Category: 1. Intercession: Praying

There’s been a paucity of postings lately, and so I thought I should explain: we’ve been on our annual Christmas visit to Louisiana, so it’s been very difficult to get significant internet time.

Actually, I probably won’t post again until next year. We got in last night and in less than two hours we’ll be on the road again!

We’ve got to turn around and head down to the Chi Alpha Winter Conference (called SALT) held near LA. Looks like the car will be receiving another 1,000 miles or so… 

We have around 10 people heading down to SALT. SALT is usually a very significant time in students’ lives: people are transformed, filled with the Holy Spirit, receive specific vocational guidance, and are generally touched by God in some pretty significant ways. Please pray for our time there!

See you next year.

I just received this email: “Last evening, Paula Marks, wife of Bob Marks [Bob is on the Chi Alpha national leadership team], had a brain aneurysm burst. She is currently in a coma in neuro intensive care unit and is unresponsive. Please keep Paula and the family in your prayers, they need a miracle.”

Please pray for Paula and Bob. They’re both wonderful people (although I’d ask you to pray for them even if they were scoundrels). FYI: Bob is on Chi Alpha’s national leadership team and is a veteran missionary to France.

UPDATE: On 12/4 in the morning I received this email:
“Many of you are emailing me wanting a latest update on my mom.

She is very ill and the doctor told us, that he is NOT seeing significant improvements.

We are told that less than 1% survive this kind of aneurysm.…

That does not mean that our faith is gone! Unless God interferes she will pass on so we continue to pray for a divine miracle.

Please pray with us for this miracle because I do know that God does perform miracles. 

Several of you want to know what to pray for specifically so here it is:

The doctor wants to see if her lift 2 fingers on command and then he will recognize that she is not neurologically impaired.

That is what I am praying for. I told her that last night and reminded her that her strength is in the LORD. PSALM 121 is what we have taped in her room…we are also reminding her that it is “Not by might, nor by power but by His spirit, says the Lord.” Thank you for praying for her! ”

UPDATE: on 12/4 in the afternoon I received this message:
We just got a call from the hospital…when the doctor asked Paula to raise
her two fingers- she did. 

Praise God for his answer to prayer! The family is very encouraged, but
Paula still needs our prayers for continued healing.

If you ever don’t know what to pray for us, pray for us like the early church prayed for the apostle Paul:

“Be sure to pray that God will make a way for us to spread his message and explain the mystery about Christ… Please pray that I will make the message as clear as possible.” Colossians 4.3–4, CEV

In other words, pray these two things:
1) That God will create opportunities for us to tell Stanford students about God’s love for them.
2) That God will enable us to take advantage of those opportunities to communicate the gospel clearly and credibly.

And as always, you can look at our list of prayer requests.

This Thursday the new students will begin arriving at Stanford for orientation week.

As the website says, 1,752 freshmen and transfer students will take part in NSO 2002 from Thursday, Sept. 19 to Tuesday, Sept. 24.

Wow.

These students needs prayer, and lots of it.

1) That those far from Christ would encounter Him.
2) That those who serve Him would remain pure in the midst of temptation.
3) That those who serve Him would be bold in their witness to God’s overwhelming grace.
4) That all students would select their friends wisely.

Stanford has given us a list of incoming freshmen who are interested in getting involved in a group similar to Chi Alpha. I’ll be contacting each of them and seeking to help them transition smoothly. I’ll also be praying for them daily: could you join me in praying specifically for each one of these things?

1. That God would prepare them for the opportunities and challenges that are about to be laid at their feet.
   
2. That God would make His purpose in bringing them to Stanford clear to them.
   
3. Most of all, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give [them] the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that [they] may know him better… also that the eyes of [their] hearts may be enlightened in order that [they] may know the hope to which he has called [them], the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” Ephesians 1.17–19, NIV
   

If you’d like to pray for them by name, here they are: Aaron, Akilah, Albert, Alfredo, Alina, Amanda, Arin, Ben, Brandon, Camille, Casey, Charles, Chioma, Chris, Chris, Christian, Christine, Chuck, Collin, Cyndy, Cyrus, Danny, David, Dena, Diana, Didi, Dominique, Ean, Eden, Eleazar, Emily, Eric, Jamelia, Jamie, Janine, Jessica, Jessica, John, Julia, Julian, June, Juston, Karen, Karen, Katie, Kevin, Kirsten, Laura, Lauren, Lauren, Lindell, Lisa, Lisa, Maria, Mark, Michael, Michael, Michelle, Naima, Natalie, Nathan, Nathaniel, Nicolas, Nicolas, Ochuko, Omorinsola, Paul, Quynhanh, Rachel, Richard, Samantha, Steph, Stephanie, Stephanie, Stuart, Suhan, Tamarah, Taylor, Timothy, Victor, and Yoko.

We are busy refining our plan for our first few quarters at Stanford.
Please pray that God would show us His strategy for the campus!

We are confident that God is preparing the campus for us even while
He prepares us for the campus. Please pray for our future small
group leaders, worship leaders, and the other students God is working
in.

We need to finish raising our budget to be able to start on campus in the Fall Quarter. Pray that God would connect us with the partners He’s already raised up!