February 2003 Newsletter

Greetings
"Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well."

These words from 3John 2 remind me of just how much God cares for us. This Scripture prayer seems to cover it all: our physical health; our daily concerns; our spiritual growth.

My dear friend Linda and I first met about ten years ago working as colleagues for World Vision Canada, and, over the years, we have prayed and counselled each other concerning many various issues in our health, home, and work lives. One of our favourite topics of conversation has always been the challenges that we have both had in our own personal prayer lives, and we have often shared and commiserated over our many struggles, setbacks, and victories.

Recently Linda was led to put together the following outline for personal prayer for someone close to her who is trying hard to enter into her own personal prayer life with Jesus. How blessed I was to read it! And we both felt that the Lord had something more in mind for this work. And so, here it is below!

It is our fondest hope & prayer, Linda's & mine, that through the ministry of this Outline for Personal Prayer, the Lord will move in the hearts of those dear ones whose desire it is to enter into a life of daily prayer, and to move into a more intimate and personal relationship with their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

And to God be the Glory!

Prayer resource used for this reflection:
Miracle Hour, a method of prayer that will change your life, by Linda Schubert
ISBN 0-9632643-0-3
Miracles of the Heart Ministries

Teachings & Testimonials
Outline for Personal Prayer
by Linda Lafrance

1) The Lord's Invitation:

"Come, everyone who is thirsty - here is water!
Listen now, my people, and come to me;
Come to me and you will have life!"

Isaiah 55:1,3

Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice,
"Whoever is thirsty should come to me and drink.
As the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes in me, streams of life-giving water will pour out from his heart.'"

John 7:37-38

2) My Response

My dear Lord Jesus,

I come to you now in humility, as your chosen one; in love, as your child; in trust, as your little lamb.

I come to you believing in your unlimited love for me, and trusting in your mercy.

I come to be cleansed, healed, and filled up with you.

3) His Promise of Forgiveness

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us.
But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing."

1 John 1:8-9

4) My Confession

Loving Father,
I am sorry for all the ways I have offended you, knowingly or unknowingly.
I have sinned in thought, word, and deed.
I have sinned in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do.
I come before you and ask for the grace of a deeply repentant heart.
You know my innermost secrets.
I open my heart to you today and ask you to show me the ways I have blocked the flow of your love.
Forgive me, Father, for all my faults and failings.
I repent of lack of love, lack of faith, unbelief in your goodness, lack of truly believing in your love for me.
I ask forgiveness specifically for .........

5) Forgiveness

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding."

Ephesians 1:7-8

6) My Response - I Forgive Myself

Now I accept your forgiveness, and I thank you for your mercy.

Loving Father,
I choose to forgive myself, because you have forgiven me.
I forgive myself for all my sins, faults, and failings.
I forgive myself for not being perfect.
I accept myself, release the things held against myself, free myself from bondage, and make peace with myself, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

7) Forgiving Others

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Mark 11:25

8) My Response - I Forgive Others

I forgive __________ for any negativity, unlove, unkind acts, hurts, abuses, deprivation, especially __________ .
For all the wounds of our relationship, I do forgive ___________ today.
I release ___________ from bondage, and make peace with ___________ today.

I forgive every member of society who has hurt me in any way; those who have hurt me by criminal action or have harmed me or my family or my community or society in any way.

I forgive all the unfair, anonymous sources of pain and annoyance in my life.

9) My Response - Grace to Forgive

Heavenly Father,

I now ask for the grace to forgive the ONE PERSON IN MY LIFE WHO HAS HURT ME THE MOST ..........
I now choose to forgive, though I may still feel angry and hurt.
I am trusting you to give me the grace to forgive this person.

I now pray a blessing on all those who have hurt me.
Thank you, Lord, I praise you for your mercy.

10) OR - Forgiveness - Short Version

Loving Father,
I choose to forgive everyone in my life who has hurt, offended, or annoyed me in any way.

I choose to forgive myself for my faults and failings and for not being perfect.

I release all from bondage, and pray a blessing for each of us today.

11) Jesus' Invitation

"Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my load is light."

Matthew 11:28-30

12) My Response

My dear Lord Jesus,

I come to you humbly and I ask you to remove from me all that is darkness in me and to replace it with your light.

I am trusting in your desire for healing and wholeness for me.

(Go through this section slowly, as a meditation, relaxed and breathing slowly, and saying these in your head, in rhythm with your breathing.)

(These are examples only, you can vary according to your needs.)

-Remove my sins.
-Remove my faults.
-Remove my weaknesses.
-Remove my selfishness.
-Remove my lack of love.
-Remove my fears.
-Remove my worries.
-Remove my anxieties.
-Remove my fatigue.
-Remove my physical weakness.
-Remove my hopelessness.
-Remove my despair.
-Remove my anger.
Etc.

13) Lord Jesus, Fill Me With Your Light

Now I humbly ask you, Lord Jesus, trusting in your love, goodness, and mercy to .......

(Go through this section slowly, taking as much time as you need, as a meditation, breathing slowly, and saying these in your head, in rhythm with your breathing.)

(These are examples only, you may vary according to your needs.)

-Fill me with your love.
-Fill me with your goodness.
-Fill me with your faith.
-Fill me with trust in you.
-Fill me with peace.
-Fill me with calm.
-Fill me with confidence.
-Fill me with strength.
-Fill me with energy.
-Fill me with wisdom.
-Fill me with mercy.
Etc.

Transform me, Lord, that I may become more and more like you.
Fill me up with you, Lord Jesus.

14) Praise and Thanksgiving

Praise and thanks to you, my Heavenly Father.
Praise and thanks to you, my dear Saviour, my Lord Jesus.
Praise and thanks to you, Holy Spirit.

I give you thanks; I praise and bless you for your great love, goodness, and mercy, and abundant blessings!

(You may vary the praise section, as the Spirit moves you!)

15) Move Forward in Faith

Now I go forward in faith, trusting that you are always with me.

Jesus says -

"And I will be with you always, to the end of the age."

Matthew 28:20

Upcoming Events
Our next OSL bible study is scheduled to begin April 29th, 2003; we will be meeting every 2nd Tuesday; our meeting time is yet to be determined. To date, there are 4 of us who have applied for the study materials.

We wait to see if the Lord has in mind to bring forth anyone else for this upcoming Bible Study Project of the Healing Ministry of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

News & Views
Inductions:
On February 11th, during the evening healing service at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Lachine, The Rev. Canon Barry Clarke inducted 8 of us as Associate Members. It was a wonderful service, and we can now all officially wear our pins! Unfortunately, one of our group members was sick with the flu that evening. She will be inducted, along with the members of the new bible study group, at a future date.

We are now all in the process of reading our 3 required book titles.

Library:
Two of the books on our required reading list are available only through the OSL Resource Centre. They have recently been put on order. That will bring the books available to you in our own personal library, up to six. As soon as these two new books arrive, I will let you know.

Here are the book titles that we have acquired to date:
   1.   Healing Everywhere - the Rev. John G. Banks (on order)
   2.   The Healing Light - Agnes Sanford
   3.   The Power to Heal - Francis MacNutt (two copies)
   4.   The Prayer That Heals - Francis MacNutt
   5.   Your Healing is Within You - the Rev. Jim Glennon
   6.   Wilt Thou Be Made Whole? - the Rev. Rufus Womble (on order)

I am happy to say that all of our available books have already been signed out.

Interesting Web site:
You can visit Francis MacNutt's web site, at: Christian Healing Ministries

Happy Reading!

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