Week 4 has just ended and we are about to start week 5. How is this possible? Time really flies by.
Something fun I did, was one Sunday some of us went to church at Hillsong Perth. We had a great time with lots of singing and dancing.
In week 3, we learned about repentance and forgiveness. Another heavy hitter topic. Repentance is much more than saying sorry to God for sin. Repentance is a change of heart and perspective. It is repenting and confessing of sin then committing to God to turn away from sin. Repentance is also hating sin and asking God to help us hate what He hates and love what He loves. It’s a heart change that takes desperation. We were asked this question, “Am I willing to do whatever it takes to turn from sin?” No matter the cost or sacrifice. The deeper the revelation of God’s mercy the deeper we understand repentance. God’s heart for repentance comes out of a love for us. He wants a deeper and more intimate relationship with us and that repentance is necessary for that closer relationship to be possible.
The second part of lectures were about unforgiveness. Forgiving others is taking the responsibility and bearing that sin of the other person. We forgive others because of God’s mercy and because God commands us to forgive. Forgiveness sets us free and is healing, helps us have a right relationship with God, and frees others when we release forgiveness. Forgiveness is a continual choice. Our lecturer also had a really good point where he said love is unconditional where trust is conditional that is based on character and competency.
Our application for repentance/forgiveness was where all my classmates wrote a list of unconfessed sins and a list of people we chose to forgive. We all spoke out loud both lists to God and to everyone in the school like the Bible says to confess to God and to others our sins. Afterward we individually nailed our lists to the cross as a physical act of surrendering our sins and forgiveness to Jesus. What a long and emotional day that was completely worth it as we all took steps into greater freedom. I personally felt such freedom and that the heavy burden of resentment was lifted as I spoke out loud the people I released forgiveness.
Week 5
This week in lectures was about Intercession and Worship. Our speaker was very wise and told great stories about his life. He also had some great one-liners of wisdom like God is not after your perfection, He’s after your pursuit. Your response to worship will be in direct proportion to who you see Him to be. Worship says God, You are the most valuable in my life. He explained the difference between Thanksgiving, Praise, and Worship. Thanksgiving is remembering what God has done for you, it’s about His deeds. Praise defeats the lies of the enemy while reminding us about the truth of God’s nature and character. Praise goes deeper in intimacy. Lastly, worship is surrendering to His holiness in the Holy of Holy place where there is awe and reverence. This is the intimate secret place. Worship is the place of refreshment.
Intercession is prayer that is outward focused. Intercede literally means go between. Intercessory prayer is standing in the gap for people and people groups. Some steps of intercession (this is all in prayer) are having thanksgiving, sharing how we’re thankful for God and what He has done for us, having a clean heart and repenting of any unconfessed sin, surrendering all thoughts and desires that may lead to distraction, resisting the enemy, and welcoming the Holy Spirit. After that, we wait on the Holy Spirit for what He wants to tell us about a certain people or people group through various ways. This could be a picture, word, or scripture, etc. After some time when it feels like God is done bringing things to mind, then pray for everything God showed you during the waiting. Finally have thanksgiving for having the opportunity to partner with God to pray for others. Intercession is a newer concept for me so I’m excited to grow and learn more in practice. I did learn that intercession is powerful and has the ability to change the world because we are using the authority Jesus has given us to speak out His will.
Outreach Location
With YWAM, the first part is the lecture phase. How we learn about God and how to share Him with others. The second part of YWAM is the outreach phase. This is our application phase, where we apply all of what we learned from lecture phase. For my school, there are two locations. All of the students prayed over the two locations and picked the one that they felt God was leading them to go. With that being said my outreach location is going to be...(drumroll) AFRICA!!!!! Yay! To say I’m excited is a major understatement. We are going to Uganda and Zimbabwe! Some of what we are doing is prison and hospital ministries as well as preaching the gospel in the streets and of course worship. Some of you have asked how you can help me and the biggest help would be if you would prayerfully consider partnering with me, but not only me, partnering with God in this mission to share God’s love. That you have the opportunity of sharing with me in the mission of loving people in Uganda and Zimbabwe. The total cost for my outreach fees is $4450. Thanks everyone for the prayerful consideration and prayers, I really appreciate it.
Here is a link to my paypal page:
Stay tuned,
Katy