Do you hear what I hear?

What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.

~ Isaiah 46:11

Following the 4-steps of prayer model is very helpful in keeping our focus on speaking to God. I wonder, though, if we should insert reminders on our prayer sheet to listen to God.

This week, I'm using the filled-in prayer sheet with the attribute "Master Planner". As I read the above verse, the thought came to me, God is not a dad who makes time to listen to us when he gets done with his work. We, and the stuff we are praying about, are his work.

One of the significant aspects of praying with others is the gift of experiencing unity in our prayers. Not unity of like-minded moms, but unity as only the Spirit of God can create. When I pray alone, I can listen to God and sense his presence but it is not the same as knowing that someone else is also hearing what I hear from God. 

Our prayers are filled with hope and power when we realize that we're not interrupting God with our stuff. He has a master plan which includes our stuff. All we need to do is listen to him. 

Confession should not be the only intentional silent time in our prayer groups. When we praise him, let's listen for his response. Allow the Spirit to whisper reminders of Thanksgiving. And wait on God to guide your prayers for your children and the schools.

What you hear may surprise you. It may seem strange to have a sense of knowing the need of someone you do not know personally. But God will tell you how to pray if you take time to listen.

Listen. Do you hear what I hear? If so, it's most likely from God. He is letting you and me in on his master plan. How exciting is that!

Message from MITI Great Lakes Regional Director

On Nov 18, 2008, Lynn Niedenthal wrote:

Dear Ohio MITI Group Leaders and Members,

Our nation is in the midst of a financial “storm” which has impacted many of us, including the ministry, Moms In Touch International. We trust the Lord to see us through this time and that the ministry will continue to be strong. Accordingly, MITI Headquarters has placed a freeze on all spending. This encompasses all usual expenses incurred by state coordinators (SCs) and regional directors (RDs) as we volunteer and serve, including copying, phone, postage, office supplies and travel.

The impact of this cut back is also effecting the SC annual getaway scheduled for February 2009 where all the SCs, RDs and MITI HQ Dept. Managers gather in California for a time of equipping and encouragement. Because of many exciting changes that are on the horizon for Moms In Touch, it is vital for all of us to attend. This travel has always been covered by the ministry; however, current circumstances call for us to be prayerful and creative in order to maintain the financial stability of the ministry. So, MITI has requested that all those attending involve the women in their states to give them the opportunity to participate by donating financially or with Frequent Flyer Miles specifically towards this need.

Would you consider investing in the future of MITI in Ohio and our Great Lakes Region by making a donation to help cover Joanne and my expenses to attend the SC Getaway? If you feel the Holy Spirit’s tug to provide Frequent Flyer miles or to give financially towards our getaway travel along with the other expenses mentioned, please let myself or Joanne know. You may make the check out to Moms In Touch International sending it either to myself, to Joanne or directly to Moms In Touch International, PO Box 1120, Poway, CA 92074-1120. Please note on the check that it is for Joanne Harris or Lynn Niedenthal and how it is to be designated. They will keep us informed of the amount so that we know when enough has been raised to buy our tickets.

I realize this letter may find you and your family in dire financial needs and so I pray that you will not be offended by this letter – please do not have any guilty feelings if you just delete this.

Often when I receive donation requests, I feel that the little I can give is not enough. I want to encourage you to read 2 Kings 4:38-44. A man came with a donation for the man of God and the prophets. 100 men were hungry! The donation was enough to satisfy a few, but not all. Elisha wasn’t interested in just feeding himself and his inner circle. He insisted in putting the food out to all the men. The servant questioned the command to put it out in front of the 100 men but Elisha repeated the command and gave a promise. God will make it be more than enough. The promise of God enabled the servant to obey. “So he set it before them.” Your little amount in righteous, obedient hands is all God needs to meet the needs of many. Give the little bit you have even though you know it’s not enough. The Lord promises it will be more than enough.

My God will meet all your (and mine and Joanne’s) needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 2:19

Thank you In the name of our Jehovah Jireh,
Lynn & Joanne

Joanne Harris
Ohio State Coordinator
mitiOH@MomsInTouch.org

Lynn Niedenthal
USA Regional Director - Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH & WI) 

mitiGreatLakes@MomsInTouch.org
******************************************************

UPDATE:
From: Lynn Niedenthal 
Date: December 3, 2008

Hi ladies,
I just heard today from a couple in IL who are able to donate all their United miles to me for my flight so I am taken care of – PTL! (The IL SC’s husband had already bought her ticket so she is praying for monetary donations).

So, Lisa, you can edit the letter to just reflect needing support for Joanne’s flight.

Lynn

********************************************************

Moms In Touch International 

Our Mission

Moms In Touch International impacts children and schools world wide for Christ by gathering mothers to pray

Our Vision

Every School in the world would be covered in prayer

Holidays and Short Weeks

Is your Moms in Touch prayer time just another scheduled item in your week or do you recognize the gift God has given us through Jesus to pray for our children and schools?

Let's not make our MITI prayers a "meeting" that must be scratched when school is not in session. Pick up a previous Prayer Sheet or print one of the 52 filled in sheets from the Leaders Corner page at www.MomsinTouch.org to use in your personal quiet time. A list of Attributes of God is also available at the Leaders Corner page.

Who knows? You may get so excited about using the 4-steps of prayer alone that you will want to lead the next MITI Prayer time for your group!

Evelyn Christenson in What Happens When Women Pray says private prayer is "an indicator of the kind of prayer group participant we really are, for it is our private praying that determines the quality and validity of our public praying."  

A note from personal experience: praying out loud when you are alone will make praying in a group more natural for you. 

Don't skip praying for our children and schools just because of holidays or short school weeks. God is still at work in the lives of every student, teacher, and staff person.

Keep Praying! You are participating in the redemption of God's creation!

Do you see it?

I love to travel and see things I've read about. Several years ago I had the thrill of spending 21 days in nine European countries. Fascinating! Windmills in Holland. Austria's Swiss Alps - the hills really are alive with the sound of music. Quaint German villages. Magnificent castles. Buckingham Palace and London's double decker buses. The Arc de Triumph, the Eiffel Tower, and the original Mona Lisa.

Did you know that one of the significant elements of the Mona Lisa is the landscape background? I didn't until after I visited the Louvre. I saw her famous smile but I hardly noticed the background.

I wonder sometimes if we notice the big picture of what God is doing with Moms in Touch. Each prayer group is like the smile of Mona Lisa but there is a background that is of far greater significance. 

The vision of Moms in Touch is that every school in the world will be covered with prayer. 

Picture it. Your child travels to Europe with a group of college friends. How many on the plane are the same age? Did they have moms praying for them?

Or maybe your family has to transfer to a new city during your daughter's junior year of high school. What will she face at this school? Was anyone praying for that school?

It's easy to see the temporary struggles our children encounter from day to day. I challenge myself and you to look closer. If you don't already, please include the vision of Moms in Touch in your weekly prayer time. Let's watch and see every school (including home schools) in the world be covered with prayer.

Last year, MITI groups in the Olentangy school district each adopted an uncovered "sister" school within the district. How exciting it is to see a new group start up when you've been praying for that to happen!

A Worthington group is praying for an inner city (Columbus) school as their adopted school. 

What school will you adopt until you see God bring forth moms to cover it in prayer?

Who Me?

Open _______’s eyes and turn him/her from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that he/she may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus. Acts 26:18

This prayer is printed on the Prayer Sheet each week under Teacher/Staff. This morning, I decided to read it in context and a frightening thing happened!

Go ahead, go get your Bible and read Acts 26. Start around verse 12 and pay close attention to verses 16 and 17. I'll wait while you do that.

{whistling no particular tune - that drives some people crazy}

Ok, just two questions for you

1. Who is speaking?
2. Who is to “open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light...”?

I firmly believe that prayer is not about giving God a to-do list but instead is a time to bring our joys and heartaches to God and ask Lord, what do you want me to do? or How do I respond to this circumstance in your name?

Here’s a challenge for you. At the beginning of the above prayer, add these words when you plug in a teacher’s name: “Lord, send me to....”

It was a tough prayer for me this morning but I’m trusting God will do the work. I just need to be available when (or if) he chooses to indeed send me. Maybe he won’t choose to send me, but I want to be willing if he does.

Lord, send me to open _______’s eyes and turn him/her from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that he/she may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus. Acts 26:18

The Thrill of Prayer

       Rejoice.
Rejoice not so much in victories as in the fact that I am leading.
       Praise Me.
Not so much for My blessings as for My love that prompts them.
       Serve Me with gladness,
not for the ultimate nor present reward,
       but for the thrill of knowing that we labor together;
that I stand beside you in every enterprise, however trivial.

~ Frances J. Roberts Come Away My Beloved

Where does your MITI group seem to struggle in the prayer hour?

Praise?
When first starting out in the MITI prayer format (and even when we've been doing it awhile for some of us) it can be difficult to get used to the concept of Praise over Thanksgiving. I still catch myself once in a while starting with "Thank you for..." in the Praise segment rather than "God, you are..."

Praise is not about the blessings he has given us but His love that prompts those blessings.

Confession?
Rejoice in his leading. It is the prompting of his Holy Spirit that reveals where we fall short of his leading. As we allow the silence to be penetrated by God's love during this time, we see the beauty of the Creator leading us like a good shepherd. He lifts us up. He guides us with the discipline of his rod and staff for his name sake. You can approach the throne of God with confidence because He puts you back onto his path when you submit to His leading.

Thanksgiving?
Oh wow! We thank him not like a child who enjoys a gift but is reluctant to write a thank you note. Oh, no. We thank him from much greater depths than that. This is Almighty God who has entered into our lives - no matter how trivial.

I'm told by many group leaders that this seems to be one of the quiet times of the prayer hour. Moms, this should be the time when the leader is forced to interrupt to stick to our one hour commitment.

I challenge you to not think so much of just the rewards of your prayers but think of who it is entering into the struggles of your child's life. When you say "thank you," pause for just a moment and consider again the attribute or name of God you have just praised at the beginning of your prayer time. Think about how He has been faithful even in the trivial.

Intercession?
Ah, the heart of our prayer time. Asking, Seeking, Finding. What we are really doing here is serving. Prayer is an essential part of being able to see what God is doing around us. Without seeing what God is doing, we cannot participate with him. In Intercession we say "Lord, as your servant, I bring this to you. What do you want me to do with it?" When we know that we are part of what we are asking, part of God's love, we discover the thrill of asking, the thrill of knowing that we labor together with the Creator. Each of us doing as God directs and God doing his part.

Let's not just drop off a to-do list with God. Let's seek his counsel, his perspective, and let him lead us according to his love.

Are you a Woman of Prayer?

The way we respond to difficulties, to the storms, is related directly to how well we know God. (Fern Nichols, Every Child Needs a Praying Mom, p. 112)

In the Moms in Touch booklet which every group member should have, Fern shares in her Personal Testimony what she asked God to do in regard to prayer. First on her list is to be a woman of prayer.

What does it mean to you to be a woman of prayer?

To me, it is not setting aside a specific amount of time to be in prayer and it has little to do with being part of a prayer group.

A Woman of Prayer...

Fixes her thoughts on Jesus (Hebrews 3:1)

When we fix our mind on Jesus rather than on our circumstances, we find it easy to talk to Him at any time and about any troubles and joys we experience.

Seeks God's presence (Matthew 18:19-20)

Jesus stated that he is with us where two or three come together in his name. Why two or three? My experience and perspective is this. With just two or three we are more likely to keep our focus on God rather than ourselves. The significance of two or three over praying alone is that we are able to have the Holy Spirit confirm what he has spoken to us through the audible prayers of others. In this way, we know that we are agreeing with God in our prayers.

Trusts in His Power (Matthew 19:26)

As moms we can easily get weighed down with the thought that I must do something to remedy the struggles of my child just as the “rich man” wanted to know what he could do to get eternal life. As a woman of prayer we recognize that we are very limited to our ability to change our child or anyone else but God is able to change the heart of others when we listen to his guidance and allow his Holy Spirit to be the source of power.

Does your response to difficulties indicate that you are a woman of prayer?

Praying Scripture

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105

As moms we bring to God our fears and concerns for our children. Scripture reminds us over and over that he will guide US - the one praying and seeking his will.

So often we want to see changes in our children or the school system. When we bathe our children in scripture we ask that our child "may" do God's will. Let us not forget that we are the one's seeking God's will.

Here's a challenge for all of us. During the confession time, look down at the scripture you will be praying for your child. Are you following the path of the scripture you will be praying for your child?

All Scripture is inspired by God

and is useful to teach us what is true

and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.

It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.

2 Timothy 3:16 (NLV)

Delaware City Informational

Do you know a mom in Delaware City Schools, St. Mary School, or Delaware Christian? Let's work together to get every school in Central Ohio covered in prayer!

INFORMATIONAL MEETING:
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 9:00-10:00 a.m. at the home of Tuesday Trippier

For more information

or to find out how to host an informational in the Delaware City area,

please contact:

Tuesday Trippier, MITI Delaware City Contact Person,

614-283-0240 or jtrippi@columbus.rr.com.

There is a new group starting up for Carlisle! Please let Tuesday know if you know someone who might be interested in that group!

Seek Him

The school year has begun - at least for those in Olentangy. What are you expecting of God this year?

Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

My challenge for each Moms in Touch group and those faithful moms praying alone, Seek Him.

When we pray, we are approaching the creator of all that we know and all that we don't know. He wants you to seek him and find him. If we take time to listen in our prayers, we will hear the heart of God. When we hear his heart, we can walk away knowing that the God of heaven and earth will do what we have asked.

Keep Praying - You are making a difference in the world!