God is Writing His Letter on Your Heart

This is the time of year when your mailbox will begin to fill up with pictures and letters from family and friends. I know you see pictures of them all year on social media but there’s something different about the official Christmas card picture. Believe me, with two daughters and a wife, that picture has to be just right. When we open the envelope, my wife, Jill, and I do that thing where we go, “Wow, look how much their kids have grown! Are we really that old?!”

And then if it came with a letter, I set it aside for when I can read it slowly. I love these Christmas letters. They tell the stories of individuals and families we’ve known for years. People brag humbly about their kid’s achievements and talk about how busy they’ve been. We’re connected to these people and play a role in their lives. We sometimes know the fuller story of what God has been doing with them and we always know the final chapter hasn’t been written yet.

At IHOPKC, we get testimonies from all over the world talking about how the Lord is touching people. These emails don’t come with pictures, but they tell the stories of real people who are following Jesus with us. People who matter to us because we’ve played some role in their lives through the internet. I’ve been reading a bunch of those emails tonight as I write this blog and my heart is so grateful for these people. The Apostle Paul talks about the church in Corinth as a letter, “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

Here are a couple of lines from one of those emails, just as it was written to us:

I really thank the Lord on how God uses IHOPKC in my personal spiritual life. I am a pastor’s wife and I was the kind of feeling of dryness and fear overtake me but my spirit has always this longing to be on fire and breakthrough. And one day of last month I prayed and I seek God’s purpose in our ministry and saw your global prayer room. I sing and pray together with your singers like Laura Hackett Park, Misty Edwards, Jon Thurlow, Jaye Thomas and many more. So anointed musicians and my spirit awakened and my heart cried a lot because of His presence. I know that chains has broken and I’m free again. Halleluiah! And it brought me also to a prophetic worship in our church as I lead the worship service. Thank you for the ministry you bring to all people of God all over the world. God bless you.—from the Philippines

Here’s another testimony. This one is from Nepal:

I am sitting here preparing a Bible study on Ephesians 3 for a small group here in Kathmandu, when a girl in the prayer room at IHOPKC begins praying for ‘laborers in Nepal’ from Ephesians 3! I’m not usually working this late (It’s 11:30pm here), but glad I was tonight. That was very encouraging—thank you!

Imagine if there was a picture attached to this one. How it would make Jesus smile:

I first learned about the prayer room when I lived in Kansas City, KS. A fellow addict from recovery took me there after I had relapsed. We went on a long ride and he took me there. It became my place of refuge, shelter, and restoration. I loved the prayer room. It was a whole new concept to me. As a bass player myself I truly appreciated what the musicians were doing with their talent. They became the healing and soothing sounds from heaven to me. The prophetic prayers to the rhythm of beautiful music ministered to my soul like nowhere else. I love that place and even would like to use my music talents there one day maybe. 24/7 prayer and music, what a concept! I thank God for you guys.

The Lord is writing letters all over the world that speak of the beauty of Jesus. Imagine what it’s like for Him to “read” these letters. To look at the pictures of us as He writes the story our lives. I’ll bet He delights in looking down over the balcony of heaven at those He calls His beloved ones.

Send us your story of how the Lord is touching you through IHOPKC’s ministry. We’d love to celebrate the goodness of the Lord with you. Have a restful and blessed Christmas season.

Luis Cataldo
Director, Partner Relations

Luis Cataldo

position

• Senior Leader, IHOPKC

Luis and Jill have served together in ministry throughout their 31 years of marriage. For 18 years, they were on staff at Young Life, a Christian outreach to high school students. Luis was the lead pastor of a church in Charlottesville, Virginia, from 2001 to 2004, before joining the IHOPKC senior leadership team in 2005. Luis and Jill currently serve as intercessory missionaries, contending in prayer for righteousness and justice in all sectors of society, primarily the Church, the government, and Israel. Both Luis and Jill served on the board of the Zoe Foundation, resourcing adoptions as a positive alternative to abortion. They also served with Lou Engle and TheCall during two stadium solemn assemblies in 2008. In 2011, Luis was the director of The Response, a national solemn assembly modeled after Joel 2, which was initiated by Governor Perry of Texas. Luis and Jill live in Kansas City, Missouri, and have two adult daughters, Alex and Samantha.