I am writing this evening with a high level of encouragement as I am seeing that God is moving in my life and has begun to open doors of ministry here in Austin.  For those who have followed my journaling through all of my notes, you may recall back in November 09 that I expressed frustration at my own resistance to taking steps to sharpen my teaching skills and be even more impactful in the teaching ministry when life is clearly short and days can be so easily frittered away.  You may also recall that I asked for prayer that I would be more intentional about sharpening my skills as I so desire to do more for the Lord.  Your prayers were most helpful.  Here is the progress made toward seeking His leadership in how He wants to use me in a teaching ministry of some kind, the door He has opened, and what I have learned in the waiting process.

First, I took time to have lunch with my senior pastor and an associate pastor after Thanksgiving to share what my gifts were and how they have been manifested in past ministries.  It was a wonderful time to make a meaningful connection and to hear the possibilities of how I might fit at Riverbend Community Church.  As I am writing, I still have other staff members I need to meet to look at all the ministry opportunities where my teaching and evangelism gifts can meaningully intersect their areas of ministry.  In the meantime, the initial starting point was to put me on a substitute teaching list so that I can gain some exposure in a Sunday School setting when the need arises.

Second, I took very generous Christmas gift money and purchased a bible software program that allows me access to quite a library that includes commentaries, original language helps, and all the teaching tools you could ever imagine.  In fact, I will be in Dallas a couple of days this week just to get training on the software to make sure I can use this tool as efficiently and effectively as possible.  This has been an investment in my teaching ministry I have been wanting to make, and I am blessed to be able to acquire this tool.

Third, I am discovering that the Lord has really grown me over the last year in the area of intercessory prayer.  I shared in October 09 that God had led me into an intercessory role for a particular family system that began in March 09, and I have prayed faithfully on a daily basis for almost a year now, and it has provided great joy for me.  The joy of intercession has led me to seek out joining a prayer team for our pastor at Riverbend during the actual worship services.  I discovered a strong group of prayer warriors that pray faithfully during the worship services, and now I am on a schedule to cover one of the services on at least a monthly basis.  It was in this ministry that God has opened a door for me.

The prayer coordinator was learning about my story and what brought me back to Austin, and when she learned my background in ministry, she shared that they were looking for breakout speakers for their upcoming Women’s Retreat in March.  She was faithful to bring my name to their Women’s Retreat committee, and through that process the Lord has opened a door for me to lead some sessions at the retreat the last weekend in March.  I am thrilled that the Lord has given me a great opportunity to meet the women of Riverbend and to use my teaching gifts in the process.

Through this whole process of waiting on the Lord, I found myself asking, “What if the Lord doesn’t open a teaching ministry for me in Austin?”  “What if the intercessory prayer ministry is all He is asking me to do?”  “Can I be content with this intercessory prayer ministry and praying for my pastor behind the scenes?”  The more I pondered this, I found myself asking, “What if the Lord required a strong prayer ministry as a prerequisite from each of us before allowing us to do any other ministry?”   “How many ministries would come to a screeching halt because there wasn’t a strong prayer ministry to undergird it?”  “What would our world look like if 100% of all Christians engaged in prayer first and foremost and simply obeyed whatever the Lord was leading each of us to do?”  “What ministries does He really want us to be engaged in for the cause of Christ?”  “Shouldn’t all Christians have a black belt in prayer before trying to do any other ministry?”  “Shouldn’t all Christians have a powerful ministry through prayer alone?”  “Without a strong prayer ministry, wouldn’t any other ministry we attempt be just in our strength rather than His?”  “What kind of ministry would that be anyway without His power?”  It just seems to me that Christians are without excuse when we think God can’t use us or that we have nothing to offer while the power of the Holy Spirit is inside us just waiting to be unleashed – if we would just spend time with Him in prayer and find out how He wants to use His power in us to further the kingdom of God.

These questions emerged because like many others, I enjoy a more hands on ministry connecting with other people and seeing that I can positively impact peoples lives and help them grow through the teaching ministry.  However, if God never opened a door for me in this arena for the rest of my life, I am learning to be quite content that I can have one of the most powerful ministries possible by simply drawing to Him in prayer and interceding for others daily and watching these prayers loose and bind things on Earth to accomplish His will on Earth as it has already been established in heaven.  I love this process, and now I look forward to seeing glimpses each day of how partnering with the Lord in prayer is impacting His kingdom with or without a teaching ministry.  You gotta love it!

Blessings,

Lee Ann