Morning Prayer Summary for Thursday, July 05, 2018

Mary led group in worship…

Pastor Ray shared…

I’ve been reading some things about the Argentina revivals in the 50s. I wanted to know how to start and I found this article.

Mighty Revival in Argentina 1950s

This story begins with the prayer life of missionary R.E. Miller from the United States. In the early 1950s, he had spent years of tireless, zealous activity in Argentina, pastoring churches, holding meetings and conducting personal evangelism with little fruit. Does this sound familiar? It seemed to him he tried everything… except prayer.

He began a new course of action by praying eight hours a day for revival in his own life and in his community of Mar del Plata. He continued leading Sunday services at his little church but spent most of the rest of the week in intercession before his God. After six months of waiting on God, searching the Scriptures, fasting and praying, the Lord finally spoke to Edward Miller. It was a simple message: Continue! So he did… relentlessly as if his life depended on it.

Months passed and Miller continued to keep the eight-hour watch until God would speak to him again. This time the Lord told him to announce public prayer meetings that week, which would begin the following Monday night at the church from 8 p.m. until midnight. Miller argued with the Lord, telling Him that if he had held such a prayer meeting, the only ones to come would be little old ladies, and all they would do is sit and watch him pray. The Lord prompted him to call the meeting.

So Miller announced the meeting. Sure enough, three little old women were the only ones who came. Miller was right about his next objection, too. The ladies just sat and watched him pray for the next four hours. But pray he did. At the end of the meeting, he asked if anyone had received anything from God. One of the women, the wife of a backslidden man, raised her hand. She described a strange desire to come up and knock on the wood table at the front of the sanctuary. But she felt that would be foolish, so she declined. Pastor Miller dismissed the meeting and all went home.

They met for the next two nights with the same results. The woman with a backslidden husband felt compelled again, she said, to come to the front and hit the wood table, and refused to do so. Pastor Miller became frustrated. Why would God lead her to do that? How could we get her to comply? On the last night of the scheduled prayer meeting, the same three women came and sat and watched Pastor Miller pray. At the close of the meeting, he asked the same question and received the same response from the same woman. But this time Miller said, “We are all going to walk around the table and hit it.” He hoped she would follow them, gather enough courage and knock on the table herself.

Miller passed by and hit the wood table, followed by two of the women. Then the third woman stepped up to the table and knocked on it. When she did, the Holy Spirit swept through the little church and overwhelmed them with glory and the sense of His presence. All three women were baptized in the Spirit and began worshiping God in a language they had not learned.

The news spread and people began to come nightly. Eventually the fire of revival spread to the capital city of Buenos Aires, where tens of thousands gathered in an outdoor sports Stadium in 1954. The Lord saved and healed many under the powerful ministry of Tommy Hicks. It was the beginning of the great Argentine revival of the earth 1950s. What was that simple word that Pastor Miller heard during his dedicated prayer time? Continue! Is God preparing somebody today to be one of the obedient hidden remnant?

Is it you?

Pastor Ray continued…

I remember different times being in a service when the presence of God was so strong that it felt heavy. We need it. He is calling us to continue, to keep calling and believing. We need to keep lifting up His plan.

Erika shared…

I’m still in the book, “Defining Moments,” because we all should have defining moments in our lives that we reflect upon. We should continually have experiences with the Lord. I want to read this from the book.

Just the Beginning

I have chosen these heroes of the faith rather randomly. I wanted to show the reader various kinds of encounters that people have had with God that changed them from being nice, everyday believers to radical world changers. There are countless others whose stories have every right to be listed in a book like this. They are equally important, and perhaps in some cases, more important. Their stories would no doubt add even greater insight to the purpose of this book. But I decided to reduce our efforts to this simple yet representative list. I believe it more than prophesies to the reader what is possible in our day. It prophesies what must happen in our day, because now we see the heart of God for our generation. The time is now to use the momentum of these stories to step into our own. Remember, fire always falls on sacrifice. Become that sacrifice.

The only real experiences to this “random list” of heroes of the faith are Randy Clark and Heidi Baker. History is filled with these kinds of men and women of faith. But what tends to happen is that we learn to value the people of the past without recognizing who among us is living in that same grace. In the same way, Israel loved their prophets after they died but rejected the ones who were alive. I brought Randy and Heidi into the story line because, first of all, they have my deepest respect and love. But also, they are at the forefront of a wave that is impacting and changing nations of the world. By telling a small part of their story, I’m hoping to prevent readers from wishing they were alive in the “good old days.” The days we are living in are the greatest days in all of history.

Rather Personal

The two most profound encounters I’ve had with God were very different from each other. In one case, I was “electrocuted” throughout the night, three nights in a row. It was overwhelmingly glorious, powerful, but not pleasant at all. In reality, they are death experiences, where things die in us that needed to die. In my defining moment, God was after my right to dignity in how I appeared to others. That point of surrender changed everything. Something died. And thankfully, something came to life. The second most life-changing experience was actually a revelation from a chapter in the Bible, Isaiah 60. God opened it up to me in a way that literally changed my life forever. …

It is wise to hunger for more of God. But it’s not wise to think we can demand how He should come and touch us. The God of amazing diversity has many ways to touch and change people’s lives. Don’t tell Him you want Him to touch you in one way but not another. It’s not wise to tell the God of the universe, “Give me peace, but don’t make me shake,” or “I’d love to prophesy, but I don’t want to speak in tongues.” This isn’t a smorgasbord where we pick and choose from the divine menu of experiences. God spoke to and activated people in different ways: through visions, impartations, reading the Word, impressions, electricity, peace, dreams, and so on. This is where the finite engages with the infinite in surrender, knowing that He knows what is best for us and He can be trusted.

Today’s Atmosphere

In the present culture, I rejoice in the countless numbers of people who stand in line to receive prayer so that they might have an encounter with God. I have done this many times, and I know I will do it again and again. It’s beautiful. The passion people have for God is quite increasing all over the world. I’ve lost count of the lives that have been dramatically changed through this simple but profound tool called “the laying on of hands.” It is one of the foundational doctrines of Christ listed in Hebrews 6. But we should remember that while it’s usually profitable to receive from the prayers of other people, there is no shortcut to maturity. Some things are given to us in seed form and must be stewarded well to bring about the increase we have cried out for.

All encounters are truly glorious. But they are also a death experience. People with these encounters are never the same again. Things that once held great importance in their lives are often forever put away in one moment. Concerns, visions, and ambitions are laid down, often never to be picked up again. One one hand, it is the ultimate promotion, yet on the other, it is the greatest invasion of the One who only comes to rule—completely. Yes, He is Father. And yes, he is Lord of all. It is costly. Oh so costly. The stories of glorious breakthroughs are real, as are the stories of opposition and downright persecution, often from other well-meaning believers. I don’t know of anyone who has escaped this reality. It is intense and yet life-changing.

There is a measure of glory that is your possession. The only way you can give God glory is to have it to give. Rise in it, because in your rising, you attract greater glory to fall on you. That is kingdom stewardship. It’s how you move from real to realm, from glory to glory. You have to discover the glory in the moment you are in if you are ever going to go on to greater glory. There have to be divine encounters. Every individual must pursue increasing breakthrough, increasing baptisms in the Spirit. One touch twenty years ago doesn’t do it. The ongoing fire that gets ignited in us day after day, year after year, does. I don’t pretend to understand it. I don’t care if I understand it all. All I need is to remain as a child and to find out what He wants me to do next.

Costly

I rarely talk about the cost involved in a great move of God. The reason is that whatever we pay pales significantly in the light of what He gives us. It would be like trading pebbles from my front yard for diamonds. Yes, they might have been my favorite pebbles. But let’s be honest. It’s tough to feel bad about what I gave up in light of what He has put in its place. Yet Jesus talked about counting the cost. Not because it wouldn’t be worth it, but because it’s possible in the middle of the process to think what you’ve left behind is more valuable than what you’re about to inherit.

Because of the trials that the Israelites were facing, they wanted to go back to Egypt, their land of suffering and slavery, because they didn’t yet see what they were about to inherit. Hearing Kathryn Kuhlman talk about the day she died is one of the most convicting and sobering messages I’ve ever heard. She spoke at Oral Roberts University, and her talk is available online. It is priceless. But watching her with her Best Friend, the Holy Spirit, you realize the exchange she made was one she never, ever regretted.

I mention this because of how lightly many people approach the subject of a life-changing encounter with God. While we can’t earn it, we also are not to treat it lightly. It is a gift that comes in His timing, for His purposes, enabling us to have the God of the universe put us on like a garment. Pray. Pray much. Pray specifically until you know you have surrendered the deepest part of your heart to God in your passionate cry for more. For it’s from that place of surrender that we move God. Prayers that move us, move Him. Ephesians says, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Please notice the correlation between the work of God through us that beyond all we could ask or think, and the power that works within us. To the degree that we allow Him to work deep within us, He does the impossible around and through us. Let deep call unto deep—let the deep in your call to the deep in God.

Practical Steps

Spend some time with the Lord and reflect on His faithfulness in your life. Make note of the personal breakthroughs you have experienced over the years. Meditate on them, and give Him praise. It’s important to keep these records available so that the next time you face an impossibility, you can feast on what God has done in the past and pull from those testimonies to launch even farther into all that He has for you. This is practical. Testimonies prophesy.

Personal Prayer

Stir up your faith in God who is good. I pray God would give you a major outpouring of His Spirit. It is all about the Presence. It is all about the glory, His glory. I pray for the release of a fresh baptism of fire upon us all in this hour. Invite the glory of God on your own face, on your own countenance. He wants to change the face of the church by revealing His glory to us, where we become exposed to His goodness at indescribable levels. One of the big things about receiving more is being hungry for more… knowing it exists.

Prayed…

Thank You that we live in a free country… to freely worship… we plead the blood over this nation… one nation under God… we thank You that You’ve brought into our nation a man like Donald Trump… we plead the blood over him and his family… the church is a co-laborer… a great awakening and outpouring… You’re raised us up for such a time as this… You show the church their place in this race… recognizing and discerning the gift of God… cooperating together for the great increase all across this land… You make us one… the blood is working keeping the destroyer back… boldness and courage to stand up… to display the power and love of God in this nation… greater opportunity for advancement… we will continue to seek You… grant unto us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God… our eyes be enlightened… know the hope to which we have been called … not hearers only but doers of the Word… defining moments of our lives… distinguishing marks upon us… separated unto You… rivers of living water… moving and flowing…

All of the new… new operations, new revelations, new assignments, new declarations, new momentum, new expectation… not to blend in but to stand out for You… to cooperate… push out every boundary… not miss an opportunity… engaged… to do the work of the ministry… year after year… to believe and expect more and greater… in every arena… we rush into those places… we take the light… the word there… the Spirit there…

Mary led group in worship…

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