Prayer Request: Jessica Orr

27/April/2007 03:18 Filed in: Prayer Requests

Jess, Randi and Nate are asking for some very focused prayer. Since they have been in Israel they have been hit with a lot of spiritual warfare. The next 4 weeks of their journey are especially vital. Thanks in advance for lifting these folks up to the Lord. - Bonnie

Awakening The Bride to Hunger

20,000 miles later…

It all started with a yes cry to follow Jesus wherever He goes. We stayed in Africa because God gave us a word to, and since that day, nothing has been the same.

20,000 miles later, we find ourselves once again learning the simplicity of the Gospel. A message that will work in the dirt and in the palace.

A Time of Awakening…

I find myself in Israel and for three weeks, the western world has been my new home. I must confess I have had a rough time adjusting to the lack of dirt around me. I miss seeing African children singing and playing. I miss the presence of Jesus that seemed so readily available in the heart of Africa. We knew that Jesus had called us to Israel for a purpose.

On a personal note, I had quickly fallen asleep while in the first world. We were hungry in Africa and knew that the Holy Spirit would always come running. We were always watching and waiting for His presence and He would never disappoint. It was very easy for me to lose that gift God had given us once we entered into Israel. I honestly quickly fell asleep.

Throughout our time here, Jesus has been drawing us more to Himself. We had in Africa, learned lessons of simplicity and love. We had learned dependency on Jesus in a deeper way than we had ever known. And here, in the very places that He once walked, Jesus was going to wake me up once more.

The Feast of Passover has been celebrated throughout this week. Many refer to it as the Feast of Intimacy. In John Chapters 13-15, Jesus takes His disciples, those whom He loved the most, away for one last meal together. He washed their feet, He loved on them, and He reassured them of the fulfillment of His promises towards them.

He even lets them know that He is going away to prepare. He says that He will prepare a room for them. In fact, many rooms, and that where He is, they (and we) will also be. Jewish tradition mirrors Jesus’ words to His closest friends.

When a man is about to marry a woman, in Jewish culture, He will leave her for six months to a year. During this time, He will go to His father’s house and build a room for his bride in His father’s house. Once he has prepared a place for her, He will return. And there they will live together in His father’s house.

Another interesting connection between Jewish culture today and Jesus’ last meal with His friends deals with communion. Before Jesus would be arrested, He broke bread with His disciples and gave them His body and His cup to take from. Within Jewish tradition, when a man and woman are about to be married the bridegroom will offer his bride a cup of wine. If she is pleased with Him, she will drink from His cup.

During my time here in Israel Jesus has been asking me two things: Will you enter in to the place I have prepared for you? And will you drink from my cup? He has awakened me once again to His promises both to myself and a dying world. There is always enough because He died. I want to enter in to that place with Him. Whether I find myself in the first world at times, or living in the third world, I know that His promises and the promise of His presence are always the same. He has a yes cry for His bride.

We are learning more about His cup. One that is both suffering and joy. And we are pleased with Him and will drink. We drink because we are thirsty for His presence, and we drink because we are pleased with Him and recognize what He did and what He will do.

The trust of a child. Dependency is our goal. We want more than ever to waste our lives on Him. And each day we decide. He is still enough for a dying world.

When we were in Shiloh, we stood in the ruins of the temple where Hannah prayed (1 Samuel). Hannah was desperate and because of her desperation and trust, God remembered her. We asked Jesus for that same desperation while there. We want to leave Israel not just with memories of places and great ministry. We want to leave with more hunger for Jesus. More than we have ever before had.

While in Israel He is has done a similar thing for us. He has washed us, loved on us, and reassured us of the fulfillment of His promises towards us.

He is awakening His bride…

A Wedding Gift From Jesus to His Betrothed...

As Randi and I have traveled throughout five countries in the last six months, over and over we hear Jesus telling us, ‘Keep going girls!’ We are understanding more and more that we can do nothing without His presence. There have been times when we have been waiting before the Lord that we have begun to truly cry out to Him and know that we will die without more of His presence. Most people would read what I just wrote and conclude it is the result of youthful zeal. However, I believe this is what Jesus is asking of His bride today. She must hunger for Him. This hunger will transcend cultures, youthful zeal and more. It is a gift from Jesus to His betrothed.

As we have followed all we can do it ask Jesus for more hunger. I can remember when we were in Mozambique. We met a room full of pastors who had family members die of starvation. These are those who know about desperation and hunger. And because of that, their hunger for Jesus was breathtaking. Most of them had been used by God to raise the dead. They were working in miracles and yet could not even read. Sometimes I truly believe that God’s Kingdom is upside down to the way we see His kingdom in the west. It is a kingdom where the last become first. The poor become rich. And the weak become strong.

Heidi had the pastors pray over us for God to give us hunger. True hunger. I can remember being on the floor of the prayer hut for a long time. I can remember my face pressed against the dirt and the masses of students squished on the floor next to me. It was then that God began to give me more of a gift of hunger. We are so desperate for His presence. And we know we need it more than we need breathe.

In churches in villages and cities throughout Africa, God has given us one message. He has said to get on our face and call others to desperation, to hunger, and to crying out for His presence. As we go to minister and preach, That is what we do. We know now that we cannot make it up. We cannot play church. And each time as we cry out for His presence and wait for Him, He comes running, He really, really does! I remember times where I have seen the presence of God sweep throughout a place as we worship and cry out. Sometimes He just tells us not to preach and to call up the sick and demonized. There have been times when the presence of God was so thick in a place that we could not get up to lay hands on people. We watch as He heals and sets people free. He is teaching us laid down love.

While I was at the Wailing Wall here in Jerusalem, I was taken into a vision of Jesus. In the vision, I saw Jesus. He looked tired, hungry, and sleep deprived. I can remember His eyes. They looked desperate. He took a hold of my shoulders and looked into my eyes. He said, ‘I am hungry for my bride, and I will not rest until I have her.’ My time at the Wailing Wall was life changing. Understanding that Jesus is hungry for His bride on the earth changes all my ‘no’s’ to ‘yes’’ when it comes to running with Him to the ends of the earth.

Crying out to Jesus and hungering for His presence is the message of our lives. At the end of the day, we know that He feeds the hungry, and His presence comes when we ask. He will run when we call His name. This is the Jesus we are learning.

Love For A Dying World…

As we have spent time in Africa, life has begun to look different. Most of my days are spent in the dirt, holding children, preaching, worshipping on my face with them, and learning a new culture, a new family. Holding the poor and learning from them as they teach me about life and His kingdom. Jesus spoke to me one day as I was in the dirt. He said, 'It is not enough for you any longer to sit in the dirt with the poor and the children to learn about my kingdom. I am now calling you to sit with me and learn about my kingdom by what I show you in the secret place.' What He showed me is a paradigm shift I believe God is asking His bride to take today. I cannot love the poor because of my own ability to love. I just cannot do it. I cannot give my life away for my love for humanity. I do not have enough for a dying world by myself. In fact, I am learning that I can do nothing without Him. I am falling in love with Jesus. And as I see Him, I see that He always has enough for a dying world. He has enough love for a nation. His love is complete sacrifice. It is a love that lays down His life for His friends. This love, His love, goes beyond human capability. It is the reality of Heaven coming upon the earth.

I was reading another book yesterday by Heidi and Rolland Baker. In it, Heidi talks about the reality of seeing the face of Jesus. She writes, 'Just focus on His face. You will only make it to the end if you can focus on His face. Focus on His beautiful face. You cannot feed the poor, you cannot go tot eh street, you cannot see anything happen unless you see His face. One glance of His eyes and we have all it takes to lie down. We are not afraid to die.' Rolland goes onto write, 'His call is for our lives...He is looking for people who will carry His glory. He really really is. But you have to be dead in order to carry it. And when you carry the glory, you will carry it out to the poor, the broken, the dying, and the lost. You will. That is the call. That is the heartbeat of Jesus. That we carry Him to the broken. But you cannot carry Him until you have seen His face. You have to know that holy place.'

A place where we will freely give away everything for the joy set before us, His face. It is a state of utter sacrifice but filling love. It is a place where we cannot make anything up. I am learning more and more of that lesson. As we have been in village churches and churches in cities, Randi and I have fallen on our knees each time as we go to minister and invite His presence. And He comes running! He really really does. His face. It is only Him that can change the nations.

Recently, Randi and I were invited to minister at a church meeting in Kentucky via computer from Israel. It was one in the morning our time and seven at night in the states. We had never ministered via computer before. The cameras were on, and there we were on the screen. We ushered in the presence of Jesus. Worship was amazing and we found ourselves on the floor unable to get in view of the camera. As Jesus swept the rooms, both in Israel where we were at and in America, I marveled at His presence and love from a distance thousands of miles away. We prophesied for hours. The Holy Spirit fell on the people as some were on their face. What a God. And it is all for Love and nothing less.

We want to be so holy given to Jesus that He can use me to see revival sweep throughout the third world; throughout the African world, throughout the Muslim world. It is all simple. The Gospel will forever remain simple: Love the one in front of you. The love of God will see nations changed in a day. Who are those that will go to the depths of His heart to reach it? We have set ourselves to be one of them.

And this is what we are learning each day as we learn to lie down. Desperation always ushers in the presence of God. He will always feed the hungry. His kingdom is one where the thirsty drink and the hungry eat. The poor have been our greatest teachers.

Back to Africa...

We are traveling via Ethiopia back to Uganda next Thursday morning, April 11th at 1 am. Our schedule for the next month brings us through Uganda and Tanzania.

We will be in America for the month of May before heading back to Mozambique, Africa to start another seven month journey.

We love you all very much! Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

With Love,
-Jessica Orr, Randi and Nate Blick
Blogsite: www.xanga.com/Jessicaorr
Personal Email: jessie_orr@yahoo.com