Morning Prayer Summary for Thursday, January 10, 2019

Mary shared and then led group in worship…

There’s a lot of crabby people out there. A lot of people that are miserable and negative. Even the ones I work with. But when we know who we are, we stand firm. We stand strong. And we are consistent. They’ll see the difference. Even with Pastor Kristin sharing how they’ll know us by our love. And our love is in Him. So we want to be strong in the spirit and able to be firm in Him and in His Word.

♪ Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me… melt me, mold me, fill me, use me… Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me… ♪

Pastor Ray shared…

Last night we had a meeting with the prayer leaders. There are lots of people every week who pray behind the scenes in rooms praying out the plan and purpose of God. Thank God we have pastors who believe in prayer.

I was on my way to the meeting in my car and I heard a word from the Lord in my spirit. When I got here, I couldn’t remember what it was. And it’s not that far! You know how you get a revelation or even a word in your spirit? Today I heard the word “manifestations.” We’ll take them!

I came in, sat down at my desk. I got out a piece of paper and started writing. It came back to my remembrance and I wrote it down. I want to read it for you. It goes along with what Mary was saying about how we need to stand up and be who we are in Him and believe He’s in us and will work through us. This is what I heard. It is to believers and pray-ers.

You’ll have more if you’ll take what I’ve already given through Me!
You’ll go further than ever before if you’ll believe what’s yours in Me!
You’ll do greater things than what you’ve done because I’ve done it already for you!
You shall increase beyond what you’ve known ever before if you’ll believe it’s yours!
Cause it’s already been given unto you.
Step ahead and take all of these—they are yours because of who I’ve created you to be!
I love you, saith the Lord.

Pastor Ray continued…

That just melted me. We need to be melted. He loved us so much that He sent His only Son.

So moving along… This morning, we have our confession that we’ve done I don’t know how many times. Does that mean it’s not working? No! I saw it and I was like, I can’t do that. But Miss Erika said she had a little different take on some things about America and what needs to change. She’ll share that with you shortly. But I saw this in a minibook. It’s about love. This is from Keith Moore, a minibook.

Keith Moore: So many people are under duress and stress because of financial pressure, and it’s just a fear that the money is not going to be there on time, or that they’re not going to have enough. Or they might be in fear about their body—that it’s not going to improve or that it’s going to get worse. It’s a fear that they’re going to die in mid-life, or that they’re going to die prematurely.

If you yield to it, that fear is with you all of your waking hours. It will wake you up in the middle of the night. It is tormenting, and it is not from God. God didn’t give us the spirit of fear.

What will get rid of the fear?

Complete love. Full love will throw it out. It will cast it out and push it out so that you just have boldness. I like the sound of that, don’t you? The love of God and the faith of God are inseparable. They are inseparable in operation.

Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:12, “…for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” I know in Whom I have believed. Faith is not just mental adherence to principles or a legalistic ritual or routine. Faith is in knowing the One who said the words. I know Him. I don’t know all there is to know about Him, but I know Him, and He knows me. I know enough about Him to know that if He said it, we can count on it and we can build the building on it. We can count on it. To know Him is to know love, because God is Love. …

When you know that God loves you, it’s going to take away a lot of your questions. It’s going to take away your frustrations and your wavering. When people ask, “Will God heal me?” they don’t  know how much He loves them, or they wouldn’t have asked the question, “Will God help me pay my bills? Will God help me get caught up? I’m behind. Will God help me get out of debt? I don’t know—do you think it’s His will?” To ask that means you don’t really know Him. I didn’t say you weren’t saved, but you don’t really know Him, because if you knew how much He loved you, you wouldn’t even ask that.

Pastor Ray continued…

I’m reminded of what Charles Capps said, “Stop saying, That’s impossible.” Don’t say “That will never happen.” Don’t say that. Let’s get back up on the higher place and say what He says and believe it will come to pass and believe it all the way including our own nation. Do we need change? Yes! Thank You, Lord, for the things that have already been changed. But is there more? Yes! There is more. So we have to, we must, lift up our leaders. We must lift up our pastors. Do you pray for Pastor Mac and Lynne? Put them in your prayer daily. We must lift up and cover our pastors for it to go well with us. The same with our nation. We have to lift up and pray for the leaders so they have wisdom to make the right decisions. It’ll turn out all right for us.

Erika shared…

As I was seeking the Lord on what to share, the Lord spoke to me about some things. He would bring up small phrases. Then He would say something else. I’m like, “I don’t know where I’m going to find that.” And then another phrase. So this morning I was on a mission to find what He put in my heart. It concerns America.

This whole thing about love… love. When you have that revelation of whose you are and whom you serve and that He’s your father and He is good all the time and faithful, you can live out of that place of such eternal comfort of the Holy Spirit that your heart begins to pour out because it’s the Father’s heart for those around you.

I was reflecting on that because I want more of Him. I want this nation and the souls of men, and that’s love. God, please have mercy on our nation. One thing will save America and it’s not the election and it’s not a wall. It’s an awakening to God. One thing will avail for Israel and the nations. It is an awakening to God. I like this description of what an awakening is. It’s from a book called “Ireland’s Last Heritage.”

“A case could be made for saying that a revival could be described as a visitation of God’s Spirit on God’s people. But an awakening as a time of such intense visitation that both Christian and non-Christian communities are affected. Revivals alter the lives of individuals. Awakenings alter the worldview of a whole people or culture.”

That’s what we’re looking for! That is what we’re calling for. An individual revival for every believer to awaken unto God and then an awakening that affects the whole community.

Then the Lord brought me to the book “Revival Fire” by Wesley Dewell. Throughout the book, he talks about revivals. The revival of 1857 to 1859 which began in the cities and spread to towns, villages, and rural areas. It brought revivals to colleges and schools. For six to eight weeks during the height of the revival, some 50 thousand people were converted weekly. The average for two whole years was ten thousand new converts joining the churches each week. …

Among the daily prayer meetings reported were 150 in parts of Massachusetts, 200 in New York, 60 in New Jersey, 200 in Ohio, 150 in Indiana, 150 in Illinois, 80 in Missouri, 60 in Iowa. Of the 30 million people living in the United States, nearly 2 million were brought to Christ during the revival.

Erika interjected: This is the part that he really wanted to emphasize so that we could expand.

A canopy of holy and awesome revival influence—in the presence of the Holy Spirit—seemed to hang like an irresistible cloud over many parts of the United States, particularly over the eastern seaboard. At times this cloud of the Lord’s presence even seemed to extend out to sea. Those on ships approaching the east coast at times felt a solemn, holy presence even one hundred miles away, without even knowing what was happening in America.

Erika interjected: That’s what our hearts are calling for.

Revival began aboard one ship before it reached the coast. People on board began to feel the presence of God and a sense of their own sinfulness. The Holy Spirit convicted them, and they began to pray. As the ship neared the harbor, the captain signaled, “Send a minister.” Another small commercial ship arrived in port with the captain, and every member of the crew converted in the last 150 miles. Ship after ship arrived with the same story: both passengers and crew were suddenly convicted of sin and turned to Christ before they reached the American coast.

The battleship North Carolina was anchored in New York harbor as a naval receiving ship. More than a thousand young men were on board. Four Christians agreed to meet together for prayer and knelt on the lower deck. The Spirit of God so filled their hearts with joy that they broke into song. Ungodly men on the top deck herd the singing, looked down, and saw the boys kneeling. They began running down the stairs mocking and jeering. The convicting power of the Holy Spirit so gripped them that by the time they reached the bottom deck they fell on their knees and began crying for mercy.

Strong men who were deep in sin were broken down by the Spirit’s power and knelt humbly in penitence and faith. Night after night, the sailors prayed, and hundreds were converted on the ship. Ministers were sent for and they came out from shore to help in the gracious work of the Spirit. The battleship became a mighty center of revival converts of the movement, completing their periods of training were sent out to other navy ships. Wherever they went revival fires were kindled in other naval vessels.

Reports came in of hundreds being converted in meetings, private homes, workshops, and fields. Often the doors of businesses held signs reading, “Closed. Will open at the close of the prayer meeting.” Five prayer meetings took place daily in Washington, DC. Five thousand or so attended daily services in the Academy of Music Hall.

Erika interjected: It goes on but I wanted us to get this again. To stir our hearts.

Because of the bitter tensions of the Civil War and the slavery issue, for a time it seemed that the southern states should not be as powerfully influenced by the revival as the northern ones had been. Others dispute this assumption. An unusually powerful revival broke out among the southern states stationed around Richmond, Virginia, in the autumn. It began in the hospitals among the wounded men and then spread into the camps as these men returned to their duty. Prayer meetings were organized and hundreds converted. The movement spread rapidly throughout the troops in Tennessee and Arkansas. Revival was encouraged by General Robert E. Lee and Thomas J “Stonewall” Jackson, who were well known as devout Christians. By the mid-summer of 1863, the revival had spread through all the Confederate armies and thousands of men had been converted. Chaplains and lay missionaries went out among the troops preaching and distributing tracts and dealing personally with hungry hearts. By the end of the war, at least 150,000 soldiers had been converted, and more than a third of all of the southern troops had become praying men. The revival among the southern troops was primarily a revival of prayer, as the earlier revival in the north had been. While the best estimates are that 6.6 percent of the entire population of the United States was converted during the revival, the percentage among the southern troops was 21 percent.

Erika interjected: Is this helping and encouraging you? Now I want to read from the book “I the Day of thy Power.”

Isaiah 43, “the voice of one that crieth prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low. And the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

These familiar words of Isaiah set forth from yet another aspect the conditions and promise of revival. Firstly, there is the forerunner and his ministry, “The voice of one that crieth.” Secondly, there is the proclamation he makes, heralding the approach of the Sovereign: “The king is coming. Prepare for the king!” Finally, there is the promise that when He comes, the state of the wilderness with its valleys and mountains it’s crooked and rough places shall be transformed; and His glory shall be universally revealed.

Erika interjected: And this is the phrase I knew He wanted us to get to.

It is characteristic of the Old Testament prophets to speak of revival in terms of a divine visitation. “His going forth is sure as the morning,” declared Hosea (6:3). Habakkuk described his vision of revival thus: “God came from Teman, and the holy One from mount Paran … His goings were as of old.”

Erika interjected: God came. That’s the phrase that was resounding in my spirit. God came! When God comes, nobody remembers who the vessel was. Nobody cares who the vessel was. Nobody cares who delivers the message. Nobody cares about anything other than God came. God Himself came. And that’s what we’re looking for. Individually and collectively. God came. Whew!

If a sovereign should decide to visit some of his subjects unannounced, he would not be likely to use the occasion to demonstrate his majesty and glory. On a state visit, however, when he does come forth in royal splendor, it is essential that preparation in keeping with the grandeur of the occasion be made. … Isaiah reminds us when the glory of the Lord is revealed before the eyes of all. Suitable preparations must therefore be made, and first of all, God has to find a man who will communicate to men His intentions. He raises up a herald for the hour of preparation. “Behold, I send My messenger and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple.”

Erika interjected: So in that preparation, there is preparation in the realm of the spirit… Brother Copeland prophesied that a spirit of prayer will come upon the church once again and will not describe the way in which that comes.

Prayed…

But, Father, we’re looking for that. We’re looking for you to raise up men and women who prepare the highway for our God. Those that you’ve called for such a time as this, anointed to proclaim and to preach and to live out the Gospel to be the hands and feet of Jesus everywhere we go, Father. So we’re looking for that. Preparations to be made… men and woman about the Master’s business… putting our hands to the plow and not looking back because we are secure that we don’t have a care… We’re complete in the knowledge of You… You provide for the completion of the task at hand… we trust you… men and women to stand upright… display love and not ashamed of the Gospel… thank You for the privilege of living in the last days to witness the outpouring of Your Spirit… the unwrapping and unveiling of gifts… You gave us the five-fold ministry gifts… a fresh anointing upon them… messages that would piece the heart… equipment to do the work of the ministry… change in the Church… a great awakening in this land…

Erika continued…

Now I want to read to you from the book “Lectures on Revival” by Charles Finney.

“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much,” (James 5:16).

Two types of means are essential for promoting revival: one to influence human beings, the other to influence God. People are influenced by the truth, and God by prayer. When I speak of moving God, keep in mind that I don’t mean that prayer changes God’s mind, disposition, or character. But prayer produces a change in us that makes it fitting for God to do what would not have been fitting otherwise. When a sinner repents, that state of heart makes it proper for God to forgive him. God is always ready to forgive the unbeliever on that condition, so when the unbeliever repents, it requires no change in God to pardon him. The sinner’s repentance renders His forgiveness right, and it is the occasion of God’s acting as he does.

Likewise, when Christians offer prevailing payer, their state of heart makes it fitting for God to answer them. He is always ready to give the blessing on the condition that their hearts are right and they offer the right kind of prayer. Whenever this change takes place in Christians and they offer the proper prayer, then God—without any change in himself—can answer them. When we offer effective, fervent prayer for others, our prayer makes it fitting for God to answer that prayer when it otherwise wouldn’t have been fitting.

Prayer is the essential link in the chain of causes that lead to revival, just as much as truth is. Some Christians zealously use truth to convert non-Christians while giving little place to prayer. With fervor they preach, talk, and distribute tracts, but then wonder why they have so little success. Why? They forgot to use the other part of the means: prayer. They overlooked the fact that truth by itself never produces the effect without the Spirit of God, and that the Spirit is given in answer to earnest prayer.

Sometimes those who are the most busy at preaching truth aren’t the most busy at prayer. This is unfortunate—for unless they or someone else has the spirit of prayer, the truth by itself will do nothing but harden people in unrepentance.

Erika interjected: You see how that ties in with the prophecy by brother Copeland, that we need the spirit of prayer in the church once again.

Prayed…

So we thank You, Father, that You have revealed so many things to us today. We have need in this nation—this nation that was born of You… sustained by You… it has great need of You… there are thousands of believers on fire … but there is yet a multitude that hasn’t seen or known You… You said if we pray for those in authority, that we could lead godly and peaceable lives and the ability of the Gospel to be proclaimed could continue… so we lift before You our leaders in this nation… the President, his family, staff, advisors, cabinet members… we plead the blood over him… no weapon formed against him shall prosper… give him wisdom from the highest kingdom… turn his heart and give him wisdom and insight… the anointing to destroy yokes and remove burdens… we declare this nation one nation under God… we thank You for the five-fold ministry gifts… divine strategy to work together… to take hold of projects by the spirit… we call for the great awakening… the wind of the Holy Spirit to blow across the land… to every state… divine intervention… divine visitation… God come down and step once again into the affairs of this nation… to a greater degree… for the saving of this nation… greater change… turning… advancement and acceleration… turning back those things that are not ordained of you…

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