encouraging stories =)

"Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens". The word 'once more' indicates the removing of what can be shaken- that is, created things- so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:26-29)

I know that as intercessors, we pray in faith, trusting that things are shifting in the invisible realm- but we also need to be fueled & just... encouraged, by stories of what has become visible in the physical that are glimpses of the invisible. I wanted to share what I've been witnessing as God HAS BEEN starting to shake all that can be shaken on our campus-

1. On Admit day there was a physics professor who we got into a spiritual conversation with. He seemed very interested in observing what students were tabling for etc. but it was pretty obvious what he thought about the idea of God, the Bible, etc- it was interesting though because even though his main claim was that he's a scientist, one of the setbacks for him to accept the God of the Bible seemed to be one less intellectual (about his impressions of treatment of women in the Mosaic laws... something I really don't know much about). What's pretty crazy is that we found out through the girl sitting next to us that he was the professor who had funded The Koala after recent events. Let's pray for him! (Today I saw him again on Library Walk, again, engaging in conversation with students flyering for orgs)

2. There is a lady in one of the ResLife Offices who I became friends with after I prayed for her broken toe. There wasn't instant healing but she was very open and encouraged, telling me that she definitely believes in healing through prayer because she was healed of a disease previously in her life through a group of people praying for her. I got to have few more pretty good conversations with her and prayed for her daughter. Few days ago she told me that since we prayed for her daughter, her daughter has actually been doing very well (mostly emotionally, life transition things) and that she thinks it's because of the prayers. She even opened up to tell me about her experience in the past of hearing the LORD speak to her about her life (she has a Catholic background but what I've sensed is that she hasn't been engaging in her faith as much, she says that she misses having 'that connection' with God a lot)- praise God!

3. God opened up doors for deeper conversations with few of my friends on different orgs on campus in March with the protests and responding the events on campus. Since then they've expressed more interest in InterVarsity (not that it's about IV... but to have successfully represented to our best ability the things that Jesus is passionate about is worth celebrating! woot!)... Couple nights ago these girls and another friend were literally outside my door in our suite and I heard them literally saying that "I want to take my faith more seriously"/I need to know God more... ;asldfjkal;djs.

4. Did you guys see how many people on library walk were surrounding the preacher guy that came a couple weeks ago?? Even when there were other things going on on library walk? Even if a lot of them were Christian, people are hungry for something more. They're hungry for truth, to be encountered by Truth.

5. Last but not least... Events like Heartbeat, the creation of Haiti Response Network... This is pretty extraordinary!! For persons associated with the MSA, the BSU, the LGBT, etc. to come alongside us, to become friends with us, ;alskdjf;lj... All these boundaries/reservations/walls to be breaking down... Definitely not on our abilities, and I truly believe that this is just the beginning.

He is uniting the body of Christ on campus, He is instilling deeper hunger for Him, He is starting to shake the academia/the administration/faculty, He is making what He thinks about injustice known, He is taking His Bride to deeper places of surrender, He is pursuing each heart fervently... and He honors and responds to our heart when we agree with His heart, His plans, His passions.

the heart of prayer

as human beings, we are wired in such a way where in everything we do, we want to see results. we want to know that the time and effort we put into any task will make a difference, something that would not be there had we not participated.

unfortunately, we bring with us the same mindset into prayer. we enter into prayer knowing that prayer is effective and knowing an infinite God hears and answers our prayer. had we not known that we would not pray at all!

so we pray. and we expect our prayers to make a difference, specifically visible, tangible signs. so we begin looking for signs and any evidence of change, any sign that our hours spent talking to an unseen God made any difference. we look around our campus, which, at a glance, appears to be just about the same, and we lose hope. we give up. we get angry and upset at God, frustrated, tired, weary, and we lose hope. we question our decision of being obedient to God, our ability to judge and discern and follow the leadership of His voice in the first place, and if we are even on the right track. suddenly we feel powerless, and incapable of changing anything. unfortunately, that is true. we can't change anything when we forget about who He is and we realize we have forgotten that it is not by what we can do, not by our power our might, but by His Spirit alone that changes.

it's times like these where we learn the heart of prayer itself. intercession. prayer not to see physical, tangible, immediate results. but knowing the season of prayer we find ourselves in. yes. a season of sowing. and honestly, it isn't the most glorious season, where we see the fruit, the splendor and glory. but we find ourselves riding on a wave. a wave of the spirit of prayer that has been stirring on this campus for years past. a wave that has only gotten bigger and is still growing even now. we find ourselves swept into the movement of sowing to see kingdom come at UCSD not knowing when fruit will be ready, let alone what they even look like.

yet we sow. we sow because we love to be in His presence. because we yearn for the things on His heart. we sow not for the sake of immediate, tangible results, but to respond and engage in a movement of a wave of His Spirit that has touched our lives. we sow in confidence, knowing that in His timing, He is faithful to the end, to finish what He started (phil. 1:6)