From Mike Bickel, on Charisma daily devotional:
Saturday, 26 June 2010 12:00 AM EDT
And this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. —Luke 2:37, NKJV
Anna—what an interesting woman! She served the Lord (ministered to the Lord) with fasting and prayer night and day. The word ministered is often exchanged with the word serve. What an unusual idea for a woman to minister to the Lord in prayer and fasting. Anna was probably about seventeen or eighteen years old when she was married, and after seven years she was widowed. So beginning in her early twenties she began ministering to the Lord night and day. At eighty-four years old, sixty years later, Anna was still faithful in this! She was constantly in prayer in the temple. What a woman! This calling is not reserved only for Catholic monks. The Protestant church must call the Annas forth, find a place for them, honor them, and find ways of releasing them into their calling.
{ PRAYER STARTER }
Father, I may not be remembered for sixty years of faithful intercession, but I pray that I will be remembered as a faithful intercessor—no matter how many years I have left to live for You.
Beloved, in this very hour the Lord is wooing the
Annas of the end-time church, and He personally
is setting them into their place.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Are You an Anna or Mary of Bethany?
From Mike Bickel, from his daily devotional
Friday, 25 June 2010 12:00 AM EDT
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. —Luke 2:36-37
Anna and Mary of Bethany were two full-time watchmen set upon the Jerusalem wall. Anna speaks of the spiritual warfare, intercession, and fasting. These are people whose main focus is to open the windows of blessing and tear down the spiritual walls of resistance. They are full-blast intercessors and spiritual warriors who are committed to fasting. The Marys of Bethany will enjoy great grace for prayer and worship and will change the atmosphere of the cities and churches that they are a part of by being extravagant lovesick worshipers. God has placed them in the midst of the people as a tender fragrance of the beauty of the Lord.
{ PRAYER STARTER }
Make me a watchman on the wall of Your glory like Anna and Mary of Bethany. I want to give myself to intercession so that I might influence the atmosphere of my city and church to a higher level in You.
Even if the Annas and Marys never speak to anyone,
their very presence creates a type of grace that
preserves the church.
Read more: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/newsletters/daily-devotionals/loving-god/22334--day-175-#ixzz0rsPPR3Ci
Friday, 25 June 2010 12:00 AM EDT
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. —Luke 2:36-37
Anna and Mary of Bethany were two full-time watchmen set upon the Jerusalem wall. Anna speaks of the spiritual warfare, intercession, and fasting. These are people whose main focus is to open the windows of blessing and tear down the spiritual walls of resistance. They are full-blast intercessors and spiritual warriors who are committed to fasting. The Marys of Bethany will enjoy great grace for prayer and worship and will change the atmosphere of the cities and churches that they are a part of by being extravagant lovesick worshipers. God has placed them in the midst of the people as a tender fragrance of the beauty of the Lord.
{ PRAYER STARTER }
Make me a watchman on the wall of Your glory like Anna and Mary of Bethany. I want to give myself to intercession so that I might influence the atmosphere of my city and church to a higher level in You.
Even if the Annas and Marys never speak to anyone,
their very presence creates a type of grace that
preserves the church.
Read more: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/newsletters/daily-devotionals/loving-god/22334--day-175-#ixzz0rsPPR3Ci
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Fasting by Mike Bickel
From Mike Bickel (on his daily devotional from Charisma)
Thursday, 24 June 2010 12:00 AM EDT
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. —1 Corinthians 1:27-31
Fasting in fellowship with the Holy Spirit helps protect us from discontentment, coveting, and fleshly cravings. Fasting will lead to a change of your emotional chemistry. You will, for the most part, no longer desire to have the things that you once wanted. This is because fasting intensifies your detachment from worldly concerns. The strange thing about fasting is that it requires doing nothing instead of doing something, for when you fast you don't eat, don't work, don't talk, and so on. This is the ultimate state of the foolish and weak things of this world confounding the so-called wise things of the world. Fasting literally begins to unlock and release those negative feelings that have been ruling our hearts and ruling us. The presence of God released through fasting also helps to break the bondages of self-absorption so common in today's world.
{ PRAYER STARTER }
Father, remove my fleshly cravings and concerns so that I can fast unimpeded by the cares of this world. Strengthen my spiritual identity in You so that I will no longer desire the things of this world.
Fasting is a powerful spiritual tool that
strengthens your spiritual identity in God and
weakens your fleshly identity.
Read more: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/newsletters/daily-devotionals/loving-god/22333--day-174-#ixzz0rnVOMwtc
Thursday, 24 June 2010 12:00 AM EDT
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. —1 Corinthians 1:27-31
Fasting in fellowship with the Holy Spirit helps protect us from discontentment, coveting, and fleshly cravings. Fasting will lead to a change of your emotional chemistry. You will, for the most part, no longer desire to have the things that you once wanted. This is because fasting intensifies your detachment from worldly concerns. The strange thing about fasting is that it requires doing nothing instead of doing something, for when you fast you don't eat, don't work, don't talk, and so on. This is the ultimate state of the foolish and weak things of this world confounding the so-called wise things of the world. Fasting literally begins to unlock and release those negative feelings that have been ruling our hearts and ruling us. The presence of God released through fasting also helps to break the bondages of self-absorption so common in today's world.
{ PRAYER STARTER }
Father, remove my fleshly cravings and concerns so that I can fast unimpeded by the cares of this world. Strengthen my spiritual identity in You so that I will no longer desire the things of this world.
Fasting is a powerful spiritual tool that
strengthens your spiritual identity in God and
weakens your fleshly identity.
Read more: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/newsletters/daily-devotionals/loving-god/22333--day-174-#ixzz0rnVOMwtc
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