Praying the prayer we ought to pray

1 Samuel 1:1-18

When Leong Tien Fook preached in our church recently, I cried. I am not sure why I cried. I think I was touched by the holy spirit. I remembering telling myself, I am amazed God has brought me so far. He made me learn so much in such a short time. I felt His love and compassion for me, guiding me all the way. The sermon touched on Hannah from 1 Samuel 1:1-18. The take home point was that God puts us in situations to pray the prayer we ought to pray, prayers that He is waiting to answer.

Hannah was provoked year after year by her rival as she could not conceive for the Lord had closed her womb (verse 5). The prayer she prayed was this "LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

God answered her prayers and her son was named Samuel. Samuel turned out to be last and best judge of Israel. 

I also did a "Hannah" many years ago. I dedicated Nic to God in my quiet time because he was our miracle baby. After a miscarriage and an unsuccessful IVF, we just surrendered it all to God and then, He gave us Nicholas. What men cannot do, God can! It was divine intervention. So, we named our son Nicholas - Victory for the People. I just know God will use him to reach out to his peers around him and he will lead his friends to Christ and bring victory to their lives. I know in my heart he would go on missions and with Ethan too who will help him make decisions as his name means "Firm and strong". I just never thought we as parents would be on missions as well.

Last October, I discovered God's will for my life, to serve God as a missions family, to share my testimony of His healing for me and to teach bible class with passion. It was over a period of two weeks when I prayed about His specific will for me, He spoke through deep impression (I wrote down what I felt His will for me was) and this was confirmed by Ps Shirley Cash from Deeper Life Seminar and through an intercessor, Mrs Gong, who gave a sermon at Elpizo. After the sermon, out of everyone in there, Mrs Gong singled me out to be laid hands upon for the anointing and of course, I was crying so much. I could not believe out of all times, a guest speaker spoke about reaching God's potential in our lives and overcoming obstacles. My obstacle was fear which she also talked about. It was like God talking to me directly.

I think that is what made me cry. Just reflecting on all we had gone through. 

I know we can't have missions family without Henry and I always pray that God will give him a personal experience with Him that he might see His will for us as a family. After LTF's sermon, Henry now prays the prayer we ought to pray i e to serve God as a missions family to testify of His goodness for us! That itself is a momentous step! I am so in awe of what God is doing in our lives.

I don't know what will happen from now on but it helps to know God's specific will, so very soon, I will be enrolling in a bible class (over 2 years) organized by Lifeline International Bible Training Centre. The class will help discover our gifts and callings and will equip us to do whatever God has called us to do. It also has limited exposure to theology. It is like Deeper Life Seminar but with mission trips and special activities as well. Oh dear, it sounds overwhelming but I know God will lead me through. I am just praying I will be bold as a lion after this for Him.