The God Who Speaks - Jan. 31, 2006

Hello everyone,

I wanted to keep you updated as to what's new and share a couple of recent questions that we've been asking God.

First, thanks to all who have prayed for the completion of my new book, "Kissing the Leper: Seeing Jesus in the Least of These." Believe it or not, it's already written and edited and working its way through my proofreaders. If I self-publish it, we may see hard copies within months. The missing pieces of the puzzle are: securing the forward and a good cover design. If you like, you could pray that Ali Hewson says yes to doing the forward. She is Bono's wife and quite a saint ... she works with the Chernobyl Children's Project helping kids who've suffered the effects of radiation in eastern Europe. I'm phoning their office in Dublin tomorrow morning and am hoping for favour.

Second, thanks to those who've prayed me through my travels. I've had a life-changing experience in Thailand meeting the Karen people... an ethnic minority group that is suffering horrendous atrocities from the Burmese army. It's something I'll share in the upcoming book. I'm off to Wales and England on the 8th of Feb. for three weeks, so if some of you would cover that it would be nice.

Anyways, as I left for Thailand, one of my intercessors gave me a two part question that has sent me into a fairly deep prayer space at times. It goes like this:

Part 1 - The Lord wants to know what you really really want. I was to pray about this for an entire week and share my answers with God. He really wanted me to get at the deepest desires of my heart and get honest with Him about it. It was as if He actually plans to offer. If you knew He would say YES, what would YOU ask God for? Please take a whole week to work it over in your heart.

Part 2 - After one week (and not before), you come to God with those thoughts and then you ask HIM: "God, what do you really, really, really want?" And then you listen. After two weeks, I'm still listening. In my case, the first thing He shared was meant to be churned over and over... so I'm still doing that. I wonder what He'll show you. The first thing I heard was Micah 6:8. "He has shown you, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you. To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." It seems like I need to let that sink in and then maybe more will come.

Finally, this may relate to something I heard in Thailand: "God's will for you is where your deepest desire meets the world's deepest needs." It's something to think about. But rather than embracing another slogan, let's listen. Remember, a lot of our growth in hearing God will come as we share what we're hearing with our "revelation friends"... so have at it.

Much love,

Brad Jersak

p.s. If you'd like to share the newletter with others, please encourage them to sign up at www.bradjersak.com. And as always, we're appreciative of those who refer our books to others. Thanks!