Experience of Christ in Prayer

Prayer is according to the burden the Lord has bestowed upon His children who would cooperatewith Him to pray the prayer He would burden them. For months now, I have been praying daily according to the burden the Lord gave me. Everyday, I would go before the Lord and release these burdens one by one. It is no more a generic prayer for someone or something. But a very specific prayer, even with naming the persons and the burdens associated with it. With such burden, I have no choice, but to cooperate with God and simply pray His prayer as my prayer.

Whether at home or abroad, I tried my best to find time to release thses burdens to the Lord on a daily basis. By so doing, I also enjoyed my prayer life very much. I did not need to make up prayer or compose a prayer. Since the burden came from the Lord, my prayer has been very spontaneous. Point by point, burden by burden, I enjoyed releaseing my prayers to God. And I do believe, all these prayers have already been answered. It's only a matter of time for the Lord to execute and for me to see the answers to all the prayers.

The burden the Lord bestowed upon me ranges from prayer for the salvation of all the main and key political leaders of India and the world. I faithfully have been praying for each leader whose names the Lord revealed to me. I prayed mostly for their salvation and for them to make policies and govern the country according to God’s economy. The burden for the world leaders is according to God's move on the earth today, even as He prepares His children to be the Bride. The burden also extends to the famous people in India, the corporate tycoons, the movies stars, the news anchors, sport persons, and many well known people in India and abroad. I have no special interest in any if these ones except that the Lord burdened me to pray for them earnestly.

My responsibility right now is to just pray and pray. In this way, I also experienced the Lord a lot. Sometimes, as I prayed I asked myself why I was praying for all these ones. Then I realised, I was not praying according to my own desire or interest, but praying according to the Lord’s desire.

Lord, continue to grace me to cooperate with You and pray and pray according to Your burden.

Gospel in Gurugram

Gospel is the good news for all for their forgiveness of sins and receiving of the eternal and divine life of God. I was saved by this gospel and I am being saved by this gospel and I will also be saved by his gospel. Since this is the only gospel that can save sinners in the whole universe, the gospel must be announced to all sinners. Our responsibility is to announce the goodness. Whether sinners receive it or not, it's up to them. Some may receive and others may oppose. However, opposition should not hinder the spread of the gospel because God loves all mankind alike. He wants to save all  Nothing can save sinners from sins and give them God's divine and eternal life except God Himself who sacrificed His Son for the salvation of many who would believe into His Name.

Acts 4:12And there is salvation in no other, for neither is there another name under heaven given among men in which we must be saved.

Because God loves me and saves me, I must share this good news with others so that the love of God may be received by others as well. For this reason, any saved person will have the innate responsibility and burden to share the good news with whoever the Lord may lead them to. Since I live in my city, I have been endeavoring to share the good news with whoever I feel led by the Lord.

In the local church here, we encourage all the saints to pick up this burden of the gospel. This is the one thing the enemy Satan attacks the most, which only proves that he is the defeated foe. Time and time, we have been reviving this burden and reminding the saints to announce the good news to whoever the Lord leads them to and wherever He placed them. 

The enemy has been trying his best to stop the spread of the gospel in whatever way he can, but ultimately the Lord prevails and turns his subtle scheme into the sovereign display of His multifarious wisdom.

I have been blessed to experience and enjoy the announcing of the good news to the people in my locality. These days, the way I announce the gospel is first by making friends and sharing them in a friendly way. The word of God was ministered from my spirit through my mouth. No outward objects, but the word of God spoken in spirit to the sons of peace. A new way, and a new learning. All the gospel materials and the necessary word of God were already constituted into my being and memorized into my memory. I just processed them when needed in my spirit, and spoke them out through my mouth in Hindi mostly and in Englsih sometimes. Praise the Lord for this new way of announcing the gospel!  

Lord, save the people of my city Gurugam, and fulfill the purpose for which You have placed us here in this city.

Faithful in Service

Or service, let us be faithful in that service; or he who teaches, in that teaching; (Romans 12:7, RecVer)

Once the Lord has assigned to me a service, I must be faithful to that service. This responsibility laid upon me is a special portion from the Lord. And since I am aware about the service assigned to me, I must be faithful to my Lord. But the truth is, I can be faithful to Him only by His grace bestowed upon me to be my faithfulness. So, in whatever I do, I must be faithful by the faithfulness of God bestowed upon me; faithful in His faithfulness.

As a husband to my wife and father to my children, the Lord has been my faithfulness. Whenever I came home from my official trip, I did my best to take care of all the needs of the family. Oftentimes, things would pile up waiting for me to come home. Then, I would do them one by one at my own pace and capacity. First things first, and I would not give any room for panicking. Similarly, for all my personal work, official, and the church matters too. The underlying point here is faithfulness, which became a driving force within me to faithfully carry out all my responsibilities. 

The past month and this month have been loaded with responsibilities. Many works of mine have been in the queue. In fact, the Lord graced me to complete them one by one. These burdens actually led me to pray and pray. In fact, it helped me to exercise my spirit all the more to pray and pray and release all my burdens to the Lord.  The following verses are so nourishing these days as I go through this kind of experience. Oh, what a release to come to the Lord! Oh, what a rest to take His yoke! 

Mt 11:28Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

Mt 11:29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Mt 11:30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

An Open Door in DLF-1

We have been praying very much for the Lord to gain some families in DLF-1 where we have been residing for the past sixteen years now. Though we did door-knocking and gospel preaching a couple of times, the local residents have not really been gained yet. In fact, I used to have contact with a few families and also made some good friends, but that did not materialize for the gospel. I personally was kind of desperate but did not lose hope yet. The only thing I could do now is to pray and pray and pray. As a family and with my son, we have been praying for the local residents to be saved and gained by the Lord for His testimony in Gurugram.

On the 24th of this month, after the prayer meeting, I was about to go out for gospel preaching. A sister requested if I could join some young brothers to meet their friend. I agreed. I accompanied three young brothers to meet another teenage classmate of a teenage brother. As we visited the family, a few questions that I asked during the conversation opened up a new door for the Lord to move in DLF-1. He mentioned that he was familiar with Christians and that his mother herself is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it.

Later, I and another young brother had a time of fellowship with the mother of the family who is also a sister in the Lord. She testified of how she had been desperately praying for fellowship with fellow believers in the morning. Then in the afternoon, we visited her family! She was so excited that the Lord had answered her prayer 

Besides, she also testified to what the Lord has been doing in her life. She has some guilt feelings for her past deeds. To which, I led her to read 1 John 1:7,9 and led her to trust in the word of God. Once she confessed, the matter was cleared already as far as God was concerned. Any guilty feeling thereafter was of the enemy and must be rejected by all means. She was so joyful for the ministry of the word and the practical time of fellowship we enjoyed together in the Lord. She was in tears as we fellowship.

The Lord also led me to testify about how He saved my dad and how my whole family got saved one by one. Similarly, our sister could see a ray of hope dawning for her family too. Though her husband was yet to believe, her son had already believed. Despite all the outward religious formalities they had done, the Lord has been preserving this family or His testimony in Gurugram.

This was an answer to the prayers of the church. And I believe this is just the beginning. The best is yet to come. The Lord will gain many residents of DLF-1 for the church in Gurugram. Only time will prove this declaration by faith now.

Lord, gain many families in DLF-1. At least eighteen, a family for each year we reside in this community and also in Gurugram. 

Hebrew Learning

On the 19th of July when we had our 52nd official board meeting of the literature service in India, the burden of Hebrew learning was brought up for fellowship. We have done Greek learning and New Testament Recovery Version translation into Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Mizo, and Kannada, with Hindi and Marathi going on. For the Old Testament Recovery Version, Hebrew learning is needed. Surprisingly, a brother and I who also coordinate the literature service in India were given the opportunity to learn Hebrew, though we do not translate directly. Initially, I never thought I would get an opportunity to learn Hebrew, but through fellowship with brothers in the literature service, the door is open. 

Today, the 30th of August, we had our first online orientation for Hebrew learning with the Tamil and Telugu translators, two of us who coordinate, and two brothers who will be teaching and guiding us through this course. For this, a WhatsApp group was created on 18 Aug 2024, followed by registration for online Hebrew learning with BibleMesh and purchasing the biblical Hebrew grammar book.

Though we planned to start it by the beginning of this year, only by the end of August we were able to officially start Hebrew learning course. I believe this is the right time. The Lord knows what is best for India and when we all are ready for this course.

Now that we have embarked on a one-year Hebrew online course, I look to the Lord for His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to learn this language thoroughly well. As I was able to learn Greek, I pray that the Lord would grace me to learn Hebrew well too. It may be challenging considering the other official responsibilities I shoulder, but I trust the Lord will grace me through again. Brother Hudson Taylor's words be quoted again, “There are three stages in any great work attempted for God: impossible, difficult, done.”  

Lord, grace us all to learn Hebrew well, indeed thoroughly well, and learn it well on time.

Hindi Hotspot Checking

During the proofreading project in Bengaluru, a week was allocated for the Hindi New Testament Recovery Version team to come for the hotspot checking of the translation works they have been doing. Even in this practical arrangement, I experienced the Lord a lot. 

The convention center we were lodged in was overbooked for at least the first two days went the Hindi hotspot began. I was with the management team trying to find a solution for the saints accommodation. I did not agree to lodging the saints outside the convention center. It seemed like we hit a roadblock as the venue management said they had no room left. In fact, I had mentioned this need long before. But I did not want to fight and try to make my way out. Instead, I discussed with them how to find a way out. I told them, "If there is a problem, there must be a solution. Let us take a break and come back to work things out." They all agreed. Meanwhile, I was praying and considering that somehow something could be arranged for the saints' accommodation. When we all came back, the solution came too. We found a guest house within the same campus for our saints to deal with overbooking for two days. Even in this, I experience the Lord's hand in every situation.

With the Hindi team hotspot checking, the Lord did something new unexpectedly. Through the review of the work that was done, we realized that the work needs a lot of improvement. Hindi being the most spoken language in India and the second most spoken in the world, we have to bring the best translation of the New Testament in Hindi. Therefore, through fellowship, the Lord made a last-minute change to the way the translators need to work. I even had to buy dictionaries and useful Hindi looks for translation purposes. With one more year or so to go, the changes and adjustments could be made well in time.  This was also the sovereignty of the Lord. This also afforded a wonderful time for the translators to fellowship and blend together.

Through the Hindi hotspots checking, it all came to light what the translation quality was, and the way to improve further. The Lord made things clear well on time. The Lord will bless the Hindi New Testament Recovery Version.

Last Minute Crucial Fellowship

It was amazing how the Lord worked things out in His way and in His own time. When He wanted to move, He just moved. Oftentimes, moving us at the last minute. There were a few last-minute fellowships this month. 

The invisible hand of God has always been operating behind the scenes as I personally played out the "act of God" He placed me on the platform of His choice. In fact, I was not clear about many things. But what I was clear was, to be open to the Lord for His leading at any point in time. I simply had to deny my opinions, feelings, or willpower. As such, at the last minute, He accomplished things miraculously, one by one.

In the rooms and halls arrangements of the proofreading project, the Lord came in at the last minute to allocate which room to whom and which hall for what purpose. though I had no initial plan, He knew exactly where each one should be, and what things needed to be arranged. At the very last minute, though I did not plan for it nor did I make a pre-booking for rooms and halls, the Lord opened the door, and everything, yes everything was done at the right time, though at the last minute. Oh, what a relief! Even my shortsightedness was a way for me to experience the hand of God.

Though I rejoiced now that things were accomplished successfully when I was there facing the heat, I was clueless and did not know what to do except to turn to Him and pray and pray, and He came to sort things out. Many important decisions and works were carried out just at the last minute through some urgent and crucial fellowship with the members of the Body.

Besides the project itself, the plan to visit Mysuru and Coorg was done at the last minute. Even the plan to meet the principal-in-charge of a theological seminary whose business center we used was also done at the last minute, which led to another last-minute decision to participate in a theological conference. Almost every important decision that transpired this month were made at the last minute. 

These last-minute fellowships were crucial. I personally open myself to the brothers' fellowship and amen all that were fellowshipped. Now, looking back, I can only praise and worship the Lord for all the last-minute crucial fellowship that turned out to be the Lord's tuning us to take the way He wanted us to take.  Praise the Lord!

These experiences taught me how to follow the Lord in the Body through crucial fellowship. If I did not have a direct leading from the Lord, He would lead me through the fellowship in the Body. Above all, He is the One Who had led me all the way.  Never too late. Last minute crucial fellowship always came to my rescue.