Magengill’s Blog

I never thought I would be so excited to see toilet seats, toilet paper, and hand dryers.  My greatest desire in entering the states was to take a deep breath of fresh air and see our manicured lawns.  I definitely enjoyed my time in Bogota and I would eventually love to go back and work with an organization (CDA) there.

Here is a brief overview of what I did in Bogota.  Every day our team was up and out by 8 or 9 am to head to various locations where we were able to minister to orphans,school children, cancer patients, or displace people from the war in Bogota.  Every person on my team had a chance to share their testimony and lead a ministry time.  Then, we would head back to the school where we were staying, get a quick lunch and then head to the prayer room that Sin Muros (the church that housed us) had just started.  It was amazing to be able to minister for half of the day and then go to the prayer room and ask the Lord what he was thinking about happened during the day.

And I am honored to have run with my team.  As I step back and look at those who were with me, I remember that these people have spent around 30 hours a week in prayer for the past 1-6 years.  These were people who knew the Word, but they also have the prayer life to back it up.  They have living understanding of God’s heart from their own experience.  I saw many of them move with power, healing the sick and moving in the prophetic.  You know God has to be moving when someone is prophesying in English to someone who speaks Spanish and that person is sobbing.  I saw little girls soften as our team took the time to just simply hold them or just talk to them.

There is a lot more to say than this, but I am going to have a day by day recap of what happened in Bogota, Columbia.  Starting this week I am going look through my journal and blog about what I experienced while I was there.  So, keep your eyes open, more is coming!

Lately I have been studying the passion of the Cross and it has been so eye opening.  There are so many things I would like to say about the Cross, but instead, I’ll just tell you what was revealed to me about the heart of Jesus.  It is very hard to put into words what the Lord has shown me, but please try to keep up.

It all started as I was reading through John 13-17.  This all takes place right before Jesus heads to the Cross.   In John 13, Jesus washes his disciples feet.  Not only does he was the disciples feet, an act of great humility, he washed Judas’ feet, the very man that was about to betray him. 

There is no quick way to summarize John 14-17, but what struck me about the passage is the way Jesus comforted his disciples.  As I just mentioned, this takes place right before he goes to the Cross.  Hours before our Beloved one is crucified, instead of thinking of himself, he is speaking comfort to his disciples.  He tells them about the Holy Spirit who will comfort them and he even reminds them he is returning.  What kind of God do we serve?  Our God is the one who is comforting his loved ones even though he was about to endure great pain, rejection, abandonment from God, insults, and even death.  Oh, I cannot tell you how this moves my heart.

Okay, this part is the hard part to explain.  So, our own rebellion and sin is the reason that Jesus died on the Cross.  He experienced the wrath of God so that our sins would be forgiven.  And, most of our own heart ache and pain comes from living in a fallen world and comes from our own rebellion toward God.  The pain we experience is because of our own hatred toward God before we accept him.  This is what gets me, Jesus is the one that heals our heart ache and pain.  He leads us by still waters to restore our souls (Psalm 23:2-3).  He heals the heart ache that comes from our own rebellion which put him on the Cross.  How amazing is that?  Jesus experienced the pain of the fallen world and instead of being bitter, he reacts with great tenderness.  He touches area of pain and brings healing, even though the events that cause our own pain are what put him on the Cross.  Once again, who is this God that we serve!

Lately I have been reading through the gospels, more specifically on the Cross.  While reading the life of Jesus, I was struck by the necessity of prayer.  It was as simple as, Jesus prayed so why in the world would any Christian not think it was necessary.  “He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed…(Matthew 26:39)”, “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed (Luke 1:35)”, “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. (Luke 5:16).”  And there are obviously many many more examples of Jesus praying.  If Jesus being fully God and fully Man prayed, why do we think we are able prayer?

Steven Venable states it like this, “To say that you’re not into the whole prayer thing is to say that you are not into being human."  What he means by that is, we are the only beings in created order that is allowed to ask things from God.  Nothing else is able to do that, from the angels, to the birds of the air, to the beasts on the earth, to the fish in the sea.  I  mean, we are allowed to ASK God to do things for us, to move on our behalf, to teach us love, etc.  It is the glory of humans to be able to communicate with Yaweh, the very God who created the heavens and the earth, who hung the earth on nothing.

Seeing the glory of prayer makes is a honor instead of a chore.  But, even though it is an honor, I understand it is difficult.  It is humbling to have to depend completely on God, it goes against every fiber of our pride.  Prayer can be boring and mundane at times, I would know since I spend at least 4 hours a night in the prayer room.  But, it can be exhilarating.  The best nights in prayer are when I actually am able to have a conversation with God.  The times when everyone else in the prayer room disappears and I’m alone with my Creator.  It’s amazing when I hear his voice so clearly, when I’m afraid to move in fear of ruining such a perfect moment with the one I love.  Nights like that make the boring nights doable.

Here are a few tips for your own prayer life.  The first would be actually praying the scripture.  That in itself gives you a lot to keep you occupied during your prayer time.  It also opens up the Word to you.  An example of how to do that would be this.  Take John 15:13  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.  You would turn that scripture into a prayer by saying, “Jesus, I thank you for the truth that there is no greater love than someone who would lay down their life for another.  I love you for laying down your life for me.”  There are some scriptures that would be difficult to pray, but just read through some and just try them.  Doing this opens up your sprit to the Holy Spirit and you are able to talk to God about God.  What better way to get to know God than to talk to Him about Himself.

Mike Bickle also has some amazing notes on prayer.  He goes through and acronym FELLOWSHIP and gives you 10 quick prayers to pray daily.  On this link, you will find his notes.  It is under the February 2009 notes.  The title is Ten Prayers to Strengthen Our Inner Man F-E-L-L-O-W-S-H-I-P.

http://www.ihop.org/Group/Group.aspx?ID=1000036428

Last weekend (June 5-7) I took a trip to Wisconsin with one of my good friends Sharon.  The weekend was amazing.  It was good to get away for a weekend and I know we both came back refreshed.  It was amazing to see how in a few days we were able to come back with peace, ready to face the battles ahead!

I am amazing to see how quickly the vision fro 24/7 prayer is moving.  My friend Tabithah, who did Fire In The Night with Sharon and I, started the Prayer House of Wisconsin (PHOW) immediately when she returned from the 6 month internship at IHOP.  Right now they are only open certain hours during the week and they have a Moving 24 Forward once every month when keep the prayer room open for 24 hours!  To see someone so young heading up a prayer movement in her home town in inspiring.  Please pray for that prayer room.  They need singers, musicians, prayer warriors, income, etc.

PHOW has been open for about 6 months.  Tabithah asked Sharon and I to go to Viroqua, WI to visit the prayer room.  We pretty much spend all day Saturday in the prayer room off and on.  The presence of God was so sweet.  It reminded me of Psalm 23, the Lord is our shepherd and he leads us by still waters to restore our soul.  And in Matthew 11 when Jesus says his yoke is easy and his burden in light.  I kept feeling the Holy Spirit tell me how he loves the simple devotion of his children.  It is so easy to get caught up in philosophy and introspection that we forget the heart of the matter, we are to simply love God.  It reminded me of how easy it should be to love God. 

And to finish of the week we were able to prayer and prophesy over each other.  I stand back in awe of the women who God has placed in my life.  When Sharon prophesies the atmosphere in the room truly changes.  It’s as if for a moment you are allowed to see into the heart of God.  Her devotion to God has been inspiring and it has challenged me to give everything to God, even when it’s difficult.  And Tabithah’s integrity is outstanding.  As I read about Tabithah in Acts 9:36 being full of good works and charitable deeds, I look at my friend and know she fills that role well.  I have seen someone so willing to serve and to give of herself.  The truth is, God’s love continually pours out, even to the point of death, and I see Tabithah continually pouring out.  Lord, thank you so much my wonderful friends!

I do have to say this weekend was a success.  We were able to encourage Tabithah and we both came back refreshed!!!  Thank you Jesus!

As many of you know, I am going into the Justice Program through the International House of Prayer University in Kansas City, MO.  The vision of the program is to present a theologically sound understanding of justice.  There are two justice movements that are forming right now, a true justice movement and a false justice movement.  As of right now there is a humanitarian movement forming.  The movement addresses the issues of famine, health care, human trafficking, etc.  In theory the movement would seem sound, yet the supposed justice movement is actually one of the greatest injustices.  Outside of bowing to the cross there is no true justice.  We can feed the poor, rescue women and children from human trafficking, we can provide health care, but if the oppressed never meet Jesus, at the end of the day their souls are still on the line. 

My desire is to feel what God feels about injustice.  I do not want to get caught up into emotionalism, giving the oppressed unsanctified mercy.  My desire is to have a heart of compassion toward the lost, bare the burden of intercession for the oppressed, while still understanding that true justice comes when we bow to the cross.  I am nowhere near feeling the depths of God’s passionate emotions about justice, but I am beginning the journey.

I have made a few changed in my life to accommodate this desire.  First, I have started going to the inner city for a prayer meeting at the Kansas City Prayer Dome every Monday.  At the prayer meeting, the poor and the oppressed come together and content for the inner city.  The uneducated get on their faces before God crying out for true justice.  They leave the prayer meeting and hit the streets confront prostitutes, pimps, crack addicts, and drunks with the knowledge of God.  In there the mentally handicap find a place of refuge, a place where they are given dignity, where they find comfort in the presence of God.  It is humbling to see how simply they love God.  It is so easy to get caught up in theology and forget our simple devotion to God.  It reminds me of Jesus words “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:30) .”  

And, I am going to South America this summer.  While I am in Bogata, I am to live among the poor for two weeks.  The goal is not necessarily to serve, but to observe.  While I am in Columbia, I am supposed to pray and fast, asking God to give me His heart for the poor.  So, for two weeks I stay in a war ridden country, surrounded by orphan and civil war refugees asking for God to allow me to understand what exactly He feels toward the oppressed.  I greatly desire for encounter while I am there!

And the final thing that I have been doing in order to understand true justice is to study the Cross.  I have been reading the book The Cross of Christ by John R. W. Stott.  The book is magnificent and I would recommend it so anyone it.  Stott truly hits the heart of the matter.  The cross is more than a place for mere theological excitement.  It is a place of deep mourning and great rejoicing.  It is a place where the one that we love so deeply experiences His deepest pain.  It is where we weep as we see Jesus, perfect love, dying the most painful and shameful death.  Where Jesus experiences abandonment, rejection, excruciation pain, and the greatest shame.  It’s the place where he experienced the punishment that we deserve for our sin. 

Yet, it’s the place of great rejoicing because of the sacrifice Jesus made.  Even before Jesus went to the Cross His prayer was “Father, I want them to be with me where I am (John 17:24).  The Cross was Jesus willingly laying down His life so He could have us.  Jesus could not save Himself from the Cross and save us at the same time.  He chose to die our death in order to win our hearts!  Oh how I love the cross! 

I do have to say that NightWatch FSM ended the year with a bang.  The last weekend of the school year we went to Peoria, Il on a ministry trip.  During this trip the NightWatch ran the prayer room during the NW hours (12-6am) while the rest of FSM kept it going during the day.  I do have to say that I was utterly amazed at the people who I am running with.  I remember looking around the prayer room seeing my fellow students contending i the place of prayer for a city that they do not even live it.  I saw friends leading worship with a devotion so pure it left me speechless.  As we were weary from the trip all the student began the pray and prophesy over each other.  As one person was becoming weak and discouraged another person would go and lift them up in prayer.  I have never felt so much unity in a group of people before this time.  It was beautiful.

Not only did we run the prayer room during the night, we also went to two other locations in the Peoria area and did some ministry.  The first night in Peoria we went on a “treasure hunt.”  A treasure hunt is when a group of people pray and ask God for specific people to minister to.  We ask for locations, clothing, or any other description of a person.  Once we have our list of attributes we hit the streets trying to find these people and when we do we preach the gospel to them.  My group did not find the clues we had, but we went to a Catholic college and were able to pray with people and ask them about heaven and hell.

The next night we were in Peoria we went to Bradley and caught the end of a service that one of our fellow students was speaking at.  We made it in time for the ministry, even though we weren’t able to “minister” to the congregation, we participated in some awesome worship and had a fire tunnel by the end of the night.  It was amazing to see college age kids so zealous about the love of God.

My favorite night was the night we were able to take over the healing and prophecy rooms.  In the prophecy rooms a group of three students would form a team.  As a team we would take a group of three people and prophesy over them.  That night was so amazing.  I remember getting words for people and looking at my friends notebook and seeing the exact phrase written down!!!  The words we were receiving completely tied in with each other.  I did not get to work in the healing rooms, but I was told that there were healings taking place!!!  It was an awesome night.

Then, the next day we headed home.  This was actually one of my favorite parts of the trip.  As I was driving I got a phone call and a friend of my randomly started prophesying over me.  That led to two or three hours of people in different cars calling and prophesying over each other!!!  During that time I sat back astounded by how much love there is between all the students.  We were all able to see the heart of God for each other and it was beautiful. 

We all came back the trip loving each other and ready for the summer ahead!  The trip to Peoria was the best way to end the year!

Wow, I cannot believe this semester is already over.  I have been so blessed to be able to spend so much time in God’s Word and in prayer.  It is so hard to see any changed in myself day to day, but I look back over the past year and I see how dramatically God has changed my heart.  It is so crazy to be in a place where I feel like I am completely dependent on hearing God.  If I go one day without hearing God’s voice, my life seems to empty.  I’m so excited about summer break and being able to get into the Word some more.

My summer plans keep changing, but so far this is what I have in mind.  Right after classes get out I’ll be home for a  week or two so I will be able to see everyone.  It’s hard to keep in touch during the semester because I’m on a night schedule and I stay pretty busy!  As soon as I get back to Kansas City my hope is to work in the Children’s Equipping Center at the International House of Prayer.  Doing that I will the working with kids on the weekends, either teaching their class or just helping out as needed. 

And on top of that I plan on working the Signs and Wonders camps this summer.  These camps are designed to train children in the knowledge of God, by teaching the children of the love of God and encouraging encounter through the Word of God.  We also desire to see the children move in signs and wonders just as the spirit was poured out in Acts 2.  And we will also encourage morals such as loving, honoring, obeying, and respecting their parents.  As an counselor I will be with a group of 8-12 pretty much 24/7 for three days.  During this time I will be a disciple to these children with the goal of showing them the love of Christ.  I’ll be camping with a group of girls and attending all their teaching sessions and worship times.

And, to finish up my summer I’ll be heading to Columbia in July for two weeks on a mission trip.  During this trip I will be working with orphans from two different orphanages. I will be playing with the orphans, giving them food, worshiping with them, and teaching the the Word of God.  I will also be ministering to the poor who have been effected by Columbia’s civil war.  The war left many people homeless because of stolen land.  Our hope is to lead them into the love of Christ and help them begin to rebuild their lives.  As of right now those are all my plans for this summer!