I have a tendency to be a forward-looking individual who completes a task or fulfills a responsibility and moves on to the next thing. I often have to remind myself to enjoy the moment, to stop and smell the roses (and stop with the list-making). However, there are times in life where we just wish we could fast-forward out of our pain.

For instance, though I consider myself a reasonably healthy person, I feel as if I have been recovering from one thing or another since the beginning of November. I just want to feel good and get some rest. Is that too much to ask? The lyrics of the song “You Alone Can Rescue” by Matt Redman speak to me at times like this–when I again realize how powerless I am without God. I hope they bless you too.

Who, oh Lord, could save themselves,
Their own soul could heal?
Our shame was deeper than the sea
Your grace is deeper still

You alone can rescue, You alone can save
You alone can lift us from the grave
You came down to find us, led us out of death
To You alone belongs the highest praise

You, oh Lord, have made a way
The great divide You heal
For when our hearts were far away
Your love went further still
Yes, your love goes further still

Many good things have come out of these prayer times. Most noticeably, there has been an increasing unity among the leaders. We not only see each other regularly, but come together and pray in agreement for freedom and healing. This unity was particularly evident at the fall 2011 training school. We had to operate on a condensed schedule and had to forgo one of our typical meeting times; still, we all walked away feeling like this was the best training school in several years.

We were also blessed to have a pastor and wife from India join us at one of the prayer times. They are helping to share the Agape ministry pattern there, where hundreds of pastors attend a single school, and some travel 14 hours by train to learn this ministry. The main takeaway that I received from his testimony was that we, as Americans, have so many options. We don’t have to rely on God to come through for us; we have good medical care, have a lot of access to food, live in circumstances where there is little corruption, etc.This was very convicting. If we expect little from God, we will see little. If we look for miracles and trust, we will see miracles.

We covet your prayers as we pray and seek the Lord’s will for using Agape in congregations throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey (plus all the other areas covered by other training schools). Let us remember that the best work we can do for the kingdom is done when we are on our knees.

• Friday and Saturday, March 30 and 31, 2012
• Friday and Saturday, September 28 and 29, 2012

Please visit the registration page for application deadlines and registration forms.

I was personally introduced to the Agape Prayer Ministry in a setting where I asked for prayer about a specific situation that was making me fearful. I was SO blessed by just a small amount of prayer I received from two people fully trained in the Agape Ministry! I began to see that it WOULD be possible to be free of ALL my fears and other hang-ups, if I could lay them ALL before the Lord. As I prepared myself for my first formal Agape Prayer session, I began to wonder if my problems were not in some way related and caused by something I hadn’t been able to identify.

I was blessed in a mighty way by God through this ministry. God identified to me through the three people praying with me what had caused my problems. I left the prayer session feeling HEALED and I have been a different person ever since!

The feeling of freedom is WONDERFUL! Soon after I was healed I reread a passage in Matthew where people who were healed by Jesus followed him in droves everywhere he went. I said to myself, “If He healed them the way He healed me, who WOULDN’T follow him?!” Jesus wants us to be free of ALL yokes but His own, which is light and easy in comparison.–Lisa

Having personally experienced Agape ministry prior to attending the school on March 26-27, I came expecting God to meet me up close and personal.  He did not let me down!  The freedom that Christ gave me is in my relationship with my mother-in-law.

When my husband brought me home to meet his parents, my future mother-in-law made some very direct comments about what her hopes were for her son’s wife.  Essentially, I was not the chosen one.  I was flabbergasted; our relationship was off to a bad start.  Over the years the offenses continued to mount.  My husband encouraged me to talk directly with her about things that bothered me, but I found these conversations to be extremely frustrating.  Offenses were never owned, only excused.  Eventually I gave up trying.  Twenty-two years later, as my husband and I, with God’s GREAT grace, worked to put our marriage back together, we took time to examine the impact the relationship with his parents had on our marriage, and what God would have us do differently.

Two years later she offered her apology, “If I have offended you in any way, I am sorry.”  Since it wasn’t a matter of “if”, I replied, “Yes, you offended me.  I forgive you.”  In my human heart I wanted to air the dirty laundry list, have a good gut wrenching cry, and ask her at the top of my voice, “Why did you say and do these things?”  However, God’s words from Matthew 6:14-15 were very clear in my mind, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”  I could not, not forgive her.

Working out a relationship with someone who does not understand their offences and therefore does not change their behavior is a challenge.  Obviously the 7 x 70 principle is at work (Mathew 18:21-22).  I think of it this way, in an episode of a home decorating show that airs on cable television, a brand new door was hooked to the back of a pick-up truck and dragged down the street in order to “distress” it, to make it look old and weathered.  In that memorable conversation with my future mother-in-law, I became the door chained to the back of the Ford F-150 pick-up truck, never knowing when or if I’m going to be dragged down the street.  When I am dragged down the street and the truck stops, I forgive again, but the bondage is not broken and the wounds never heal.  You see, it’s always just a matter of time before the truck takes off again.

As health and aging issues take their toll on my in-laws, while I have the heart to care for them, I have never been overjoyed at the thought of having more contact with them.  I came to this school, very tired and weary of this relationship, and without hope that it would/could ever change.  In my session, God gave me the opportunity to verbalize those offenses, have a good cry, express forgiveness to my mother-in-law, ask God’s forgiveness for my sinful actions towards her, receive His forgiveness, forgive myself, and pray blessing upon her.  Through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of Life has set me free from the law of sin and death.  I am no longer a door chained to the back of the Ford F-150 pick-up truck.  I am set free to walk in the light of God’s love, respond to my mother-in-law with God’s grace, and confident that God’s power will enable me to resist the enemy’s attempts to chain me back up (James 4:7).    I have released her to God, with renewed confidence in God’s ability to bring about change where and when it is needed in her life.

By the way, I got to start walking this out on Resurrection Sunday. During the course of Easter dinner with my in-laws, several comments were made, but this time it was different.  The FORD F-150 revved its engine a few times and when it took off, because of God’s great work that he did in me during my Agape session my anger did not rise, false guilt was held at bay, and my heart was filled with compassion.  I waved good-bye and watched the truck drive away.  PRAISE GOD!  -Anonymous

Not knowing that I would need to deal with this sin, I consented to be a recipient. As the moment of truth arrived and I faced this sin, I had tremendous resistance to naming and confessing it. The prayer ministry team prayed for courage that I would be able to release this sin to Jesus and allow Him to break the chains that had held me for the greater part of my adult life.

The Lord graciously led me to one of the most holy moments of my life. During this time I was only aware of  Jesus and His love for me and I repented of my sin and received forgiveness and release from my bondage. My guilt and shame have been taken away and I now live in the freedom that was evading my life for so long. I thank Jesus for providing a way to freedom through the ministry of three precious servants who were the human hands and mouth of Jesus for this moment of healing.

Today I offer myself as a member on the prayer ministry team. I want others to receive the cleansing and healing that Jesus promises us. I marvel how He works through us in bringing healing to the recipient.–Ken