What God loves...

God loves it when His children are together, enjoying each other's company. God loves it when we seek Him and seek to understand Him, however imperfectly. God loves to show us new things about Himself. He loves to surprise us. He loves to show His love to us. God laughs with us, cries with us, jokes with us. He corrects us, but with love. He can be strict, but He is also kind. He is generous with His time, His resources and yes, His love.

He is also Truth. All who seek Truth -- and will settle for nothing less than the Truth -- will find Him.

So, so blessed

It has been warfare ever since I sensed the Lord's leading to come up with the Prayer Evangelism course, with my friend Hope doing the main curriculum.

I had two nasty encounters. The first nasty encounter started a month before the launch of the course and continued for some weeks before I realised this wasn't just human. It was spiritual. I asked for extra intercession, I confronted the source of the problem repeatedly before he stopped.

The second nasty encounter came at the end of the course.

But God, as usual, had prepared me beforehand. He had me read a book called "Don't forgive too soon -- Extending the two hands that heal" by the Linns. It was the best exposition on what Jesus meant by "turning the other cheek" that I had ever come across. In short, it was about extending two hands to the oppressor -- "one hand taking from him what is not his due, the other slowly calming him as we do this."

It was about learning who we are, standing up for what is right for ourselves and (if possible) enabling the oppressor to come to his senses, and so reclaim his humanity. In other words, Christians are not to be doormats when bullied -- but rather, do what is right in such a way as to deliver the bully from his bullying, if possible.

The second encounter came end-April. I won't go into details, but basically, not only I, but the church, was insulted by the remark of the 4-star hotel staff I was negotiating with.

I was so angry I complained through the hotel website. No response. I wrote to the General Manager. No response.

But -- God already knew.

I had arranged for dinner with an old friend just a day after I had posted the letter to the GM, and she had mentioned in passing that she knew the top people of the Singapore organisation that this hotel belongs to. Recalling that conversation, I asked her for the contact, and she immediately gave me his credentials and his email.

That Sunday, during our team prayer time, God manifested Himself in a deep, special way. We were silent in His presence. Then, He said: "Those who honor me I will honor" (1 Sam 2:30). It was a prophetic word of what He was doing behind the scenes.

First, because of the nasty encounter with the first hotel, I had to find another. Within a few days, I got in touch with another four-star hotel who gave me much better rates, and first-class service.

Second, the top guy of the organisation that the first hotel belonged to, called two days later, apologising for the lateness of his response, as he had been abroad. He got things cracking. Yesterday, the hotel manager came, and she assigned my account to a much more experienced staff. We cleared the air and we are free to move on.

Third, I had some niggling concerns in my mind, that I had not shared with anybody. The same night, my concerns were allayed by a person sent from HIM. My mind is now at rest.

God knows... everything. And I feel so, so blessed.

My conclusion:

When we do God's will, Satan hates it. The Prayer Evangelism course teaches us from the Word --- contrary to what most Christians believe -- how effortless it is to witness to others. It was non-threatening and enjoyable to both the Christian and non-Christian involved! We all had a breakthrough in that course.

The one thing Satan hates is the truth being taught and put into practice. He did all he could to harrass and torment me. But God knows... everything.

As those experienced in spiritual warfare knows, if you battle with God's weapons including prayer, worship, Word, wisdom, the fellowship and the intercession of others, you'll break through and experience His abundance of blessings. At the end of the battle, God rewards you. He affirms, through various means, natural and spiritual, that you're on the right track. He loves saying "You're doing good!"

After all, He's our Father, and He's perfect in all His ways.