A Cry for Truth and Peace

“In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. Lord, deliver me from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.” Psalm 120:1-2

Some of my favorite places to visit are the beaches of North Carolina. Numerous and poignant memories of times at the beach are remembered as if they were created yesterday as many included special encounters with God. Not surprisingly, God birthed a prayer movement in my heart at Atlantic Beach where I called out to God and He answered in a mighty way!

I found myself in a whirlwind of changes in my life. I knew that only God could help me make sense of these changes, so I knew that I needed to first seek Him on a deeper level. My quiet times, although consistent, were beginning to become rote, my prayer life lacked power and my church life was disappointing. Although on a level of huge proportions, there was nothing wrong, I felt my love for God beginning to grow cold.

My area of challenge for this season of life lay in the changing role to my parents. Mom was showing the signs of dementia and it was becoming increasingly challenging to balance my home life with my kids and husband with caring for my parents. I knew that God had His hand on my family situation, but we were at a critical crossroads because of the dementia. I really didn’t know what would happen, and needed God’s peace for this time.

In our church, we genuinely cared for one another despite a split two and a half years earlier that had left us without a pastor. Through the leadership of a great interim pastor, our church changed from being introspective to becoming a missions-minded church. Members forgave each other and themselves for the events that led up to the split. Finally, we were becoming a lighthouse for the community.

During a week at the beach, I cried out to God to revive my love for Him as I studied the Psalms of Ascents (Psalms 120-134), I felt like a pilgrim ascending to the temple of Jerusalem with each step coming closer to God. I couldn’t wait to share with my church friends what God had taught me about prayer. I longed for this kind of prayer passion at our church.

On the way back to Florida, I received a call from a church member telling me that the interim pastor resigned very suddenly after having an unresolved disagreement with one of the church elders. With a crushed heart, I grieved for our congregation. Once again we were at a crossroads. I longed for God. I realized just how desperate our church was for Him.

After the church crisis passed, I shared my heart with the church elders. In less than 50 days we would vote for a President and various members of Congress.

I explained to the elders that our church and our nation were at crossroads. I urged them to call for 40 days of prayer and fasting, while we looked for both a new President and a new pastor. These men agreed. It was the birth of the “Moving Forward on Our Knees” prayer movement.

Daily, I sent a short devotional on one of the Psalm of Ascents in an e-mail with requests for prayer. I passed on to the care groups written lessons and other materials on prayer and developing intimacy with God. The congregation had a renewed sense of hope to find the right pastor. We were moving forward with increased dependency on God. Because we were also praying for the national elections, the prayer movement was registered on the Internet and requests to join came from seven different states and five countries.

For a long time after the 40 days, I pondered the lessons learned. I realized that reality consists of what takes place before me and also what happens in the Heavenlies. God had plans, purposes and promises that He would accomplish in the spiritual realm and I had learned to focus on the things above and not merely what my earthly eyes saw. Focusing on those things gave me hope and my spiritual perspective had changed. Only when I sought God with all my heart was I able to see truth in the spiritual realm. Daily, I clung to these lessons.

Dementia is a dreadful disease that robbed my parents of their hopes and dreams. Eventually I was spending every weekend with my parents trying to give my dad some relief from keeping up with the demands of this progressing disease. Dad knew he needed to change how he cared for her and not willing to be apart from her, he asked me to help him find a facility close to my home.

Once again, I cried out to God. I was already grieving because of my mom’s changing condition. I didn’t know how living in a facility would affect Dad. In my heart, I didn’t think living in a facility was best, but I didn’t know of any other alternatives.

That week, my next-door neighbor decided to sell his house. We bought it immediately. God had provided a solution and my dad loved the thought of living next door.

It’s been over a year since my parents’ move. The disease has taken its natural progression. The times spent daily with them as I care, cook and clean have been such a bittersweet blessing and yet, yet these times are the very essence of sweet fellowship with God. Meanwhile, I continue in my spare quiet moments praying and enlisting others to pray via our connection through the Internet.

In one of my favorite Psalm of Ascents, Psalm 127 instructs us to allow God to build our home and seek Him to watch the city, and to recognize that our children are nothing less than His gifts to us. Helping to provide care for my parents in this season of need was a necessity, and God provided a way to take care of them plus give me more time to attend to my own family needs. God’s power, expressed through the prayers of His saints, show evidences of God all over the world. 

The prayer movement has been used to mobilize prayer connecting various cities and organizations together, like the National Day of Prayer, Christian Educators, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Daily Bread, Food Pantry and groups praying for our deployed troops. Our community is being impacted with pockets of prayers for our city and reaching into other states and countries.

I thank God for giving me this heavenly perspective while I serve Him here on earth. Only God could take the challenges of my life and turn them into something significant for His Kingdom as we all evidence the power of God and of our prayers to move mountains. 

                                                                  -Janey Nieboer
                                                     November 2007