It brings me great joy to be able to say that after several years of being unsure of the specific purpose the Lord has called me to, after many months (even years) of tearful prayers, fasting, college courses and very careful considerations, I am now confident in the truth of who God is calling me to be as an intercessory missionary. At a very young age I believe that I was marked by the Lord with an unusual desire for and fascination with the presence of the Lord. It was not only the fact that I was blessed with a godly mother and raised in church that cultivated this deep desire to be in the House of the Lord – for many people have had a similar background – but it was rather the call and the anointing that the Lord placed on my life which kept me thirsting for more of Him through all the years.
I believe that the Lord has carefully preserved me through my years until now, as He is now raising me up to embrace the anointing that He has placed over me to be continually devoted to a lifestyle of worship, fasting and prayer within a 24/7 reality. Not a catholic convent, but similar in the level of devotion to prayer. The International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, Missouri is a place which recognizes that the hour of this present age is urgent, and has partnered with the Holy Spirit in raising up a new generation of prayer warriors who will stand “in the gap” before the Lord for our nation and for all nations, and petition Him to do as He promised He would do in these final days.
Many things are happening around the world that serve as signs that we are indeed living among the end times, and as we are approaching this new age, we need to expect that God is moving in ways that we have never seen before. The Christian church (globally) has become more and more unified in recent years, and is still even now, just as Biblical prophecies claimed it would (Ephesians 4:11-16, 5:27). The Jewish people, in Israel and even those across the globe, are about to experience a massive spiritual awakening according to Biblical prophecy (Zechariah 8:7-23). IHOP is just one of the many resources that has partnered with teams in Israel and is helping to fulfill this deep longing of God’s heart for the people of Israel. As I have grown over the years in my walk with my sweet Savior, the issue of the restoration of the heart of Israel has also pierced my own heart, as the Lord has gradually revealed to me His deep love and longing for the Jewish people.
As a young adult of 22 years, these past recent years in my life have been very difficult at times in terms of trying to find who God made me to be and what I should do with my life. I have started down many different roads and tried to place myself in many different plans, but one thing has indeed remained true: my desire has always been to love and serve the Lord, no matter what I ended up doing in the long run. Even though my heart has been broken many times in the search for God’s plan for my life, I can honestly say that I would not trade any of those experiences for all the joy in the world. Through them, the Lord has taught me discernment and perseverance; I have gained strength and now have an increased measure of faith. The bitter disappointments I had to endure along the way have given me direction and most importantly confidence in my calling to becoming an intercessory missionary. I have found no greater joy in my life than to know beyond the shadow of a doubt what God is calling me to do.
