saving me some time in checking up the dictionary for a few of the words. Ok let’s share a few new words.

neophyte – this word is used for a new plant found which has not been recorded previously; alternatively, it has the similar meaning to a newbie or amateur. I can say: “You are a neophyte in gaming.”

sheepishly - in embarassment or shame. I like this word too. Imagining a sheep always shying herself away from people and bending her head down to graze. I reply sheepishly.

Oh I came across another meaning of the word radical today. Radical usually we use it to mean something revolutionary, with a new direction for example the radical move to eradicate poverty. It can be used to mean thoroughly. For example, future proposal on this topic have to be radically different to stand a chance to be accepted.

Aesthetically – in a tasteful way.

A good phrase to learn is pale into insignificance in comparison with.

Lastly, a very flirty word – coquettish. A coquette is a seductive woman who used her sex appeal to exploit men. So coquettish simply means flirtatious.

That’s all folks. Hope you will like these words as much as I do.

The silent exit of a headstrong woman

Death took her away peacefully even though she was a headstrong woman, opinionated, smoked one of her lungs away, and cursed at heavens for her plight of losing her husband for more than a decade when she was alive.

A summary of my maternal grandmother. She had passed away on 27 Feb, a wednesday, peacefully during her sleep in the afternoon. Finally, she has found respite from her turbulent life. When death came, it took her away, no signs of her struggling against him, only a silent exit.

Fresh fodder!

Brothers and sisters and fellow bloggers, thanks for the understanding, prayers and support through my uphill task of maintaining this blog despite battling an obstinate cold caught during my winter trip to Japan about 2 weeks ago; a temperamental computer which had given me a fair share of his tandrums because its 2032 battery had ran out a week ago resulting in the date and time settings not being able to be saved; adapting to a new job and environment after I came back from Japan, getting to know my new boss and colleagues and finally the worsened chronic wrist pain due to poor ergonomics (posture) since two months ago. When things seemed to be picking up, I received a call from my dad informing me that my grandmother had passed away today. I pray for my family to find comfort from God during this time especially for my mum though she’s not a believer.

This period of turbulence has provided me unexpected rest to gain fresh fodder (ideas) for my blog. Soon, I will post again on …

1. New words/phrases for my vocab arsenal
2. Review on the first 3 chapters of intercessory prayers and my own prayer and intercessory experience from Japan trip till now; Part 1 and 2
3. “Die to live” – a post on my new job
4. AUL – on cell group living, we had thanksgiving, prayer, now we need the WORD!
5. Ouch, ouch !!! – My first acupuncture experience
6. The silent exit of a headstrong woman - about my deceased maternal grandmother
7. A post to claim my thinking blogger award
8. Gal 6:1

With humble apologies, thank you once again for your support for “outofthefort” and your love for me. Signing off … David aka attacking midfielder.

Restarting-to-blog-again

It has been more than a week ever since the last time I posted anything, I am then taking a few minutes to write a short post on what has been happening.

Praying has been difficult. Finally, I reached 1 month of intercession on 12 Feb 08 but this day I was overrun with a serious flu when I was at Asasuka, Tokyo. It was terrible. The cold air impeded the healing process and deep inside I was crying ”save me Lord” on the plane back to Singapore. Till today, I still carried some of its symptoms. 

Not bad enough, I had to start my first day of work at hospital today. It was a difficult day, with the new environment, colleagues, and all the waiting for the clock to tick away after long briefing by the manager, until I saw people starting to leave then I rejoiced and carried my wearied body home. Yesterday night, I wasn’t myself, said something nasty to someone I care a lot about so I didn’t get a good rest.

When I reached home I quickly opened the Bible to ”Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in ALL circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 . I could only pray: ” God help me.”

A short sharing, take care my friend.