Seminaries are beginning to support the calling of women to full-time ministry. Which institutions are on te forefront of this trend?

Jennifer Kemp was fairly certain God was calling her into the ministry, so to test the waters, she decided to take a weekend course at a seminary near her job in Boston. The class, “Proclamation and Communication,” had two women and 22 men.

“The first night,” Jennifer recalled, “one gentleman asked me why I was in seminary. I said, ‘I am not in seminary right now. I am taking this class to see if seminary is something I’d like to pursue in the future.’

“Then he asked, ‘What do you want to do ultimately?’

“I said, ‘I believe that God has gifted me as a communicator, and I would like to teach people about God’s Word.’

“‘Oh, you want to be the superintendent of Sunday school,’ he said.

“‘No,’ I answered, ‘I didn’t mention Sunday school or being a superintendent.’

“Then he said, ‘Oh, you want to work with college students.’

“I said, ‘No, I interned with InterVarsity, and I am pretty sure that collegiate ministry is not my primary call.’

“At this point in the conversation, a friend of his turned around and jokingly said, ‘Hey, maybe she wants to be a pastor and preach from the pulpit!’

“I said, ‘Bingo, that is exactly what I think I am called to do.’ That was the end of the conversation.”

It was not the first time Jennifer had faced resistance to her call to the pulpit. During her college years, it was difficult for her to reconcile her sense of calling with the realization that her home church did not support women in ministry.

Jennifer did not want to defend her call while she was in seminary, so she chose a school that supports women in ministry. Today she is a master of divinity student at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and a candidate for ordination with the Presbyterian Church ().

What about you? Is God calling you into a full-time ministry for which you need advanced training?

To help you find the seminary that is right for you, SpiritLed Woman interviewed faculty members and students at three traditional seminaries and in one alternative program that strongly support women in ministry. Here’s what we found:

ASBURY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
The main campus of Asbury Theological Seminary is located in the rolling hills of Wilmore, Kentucky. The Methodist seminary also has a satellite campus in Orlando, Florida, and long-distance learning programs.

Professor Paul Chilcote makes reference to a long tradition of support for women in ministry within the Methodist Church. He states: “At first John Wesley believed that the Scriptures prohibited women from preaching, but as he witnessed women functioning in pastoral roles during the Wesleyan revival, he began to revise his understanding of those texts because of the fruit he saw in the lives of the women.

“Over time, Wesley became one of the strongest proponents of women preachers in the church.” But despite Wesley’s views, Chilcote adds: “Today, on a local church level you’ll find a mixed bag of responses to women in ministry. Many seriously question a woman’s call to the ministry.”

Regarding the unfair way in which women are judged, Chilcote offers this observation: “In general, I see a much deeper sense of call among women than
is present among some of the men simply because they have had to struggle with
it with greater intensity.”

He continues: “Many women felt called into the ministry during early adulthood, but they repressed the call because of cultural prohibitions. Later in life, they began to respond to that call.

“At Asbury we prepare women for what they are going to face. We do this in formal ways in our classes and in informal ways through mentoring, networking, and the Support Women in Ministry group, or SWIM Team–a support group for women by women.”

FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
With nearly 3,000 students, Fuller Theological Seminary is the largest seminary in North America. It has nine satellite campuses located throughout the West, as well as a long-distance learning program. About a third of the students are women.

Elizabeth Glanville earned her Ph.D. at Fuller, where today she is an adjunct assistant professor and the director of doctoral studies for the School of World Missions.

Glanville says of Fuller, “I have had nothing but support.” But she found that graduates leaving Fuller often face resistance. “They don’t find the support within their denominational systems that they had here on campus,” she says.

For women who are pursuing full-time ministry, she advises: “First, go in with your eyes open. Second, know that God has called you to it. If you know you are called, you will stick with it. Third, know that you will need to prove yourself.”

In addition to Glanville’s course on leadership development, Fuller offers three other classes on women’s issues. The subjects are: “Women, the Bible and the Church,” “Women in Cross-Cultural Ministry” and “Women in Church History.”

REGENT UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Regent is a renewal theology school with roots in the 20th-century Pentecostal and charismatic renewal movements. The institution offers M.A., ., . and Ph.D. degrees at its main Virginia campus in Virginia Beach, at its satellite campus in Alexandria, and through long-distance learning programs.

“Across the board there is a high level of support for women’s issues at Regent,” states Mara Crabtree, an associate professor in the School of Divinity who specializes in teaching Christian spirituality, spiritual formation and women’s studies.

Women’s issues are addressed in a number of classes, according to Crabtree. “Professors help students interpret the biblical texts that support women’s call to ministry and teach students about important female figures in the church.”

In addition to other classes, Crabtree teaches “Women and Men in Ministry, a Biblical Paradigm” and “Mentoring for Women in Ministry.”

“In the first course,” she explains, “we look carefully at the Old and New Testament texts that relate specifically to women in ministry–their history, their culture, their life with God and their interactions with each other.

“We look at how Jesus Christ interacted with women. We look at contemporary issues–women and men in ministry leadership, sexuality issues and gender differences.”

The “Mentoring for Women in Ministry” course takes a different approach. Students choose mentors with whom they interact during the semester.

“I invite women leaders to share their faith journey with the class,” she continued. “We focus on mentoring models that work well for women.

“Men tend to be very goal-oriented,” she said. “Women like spontaneity and are more focused on relationships. They want to
get together with a more experienced person and let that relationship develop.”

Regent University sponsors several ministry events geared to women. Each year the school hosts a women’s conference, informal luncheons, Bible studies and prayer meetings.

WAGNER LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
Wagner Leadership Institute (WLI) trains church and ministry leaders during concentrated training sessions held in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Students come from all over the world to sit under the teaching of well-known charismatic leaders such as Cindy Jacobs, Dutch Sheets and C. Peter Wagner.

Associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral diplomas are granted by WLI, but the school does not seek accreditation. Instead it focuses on classroom teaching, practical training and impartation.

The institute offers more than 22 different concentrations. One of these is a Women in Ministry Fast Track, which is an eight-day session offered yearly.

The annual session is conducted by four speakers who teach for two days each. The Spring 2002 Fast Track featured Cindy Jacobs, Quin Sherrer, Naomi Dowdy and Judy Radeke.

Each speaker covered an issue confronting women called to the ministry. According to Jack Sytsema, Dean of WLI: “Cindy Jacobs looked at the tough Scriptures, explaining why WLI thinks women are qualified for ministry.

“Quin taught on practical issues, encouraging women who struggle to balance ministry, children and family. Naomi taught on being a woman leader in a male-dominated leadership world. Judy, who has a ministry to homeless, runaway kids in Hollywood, talked about effective ministry to kids.”

The institute has about 1,000 students in the United States. Sixty percent of them are women.

“Our typical female student,” says Sytsema, “is a 40-year-old woman from a charismatic background who wants to move into a paid position in ministry. Many are leaders in their church or speakers at conferences who believe they are called to ministry, but their church does not recognize women in ministry, so they feel rejected.”

WLI teacher Quin Sherrer says: “I tell women in the leadership classes that if God has called them, they should do what they can to be equipped–attend classes and spend time studying the Word. Don’t just sit and wait for doors to open; prepare yourselves.

“We have classroom lectures, but we also pray for each student to activate her anointing. I try to pack into the sessions at WLI everything I wish someone had taught me when I was starting out in ministry years ago.”

Jimmie Reed, a 49-year-old doctoral student at WLI, had a thriving international teaching ministry with her husband but began to sense a more intense call to ministry. She was drawn to Wagner’s distinct offerings.

“At WLI you get more than just academic teaching; you get impartation,” she says. “It heightens you, broadens you and takes you to another level. Now I am more confident, more bold.”

The presence of women in seminaries can help to dismantle prejudicial views toward women’s roles in the church. If you desire seminary instruction, here are a few guidelines for understanding what makes a supportive environment:

Biblical teaching that will look at the entire Bible in its cultural context instead of lifting out one or two passages to make a point
A supportive faculty committed to training women in ministry
Classes on women in ministry
The presence of strong women on campus who support one another.

For women who require advanced study in order to prepare for their calling, the list of options is growing. Female seminarians are beginning to find they are no longer just tolerated in the classroom; they are welcomed and nurtured there.

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Elizabeth Moll Stalcup is a free-lance writer based in Reston, Virginia.

Achieving true oneness with the trinity requires laying aside our own self or soul-life in order to live by the thoughts, desires and choices of Christ.

The bombing of the World Trade Center on September 11 changed all our perspectives. Nonbelievers watched the crumbling towers and faced their own mortality. Believers saw the beginning of the end.

Seeing that we have little time to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into conformity to the life of Christ, we asked ourselves, How should we then live? We recognized that of ourselves we were sloppy, self-indulgent witnesses to Christ, and suddenly we were galvanized into a deadly seriousness about our Christian walk.

But what form is that seriousness to take? What will it entail for the believer who desires to be one with God?

THE PATTERN FOR DISCIPLESHIP The soul of the believer is the key to becoming a serious disciple of Christ. All that we desire in greater intimacy with Christ (see Song 7:10); all that we desire in being kept from the evil days ahead (see Mal. 3:16-17); and all that we desire in being “not,” as Enoch was (see Gen. 5:24)–lies in the consecration of our souls. (In one sense, to be “not” means to live in spirit and soul by God’s life and not by our own).

Christ said, “‘If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple'” (Luke 14:26, NASB). The Greek word for “life” in this verse means “soul-life.”

The soul consists of the mind, will and emotions. These faculties are the means by which we express our “selves”–our personality, our unique individuality–who we are in relation to others. It is not the soul that needs to be replaced but our natural or fleshly use of these faculties.

The enemy has whispered lies to us: that we would be like zombies or robots if we lived by the thoughts, desires and choices (the soul-life) of Christ instead of being our own persons. He has deceived us, as he did Eve, by saying that we can be like God when we know good and evil for ourselves (see Gen. 3:5).

But if expressing ones’ own soul-life or self is the pattern that results from original sin and that keeps us from discipleship and greater intimacy with God, what then is the correct pattern?

Simply put, the pattern is divine love in its supreme form. It began when there was only God. The Father had begun to bring forth His only Son, the Word (see John 1:1-2). And the Holy Spirit was proceeding from the Father through the Son (see John 15:26).

The Son is God even as the Father is God. “He [Christ]…is the exact representation of His [Father’s] nature” (Heb. 1:3). The Father gave His only begotten One the freedom to choose how He would exercise His Sonship.

How do we know that the Son had this choice? Because all human beings have the freedom of will, as Adam did, to choose God or to reject Him. Jesus said, “Let the one who wishes [wills] take the water of life without cost” (Rev. 22:17). Humanity has this free will because we are made in the likeness of God (see Gen. 1:27; James 3:9).

ABANDONING THE SOUL-LIFE Out of unfathomable love for His Father, the Son willingly chose to lay aside all expression of His own self or soul-life forever. He desired to reveal only the Person of His Father. This meant that He would live by the Father’s thoughts, desires, will, rights, ways, acts, words and preferences.

In fact, He declared more than once that He was unable to do anything on His own. “‘I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear [from the Father], I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me'” (John 5:30); “‘The Son can do nothing of Himself [on His own], unless it is something He sees the Father doing'” (John 5:19); “‘For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say'” (John 12:49).

But because He and the Father are one (see John 10:30), Jesus was also able to say, “‘He who has seen Me has seen the Father'” (John 14:9).

The eternal decision of self-sacrificial love by the Son moved the Holy Spirit to choose to reveal the Son instead of Himself. Jesus said, “‘He [the Holy Spirit] will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will will glorify Me; for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you'” (John 16:13-14). The Holy Spirit does nothing on His own but searches the mind of the Father for His present will for exalting Christ Jesus (see 1 Cor. 2:10-11).

The act of eternal self-denying love by His Son and by the Holy Spirit must have drawn forth such love from within the Father that He chose to design creation–heaven and the vast universe in space–for one purpose: to witness to His Son. Everything created was to be a love gift to His Son. Paul said, “For by Him all things were created” (Col. 1:16).

The Father appointed Jesus “heir of all things” (Heb. 1:2). Because He loves Him, He “‘[gave] all things into His hand'” (John 3:35). This means He made the Son to be sovereign over all creation and gave Him “‘all heaven and on earth'” (Matt. 28:18).

The Trinity of God became one from the beginning through their loving self-denial. Jesus said, “‘Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his [soul] life for his friends'” (John 15:13).

The glory of the persons of the Trinity issues from their voluntary self-sacrifice out of love for one another. Jesus said that His glory came from the love the Father had for Him before the foundation (creation) of the world (see John 17:24). The glory of the Trinity is to share one life of love, for there is no greater oneness than that.

CREATED FOR ONENESS Human beings were created in the image and likeness of the Son of God. We were created to become one with the Trinity of God in order to share in their eternal life of love together. Jesus prayed “‘that [believers] may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us'” (John 17:21).

The most sublime aspect of human likeness to God is oneness with the Trinity through laying aside our own self or soul-life for the love of God and each other. “We know love by this, that He [Jesus] laid down His [soul] life for us; and we ought to lay down our [soul] lives for the brethren” that Christ might live through us to reveal His Father on behalf of others” (1 John 3:16).

To live a consecrated life we must forsake the individual use of our soul capacities (mind, will and emotions) and take up the personal cross that the Holy Spirit prepares for each one of us daily (see Mark 8:34). Jesus said, “‘For whoever wishes to save [hold on to] his [soul] life will [have to] lose it [eventually]; but whoever loses [abandons] his [soul] life for My sake [to have Mine] and the gospel’s will save it [for life in heaven]'” (v. 35).

Jesus said, “‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies [to its own form of life], it bears much fruit'” (John 12:24). He was referring to the death of the believer’s own soul-expression or self in order to have the soul-life of Jesus implanted and expressed through him to bear fruit on earth and for eternity.

Paul said that disciples are “always carrying about in the [human] body the dying [to oneself] of Jesus, that the [resurrected soul] life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live [in Christ] are constantly being delivered over [by the Spirit] to death [to our old self] for Jesus’ sake, that the [resurrected soul] life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh [body]” (2 Cor. 4:10-11).

Nothing that originates on earth can go with us into heaven. “Flesh and blood [that which is of the earth] cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor. 15:50). The Father created us to manifest the glory of the Person of His Son (see 2 Thess. 2:14).

The only way for us to do this is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He continually works to keep our fleshly bodies and soul-lives incapacitated. The Spirit strongly opposes anything that originates from our souls and bodies–what the Bible calls “the flesh” in the evil sense.

He succeeds in disabling our soul-lives by resisting their use. We feel His resistance as a check in our consciences or a disturbance of the peace within our hearts (see Heb. 9:14; Col. 3:15)–as though doing what we want to do has hit a snag (see Gal. 5:17). As we participate in this process of daily dying to our self-expression, the Spirit gradually substitutes the thoughts, desires and decisions of Christ in us.

There is but one New Man in the kingdom (see Eph. 2:15). That Man is Christ Jesus, and we are to grow up in every way into Him (see Eph. 4:13,15). To live a consecrated life as a disciple we must exchange that which is born of the flesh for that which is born of the Spirit (see John 3:6). Nothing, absolutely nothing, of our old selves will pass into life in heaven–only that in us which is of the New Man, Christ Jesus our Lord (see 1 Cor. 15:50).

If we are really serious–and not just temporarily frightened by the events of our day–we must be willing to give up all use of our own natural souls in order to receive all that we have longed for in Christ. It is a crucial step to oneness with the Trinity of God.

 Read a companion devotional.

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“Anna” Rountree is actually a husband-and-wife team who spent several years in pastoral ministry. They are the authors of books including The Heavens Opened (Charisma House).

My husband and I both grew up in homes where yelling, swearing and physical violence were considered normal. We hadn’t called it abuse; it was just the way things were.

I’d been raised to believe that I didn’t matter at all. My job was to “keep the family together no matter what.”

When my son was born, I assumed that I could protect him from my husband’s anger, but when he was 2 years old, my husband barreled into the kitchen and screamed, “Shut up!” right into the baby’s face because he’d been crying. I was so frightened that I determined I’d never let my husband hear our son crying again.

Although there were some good days, most of them were clouded by my husband’s temper. He was like a bomb waiting to explode.

We began going to church when my son was around 3-1/2. As my husband lifted his hands to the Lord, his face seemed to glow.

But on our way home, he began swearing at the other drivers and yelling at me when I questioned him about the service. I soon learned that his good behavior was reserved for the church people.

During the next few years, my husband’s moods began to worsen. He couldn’t sleep and was angry or agitated most of the time.

He would speed out of our driveway shouting, “You’ll never see me again!” But he’d always return, ranting and raving and accusing me of being unfaithful.

His rage would turn to intense sobbing. I would watch in disbelief as he crumpled into a helpless, pathetic creature. When he began threatening suicide, I tried to get help for him.

One day he came home and began telling me about a dream he’d had. No amount of persuading could convince him it wasn’t real.

I took him to the emergency room. He was admitted to the psychiatric unit, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, given a number of medications and released.

Following his breakdown, the abuse escalated. During the next five years, I made hundreds of phone calls to mental health professionals, social workers and the police, trying to get help for my husband; but there was none.

I sought counseling for myself and our son, who was then 9, and discovered that his dad had been physically and emotionally abusing him for years. I realized that whether or not he was ill, my husband was an abuser, and I couldn’t help him.

By now, my husband had been hospitalized eight times, once for each time I’d tried to leave him. Each time his threats of suicide had worn me down, so I had returned.

But I could not live with the fact that he was abusing my son. I had to leave for his sake.

My husband’s harassment continued even though we lived apart. It became obvious that only God could protect us from him.

“Please show me what to do, Lord,” I prayed, and instantly Isaiah 40:11 came to mind, “He lead those that are with young” (KJV).

When my son and I left my abusive husband, I had no idea how we would manage. But I knew that God would take care of us.

We’ve had some extremely difficult times, but my son and I have a wonderful life now; we are no longer abused. God has protected us and cared for us every step of the way.

Don’t lose hope if your son or daughter has special needs. God has a great plan for both of you.

When a child is diagnosed with special needs, it can be an overwhelming, even devastating event in a parent’s life. My husband, Jack, and I know because our son Nicholas was diagnosed with autism in January 2001.

If you are the parent of a special-needs child, you’ve experienced the agonizing pain, shock and even hopelessness that can grip your soul with such a diagnosis. In the midst of what seems to be a “dark night,” one question may be burning in your spirit: Where is God?

Within that question lies many others we are often left to ponder: Does God have a plan for those afflicted with autism, ADHD, Down’s syndrome or any other disorder? What destiny could they possibly have? Can God, will God heal them?

And what of the families? You may be wondering, as we were: Will we ever get our lives back? Will our marriage survive? Will we survive?

God has given all of us a promise we can hold on to: “‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,'” says the Lord, “‘thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart'” (Jer. 29:11-13).

As you face one of life’s greatest trials, know that God is there for you. Despite numerous challenges, there is good news: You can still experience the joy of the Lord.

Joy and Sorrow I remember the first time our son Nicholas said the word shoe. Though that may not be a big deal for most parents, it was one of the most joyful moments of my entire life.

For months we had gone through the same ritual every day: I showed him the shoe, said the word over and over and then said, “This is a sh…” I always paused hopefully, and yet many days I felt the tears well up as I finished the sentence myself.

I felt lonely, confused and unheard by God. “Please,” I pleaded, “just let him say one word!” And yet, day after day, nothing. The well of disappointment in my heart became deeper and deeper.

Then came that miraculous day when I said, “This is a sh…” and heard our son, diagnosed with nonverbal autism, say “shoe.” Everything within me jumped! I laughed, wept and shouted. I hugged him and thanked God over and over.

The joy I felt that day was intense. It was easily as intense as all the pain I had felt each day that he had not responded.

Almost every parent of a special needs child can relate to this story. There has been some breakthrough somewhere that they struggled to see. When it finally came, the joy could not be described.

And yet, even though there can be moments of intense joy and victory, more often than not there is grief and sorrow.

So here’s the big question: Can you live a life of joy and victory even if you have a child with special needs? I believe the answer is yes.

Sorrow and joy are firmly linked. Perhaps it is because the deeper we experience sorrow, the more capacity we have for joy.

That is why I felt such a deep sense of joy the first time Nicholas said “shoe”: because I had felt such deep sorrow each time he did not.

Although right now we may see only the sorrow and tears of the night, God has planned a bright and beautiful morning full of joy. The Bible tells us this over and over:

“Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning” (Ps. 30:5, NLT).

“You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy” ().

“‘Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy'” (John 16: 22, NIV).

There are seasons in our lives when we will mourn and have sorrow. But there also are times that are meant for joy.

God sends times of refreshing to us. But regardless of the season, He is always at work to strengthen us and bring purpose and meaning to our lives.

His Joy Is Our Strength One reason God may have for bringing joy after a season of sorrow is to bring a new wind of strength to our spirits. Grief and mourning rob us of our strength, both spiritually and physically.

But God knows that joy brings a new vitality and strength, for the joy of the Lord is your strength (see Neh. 8:10). Joy produces the kind of strength we need to move forward.

It is often very easy for us to believe that we cannot experience joy until we see this or that breakthrough in our children’s lives. We can actually come to the place where we feel disqualified from a life of joy because of the burden we bear.

But quite honestly, that is a lie from Satan, who is the father of all lies. Satan knows that if he can prevent us from experiencing the joy of the Lord, he will keep us in a place of weakness and defeat.

Satan has a stake in keeping us separated from the joy of the Lord because it is linked with our strength. If we are sapped of strength, we will have difficulty in moving forward out of the hassles, anxieties and warfare we are in. Furthermore, we will not have the ability to receive the strategy we need to move into our next season.

As parents of special needs children, we are not disqualified from the joy of the Lord; we absolutely need His joy in order to remain in a place of strength for all that is required of us. God has promised us abundant life, part of which is joy.

Here are some of the disciplines that can help us maintain a joyful, abundant life:

Meditation. One of the ways that God has provided for our joy is contingent upon our willingness to take time to meditate on His Word. Why? Because if we just read God’s Word without taking the time to give it thought, we deny ourselves the opportunity to receive personal revelation, refreshment and the promises He has for us and our children.

Prayer. Very simply, prayer is communicating with God. We will never advance in any aspect of our Christian lives without prayer. When we pray, the channels to God open–both ways. To neglect prayer is to neglect God Himself.

Fasting. For the Christian, fasting is essential. Often you cannot gain the revelation you need for your next step without it. Even Jesus agreed that some things simply could not be accomplished without fasting.

Fasting does not always have to mean food; it may mean other things we enjoy, such as television. But by choosing to give up something temporal in order to pursue something eternal, we make it possible for the Lord to reveal Himself more powerfully to us. And to the degree that we allow ourselves to hunger after God, to that degree we will be satisfied by Him and experience His joy.

Giving. It is the very heart of God. And it is linked with worship. We cannot come into all He has for us in our lives if we are unwilling to give because we cannot reap what we will not sow.

Warfare. Whether we like it or not, we are in a war between the power of darkness and the power of light. There are times when we must enter into warfare-style praying in order to gain the strategy we need to defeat the enemy in whatever battles we face.

Worship. This is the place where we can come into intimacy with God. Worship is a lifestyle of focusing our minds and hearts on God and all that He is. It is a response to all He has done for us, and it is essential to living in joy.

Work. Many times we can speak to the mountain and see it removed (see Matt. 21:21). But other times we have to dig through the mountain to get to the other side.

This is what I call spiritual work. Most parents of special needs children that I have met understand this and are great at working for their child’s recovery.

Rest. It is so essential to regaining strength and, in this way, it is linked with joy. We need rest for several reasons:

1. Rest is a matter of obedience to God. He directed us to rest through the observance of the Sabbath.
2. Rest is an issue of trust in God. If we are at rest, God is going to have to “watch the stuff” for us as we regain our strength.
3. Rest is a factor in our physical well-being. God created rest for us to stop and meditate on Him.
4. Restful quietness is necessary for us to receive revelation and strategy for moving forward toward victory.

Destined to Overcome It is my prayer that you will allow the Lord to bless you with abundant life, great joy, and a fresh wind of strength that will carry you and your family through to victorious days ahead! To help you, my husband and I have created a Web site that sends out daily prayers and scriptural encouragement for parents, family and friends of children with special needs.

Here is an example of a parent’s prayer:

“Dear Lord, You see the pain and hopelessness that this disorder brings. You have seen my tears and know my heartaches in the midst of this devastating trial. And yet, God, You say that You have plans for ___________ to bring him or her a hope and a future.

I thank You, God, that You have promised that when I call upon You, You will listen to me. So, Lord, I pray that You will begin this very day to set that hope and that future in motion.

Father, You do have a destiny for ___________ beyond the confines of this illness. You have a great purpose for his or her life. I thank You, Lord, that I can trust in those promises and believe that there will be breakthroughs in days ahead.

The best is truly ahead, for You have many promises in Your Word concerning ___________. Show me each and every day how You would have me pray to see all Your promises come to pass. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

God has promised you hope, life, restoration and a future. Begin to receive His provision of joy and strength today. Seek Him and pray.

Grab hold of all that God offers You. You’ll discover that He has a plan and a destiny for every child.

Read a companion devotional.

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Rebecca Wagner Sytsema has co-authored several books with Chuck Pierce, including The Best is Yet Ahead (Wagner Publications) and Possessing Your Inheritance (Renew), from which portions of this article were adapted. Sytsema and her husband, Jack, hosts a website for parents of autistic and other special needs children, .

I have found that where faith for the salvation of the lost is concerned, unbelief controls much of the church. Perhaps it’s because we’ve prayed and waited so long that we are no longer convinced God really will do it.

But if we don’t believe God will answer our prayers, we will not pray with consistency and diligence. We may sporadically ask Him, but we certainly will not persevere.

Acts 13:36 says that King David “served the purpose of God in his own generation” (NASB). Our purpose as a generation is to bring in the greatest harvest of souls the world has ever seen.

To accomplish that purpose, we must do some important and fulfilling work. Much of it involves strategic prayer to loose our loved ones from Satan’s grasp.

The Bible tells us, “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4).

There is a covering over the minds of unbelievers that keeps them from clearly seeing the light and truth of the gospel. Until unbelievers have an unveiling–a revelation–they won’t understand the gospel because the veil prevents them from comprehending it.

Satan’s goal is to hide the truth of the gospel in order to keep unbelievers in his grasp. How does he accomplish this?

The Greek word tuphloo, translated “blinded” in this verse, means, “to dull the intellect” (The Expanded Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Bethany House Publishers). Satan has an ability to dull the unbeliever’s thinking where the gospel is concerned.

The root word of tuphloo, tupho, has the meaning of making smoke (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible). Blindness in this passage can be compared to a smoke screen that clouds or darkens the air to the point that a person cannot see clearly.

From this same root comes the word tuphoo which refers to being high-minded, proud or inflated with self-conceit (Strong’s). The blindness of the unbeliever to the gospel is directly linked to the root of pride that Satan passed on to humankind in the Garden at the fall.

Pride causes unbelievers to think humanity’s knowledge is greater than God’s. This leads not to a knowledge dependent on God but to an independent knowledge that looks to one’s own mind and intellect as the judge of truth.

This quest for knowledge glorifies one’s own reasoning ability and rejects God’s knowledge. Because everything is filtered through this inward knowledge, all of which is inundated with pride, it usually translates into the exalting and serving of self and its desires.

Simply stated, self loves anything that satisfies and exalts self. Any message that preaches self-denial or that self needs to be saved is offensive.

The only answer to this self-god is death–the cross–where we die with Christ. The only problem is self wants so desperately to live.

The very nature of pride is to be self-serving and preserving. Thus, the very thing that needs to die is bent on living and must remain the enemy of God in order to do so.

DEALING PRIDE A DEATH BLOW Understanding this blinding ability of pride provides a tremendous clue to how to pray effectively for the lost. We must attack the root of pride!

Most rejection of Christ, whether from the works motivation of false religions or the simple fact that most people don’t want to give lordship of their lives to another, is due to the veil of pride.

This satanically initiated stronghold is the ultimate enemy of Christ and will be dealt with in finality when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Christ is Lord. Pride will be dealt its final blow!

How do we deal with the vision-altering force of pride inflicted upon us by the serpent himself, Satan? The Bible identifies a solution for the pride problem and gives us key strategies for effectively praying for unbelievers.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

We will never win people to Christ on an intellectual basis or through innovative methods alone. Certainly, a continual barrage of nagging and harassing questions won’t bring them to the Lord.

In How to Pray for Your Family and Friends (Servant Publications), author Quin Sherrer wrote: “I’ve talked with many women who believed it was their responsibility to do everything in their power to ‘make’ their husbands become Christians, but by their manipulative scheming, they only succeeded in turning their husbands away from any interest in spiritual matters. As many wives have learned the hard way, only the Holy Spirit can reveal to an individual the truth of who Jesus is” (see John 16:8-13).

Sometimes we can talk people into a salvation prayer without a true revelation (unveiling), but there is usually no real change because there is no true repentance, which comes only from biblical revelation.

When we approach people on a human basis, especially if they feel we are pressuring them, we generally make things worse. The root of pride in them rises up and defends itself. If we attack this pride on a human level, we will only strengthen it.

But we do have weapons that are “divinely powerful.” These weapons, empowered by God, will work miracles.

GOD’S ARMORY FOR BREAKING HUMAN PRIDE Paul E. Billheimer, a 20th-century authority on prayer and author of Destined for the Throne (Christian Literature Crusade), said his salvation resulted from spiritual warfare waged on his behalf. He explains: “My mother used these weapons on me. I was as hostile to God as any sinner.

“I was fighting with all my might. But the time came when it was easier to lay down my arms of rebellion than to continue my resistance. The pressure exerted upon me by the Holy Spirit became so powerful that I voluntarily sought relief by yielding my rebellious will.

“The wooing of divine love was so strong that of my own free will I fell into the arms of redeeming grace. I became a willing ‘captive.'”

What are these weapons we use in our warfare?

All forms of prayer. This would include supplication, agreement with other Christians, travail, praying in the Spirit, binding and loosing–any biblical form of prayer (see Eph. 6:18).

Praise. God uses our praise of Him as a weapon. Always praise God for the salvation of the one(s) for whom you are praying (see Ps. 149:5-9).

The Word of God. Speaking Scriptures that apply to your situation releases great power against the enemy (see Matt. 4; Luke 4; Eph. 6:17).

The name of Jesus. Though praying in the name of Jesus is our access to the Father, it is also a powerful weapon against demonic powers and strongholds (see Mark 16:17).

These weapons will help produce enlightenment in the unbeliever and reveal a true picture of Christ. We must ask God to lift the veil from unbelievers’ spiritual eyes.

As Paul prayed for the Ephesian church, ask God for revelation and enlightenment to come to the one for whom you are praying (see Eph. 1:17-18).

INFORMATION VERSUS REVELATION We need to understand the difference between information and revelation. Information is of the mind; biblical revelation originates from the heart.

Spiritual power is released only through revelation knowledge. The written Word must become the living word. Even as believers, we must not just read but abide in the Word (see Ps. 119:18).

Information can come immediately, but revelation is normally a process. As the parable of the sower demonstrates, all biblical truth comes in seed form (see Matt. 13:1-9).

Knowledge or information alone, which is what humans have glorified since the fall, does not produce salvation. It does not necessarily lead to a true knowledge of God.

The Pharisees knew the Scriptures, but they did not know God (see John 5:39; 8:37). Information from the Word had not progressed to revelation.

Many theologians today know the Scriptures thoroughly but don’t know God well. They have much information but little or no revelation.

Revelation makes the Scriptures “spirit” and “life” (John 6:63). It makes them live.

This is so important because we are forever short-circuiting God’s process and, in so doing, short-circuiting the results.

Only revelation leads to biblical faith and true change. Without it we are simply appealing to a fallen, selfish, humanistic mind that is always asking, “What’s in it for me?”

When we appeal to this mentality through human wisdom and intellect alone, we often preach a humanistic “What’s in it for them?” gospel, and we produce humanistic, self-centered converts.

If, on the other hand, we preach a pure gospel, including repentance and the laying down of a person’s own life (lordship of Christ), unbelievers are sure to reject it unless they receive a biblical revelation. In fact, our gospel often sounds ridiculous to them (see 1 Cor. 2:14).

What is the solution? We must allow the Holy Spirit time to birth true repentance in unbelievers through God-given revelation.

THE FIRE POWER OF PRAYER We must ask God to bring revelation to the unbeliever. Prayer must accompany the hearing of the gospel. I suggest that the following be included:

Pray that the person’s heart be prepared, so that it will be “good soil” for the seed (see Mark 4:8).

Pray that Satan will not be able to steal the seeds of truth (see Mark 4:15) and that nothing else will be able to destroy the seeds (see Mark 4:16-19).
Pray that the Word becomes revelation through the lifting of the veil (see 2 Cor. 4:3-4; Eph. 1:17).
Pray that the root of pride be broken (see 2 Cor. 10:3-5).
Pray that the person comes to true repentance (see 2 Pet. 3:9; 2 Tim. 2:25-26).

Repentance does not mean to “turn and go another way.” That change of direction is the result of repentance. Repentance–metanoia–means to have “a new knowledge or understanding”–a change of mind (Spiros Zodhiates, Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, AMG Publishers).

In biblical contexts, repentance is a new understanding that comes from God through an unveiling (revelation) and results in a new direction or lifestyle. Biblical repentance will produce God-centered Christians, not self-centered ones. It reverses the effects of the fall through Adam.

Humanity chose their own wisdom, their own knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong. Humanity now needs “a new knowledge” from God.

Paul said in Acts 26:18 that he was called “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light.” We help to create this “new knowledge” (repentance) through intercession. Our prayers play a role in the lifting of the veil (revelation), which allows for the heart to be enlightened.

I want to encourage you and see your faith lifted to a new level. God really does want to save those dear to you.

We must be persuaded that God will save the people we love, the ones for whom we pray. We should be so convinced that we would be shocked if they didn’t get saved.

Serving our generation demands faith that doesn’t quit. We need a motivational faith that truly believes God is hearing us and will answer.

Read a companion devotional.

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Dutch Sheets serves as senior pastor of Springs Harvest Fellowship in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is the best-selling author of Intercessory Prayer (Regal Books).