We’re calling you to be a part of the prayer army…
On Sat. July 30th, a team of 40 head on a mission trip to Belize to be used by God like never before. Understanding that there is major spiritual warfare before, during and after a mission trip like this, we know that we can’t just sit idly by but have to engage with the spiritual weapons God has given us.
We want to pray Biblical prayers as we prepare the 14 days before we leave for what God has for all those who are going to be impacted by this mission and those who are a part of them team. Please commit to praying each day with us. Thanks to Bryson Clark for putting these together.
If you’re a team member going to Belize, please recruit at least 3 intercessors that will commit to pray for you specifically. It would be good to forward them these 14 prep prayers too.
Please let us know if you want to make a donation to go towards this trip.
There may still time for individuals & youth groups to apply to join us.
So please share the promo video and the Prep Prayer pic on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, by sharing, you could be what helps draw someone to join to has a real life-changing encounter with God.
For His glory,
Jason & Heidi Williams
14 Days of Prep Prayer Mission Trip to Belize 2016
We’re calling you to be a part of the prayer army…
On Sat. July 30th, a team of 40 head on a mission trip to Belize to be used by God like never before. Understanding that there is major spiritual warfare before, during and after a mission trip like this, we know that we can’t just sit idly by but have to engage with the spiritual weapons God has given us.
We want to pray Biblical prayers as we prepare the 14 days before we leave for what God has for all those who are going to be impacted by this mission and those who are a part of them team. Please commit to praying each day with us. Thanks to Bryson Clark for putting these together.
If you’re a team member going to Belize, please recruit at least 3 intercessors that will commit to pray for you specifically. It would be good to forward them these 14 prep prayers too.
Please let us know if you want to make a donation to go towards this trip.
There may still time for individuals & youth groups to apply to join us.
So please share the promo video and the Prep Prayer pic on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, by sharing, you could be what helps draw someone to join to has a real life-changing encounter with God.
For His glory,
Jason & Heidi Williams
14 Days of Prep Prayers for Mission Trip to Belize 2016
Day #1 of 14 Days of Prep Prayer (for Sun. July 17th)
Being thankful with a cheerful heart-
I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His rightness and justice, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. (Psalm 7:17 AMP)
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (I Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV)
Today as we begin the 14 days of prep prayer for our upcoming trip to Belize, let’s start by giving thanks to the Lord! We do this with a cheerful heart because it’s a huge privilege that we have to serve God and the people of Belize. Be passionate (maybe even w/ singing) as you thank Him for everything He has done to make it possible for you and everyone else on the team to serve the Belizean people.
Let’s agree together in prayer…
“God, we thank You for choosing each of us to go and serve You in the nation of Belize. Help us to give everything we’ve got so that You may be glorified and that Your Kingdom is advanced among the people. Thank You for everything You’ve done to make it possible for each one of us to go and to be Your hands and feet. We thank You for opening the doors for us and for just being who You are!
In Jesus’ name we pray!”
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God’s Word tells us in James 5:16b,
“…The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
So if you’ve been redeemed by Jesus and the blood He shed on the cross, He has provided a supernatural way for you to be righteous. (This would be a good time to stop & thank Him once again for doing such an amazing life-changing thing for you.)
Now your prayers can be powerful & effective, which is why we’re asking for you to be in prayer for this mission trip. (Whether you’re a team member going or someone who will not be going physically but has a heart to be a part spiritually and to cover us in prayer.) Some of these Prep Prayers focus on prepping our hearts individually and than others focused on practical parts of the mission trip.
We do appreciate them prayers.
Jason & Heidi
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Day #2 of 14 Days of Prep Prayer
Check yourself–
Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; test my heart and my mind. (Psalm 26:2 AMP)
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21 NKJV)
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. (Proverbs 4:23 NLT)
Take a quick look inward today and check your heart. If you find anything that’s out of line then take some time with the Father (however much you need throughout the day), repenting and clearing out your heart in order that it will be pure. It’s good that we check our hearts often as we serve because we don’t want to be ministering out of a place that is not aligned with God.
Let’s pray…
“Father, we desire that nothing gets in the way of Your will being done on this trip. If there’s anything within us that needs to be dealt with, please show us and we’ll give it to You to be cleared out of our hearts. Holy Spirit, we ask that You would convict us so we can repent and that You would empower us to walk in righteousness.
Forgive us Lord for allowing anything to keep us from operating at the highest level we can with You. By the power of Your Holy Spirit we shake off every hindrance, fear, insecurity and anything else that has tried to hold us back from serving You faithfully with excellence in everything we do. In Jesus’ name!”
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God is calling each of us to walk in a new level of boldness.
Are you willing to take the needed steps to get there?
Let’s see.
For His glory,
Jason & Heidi Williams
Day #3 of 14 Days of Prep Prayer
Walking in Boldness–
“The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.” (Proverbs 28:1 NKJV)
“So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever! Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold.” (2 Corinthians 3:11&12 NLT)
Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us to walk with the boldness He has made available to us. “God has not given us a spirit of fear but one of love, power and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV)
Let’s agree together in prayer…
God, we ask today that during our time in Belize and even now that You would help us to walk in boldness. We ask that You increase our boldness and confidence in You as the One who can do all things. Lord, let us not cower from tough situations or hold back when You ask us to do something challenging but help us to just go for it with radical obedience to everything You give ask of us. In Jesus’ name we pray!”
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Are you Satan-like?
Satan had a big issue even back when he was in Heaven… it was pride.
Satan became prideful over his looks & qualities. (Ezekiel 28:17)
Satan wanted to build his own kingdom. (Isaiah 14:12-14)
Satan wanted the worship for himself. (Matt. 4:8-9)
There have been way too many Christian leaders that have been guilty of all of these same things.
We can’t fall for these same ‘ole pitfalls. We can’t be anything like Satan. Let’s determine in our hearts that we will always look to Jesus the author & finisher of faith (Heb. 12:2) to show us what it means to walk in humility not fake humility (what I call prideful humility) but true humility. Than we won’t be Satan-like but we will be Christ-like.
Now growing up my favorite time was 3:30. Why? I’m glad you asked. Because I always looked forward to school being over and my school ended at 3:30. Now one of favorite Bible verses is 3:30. What book? I’m again glad you asked. It’s John 3:30. What’s it say? I’m sad you asked. Why am I sad? Because if you and everyone else had this memorized & prayed it daily than we could have a totally different level of disciples among us. I’ve asked countless groups of people over the years to repeat these words of John the Baptist and I ask you to make them your own, let it become your heart cry in prayer. I encourage you to do it now, check out John 3:30.
Heidi & I along with everything about Encounter God’s Presence ministry pursue to always give all the glory our Heavenly Father. And that boys & girls is why I always end before I sign our names with three words…
For His glory,
Jason & Heidi
Day #4 of 14 Days of Prep Prayer
Remaining Humble-
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6 NKJV)
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor. (1 Peter 5:6 NLT)
And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Matthew 23:12 NKJV)
As we prepare for Belize, let us remember that remaining humble is a huge thing that will allow us to see God move through us more. Walking in the opposite way of humility (pride), can cause God to oppose us but remaining humble will put us in a place where we can receive the sufficient grace needed to achieve every task we will face.
Praying this together… “Help us to not walk in any pride Lord. God, we ask today that You would keep us humble as we serve You in order that we may receive the grace needed to accomplish every task ahead of us in Belize. In Jesus name.”
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Don’t allow the gifts God has given you to lay dormant (1 Tim. 4:14) but stir them up (2 Tim. 1:6) to used for God’s glory and so others lives can be impacted.
For His glory,
Jason & Heidi
Day #5 of 14 Days of Prep Prayer
Maturing in and using your gifts–
So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. (Hebrews 6:1 NLT)
A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. (1 Corinthians 12:7-11 NLT)
Jesus Himself had to mature into everything He had as a human even though He was also fully God so we too can expect that there will be a maturing process for us as well. As we get prepared to go on to Belize it’s clear that this week will be a rapid maturing for many of us (hopefully those of us who are pretty mature already will only become that much more Christ-like as well)! Today let’s pray that we will walk in boldness (day 3) and remain humble (day 4) as we allow God to use the gifts He has placed in us and grow us into all that we are designed to be.
Praying this in unity…
“Father, we look to You today because Your word tells us that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights (James 1:17). We thank You for each unique gifting or quality You have placed in us and ask that as we prepare even more for our trip that we will be completely open to You using us in any way, using our gifts and maturing us in them while they’re being used. We pray all this in Jesus name.”
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When I was a teenager and had myself a car, there were plenty of cheesy Christian bumper stickers to choose from but I didn’t want to just give the world another goofy religious sounding message.
So I went to the store, bought some sticker letters to put on the back of my car window to spell out a message that I hoped would challenge & encourage people, it was just four words that read,
“Spend Time With God.”
For His glory,
Jason & Heidi
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Day #6 of 14 Days of Prep Prayer
Staying personally devoted–
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:16)
“Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” (Mark 1:35 NLT)
Often times Jesus would go off and pray by Himself so that it was just Him and the Father. This was a way for Him to get refreshed so that He would be filled Himself and could pour out for others what they needed. Let’s commit ourselves to making sure we will take that time alone with the Father just as Jesus did. Making a habit of this now and continuing while we are in Belize and making this a lifestyle of being privately devoted to God so that we can have what we need and are able to minister to those around us.
Let’s pray this…
“Heavenly Father, Your Son Jesus modeled personal devotion the best possible way for us when He would spend time in prayer with You alone. Lord, help us to live our lives in such a way that we daily take the time out needed to spend with You. Knowing that on a mission trip there can often be so much to do that we may be tempted to put aside spending time with You alone. We ask that You would help us to remain disciplined in our personal devotion just as Jesus was. We pray this in Jesus name.”
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Day #7 of 14 Days of Prep Prayer
Stepping out in faith and leaving your comfort zone–
“Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
“This is my command, do not fear but be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because the Lord your God is with you everywhere you go.” (Joshua 1:9 NLT)
Now that we are getting closer to Belize for many of us this will be a great step out of our comfort zones just by going. For others of us we may have been on many other mission trips and going may not be outside of our comfort zones but something different might be. The Holy Spirit is called The Comforter for a reason…when we step outside of what we know as comfortable and begin taking steps of faith into things that are challenging, extreme, risky or discomforting we have that sure promise that the Holy Spirit Himself will be our comforter. Not that He will always make it easy but that He will comfort us through the process!
Let’s pray this together… “Lord, we thank You for the comfort that You give through Your spirit which is alive in us!! Thank You that You take us into situations that are out of our comfort zones and challenge us to step into things that sometimes seem risky or can be discomforting! In those times we seem to grow the most and we thank You for that! Help us to not back down when we face a situation outside of our comfort zones while in Belize but help us to keep pressing in and doing what may seem risky or challenging because after all, with You we know that all things are possible if we only believe!! In Jesus name.”
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Day #8 of 14 Days of Prep Prayer
Spiritual strongholds-
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,” (II Corinthians 10:3, 4 NKJV)
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12 NKJV)
Spiritual strongholds can be something the enemy tries to use to keep a person from experiencing more of what God has for them. A stronghold can also be something that has a grip on a specific group, an entire city or even a whole nation. Let’s take some time to ask the Lord to help us understand the strongholds we might come across in Belize and how to handle them.
Let’s pray in unity together,
“Lord. it’s our desire that we would understand exactly what strongholds we may come against in Belize so that we will know how to properly handle them. Please be on our guard against any sort of spiritual attacks that could take place. We ask that You would begin to open our spiritual eyes so that we could more clearly see what is operating in the spiritual realms over Belize and to help advance Your Kingdom. We pray this in Jesus name.”
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Day #9 of 14 Days of Prep Prayer
Understanding the culture-
“Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” Acts 10:34, 35 (NKJV)
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.” Romans 10:12 (NKJV)
Cultures of the world are very diverse and differ greatly from one country to the next and the culture of Belize will be much different than the culture here in America. Often times the way we would do things in our own country might not work in another country so we will sometimes have to adapt as we better understand the culture of the people we are working with.
Praying this together…
“Father please help us to understand clearly what is needed in Belize. Help us to not come in with our own personal agendas but guide us so that we would understand the culture and adapt to serve in an honoring, life giving way in everything that we do. Our desire Lord is to give everything we’ve got, to give and do it all as we are doing it for You! Help us to adapt and understand the culture well in Belize. In Jesus name.”
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Last month at Encounter God’s Presence camp, God did some powerful healing of father wounds. We know that this is a major issue with the young people in Belize so we’re believing God will be doing the same special ministry while we’re are there.
For His glory,
Jason & Heidi
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Day #10 of 14 Days of Prep Prayer
Father wounds–
“O Lord my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me.” Psalms 30:2 (NKJV)
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalms 147:3 (NKJV)
“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise.” Jeremiah 17:14 (NKJV)
Many of the younger generation in Belize face the issue of having a fatherless home which is quite a rough way to be brought up. Let’s take time to pray specifically for the younger generations restoration and healing from the pain that has come from such circumstances. This generation will be the future leaders of Belize, we’re praying that they will greatly encounter the presence and love of God.
Let’s pray this…
“Lord, we know the wounds of a father or lack of a father being present are deep in Belize among the younger generation. We ask that You would begin to bring restoration to the wounds of those who have been wounded by absent fathers or abusive fathers. We ask for love, joy and peace to be given in replacement for the hurt that so many have walked in because of fathers. May they be freed to look to You and embrace You as their healthy and loving Heavenly Father. In Jesus name we pray.”
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Spiritual warfare is going on around us, whether we are aware of it or not. We need to engage in the war, here in America and also for those of us going into Belize. One of our pastor friends in Belize wrote me last year.
“Hey Jason …I (and you guys will) parachuted into a war zone… I won’t go into details but it’s a really intense time, terrible murders, Govt. corruption, and a number of other issues culminating right now, … Please be prepared for flexibility as you guys come ok? …somehow you guys can “tailor by the Spirit” why God has brought you at this time, and be able to help speak into that by the Spirit. That’s what I have my faith out for.”
Last year they started hosting nationwide prayer & worship in 7 locations all over Belize … last night they met for worship & prayer at their Supreme Court, and Chief Justice concerning a decision being made this morning. There are many ministries and churches there that are being spiritual “boots on the ground” and we don’t want them to get weary from the fight. But we want to be like reinforcements to them, encouraging them and strengthening them with as The Holy Spirit equips us.
Pray for them as you read here about some of the challenges they’re facing.
For His glory,
Jason & Heidi
Day #6 of 7 Days of Prep Prayer
Spiritual Warfare – Local ministries–
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (NKJV)
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:15-18 (NKJV)
The local ministries we will be working along side greatly need to be covered in prayer. Take some extra time out of your day to pray specifically for the YWAM team and the other ministries and churches we will be working with.
Let’s pray…
“Father, we want to cover our brothers and sisters today in prayer. We ask that You would keep every one of Your servants throughout Belize covered under the shadow of Your wing. We pray for the needs of the ministries there that the necessary provisions will come as they put their hope and trust in You as their provider!
We ask that those who are weary in the ministry work will find the true rest in You. May they have favor among people and may doors of blessing begin to open up. We’re praying for those serving You there, that would have a greater reach to impact Belize on a larger scale!
We thank You and praise You for every person that has submitted themselves to being a laborer in Belize! We pray all this in Jesus name.”
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