Morning Prayer Summary for Thursday, April 19, 2018

Pastor Ray shared…

I want start out with John 17, the prayer that Jesus prayed for us. We have the ultimate prayer in John 17 that Jesus prayed for you and me. It wasn’t just a prayer for back then. It’s for us today as well. I wanted to read it in the Message translation. In your heart, imagine Jesus praying these words for you and me to assist and help us. He started by saying,

Father, it’s time.
Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
The very splendor I had in your presence
Before there was a world.
I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I’m not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world;
They’ll continue in the world
While I return to you.
Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through me,
So they can be one heart and mind
As we are one heart and mind.
As long as I was with them, I guarded them
In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
I even posted a night watch.
And not one of them got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).
13-19 Now I’m returning to you.
I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,
Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways.
I’m not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I’m consecrating myself for their sakes
So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.
20-23 I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me.
24-26 Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.
Prayed…

Thank You for that covering of prayer over us during these times. Thank You that the prayers of Jesus have and will always continually be true. We’re so thankful, Lord, that You sent Your Son and what He did for each of us. Thank You for the Holy Spirit that as Jesus was raised up, You sent Your precious Holy Spirit. And by the power of Your Spirit, we receive Your fire to walk out these days.

Mary led group in worship…

Erika shared…

I like what Pastor Ray read this morning because, once again, we’re talking and praying about the transformation of the church of the living God. The transition of the church. And just to remind ourselves again, a transition is a movement, a passage, a change from one position, state, stage, subject, or concept to another. That’s what is happening to the church. And transformation is to transform, to change in form, appearance, structure, a metamorphosis; the act of process of transformation, to change in condition, nature or character, to convert.

Prayed…

We’re looking for that in the church, Father. We’re looking to cooperate with You in this glorious transformation. We’re looking for that. We don’t want to stay the same. You don’t want us to stay the same. We don’t want to stay the same. You’ve shown us in Your Word by Your Spirit just glimpses of what we’re to look like. Father, we’re also believing in translation, to change or conversion to another form or appearance. That will be the final, but in the meantime, from one degree of glory to another. Amen.

Shared…

In light of that, there are a couple things I’d like to share some quotes from the book “In the Day of Thy Power” by Arthur Wallis. I like it because it has a balanced approach to what revival and awakening is. It has articulation that expands our vision and conception of what a revival or an awakening is, what it really means to the Church. I was going to read this part at the end, but I think in light of what Pastor Ray said and prayed at the beginning, I’m going to quote this part now.

Jesus said at one time in Isaiah, “he shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied.” Think of that. This has been rolling around on the inside of me all night. He shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. In that word “satisfied,” there are depths eternal. Consolations that outweigh even the agonies of Gethsemane and Golgotha. This was the joy that was set before Him when He endured the cross, despising the shame. So in light of that, when we’re thinking about praying and believing for transformation, transition for an awakening in the church, we’re thinking about who went to the cross. And what was that agony in His soul? What was that joy set before Him that He endured? He saw the Church. He saw every individual in the church. He saw every man and every women, every boy and every girl living the abundant life that God intended for every human. Free from every shackle and every limitation. Free to be who you are created to be, all the gifts, the talents, the anointings, the abilities, the power, the glory of God. Sons of God. Walking in the fullness and stature of Him that filleth all in all. That’s what we’re talking about. When we’re talking about awakening unto God.

The church every member and each member has a different take on it, has a different perception of what God fills their hearts with and has the ability and capacity to reveal that and unleash that to a lost humanity. The agony of his soul, we can partake of that to enter into that prayer for the church and for the world.

It was springtime in the year of 1938. A boy in middle teens stood in the little schoolroom adjoining Moriah Chapel in the small Welsh mining town of Loughor. A strange feeling of awe and wonder filled his heart, for this was the very room that witnessed the beginnings of that great outpouring of the Spirit, the Welsh Revival of 1904. He listened to his host and guide, himself a convert of the revival, speak of those memorable days when the hardest hearts were melted by the presence of the Lord, and when the hills and valleys rang again with the songs of Zion. It was almost too wonderful to be true, but it created questions deep down in his heart for which he could find no answer. If God can achieve such mighty things in times of revival, and if the spiritual labors of fifty years can be surpassed in so many days when the Spirit is poured out, why, he wondered, is the church today so satisfied with the results of normal evangelism? Why are we not more concerned that there should be another great revival? Why do we not pray for it day and night?

The boy returned to his home in England. The questions that had puzzled him were temporarily forgotten, crowded out by many other youthful interests, but an indelible impression had been made upon his soul. The fires of that 1904 Awakening, burning still in many a Welsh breast, had lit a flame in his young heart. In that corner of South Wales which had been the heart of the Welsh Revival a strange longing had filled his soul: “O God, wilt Thou not do it again?”

Reading from “Ablaze for God.”

A notorious British murderer was sentenced to die. On the morning of his execution, the prison chaplain walked beside him to the gallows and routinely read some Bible verses. The prisoner was shocked that the chaplain was so perfunctory, unmoved, and uncompassionate in the shadow of the scaffold. He said to the preacher, “Sir, if I believed what you and the church say you believe, even fi England was covered with broken glass from coast to coast, from shore to shore, I would walk over it—if need be on my hands and knees—and think it worthwhile, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that.”

There is a wealth of difference between missions or campaigns at their best and genuine revival. In the former, man takes the initiative. It may be with the prompting of the Spirit in the latter, it’s God’s initiative. With the one, the organization is human. With the other, it is divine. There is no intention here of disparaging the work of missions, or of denying that God has owned them to the conversion of multitudes, but it must be made clear that they do not constitute revival. Missions may be a part of the continuous program of evangelism which is the task of the church, but revival is a thing of special times and seasons. Revival may of course break out during a mission, but when it does, a certain features will appear which are peculiar to revival, and certain features will disappear which are characteristic of missions. However, while revival tarries, the normal evangelism, the church must continue, but let us keep the distinction clear.

The meaning of any word is determined by its usage. For definition of revival we must therefore appear to the people of God of bygone years, who have used the word with consistency of meaning down the centuries, until it began to be used in lesser and more limited sense in modern times. Numerous writings on the subject that have been preserved to us will confirm that revival is divine intervention in the normal course of spiritual things. It is God revealing Himself to man in awful holiness and irresistible power. It is such a manifest working of God that human personalities are overshadowed, and human programs abandoned. It is man returning into the background because God has taken the field. It is the Lord making bare His holy arm, and working in extraordinary power on saint and sinner.

True revivals are marked by powerful and often widespread outpourings of the Spirit. Many, many times the preaching had to cease because the hearers were prostrate, or because the voice of the preacher was drowned by cries for mercy. Who will deny that these were outpourings of the Spirit? Who could find a more appropriate description of such scenes than the words of Luke: “the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the Word”? David Brainerd recorded the beginning of the wonderful movement among the American Indians in 1745 thus: “The power of God seemed to descend upon the assembly like a rushing mighty wind and with an astonishing energy bore down all before it. I stood amazed at the influence that seized the audience almost universally, and could compare it to nothing more aptly than the irresistible force of almighty torrent … Almost all persons of all ages were bowed down with concern together, and scarce one was able to withstand the shock of this surprising operation.”

Revival can never be explained in terms of activity, organization, meetings, personalities, preachings. These may or may not be involved in the work, but they do not and cannot account for the effects produced. Revival is essentially a manifestation of God; it has the stamp of Deity upon it, which even the unregenerate and uninitiated are quick to recognize. Revival must of necessity make an impact upon the community, and this is one means by which we may distinguish it from the more usual operations of the Holy Spirit.

Clearly it is the saints, not the sinners, that are primarily involved in revival. The quickening of the saints is the root, while the saving of the sinners is the fruit. Therefore, to see the primary effects of revival we must look to the church. Isaiah sounded a reveille call to the people of God in the familiar words, “Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city.” Revival marks the awakening of the Church; indeed such a time is commonly termed “an awakening.” When asleep one is out of touch with the world of reality. The church asleep is out of touch with the world of spiritual reality, and needs to be awakened.

The argument in favor of an awakening grows stronger as the end of the age approaches for Paul himself said, “knowing the season, that now it is high time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” Here is the primary effect of revival—the church awakes, casts off the works of darkness that have blanketed her in her slumber, and puts on the armor of light.

Awake, Awake… put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The church asleep is not only denuded of power but also of holiness. Only when the people of God are awakened are they clothed with the beautiful garments of practical righteousness. Is there not a need of holiness today? Is there not a downward tendency on the part of individual believers seen in lukewarmness toward the Lord, compromise with the world, and complacency as to themselves? Then there is an undoubted need of an awakening. Holiness is not optional but obligatory. God demands it. Without it no man shall see the Lord. But revival is a time when God comes and rains righteousness upon us. If there is no revival of righteousness, there is no revival at all.

The church dormant becomes the church militant. Then indeed may her beloved declare, “Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.” Is not this effect on the church sufficient justification for revival? Does it not provide ample reason why we should be thirsting for revival?

Once again, He shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Satisfied. There are depths eternal, consolations outweigh even the agonies of Gethsemane and Golgotha. This was the joy that was set before Him when He endured the cross, despising the shame.

Prayed…

Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You that You are opening up to us more and more and more the necessity and burden and passion and will and desire to work with You in the realm of prayer to pray for the awakening of the church, to pray for the revival of the church, to pray even as Jesus for the joy that set before Him agonized over that which was available, that which was coming to ever individual. Father, we join our hearts together believing Your Word and Your mercy and grace that when we are inspired by the Holy Spirit and ask in accordance with Your will, You hear us. You hear the cries of the hearts of Your people, crying for a great awakening across this nation. A great awakening across the world. An awakening the Church unto righteousness and holiness. Awakening the church to stand up and to shake off those chains and things that have held her back and limited her. Awakening unto our privileges and righteousness, Father.

O Father, awaken the Church. Awaken all of our spiritual leaders once again. For You gave gifts unto man. You gave five-fold ministry gifts for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry. Father, we’re asking that You would visit and touch them again. That You would anoint and clothe them with power and majesty. That You would cause their eyes to see and their ears to hear. Understanding and light to flood their hearts, O God.

That You would grant wide doors of utterance in Your Spirit, that they would deliver messages from heaven. Messages that will piece and penetrate the hearts of believers. Messages that will break through hardened shells of complacency and apathy. Messages that will bring the light of the glorious gospel. Messages from heaven. Father, more and more… Yes, tailor made by the Spirit of God to anoint pastors, to anoint prophets, to anoint apostles, to anoint teachers, to anoint evangelists in this day and hour… messages to stir the hearts of Your believers…

Father, we know that even beyond that, there is You, there is the coming of You, Your very self… Your glory to come down and apprehend us… to visit us… to make Yourself known… open that up, Father, in a greater way… Father, we believe for time released anointings for those ministry gifts… those that haven’t quite hit their stride, God… we’re looking for the fullness now… we’re looking for the unwrapping of those gifts… a fresh fire from heaven… to consume them, O God… that You would be seen and glorified… we apply the blood over our spiritual leaders… all their families so they can give themselves to the Word… and to prayer… in a greater measure … to be in Your presence… to deliver messages from heaven… strengthen them… cause increase to come to them… let them know that they know the call of God on their lives… discerning the gifts of God in one another… that we work together … we must enter in now… we cannot remain in status quo… unveil Your strategies and plans…venues and avenues… great functions and operations of the Spirit…

We lift up Pulse, this gathering ordained by You… we know there are 600 churches that want to be a part of it… we’re looking for a deep work of Your spirit… for transformation in every church… transition… that it will eternally effect the state of the ministries to be more closely aligned to Your plan and purpose… changed… we weapon formed against them shall not prosper… no lies, deception, no lack in Jesus’ name… we believe for the anointing of God on every speaker… reach out and pierce and penetrate and go into the highways and byways … reach to the core and foundation of this city… hearkening back to the spiritual heritage of this city… reaching beyond… a glorious light of the good news… shaking up the status quo… invading the government facilities … we believe you for transition and transformation there… movement to the right…

Mary led group in worship…

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