Pray and Get Ready

There are so many things going on in the Spirit and spiritual realm, I do not know where to start and to end, what to put in and what to leave out.  God is working in the earth and working in the nations, but the greatest work He is doing is in His Church, to prepare it for the great harvest and what He is doing among the nations.  It is so important for the sake of participation and activation, that you have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying.  If you do not have the ability to pray in the Spirit, seek the gift.  If you do not know how to pray, ask someone who does to help teach you.  If you are not born again of the Spirit of God or do not know what that means, then seek and learn.  If you have been, then be renewed and refilled with a fresh anointing for the days ahead.

Do not be afraid because the days ahead are awesome and alarming simultaneously but be prepared to rejoice and run with the Gospel, not worrying about your life.  You cannot be luke-warm and you cannot remain reserved. Do not seek to save your life, but lose it so you may find what is the Lord’s. Give yourself fully to the work of the Lord.  Pray and get ready.

Prayerful Warfare

Then the LORD answered me:
“Write down this vision
and clearly inscribe it on tablets,
so that a herald may run with it.
For the vision awaits an appointed time;
it testifies of the end and does not lie.
Though it lingers, wait for it,
since it will surely come and will not delay.”
– Habakkuk 2:2-3

As the events of history and nations play out, the Church’s first call is to pray daily, even morning, noon, and night, maybe even 7 times a day, and perhaps always.

The spiritual warfare is real and although it is somewhat a mystery to us how our prayers to God are used to effect changes in the earth, but because God calls us to pray, we can be sure that they do. Prayer is the first way we participate in the Kingdom of God. We call upon the Name of the Lord, and we have been given the Holy Spirit to help us to pray in accordance with God’s will.

As in any type of warfare, there are some conflicts that are greater than others, and because of this, there can be delays regarding what is released or bound in the earth to match God’s appointed time, which only He knows.

A good example of this is also in Daniel chapter 10, concerning a vision and weeks of prayer for a great conflict (war) when an archangel (Gabriel?) arrived and spoke to Daniel regarding the vision and his prayers, and how he the archangel was delayed because of a battle with a powerful demonic principality, which Michael the archangel came to assist him with.

“Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.”

We should continue to pray in faith and wait patiently for God’s answers and the results He will bring to pass in His time, in both the heavens and the earth.

Pray for the Restoration of Israel

Pray for the Jewish people now at the beginning of their New Year, and in their 10 days of repentance before celebrating the Day of Atonement, according to the Law of Moses.

May their hearts be humbled and minds turned to believe in Yeshua Hamashiach (Jesus Christ) in agreement and complete fulfillment of the prophetic words written through Zechariah and Hosea, that they may recognize God’s Son as the “once and for all” atoning sacrifice, and may look to Him by grace through faith and be saved, leading to the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel and the return of Christ to sit upon the throne of his earthly father David and establish His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.

Zechariah 12:10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”

Hosea 5:15 “I will go away and return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

The Son of God, the Messiah and the Word of God made flesh, was speaking to His people in the first person through these words. Pray for their fulfillment! They are most close to His heart in His love for his brethren.

“For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” – Romans 11:15

CHRIST’s Church should be very interested in this!!!

Prayer to Please

How do we know if God is pleased with us? Upon whom does his favor rest?  To whom does his affirmation come?   Does it not come upon those who please Him?  Whose hearts are set to serve Him?   To those who do His will?

Will not the pleasers of men be disappointed?  Or will they be satisfied and assured by the praises of men?  Will they seek their affirmation instead?

Help me Lord! Lead me and guide me in your good and perfect will.  Let the meditations of my mind and heart be pleasing in your sight. Receive the prayers of your servant and help me in my time of need.  Show me how to pray and what it is that you desire.  My heart longs to please you.

The ways of man are empty.  Surely they are wasteful like a fruitless branch, vain in appearance and hollow like a dead tree.  But your ways abound with delight.  They are full of secret treasures and are solid like a rock.  May my hands do your work. May my feet follow in your will.  May my soul find pleasure in pleasing you.  Amen.

Earth Wind and Fire Contained

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

There was contact, and the fire spread.

When there is a forest fire, first there needs to be something to burn, before the wind and fire can do its work. Once ignited, a strong wind will cause the fire to spread rapidly, supplying oxygenated breath, fanning and driving the flames in one or more directions, and causing sparks to fly onto new sources of fuel as well.

Many of us Christians want to receive the breath and feel the wind, and even burn within, but we often won’t allow the Spirit to move and spread us out or cause sparks to fly, because we are afraid.  And so we resist the wind and contain the fire, that is the will and desire of God, even the Spirit.  As a result, the earth, wind and fire remain contained, even within the house.

So I pray:

Let the strong wind blow. Let the holy fire fall.
Don’t be afraid, but trust in His call!
Count it pure joy, and rejoice in the shame,
If counted worthy to suffer His name.

Be consumed with His love. Let it burn deep within.
Let the Holy Spirit move you, when to begin
To speak in a language that others have heard,
And tell about Christ, the Lord whom you serve.

Don’t be afraid!

Let the mighty wind blow. Let flames burn ‘n go
Don’t be afraid, to let people know.

Tongues in Time

Being a charismatic-pentecostal Christian (and evangelical and sacramental too) who prays-speaks “in tongues”, which is synonymous with praying “in the Spirit”, I am faulting and finding myself praying less in tongues in private compared to when I am gathered in public with the Church. I love to praise and pray “in the Spirit” even sing “in the Spirit” and go back and forth between my native English and my spiritual language when praying in public as I believe I am suppose to, according to the Scriptures, as Paul suggested in 1st Corinthians 14:13-17, 27-28. But I am being convicted a little that my prayer efforts “in the Spirit” in private have been waning in comparison when they should be growing, for the Scriptures also say that when we pray in tongues, not only do we edify ourselves with God and build up our own faith, but the Spirit intercedes for us in accordance with God’s will. WOW! Why wouldn’t we earnestly desire to pray in such a way when we know for sure that such prayer is in accordance with God’s will vs. praying in the uncertainty that we might be attempting to pray in our own will? Why not use the private time with God more wisely? This gift is God’s wisdom, which is why praying in tongues is such an important time to treasure and pleasure in – one that has us praying in agreement with the heart of God and Christ, who prayed, also in a language we could understand, “not my will but thine be done, so we might be edified too. So let all be edified in both times. In public, praise and pray in tongues but with interpretation too, but in times that are private, let your tongues be set on fire for God alone!

Praying for the Pastor’s Protection

When Jesus was troubled, he asked his disciples to pray with him,  even for themselves.  (Matthew 26:38-41)

Yes, because the leaders of the Church have been given the greatest burden of responsibility, much good is dependent on them. Therefore because of their critical role, they require or should be afforded the most prayer, not by any one person, but by the many together out of necessity and understanding.  If “many hands make light work”, then surely many prayers make sense for the one who bears the larger burden.

Yes, the devil prowls about looking for one to devour which is often the weakest one, but often it is the greatly burdened pastor and/or his family, who have become the most vulnerable or the most targeted.  If the enemy of our souls can successfully strike the shepherd, then the many sheep will scatter and much more will be achieved with one blow.  If the shepherd is helped by the prayers of the many people, to remain faithful and able, then the weak ones among the many should find protection as well.

The Church must take seriously the call to pray for the protection and strength of those who have been placed over us, even for our own protection.

Prophetic Prayer

The Church needs to reject a spirit of timidity when it comes to prayer and mission, which are intrinsically connected.  Like the prophet Jeremiah, the Church has a prophetic role, starting via prayer, to “uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow, to plant and to build”. Even the prayers of one “righteous man” avails much, and the prophet Elijah held back the rain for 3 years.

So, why isn’t the Church more bold and believing when it comes to changing the environment through prayer?  I believe because of a passive and timid spirit contributing to a lack of faith!

The Church needs to stop making childish excuses and mature in its prophetic call over the nations!