Dr. Mike Evans, Author at Jerusalem Prayer Team

A Meeting with a True Giant of Faith

by Dr. Mike Evans | Nov 29, 2024 | Articles

I’ll never forget the first time I met Corrie ten Boom. Over a cup of soup, she shared her love for the Jewish people with me. I told her a little of my own family’s story of suffering at the hands of people who claimed to be Christians and she said, “You can’t love God without loving the Jewish people.”

You and I know the story of the Hiding Place—how the ten Boom family risked so much to save the lives of hundreds of Jews from the Holocaust…and the incredible price they paid for their faith. But it’s a story at risk of being forgotten. So many people today are shocked when I share the ten Boom’s amazing story with them—they’ve simply never heard it before. And right now that story is needed more than ever before.

The ten Boom’s story starts with a prayer meeting Willem ten Boom began in the family clock shop in the 1840s…and continues through decades of faithfulness…culminating with a family risking everything to save Jews from the Nazi death camps. Hundreds of Jews passed through the family’s home, staying for days or weeks as they fled certain death at the hands of the Gestapo.

Then came the fateful day when the entire family was arrested. The elderly Casper ten Boom, 84 years of age, was offered his freedom if he would promise to stop helping the Jews. Despite the dire warnings, he refused. He said, “I am too old for prison life, but if that should happen, then it would be for me an honor to give my life for God’s ancient people the Jews.”

Ten days later, he entered the presence of God, receiving the honor due to a faithful servant. Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent to the dreaded Ravensbruck prison camp where Betsie died. But Corrie survived until she was released due to a “clerical error” just days before everyone her age in the camp was executed.

Corrie devoted the rest of her life to telling her story and sharing the Good News with the world. She lived to the ripe old age of 91, and it was one of the great privileges of my life to spend time with her on several occasions. Her love and courage are an inspiration and example to all of us still today.

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What God Sees in You that No One Else Does

by Dr. Mike Evans | Nov 22, 2024 | Uncategorized

Judges 6 relates the story of Gideon, a man who was basically a wimp! When we first meet Gideon in this chapter, he is hiding in fear from the Midianites in order to thresh wheat for his family. And yet when the angel of the Lord approached Gideon, his greeting in verse 12 was, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” You can imagine that Gideon’s response would be: “Who me?” and it was.

In his own eyes, Gideon was a zero, a nobody, a failure, and certainly not a “mighty man of valor” as he had been addressed. He was pretty sure God could not use him for anything, much less something that required boldness! But God was saying to Gideon: “You don’t know what you can do when you allow yourself to be accompanied by My presence and filled with My power.”

Gideon was slow to warm up to the idea of being a mighty man of valor, to be the one chosen of God to engage the entire Midianite army in battle. He could not comprehend that God wanted him for the task at hand. He was not some superhero, but he had two things in his favor: God’s power and presence.

With God’s assurance that he was the man for the job, Gideon chose to obey God. He quietly issued a call for the people to gather and was astounded when 32,000 showed up! But God had a different plan, one that would further challenge Gideon’s dependence on Him. Imagine his dismay when God told Gideon the army was too large and introduced His plan to streamline the troops to a mere 10,000 men. Even then, God determined that number to be too large and devised one further test that sent 97% of them home as well.

Three hundred men! That was Gideon’s army. The Midianite army was said to be “without number.” (See Judges 7:12.) Yet Gideon obeyed God’s very specific instructions. Each man was to carry a trumpet and a pitcher with a torch inside. The men were divided into three companies of 100 each and spread around the perimeter of the Midianite camp. At the appointed time, they were to blow their trumpets, smash the lamps and yell, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon” (Judges 7:20b.)

When the cacophony of noise awoke the Midianites, they were seized with panic and fled before the army of the Lord. Gideon pursued the enemy until it was vanquished. Gideon could have walked away from God’s plan at any time. In the natural, it must have seemed totally impossible to win Israel’s freedom from the marauding, murderous Midianites. However, Gideon chose to believe that the power and presence of Jehovah-Mephalti, the Lord my Deliverer, was greater than the multitude of Midianite militia.

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God Has a Purpose For Your Life

by Dr. Mike Evans | Nov 15, 2024 | Articles

As I was praying for you this morning, my beloved partner, the Lord spoke to me from Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

That’s the word God gave Jeremiah. I’m sure Jeremiah didn’t feel that way when he was beaten and put in stocks and sunk in mud and his scrolls were burned because of the word of the Lord.

Jerusalem’s Mayor Teddy Kollek knew I liked Jeremiah. Years ago, he told me he wanted to show me Jeremiah’s grotto, his cave. We went to it together. I was totally astonished because the name of that spot is now called Golgotha, the place where heaven and earth met.

Since the age of 11, I’ve learned to put all my faith in God. I’ve also learned to celebrate suffering and sacrifice and that nothing comes without a price. The Apostle Paul says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

The price of admission to change the world is high. Jesus Himself faced unspeakable evil and betrayal. The Lord told me that when trouble comes, don’t play the victim. He asked me two questions. First, are the things you’re living for worth Christ dying for? Second, are you living your life in the light of eternity?

I have come to realize that it was in the quiet crucible of my personal suffering that my noblest dreams were born. God’s greatest gifts are given in compensation for what I’ve been through. That goes for you, too. God has a plan and purpose for your life that is more wonderful and bigger than you can imagine.

I’m sharing this with you today to encourage you because as part of the Jerusalem Prayer Team, you’re doing something truly great for God. You are part of a 100-year plan. Yes, that’s what God told me. Friends of Zion would be a 100-year plan. It is your legacy. It will shine and impact the nation of Israel decades after you’ve gone to heaven.

Daniel 12:3 says, “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” That is your promise. You are one of those stars that will shine in Jerusalem. The echo of what you are doing will shine over the holy city of Jerusalem and throughout eternity.

Truly, you are living your life in the light of eternity, and the things you’re living for are worth Christ dying for. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generous Holy Spirit-led offering today. Jesus brought His offerings up to Jerusalem. Just like Jesus, you are bringing yours.

The vital work of the Jerusalem Prayer Team is only possible because of friends like you. The needs are enormous. People are suffering because of the wars in Israel and Ukraine, and we are literally saving lives because of you. Please be as generous as you can. God bless you.

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Standing Confidently in God’s Presence

by Dr. Mike Evans | Nov 8, 2024 | Uncategorized

Hebrews 4:16 reminds us that as Believers, because of our relationship with Christ, we can “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

There are those who place great value in who they know—especially if those persons are considered to be the movers and shakers of the world. Those “in the know” will quickly recite a litany of who’s who and what’s what in order to impress others. But you and I are intimately acquainted with the only One who really matters—God the Father.

We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ and are sealed by the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians 1:13-14.) Because we have a close, personal relationship with the triune Godhead, we have the privilege of entering the throne room any time we choose. Revelation 5:8 says that the prayers of the saints are “golden bowls full of incense.”

Unlike those who may spend great sums of money to hobnob with the “A-listers,” our entrée is a gift freely given, and yet it cost Jesus everything. God’s grace has made it possible for us to have continual access to the throne and He who sits upon it.

In I John 5:14-15, the apostle wrote these words of encouragement to the followers of Christ:

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

As obedient children, we know that we can approach His throne with the assurance that if we ask according to His will, Jehovah will hear and respond. That, my friend, is the most important relationship you and I can have—one of fellowship and favor with God.

You are not a nobody…God knows you, and He loves you and cares for you. There is no greater evidence of His love than the gift of His Son. As we celebrate together this time of year, I encourage you to be reminded that God knows exactly who you are, where you are, and what you need. Rejoice in His love for you today!

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The God of Deliverance

by Dr. Mike Evans | Oct 25, 2024 | Uncategorized

In the second chapter of Joshua we are told of a Divine intervention and miraculous deliverance in the story of Rahab, the prostitute. Days before the famous march around the walls began Joshua had sent two men to assess the situation inside the city. As they stealthily slipped from shadow to shadow down the streets, an alarm was given and the men were forced to run for their lives. They took refuge in the home of Rahab. She hid them and asked that in return they promise to spare her life when Jericho was captured.

The spies told her that if she would tie a scarlet cord in her window, they would find her and spare her and her family. Rahab didn’t ponder the instructions; she didn’t argue the pros and cons of what she had been told to do. She simply lowered the red cord from the window of her family’s dwelling. As the spies promised, her life was spared. Why did God choose a prostitute of all the people in Jericho? In Hebrews 11:31, we read, “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.” She and her family were delivered because of her faith and obedience.

But there is even more to her story. She became part of the nation of Israel, mother to a great man named Boaz…who would one day marry a young Moabite widow named Ruth…and their great grandson David would be Israel’s greatest king. Rahab even became part of the lineage of the Messiah. When God delivers, He changes everything!

Sometimes we look at God as if we have to talk Him into doing anything for us. But God delights in showing His power on behalf of His children. The Bible says, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

Today I encourage you to rest in God’s love and mercy, and trust in His power. He is greater than every need and challenge you will ever face, and He is just waiting to deliver you.

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