February 10 & 17: Fire, Cleansing, and Beginning

February 17

Rhema, Riza, Ella, Nenet, Emir, Troy, Gaude

Joel 2: God is fulfilling His promise of restoration to the Philippines
Vision of "broom.": God is cleaning/sweeping away the corruption and bringing righteousness.

2 Timothy 1:6 ...fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
We need personal revival to be able to bring revival to our churches. Emphasis must be made on personal transformation. At the last part of the meeting, we laid hands on each one's fire to be "fanned into flame."

Mercy & Justice of God: Both must be executed in the government. Reminded of Cindy Jacob's prophecy about "not being a good time to be in the Philippine government and be corrupt. It will be like Acts 5 days of Ananias and Sapphira." But Habakkuk also prayed, "in your wrath, remember mercy." We must pray for both judgment and cleansing in the government but also for repentance to come upon the wicked so that God's mercy upon them may be shed.

February 10

Rhema, Riza, Ella, Nenet, Mike, Rona, Emir

We sensed it is the beginning of something new. The group was comprised of 7 people, representing a perfect number. God wants us to remember that day as the start of something new, of greater things, of multiplication, of acceleration.

December to January Updates

Weeks ago, we experienced an surge in attendance with around 20 persons attending the last prayer meeting for 2010 (Dec. 13) and around the same number attending the first meeting for 2011 (Jan. 6). The week after Jan 6, it dropped to four people, those four people being the same regular attendees for 2010. Honestly, I'm blessed by their commitment.

The Dec. 13 meeting was supposed to be a mobilization meeting and it is understandable that although some of them would love to join, it would be very difficult for some -- like those coming from Laguna whose effort to be there that night was already a great encouragement on its own.

Two people committed to join a prayer meeting once a month and one of them was already joining every week. (Hahaha.) But the Monday meetings they confirmed to join were moved to Thursdays. Thus, the comic ending of still having the same people committed to the weekly prayer.

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January 6
This was the meeting with approximately 17 people coming.

One of the impressions during this meeting was about hunger for God. God exhorted us that if we can be blessed in His presence and be satisfied with the usual blessings that we receive, but we can also go deeper. If we choose to risk it and go deeper, there will be more. But this is a challenge to go further and deeper, to go beyond the usual, to go beyond our comfort zone, to risk more. It is an invitation to the extraordinary but only those who say "yes" to coming boldly can enter in. Those who hesitate or say "no" can still be blessed and refreshed but a different level awaits those who are wanting to press in.

After the meeting, Kuya Troy shared a vision he saw of a dam. The impression is for those who are hungry, those who are willing to take the risk to go further in God's presence, there will be a dam of water signifying his presence and glory, released upon them.

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January 13
riza, rhema, nenet, jason

Even though we were shocked that the attendance shrunk from 17 to 4, we just worshiped with all our strength. The impression was that God is worthy and "holy holy holy." Prayed for God's glory and holiness to be revealed, for restoration of those who have backslidden, for deliverance and miracles and breakthroughs.

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January 20
riza, rhema, troy

Not by might,not by power but by his Spirit, says the Lord. We prayed for the outpouring of God's Spirit. We have been asking God to give us intercessors for JREV but it seems that everyone is always too busy to (or has some other reason why they can't) pray. God strongly impressed that it is BY HIS SPIRIT that we can pray, it is by his spirit that we can see the importance of prayer, and by his spirit that a payer movement is fueled. we prayed Joel 3 that God would pour out his spirit on all flesh. That God would awaken people form slumber. that God would raise up those who will seek his face and his glory.

5 loaves 2 fishes. We have asked huge but we have so little in our hands. but if we will give ALL we have, God will give us all he has.

"When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" We asked that God would find us with faith. All Abba has is Jesus' and all Jesus has is his father's. We have access to the father's unlimited resources.


Another prayer was "Father make us one." We prayed for oneness of vision and spirit.

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January 27
riza, ella

Seeking God's presence that brings fruits and personal transformation
Words: Psalm 36-37, Galatians 5:16 onwards (esp. fruits of the Spirit)
Also: Isaiah 6:9-10 We prayed that God will open the eyes and quicken the spirits of those he has called to the ministry of intercession.

Why We Don't Stop

January 21, 2011

It ALL starts with an encounter. I’m not talking bumping into that hunk who lives across your street or that chick you always see at the corner coffee shop. Although that doesn’t sound bad at all… Anyway, before I get off track…

Several years ago, I had an encounter with a man whose name we know but whose shadow very few of us can recognize. Less than a decade ago, a device was implanted in my heart and from then on I could no longer live a day without him.

As days went by, things kept getting better. But after a while, I seem to slowly forget his face no matter how often I tried to remember. The tide of forgetfulness is impossible for mortals to fight. I held on with a flask of oil on one hand and a book on the other. Other times, I completely lose my way and a miracle had kept me. So I’m still here.

The encounter keeps me. And when it doesn’t, a new one saves me.

Just this afternoon, I was talking with an intercessor friend about how difficult it has become to gather people for intercession. It seems that, we are no longer hungry for encounters with God. And even if we are, we no longer have the faith to believe that such a deep encounter that satisfies our longings would be found.

There are three things that I am hoping to see in the near future, if we truly want revival and reformation. We cannot have revival and reformation without a movement of prayer and intercession. What I simply do not understand today is how we can be so passionate in declaring that we our hungry for revival and yet in the time of reckoning we are not willing to pay the price. And the price is that we have to pursue God MORE. It is not really a bad occupation. In fact, it is the best thing to waste ones life for. But it is costly. It is very costly.

I have prayed and still am praying for three things.

Sustained Hunger. A man with such a hunger will keep coming back for more of God. And even when he gets disappointed at times, he will do whatever it takes to reclaim God’s presence in his life and in his nation.

Faith. A man without faith will easily lose heart because before he has uttered his requests to God, his doubtful mind would have already lost him the battle. Without faith it is impossible to please God. And without faith, we will be dragging our legs to kneel down in prayer.

Sacrifice. The Kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent shall take it by force. Your soul has an enemy and he is out to put every kind of obstacle imaginable and unimaginable, to keep you from making that impact you were made to through your prayers. Believe me, if we could only cut short time spent on distractions, then devote that saved time to God, we might be seeing revival already.

This evening, God impressed to us that the only way we will see men and women rise up to a faithful and sustained pursuit of His presence is when His Spirit is poured out upon his people. It is by the Spirit of God that we cry “Abba,” by his spirit that we say “Come,” by his Spirit that we intercede. Only when His Spirit is poured out, we will see these. If anyone has ears, please hear this plea. Pray for an outpouring of God’s Spirit (Joel 2).

I am sure some people wonder how one could survive so many prayer meetings in a week. And some people wonder how one could survive years of pressing on with the same prayer request and yet not have faith that dwindles, but instead gets stronger and stronger. The answer is encounter.

Years ago, I had an encounter with a man whose name you know but his shadow, will you recognize it when you see it? How well do you know our Savior? I have tasted something and I am left craving for more. The more I see him, the more I want him. On days when I my love grow cold, I fall face down and plead with him to not let me go. I wrestle against the inconsistency of my weak love. I treat my lukewarmness as my greatest enemy. I remind myself that he stopped at nothing, not even death. I cannot afford to waste a single moment of my life on something that draws me one step farther from the one I love.

Sustained hunger, Faith and Sacrifice. These are not possible without first having an encounter. If we have had an encounter already, I pray we will not be quick to forget. Let us pray, that God would pour out His Spirit. Meet us once again.

~riz.olaguer