Moved to Presence and Prayer
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results
(James 5:16b NLT)
Hello Friends,
Two weeks ago, I shared in “Moved to Respond” that I am sensing a stirring in my spirit to go deeper in Christ, die more to myself, so I can be ready to be “all in” to serve Jesus, living the life He called me to live. I have been inspired by the church I see in the New Testament, the life of Deitrich Bonhoeffer, and Isaiah, hearing the call of God and answering that call after allowing God to purge, purify, prepare and empower His servants for the mission to which they have been called. Shortly after writing “Moved to Respond”, I received an email from a dear saint reminding me about the importance of prayer before responding in action. Interestingly, since that email, I have had opportunities to hear from other followers of Jesus that they also are experiencing similar shifts, stirrings, and encounters with God. Two themes in their stories stand out: presence and prayer. First, people are hungering for the presence of God, wanting to go deeper into His throne room to be cleansed and purified of the issues, sins, mindsets that are holding them back from full freedom and service to the Master. Like Isaiah, in His presence, they are being ‘undone’ and the ‘undoing’ is taking them to deeper intimacy with Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I am encountering more and more people who are being awakened, transformed, and renewed as they sit at the feet of Jesus, abiding in His presence, knowing that without first abiding, they can do nothing of themselves (John 15:4-5). Sitting in His presence, the verse I hear most often in my mind these days is, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psa. 16:11). Interestingly, in John 15:11, as Jesus is telling His disciples of His soon departure, and their Spirit empowered commission to continue the work He started, the desire of His heart is that His disciples would be filled with His joy so their ‘joy could be full’. Is the purpose of abiding in His presence to be filled with His joy so that we serve Him out of Joy, not out of anger, frustration, duty nor obligation, but with the right heart. Have you experienced the joy of sitting in His presence, and left your time of intimacy with God, rejoicing in the Spirit, ready to take on any task or challenge asked of you? “The joy of the Lord is our strength”, said Nehemiah – “strength to do what?”, you ask…whatever the Lord asks you to do! Here is what I have observed in the last couple of weeks: the one who spends time sitting at the feet of Jesus, abiding in His presence, has ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory’ (1Pet. 1:8), even as God is burning off the rough edges with a hot coal (Isaiah 6:6). That joy empowers us to serve Jesus no matter the cost or trouble we will face (Acts 5:41). To recap, His presence purifies us for our mission and fills us with joy to fulfill what is being asked of us (from John 15, His presence also fills us with love and Holy Spirit).
Secondly, along with encountering people who desire God’s presence, I am meeting many people, God’s people, called by His Name, who sense a burden to pray for divine intervention – a move of God to come ‘heal our land’, our cities, our streets, our government, our churches, our world. There seems to be prayer initiatives popping up all over the place as God’s people are burdened with the state of the world and desire to see “revival” in our cities and “awakening’ in our churches. Men and women are stirred to pray – humble, hungry, driven saints desiring to see a shift in their surroundings – a shift that will bring city transformation through repentance and a turning to the Lord. A praying church is a powerful church! But friends, to be honest, my attitude has been, “a happy church is a raptured church – come Lord Jesus and get us out of here”. I have found myself to be more like Jonah than Isaiah. But, God in His mercy keeps sending me people who have a burden to pray and emails about prayer movements happening all over the world. And then I am prompted to read James, and reminded:
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. (James 5:13-18 NKJV)
What is the answer to suffering – prayer; What is the answer to sickness – prayer; What is the answer to sinfulness – confession and prayer. The Greek of the last part of verse 16 literally says, “very strong/able is a working supplication (heart-wrenching petition, coming out of a deep personal desire) of a righteous man” (my translation of YLT). Why is this important? The emphasis is on the power of a sincerely, burden-laden prayer, prayed by one whom God has declared righteous – that’s us in Christ! James gives us an illustration of just such a person in Elijah, who even had the power to stop and start the rain. Friends! I am encountering people who have this kind of burden for our cities and our nation. They have the faith to believe for God to move mountains and heal our land! I don’t believe that this earnest desire is coming from themselves but from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with whom they are intimate and sitting in His presence. God is stirring people to pray in faith, believing they will receive (Matt. 21:22; James 1:6; 1John 5:14-15). Prayer produces results! The history of those who walk with God continues to testify to Jesus’ words in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
Are we on the verge of a great move of God? Are we, as God’s people who desire His presence, also being stirred to pray for what we read about in history – Spirit led awakenings and revivals that transform cities and nations to the glory of God, bringing many into the kingdom? Is the church stepping into her destiny to “turn the whole world upside down” (Acts 17:6)? Any move of God starts with those who spend time in His presence, being filled with joy and love and Holy Spirit, leading them to earnestly pray for that which is on God’s heart to do at this time on planet Earth. Let’s gather and hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church, as she seeks intimacy with her God. And let’s believe that God in His mercy will fulfill 2Chronicles 7:14, “if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”
Discuss…
Peace!
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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