My family and I and our church all had an awesome time in the North American Camp held in Loyolla University from July 1-July 5. I feel energized by God to pray more intensely, especially in the Spirit, ie speaking in tongues because of the challenge and message of Ps. Simon Eng. I have ever since been doing prayers in tongues for more than 30 minutes a day in the morning, during train rides to and fro work,  and also in my lunch hour–where I have a prayer walk by the beautiful Hudson River facing the Statue of Liberty. I sense in my heart that this IS a spiritual warfare that we all face, and we all sense an excitement about what God is going to do in Hope New York church these coming months. I know that the devil is going to try to knock us with problems and strife and misunderstanding, but I also know that the Lord is going to give us victories. But it is  going to take the commitment of the leadership to set the spiritual tone of the church in order to advance. The enemy is trying to destroy the church, stopping people from coming to salvation in Jesus Christ. We stand in this moment as we seek to break the stronghold and the oppositions that we face in New York City. Indeed, this is our day and moment to seize!

God is with us. Like the angel told Joshua:

Josh. 5:13        Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” 14  “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” 15 The commander of the LORD’S army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

When we prayer, we all need to know that we are standing on holy ground. Our first priority in prayer should be to understand and appreciate God and His holiness, and not simply pour out our wants and desires.