Hyena Ruthlessly Mauls Giant Guinea Fowl

I thought my titles might not be catchy enough--not enough action perhaps. So here's an active one--although it may not hold up to other journalistic requisites.

The following is a short exerpt from Piper's, "Let The Nations Be Glad!" (pages 47-48):

God has given us prayer because Jesus has given us a mission. We are on this earth to press back the forces of darkness, and we are given access to headquarters by prayer to advance this cause. When we try to turn it into a civilian intercom to increase our conveniences, it stops working, and our faith begins to falter. We have so domesticated prayer that for many of us it is no longer what it was designed to be--a wartime walkie-talkie for the accomplishment of Christ's mission.

We simply must seek for ourselves and for our people a wartime mentality. otherwise the Biblical teaching about the urgency of prayer, and the vigilance of prayer, and the watching in prayer and the perceverance of prayer, and the danger of abandoning prayer will make no sense and find no resonance in our hearts. Until we feel the desperation of a bombing raid, or the thrill of a new trategic offensive for the gospel, we will not pray in the spirit of Jesus.

I’m feeling the juxtaposition or rather the paradox of the differing feelings that Piper says will elicit prayer--the thrill of the upcoming Summer camp (Dec. 5-8) versus the struggle against discouragement. We've got a sweet oportunity to have a total blast with the orphan kids that we've been ministering to over the past three months. I am so excited for the great conversations we'll be having and the deepening of sweet friendships. Please pray for us and the rest of our team as we are in the final stages of frantic preparation. Pray specifically for our hearts--that God would encourage us, and fill us--that we would be ready to just unload a massive dose of God's love and grace into their lives. Pray for me (Matthew) that God would get me out of bed early each morning despite the business--that he would meet me each morning and give me a joy that will infect others.