Retreat (noun)
A place affording peace, quiet, privacy, or security.
A period of seclusion, retirement, or solitude.
A period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, or study: a religious retreat.

I am so refreshed from the wonderful 3 days at Desaru. We stayed at Pulai Springs Beach Resort, a beautiful hotel with its own beach. It was 3 fulfilling days spent in the presence of God. I don't just mean when we entered the conference room for the sessions. But I think all of us had an awareness of how the presence of God simply infiltrated the entire hotel. Samuel, one of my year 2 schoolmates, captured the feeling best when we were praying together as a group beside the beach. He said that it was a privilege to be praying beside the sea with the sound of its crashing waves. And so we sat there praying for an hour in the spirit. Beautiful.

Psalms 29:3-4
The voice of the LORD is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The LORD is over many waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful; The voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

I think the next best part was being able to play and worship God. In my mind, I was thinking, what an honour to be serving in this ministry and worshiping with all these "spiritual heavyweights". Of course, God quickly got my attention off them and back on Him. Its such a joy to worship Him.

All throughout the first 2 days, I was telling God that I wanted a Word from Him through the Coopers. (They were a couple, the guest speakers for the retreat) God was telling me that I didn't need a Word, that I already have the battle plan. But I told Him that I wanted an confirmation, or rather an encouragement that I was on the right track. So when it was my turn to be prayed for, it didn't surprise me that all that was mentioned were the same things that I've gotten from God before. There were 2 things however, that were new to me. These were regarding anointing and restoration. Such words of comfort. I had been hearing people saying that I was anointed before but I never really accepted it. Having heard it from God makes it so much more believable.

And so the key topic for this retreat is praying in the spirit. For a greater anointing and greater power. Oh the number of things that can be achieved when we let God use us even when we pray.

A prayer from the Heart
Father I want to bring Daryl before you. I ask that You grant him Your spirit of wisdom and revelation every day, every time he reads Your Word, I pray that he will learn something new and You will give him a a fresh revelation.

Lord, I thank You that he has a teachable heart, and I know that You are gonna use that and teach him many things because his heart is so open to you, and I know that you will also use him to impart all the wonderful things he has learnt to others who need to hear it. I know and I declare that he will do great things for you, and I pray that you continue to grant him enough light for every single step that he takes with you, as he follows your leading and as you take him to higher levels, one at a time.

Father I also pray that you will increase his boldness. You know that he has a desire to reach out to the lost, to share the gospel and bring people to You. I ask that you will really help him to step out of his personality! That he will be filled with boldness and declare your gospel aloud!

We know that Your Word is powerful and speaks for itself, it's not the words we use or how well we speak but Your word is living and it transforms people and so we thank you that we dont have to rely on ourselves to reach out to other people and be afraid of saying the wrong things or looking stupid, but we can rely on you as your Holy Spirit gives us the words to say.

I pray that Daryl will be so in tune with the Holy Spirit, every single second of his life, in all the decisions he makes, the situations he faces. He will do as you guide him. I also pray that you keep Daryl from temptation and protect him from any accidents or harm that the devil might want to put in his way as he goes to Desaru until Wednesday. I ask that it will be a time of refreshing for him. During this time he will learn so much from you and have such intimate times with you. I pray that he will come back different! Changed and convicted by the Holy Spirit in new areas of his life no longer the same but changed forever for you!

We thank you in advance for all our prayers , that although we cant see them by our eyes, we believe by faith that you have heard and have answered! We rejoice in advance for all the wonderful things you are doing and are going to do in Daryl's life and we pray all these in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.

I seem to have had a revelation today while I was walking home from the MRT and it makes me happy! I think I'm going to shock some people in the near future. I've had some setbacks regarding the last post where I mentioned my desire to become bolder and more radical for the Lord. Isn't it just like the devil to come and try to discourage and disappoint you when you're making a decision to glorify God? Isn't it just like the devil to come and try to condemn you for not being able to carry out that decision?

So often we're being deceived into thinking that our actions are bad because they don't fit into the culture that we're in. I think I'm tired of having people dictate what I am and what I'm permitted to do. And very often, condemnation comes because we fail to live up to people's expectations. In 1 Corinthians 10:29, Paul asks For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience?" I'm not saying that we lower the standards. I'm saying that we raise them to please the only One whose opinion matters. When you follow after Christ, you're bound to step on some people's toes. Again I'm not saying that you go out of your way to offend others. But I just realised tonight that I've been trapped in people's opinions and judgements. Fear of condemnation. No more of that for me.

Luke 4:18-19
The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.
To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.

Jesus purchased my freedom on the cross. Romans 8:1 says "...no more condemnation to those who are IN CHRIST JESUS!"
2 Corinthians 3:17 says "...where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty!"

In Proverbs 19:12 and 20:2, it says "The wrath of a King is like a roaring lion."
We all know that God is the "Lion of Judah" and the "King of Kings". And many of us think that God rebukes or disciplines us by condemning us. But that is not the case!

1 Peter 5:8 says "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
The devil prowls around like a roaring lion. The father of lies tries to imitate the only true and living God. He tries to mislead people into thinking that God's anger is on them. In short, the devil tries to bring condemnation where there should be none. If the devil cannot stop us from getting saved, he's going to try to get us to become ineffective. What better way for him to do that than making the Christian feel sinful and unworthy?

The truth is, God does not condemn us anymore. There are no consequences of sin to bear from God. The wrath of God has already been exhausted on the glorious Jesus Christ. The consequences of sin have been paid for in full. Thats the beauty of the gospel.

John 3:17-18
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned..."