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Topic: Predicament (03/01/12)
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TITLE: "HERE I AM LORD...EQUIP ME AND SEND ME" | Previous Challenge Entry
By Henrietta W. Romman
03/08/12 -
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“HERE I AM LORD…EQUIP ME AND SEND ME”
Psalm 27: 1-2 (KJV )
“The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.”
Psalm 27 : 7-8
“Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
When thou saidst, Seek ye my face: my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”
The date? February 11-1970 .
The place? Our home in Khartoum , the capital of the Sudan in East Africa.
There, my husband and I and our three children lived most of our life. In 1993, the Lord’s will brought us here to the USA to start a new life because of the persecution of Christians which was all around us.
I was in the middle of my mid-day meditation on that same day, when the door bell rang
announcing the arrival of Athena our Greek neighbor who lived across the street. I greeted her warmly; offering her a seat, I suggested a drink of water or juice according to our African custom because of the sweltering heat.
Athena curtly refused and begged me to go back with her to pray for Costa, her sick teenage son, who was suffering from a bout of depression for the past few months.
“Perhaps he will be truly comforted if you pray for him.”
I welcomed the fact, silently thanking the Lord for this open door. It was known for quite a time that our family serves the Lord also in praying for people’s needs in our area.
Leaving my quiet time I took my Bible and accompanied my unhappy, pale-faced visitor back to her home.
I found Costa seated comfortably in their family room. As I greeted him, a hidden premonition filled my heart.
As that youth eyed me from head to toes, I suddenly felt that my spirit was as empty as a dried –up and abandoned well; in my agitation I inwardly cried out to the Lord for help.
“O Lord how shall I pray…O Jesus please help me…your child on this strange mission.”
This seemed utterly complicated while, in my close walk with our Father, I had been diligently studying the Word day and night. So I addressed the young man saying courageously,
“Dear Costa I am here to pray for you. May I do so?” I said as I smiled and extended my right hand in a motherly greeting.
“Yes! Pray for me ,” was his curt answer.
I closed my eyes, searched desperately to remember old prayers for healing or to recite other prayers from the past; but to my dismay there were none.
Finally my mind recalled an empty, flat , ritual for help and healing from one of the meetings…so I recited it as warmly as I could…then we all said Amen and I left.
After going through this unrewarding experience, I ran back home as fast as my feet allowed me, as if a vast army of skeletons was pursuing me. I ran up the stairs to my bedroom, knelt down by our big bed silent before the Lord. In complete brokenness
with flowing hot tears of hurt shame and frustration , I felt defeated and humiliated.
I began saying aloud; “Father Lord, I …Your child was a terrible failure to day. I know that it was Your will for me to go and pray for Costa . Your Word says, that to be able to do Your work—I need the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Lord I need this power even now.”
I resumed my plea, “Father please do not send me anywhere without equipping me with power for Your service”.
There and then, the great power of God was upon me with His overpowering fullness.
I was totally thrown down in a kneeling position . The Holy Spirit filled that room .The mighty Presence of the Lord was overwhelming. I felt His unequal strength and light around me ---for what seemed an Eternity.
Faithfully enough my Savior kept His Bible promise …He instantly blessed me with my new prayer language for His glory. The newborn joy in the Lord was now complete in my life.
N.B.
One of the rules of the Mission Church where we worshipped back in Africa was this:
“In this church there must not be any teaching about the Fullness and Baptism of the Holy Spirit ”
And at those strange times…everyone said…Amen.
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I must admit I did get a tad lost in the transition from the MC being excited to pray to suddenly becoming fearful. I suspect this is because of ignorance on my part.
The ending was beautiful. You made a great point with the line --“In this church there must not be any teaching about the Fullness and Baptism of the Holy Spirit ”
And at those strange times…everyone said…Amen.
I don't think I will ever understand that. I know I live in an isolated little safe world but that last line broke my heart. Great job with a fresh take on the topic.
God Bless~
Thanks for this encouraging entry!
Comments:
"There, my husband and I and our three children lived most of our life. In 1993, the Lord’s will brought us here to the USA to start a new life because of the persecution of Christians which was all around us."
This paragraph broke the flow and made my head spin a little. Might have been better placed at or toward the end, or left out.
And regarding the end. I'm not sure what "N.B." stands for, but this looks like a footnote? Interesting note, but it lead to more questions for me, like how did you get from "must not teach on the Fullness and Baptism of the Holy Spirit" to actually experiencing this phenomenon? As a suggestion, I would have either left it out, or wove it into the story and expanded on it.
Anyway, the meat of the story is fantastic. Incredible. Beautiful. I loved it.
This is a powerfully written piece that puts across a very clear message. Thanks for sharing this. God bless.