HOW DO WE ‘ MINISTER TO GOD ’ ?

If we have not ministered to God in our prayers and

intercessions, then we have prayed amiss. In any prayer,

God and His feelings should be our focus.

Prophecies Of Doom Because Of Compromised Gospel.

A Jewish prophetess uttered some very severe judgments of famine, persecutions and death over Malaysia and mentioned that God is deeply disappointed with the church in our nation because of her compromised gospel and also because He has so few friends here who can minister to Him and with whom He can share His heart with. The most frightening part of her prophecy was when she said that 97 percent of Christians in Malaysia will NOT make it into heaven. (In other words, only 3 percent of Christians are truly saved)

Because of pressing needs and increased fears many churches have learn to rise in prayers and intercession, of which we are truly thankful. Unfortunately, intercessors and watchmen can still pray amiss if we have not ministered to God by (i) making Him the FOCUS of all our prayers and (2) by sharing His pain and heart-brokenness over the conditions that are prevailing both in the church and in the world. How many of us are truly at that quiet place ‘ within the veil ‘ where the resounding of God is undisturbed and is clearly heard and felt ? So often, because we cannot hear and feel what is in the heart of God, we allow self interest, people, etc to become the focus of our prayers instead of God.

God Must Find Expression In His People

Great intercessors like Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, and Paul had their prayers focused on God because they could feel His pain, His yearnings and anguish. As a result they could successfully minister to Him by expressing back to Him what was in His heart. Mature intercessors do more than pray dutifully. Mature intercessors share God’s feelings. They could take His yoke, bear His burden and feel His ‘heart brokenness’ and they minister to Him by sharing His feelings and by expressing these feelings back to Him, because God does want us to express back to Him what is in His heart.

Yes, why couldn’t God hear His own pain and anguish uttered back to Him through us? . Isn’t it our privilege and honor to enter into such participation of pain and suffering with Him who had, Himself participated our human pains and sorrows too? Remember what Paul said about “ knowing Him in the fellowship of His sufferings.” ( Phllippines 3:10) As the Malaysian church matures, may God hear His own cries, desires, longings, anguish, yearnings and burdens expressed through us because in the final analysis, prayer is indeed God finding expression through human vessels. More over, we are His body, a part of Him.

God’s Pain Was Shared By These Prophets

The prophetical books are impacted with the feelings of God expressed by and through His prophets . When I read the Psalms, I often have to ask, is this David’s pain or is it God’s? The truth is, it is both. When I read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, I have to ask the same thing - is this the heart-brokenness, the anger and the hurt of the prophets or is it God’s? The truth is, it is both.When David cried, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me ?” and “ My heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels,” (Ps.22:1,14) was David talking about himself or was he describing God ‘s experiences and feelings? The truth is, David was expressing the feelings of both persons – his own and God’s. When Jeremiah said, ‘ My heart within me is broken because of the prophets.” (Jere 23:9) was he referring to his own heart or God’s? He was referring to both. He felt it because God was feeling it all through him. Were the lamentations of Jeremiah, in the book of LAMENTATIONS with its classic, unique and powerful woeful cries his own or was it God lamenting through Him? The truth is, both prophet and God were lamenting together over what they saw in the city of Jerusalem. The same goes for Ezekiel 6:9.

It is God expressing His feeling through human channels and it is also human vessels feeling the pain and sorrows of God. Yes, it is God feeling through men and oh, how great, how stoic, how distinct but how very rare were those men. Where are such men today ? Where are the men who would lament after the things that matter to God ? Where are the people who are willing to share the pain of God (don’t we have enough ourselves?) and allow God to put His feelings within them so that they can feel it too? Today we have men who will lament over the crash of the stock market, the loss of their properties, the end of a relationship, their failures or their financial status but not men who will lament over the things that broke God’s heart. People always want God to share their pains and sorrows but they do not want to share His – no wonder God complained He has few friends in Malaysia.

Yes, where are the men who could feel the pain, the anger and the hurt of God and are not ashamed to express them.? Are there such men and women today? What happens, when and if there are no human vessels who would be so ONE WITH HIM that they can feel like Him, feel for Him and feel with Him ? Will destruction come ? Is this what is happening in so many parts of the world, especially in the African nations? Will the same thing happen here in our land since God had complained that He had so few friends and confidantes in Malaysia? If Israel did not have the likes of Moses, David and Samuel, will she still be around today? Most probably not, because these were the men who actually turned away the wrath of God from that nation by ministering to Him. They ‘cooled ’ down His anger, alleviated His pain, and relieved the tension in His holy heart. Oh, for such men (and women) to live again!

The Reason For Our Own Sorrows

I believe the major reason why God has to take us through our own personal pain, losses, conflicts and

tension is because He wants us to identify with Him. How can we understand sorrows, pain and suffering when we have not gone through it ourselves? How can we effectively comfort others and most of all, share God’s heart- brokenness when we have not been heart-broken before? We must remember that the ‘lesser is always swallowed up in the greater.’ Our human and transitory experiences are always the lesser when compared with God’s divine and eternal experiences. Our earthly and temporal experiences, however painful, are to be ‘swallowed up’ by God’s divine and eternal experiences.

Sorrows Brings Identification With God

Yes, a man will never know God’s true sorrow and sense of loss over lost humanity or souls until he himself have experienced the deep sorrow of loosing his own children .A woman can never share the depth of God’s pain over men’s unfaithfulness until she herself is betrayed by her own unfaithful husband or boyfriend. Parents will never know the heart-brokenness of God over rebellious and ungrateful children until their own kids became rebellious and ungrateful. Yes, we will never be able to touch God’s broken-heart, neither can we share it until we have experienced these things ourselves. Now you know why God allow human sorrows and often time has to take us through all these unpleasant experiences ? Whatever and however you feel, remember these are only the ‘lesser’ experiences which can never be compared to what God has to go through.

God does not waste human sorrows, especially the sorrows of His children. Very often He uses our pain and sufferings to accomplish His own will without us knowing. Take, for example, the story of Hannah. Will God ever have a Samuel for Israel if not for this woman’s great sorrow, conflicts and contention? A sorrow which drove her to say, “ Give me a son and I will give him back to you !” All heaven must have rejoiced to hear what Hannah said - that she would actually give her son back to God! Heaven and earth had waited long enough, yes, far too long for this great moment - the moment where a man child would be totally surrendered to God to accomplish His will unreservedly. God had wanted a prophet for Israel, one whom He could personally school, nurture and mentor and praise God, He finally found the woman who was wiling to give Him her son unreservedly and totally. But she did not do it without going through much brokenness, shame and rejection herself. What drove Hannah into such a bargain? The bargain that if God remove her pain of barrenness, she would return to Him the fruit of her womb, which is her greatest desire?

Pain Turns Greatest Desire Into Highest Sacrifice

She was desperate. Desperate with sorrows, pain, reproach and deep rejection. Yes, desperate enough to part with her son if only God will remove from her the curse of barrenness and the sorrows of unproductiveness. Hannah wanted a son but God wanted a prophet .Hannah wanted release from her personal pain and sorrows but God used it to accomplish His purpose. Hannah truly did not know that her son would one day become the greatest praying prophet for her nation. So Hannah’s waiting was also God’s waiting. While one waited for a son, the other waited for a prophet. Thank God the day came where there was someone desperate and willing enough to part with her son and give him totally to God. Can you see now how intertwined heaven and earth is, how interwoven God’s need and the woman’s need is? How blended together are the desire of God and the desires of men? How unified and welded together the purposes of God and the destinies of men and women – including yours?

Undoubtedly, the pain, sorrow and reproach of the widow at Zidon ( in loosing her husband and reduced to poverty) was not wasted. God wanted her to be exactly at the place where .she was when she met Elijah – alone, desperate, vulnerable but also hospitable and teachable. If she had a husband I believe her husband would not have permitted her to take in Elijah as there was a famine and they had no food. Furthermore, Elijah was a ‘ wanted man’ by the king and to house him would jeopardize their lives. God told Elijah that He had prepared the woman. Prepared through what? Through pain, losses and sorrows. It was the same with the rest of the great saints, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and David etc. Yes, anyone who had not been prepared through pain and sorrow, losses and suffering or the way of the Cross cannot break into their spiritual destiny. Neither can they effectively enter into ’ the sharing God’s heart ‘ to minister to Him..

Will You Share God’s Violated Feelings?

Severe judgment of tsunami, sicknesses and famine had been prophesied over our land, but how many of us are hearing? How many of us are prepared to minister to God in times like these? We have plenty of great speakers who could produce ‘masterpieces’ with their sermons but do we have an Abraham, a Moses or a Samuel who could turn away His wrath from our nation? We have plenty of busy pastors who wants to build grandiose churches in Malaysia – what for ? None of us are aware when and where the tsunami will be coming from and what a waste when our million-dollars churches go down under that wave? Don’t you think building prayer communities and feeding the poor would be better than putting up spectacular buildings ? How many of us Malaysians realize that the sudden floods, howling winds and the water shortage that affected 2 million people in Selangor are actually Divine warnings?

How did those great saints minister to God each time when He became so angry that He wanted to obliterate Israel? They ministered to Him by sharing His hurt and violated feelings. Through their incessant pleadings, through their bold reasoning, skillful negotiations,, sincere entreaties, selfless transactions, bargaining, sensible arguing, persuasion etc. they prevailed in His presence until God ‘cooled’ down. They ministered to Him through their selfless prayers and intercessions in which GOD WAS THEIR FOCUS and His violated feelings was their main concern. They knew God’s feelings were violated and therefore, these feelings must be shared, must be expressed, must be dealt with, must be appeased and must be conciliated. Other things were secondary.

Why Is Peace And Goodwill Taken From The Earth?

Yes, other things should indeed be secondary. We must never forget what the angels announced at the birth of Jesus. They shouted that earth will have peace and goodwill only when God gets the glory. The very fact that earth is not experiencing peace and goodwill means only one thing: God has been violated. God has not been glorified and His feelings were not regarded because HE HAS NOT BEEN OUR FOCUS. So when peace is taken from us and when ill-will or evil prevailed, shouldn’t we focus back on Him? Shouldn’t we regard His violated feelings and minister to Him and restore His glory?

This is why God and His feelings should be the focus of all our prayer and intercession. Intercessors must know that they are not called to just sit through the hours to utter repetitive prayers over and over again. No. No. Intercessors are called to empathize with God. They are called to take His yoke, bear His burden, to share His hurt feelings and to lament after the things that matter to Him. Mature intercessors will keep up the pleading with God through silence, through groaning, through sighing and tears…not necessary through words because often what we feel far outweigh our words – we just have no words to offer, so we offer our silence, our moaning and our tears.

To be able to keep up the pleading until God’s pain is alleviated, until He is pacified and is wiling to lessen the strokes and the blows upon a nation is indeed a high and lofty calling. But unfortunately not many of us can attain to this calling because not many of us want to be broken by God’s pain, or be stabbed by His anguish and be burdened with the things that burdened Him. Also, not many of us want to remain in that secret and closeted place where there is hardly any men’s accolades or applause. But then, it is a place where His resounding is always clear, fresh and undisturbed.

Jesus Is Still Working Today

This work of ministry to God is so vital that Jesus is still doing it today. The scriptures says, “ He lives to make intercession.” - the type of intercession that ministers to God. The church will be ‘finished’ if Jesus had stop His priestly ministry to the Father. How do you think God will feel when He look at His church today, the one whom He had redeemed with His own blood and witnessed the gross abomination practiced within her ? The very sins that He had condemned through Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel had been repeated. again in the church. No wonder Jesus is standing by God’s right hand, praying, interceding and ministering to Him.

When tragedies occurred, either in a nation or worldwide, the first thing we should do is to minister to God first. We should empathize with Him, appease and deal with His feelings first because we know He is the One who will hurt the most in the midst of human death and suffering, and especially when He knows that most of the dead will be going to hell, to be eternally separated from Him. The pain and the tension must be great in His heart when He, the Almighty can do everything to stop the tragedy just did not stop it because He has His own reasons – reasons which He cannot share with us now. Yes, if we fail to minister to God in our prayers, then we have prayed amiss.

Intercessors And Lifestyle

Intercessors must always live a lifestyle that will allow them to set aside time to ‘minister to the Lord’ and to stay in a place where God’s resounding is clear, fresh and undisturbed. We cannot hear God and feel his heart when we are ‘all over the place,” or when we are not focused and when our spirit is not made one with Him. In spite of having an abundance of intercessors, God is still lonely and complained that He has few friends and confidantes. The following prayer of “MINISTRY TO THE LORD IN VIEW OFJACOB’S TROUBLE ” (COMING HOLOCAUST OF THE JEWS) is to help you get into the pain of God and minister to Him as this violent event is slowing and painfully unfolding before our eyes. May this prayer also spark you on to getting to that place where God’s resounding becomes clear to you.

Some commented, “ Such heartfelt cries are so needed in these days and more so in the final days ahead. We must be aware that JACOB’S TROUBLE, like His cross is His pain but it is also His fulfillment. It is His sorrow but it is also His glory. It is His wrath but it is also His mercy, it is His judgment but it is also His holiness – it is two nature in one God, two tension in one heart – what a PARADOX! If this is in the HEAD, why shouldn’t it be in the BODY? May we continue to minister to Him till our companionship brings more of Him in us than what we have made Him to be.”

Two nature in one God and two tension in one heart ! Oh, no wonder God needs our ministry! Imagine the conflicts within that divine heart ! Imagine the pain, the anguish and the tearing that rages within His holy heart each time He releases judgment or when He sees multitudes plunge into hell, to be cut off from him forever. How He must have hurt when He allows this coming violence to be unleashed upon Israel, the apostate nation whom He called the ‘apple of My eye.’

An Ancient Cry Of Destruction For Israel

I was reading some notes on “JACOB’S TROUBLES “ and feeling so sorry for Israel when I heard (on television,) the vow of the Iranian prime minister who says: ” Israel is an evil regime and we will totally annihilate her until there will be no remembrance of her left on earth.” I was shocked because what he said was not new and fresh. It was an ‘ancient’ declaration! Ahmadinejad (Iran prime minister) was declaring something that had been said so long ago by the ancient Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians and also the modern day Arabic nations. They have all vowed the same thing – annihilation of Israel.

But after so many years of hated vows, repeated violent attempts, clandestine ‘annihilation’ meetings, war preparations, secret suicide bombings and public declarations of ‘finishing’ this nation, Israel is still around… standing strong, so resilient, arrogant, defiant of both God and men. Like the burning bush which Moses found in the hill of God, she was set on fire but was never consumed. She was burned but never burnt to a cinder or burnt to destruction because of the mercy of God and because God remembers their forefathers – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Who can deal with Israel but God alone? And God will - during this coming worldwide JACOB’S TROUBLE.. There will be no escape for her.

The Highest Calling: God’s Friend And Confidante

As I read daily the curses on Israel and the vows to finish her and also the increase of the sins of this apostate nation, I had to reach out to God and ask, “ O God, what are Your feelings when You see Your people going through such trouble again? Help me pray for Your people but most of all help me minister to You.” The result is this prayer of ‘ MIINISTRY TO GOD IN VIEW OF JACOB’S TROUBLES.’ As we in Malaysia learn to minister to God by sharing His pain, brokenness and anger over the sins of our nation, of Asia and also of apostate Israel, may we see God lay down His whip and turn away His judgment and finally come to His rest by proclaiming “ I have found friends in Malaysia and Asia.”

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