Prayer Summary for January 5, 2017

Jerre led in worship…

Erika opened with prayer…

You are all we need. You’re everything. God almighty, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Full of grace and wisdom. You are everything. You are love. You are strength, joy unspeakable and full of glory. You are every idea and conception of what we need to succeed.

[quote from The Book of Mysteries by Jonatan Cahn used as a prayer]

It was the “Pentecost” of the college from which they emerged, not a loosely-linked company of consecrated individuals, but a body in the full sense of the term—a living, integrated organism, infused with one life and one purpose. … In the Christmas vacation of 1936 much time was given to prayer. As we approached the new year of 1937 there was an increasing consciousness of God’s presence. The first outward sign that He was working in a new way was when one of the staff broke down in prayer, confessing her sense of need and crying to the Holy Spirit to meet her. Then we heard how the Holy Ghost had so manifested Himself in the glory of His divine person to some of the girl students that they wept before Him for hours—broken at the corruption of their own hearts revealed in the light of His holiness.
An awesome sense of God’s nearness began to steal over the whole college. There was a solemn expectancy. We were reminded of the 120 in the Upper Room before the day of Pentecost. Like them, we only wanted to spend our time “in prayer and supplication”—conscious that God’s hand was upon us—conscious that He was about to do something. God was there; yet, we felt we were still waiting for Him to come. And in the days that followed, He came.

He did not come like a rushing mighty wind. But gradually the person of the Holy Ghost filled all our thoughts, His presence filled all the place, and His light seemed to penetrate all the hidden recesses of our hearts. He was speaking through the director in every meeting, but it was in the quiet of our own rooms that He revealed Himself to many of us.

We felt the Holy Spirit had been a real Person to us before; as far as we knew we had received Him; and some of us had known much of His operations in and through our lives. But now the revelation of His person was so tremendous that all our previous experiences seem as nothing. There was no visible apparition, but He made Himself so real to our spiritual eyes that it was a “face to face” experience. And when we saw Him we knew we had never really seen Him before. We said like Job, “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee; and like him, we cried, “Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

In the light of His purity, it was not so much sin we saw as self. We saw pride and self-motives underlying everything we had ever done. Lust and self-pity were discovered in places where we had never suspected them. And we had to confess we knew nothing of the Holy Ghost as an indwelling person. That our bodies were meant to be the temples of the Holy Ghost we knew, but when He pressed the question, “Who is living in your body?” we could not say that He was. We would have done so once, but now we had seen Hm.

In His nature He was just like Jesus—He would never live for self, but always for others. We were people who had left all to follow the Savior, and had forsaken all we had of this world’s goods to enter a life of faith, and as far as we know we had surrendered our lives entirely to the One who died for us. But He showed us, “There is all the difference in the world between your surrendered life in My hands and Me living My life in your body.”

Why had He manifested Himself to us in this way? He made that quite clear. It was because there was a work to be done in the world today that only He could do (John 16:8). No wonder the Master told His disciples not to move from Jerusalem until they had received “the promise of the Father.” But when He had come, they would be His witnesses “In Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Many of us on the previous March 29 had put our all on the altar for the sake of giving the Gospel to every creature. We had become willing to be any cog in the machinery that God needed to put that through in our generation. But now the Holy Ghost said as Jehovah had said to Moses, “I am come down to do it.” And we knew that He was as almighty as He was holy.

As those days of visitation went on, we were just prostrate at His feet. We had thought here there was some virtue in our surrender: that we, with thousands of others, would be the people to evangelize the world in this generation. But now He had come, and we were out of it—except in so far as our bodies would become the temples in which He would dwell and through which He would work. He said, “I have not come to give you joy, or peace, or victory. I have not come to give you any blessing at all. You will find all that you need in Jesus. But I have come to put You to the cross, so that I may life in your body for the sake of the a lost world. [end quote]

Father, we thank You that we can go beyond where we think we have attained or arrived. As we humble ourselves… as we acknowledge there is more You so graciously come and meet us and reveal Yourself to us. Even as you did to Moses and let all your goodness pass before Him. So Father, as we seek Your face, Your will individually and collectively, we ask that we would be effectual, co-laborers with You in this great operation of God for the saving of the world. We trust You more today than yesterday and with every part of our being. Because You are everything to us.

Erika shared…

That was a prayer in case you didn’t know. As I was preparing for today, there were things I had prepared. I have been on a journey, still am, to bust out of religiosity and tradition and things that were so familiar. I started down this road of reading and doing and just changing up all the familiar. At first it was uncomfortable. Your flesh cleaves to the dust of the earth. That’s what the Bible says. It loves the rigidity of repetition and there is nothing wrong with that. We need boundaries in our lives. But when it turns into a religious experience, when the song means more to you than the Savior, there’s a problem.

We’re so blessed in this nation. We have untold resources available to us for our benefit. Some of those things we need to look at with fresh eyes. Maybe we haven’t even looked at because we’ve been locked down in the way we’ve seen and done before. This is a prayer for the Church of the Living God. We’ve been praying for the Church for a long time in regard to her call and mission. We’ve been praying how the Church impacts this nation and the effect she’ll have and continue to have to be embedded and intertwined in every part of society. That’s the plan of God.

On this journey, there were several things that impacted me. I had prepared some things and this morning the Lord changed it all up. He wanted to articulate it the way He wanted to. He wanted to communicate it in conjunction with the parts that He’s given us. So I’m going to read a couple things. This is a heart cry and a prayer for us individually and for the Church and for the glory of God. He said “I want you to read those things.”

[quote from book entitled The Book of Mysteries by Jonathan Cahn]

The Mission Planet
I had gone with the teacher to the city to do some errands for the school. By the time we started our return journey, it was nightfall. Rather than travel the entire way back in the dark, we decided to sleep overnight on a nearby mountain. We talked late into the evening as we gazed at the darkness of the desert, the light of the city, and the stars in the night sky.

“Every child of God has a calling,” said the teacher, “a mission to fulfill. What do you think is yours?”
“I don’t know, “ I replied. “But I can’t see myself as a missionary.
“Really?” he said. “Do you know who the greatest missionary was? The Messiah.”
“How was He a missionary?”
“His mission was from heaven to earth, from God to man. His mission is the planet. In the book of Hebrews, He is spoken of as the Apostle, meaning to be sent as on a mission. So for Him, the world was not home or the place to live one’s life. The world was the mission field. And so His life on earth was radically different from the lives of others. He didn’t live from the world. He lived to the world. And if Messiah is now in you, what does that mean?”
“The world is no longer our native land… but our mission field?”
“That’s correct.”
“But that could be true for God, because He’s not from this world. But we are.”
“No” said the teacher, “You were from this world. But when you were born again, you were born from above. Therefore, from now on, you must see this world in a new way—not as your home—but as your place of mission. So you are not in this world to become rich or powerful or comfortable. You’re not in this world to get anything from it. You are in this world to give to this world. So you are no longer to live from your circumstances, from your problems, or even from your life. You are now to live to them, from God and to the world. So it’s not a question whether you’re called to be a missionary to the mission field. You already are a missionary, and you’re already in your mission field. So get on with your mission. Bring to the earth the Word, the truth, and the love of God. And live as an agent of heaven on earth, on a mission from God to bring the message of salvation to the natives of this planet—the mission world.”

The Mission: You are already on the mission planet. Start living today not as one at home, but as one sent here on assignment. Fulfill your mission.
John 8:23; 17:16–18; Acts 13:3–5; 2 Cor. 5:20; Heb. 3:1

[end quote]

Erika continued…

That’s a good description of why we’re here and the paradigm that needs to be on the inside of the body of Christ. We’re not to live in the world, but we’re to live from Him and give to the world. It’s not all about our thing. It’s about the mission He has sent us on. I want the body of Christ to come into a greater revelation of this that is our mission. To take our eyes and see what He sees and be what He’s called us to be.

I’ve been thinking much about Moses. He’s kind of like the Church. We know his story. He was a baby and was hidden in a basket and placed on the water and found by Pharaoh’s daughter. He was raised in Pharaoh’s household. When he was older, he saw the plight of his brethren. He was a Hebrew. The Egyptians had put them in bondage and they were tremendously oppressed. Something on the inside got him. He saw a fight and killed a man and the next day he saw a fight happening between two men and they said, “Are you going to kill us too?” Then he feared for his life. He ran away. The body of Christ may be in fear for their lives and want to run away.

Moses ended up running into the desert. He has a wife and is tending his flock. That’s the church. We get married and we tend our flocks, sing our songs. Are you with me? He’s in the wilderness and suddenly he sees a burning bush. “Whoa!”

“The angel of the Lord appeared to him in the flame of fire from the midst of the bush. So he looked and beheld and the bush was burning. But the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, I will not turn aside and see this great sight. Why the bush does not burn. So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses.” He said, “Here am I.” Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face. For he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. (Exodus ch. 3)

[quote from The Book of Mysteries by Jonathan Cahn]

“The I AM of all I AMS”
It was by the second day that I realized that there would be no set time for the teacher’s coming. He came in the afternoon.
“Do you know the name of God?” asked the teacher.
“I don’t know that I do.”
It’s made up of four Hebrew letters, the yud, the heh, the vav, and the heh; YHVH. It’s the most sacred of names, so sacred some refuse to say it. And yet you say it all the time.”
“The sacred name of God?” I replied. “How could I when I never knew it?”
“When you speak of yourself, you say the name.”
“I don’t understand.”
“When you feel happy, you say, ‘I am happy.’ And when you’re not, you say, ‘I am sad.’ When you tell others who you are, you say, ‘I am’ followed by your name. “YHVH means ‘I Am.” It’s the name of the Eternal, the name of God. His name is I Am.
“Then we all say His name.”
“Yes. And you have always said it. It is woven into the fabric of existence that when you speak of yourself, you must say His name.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s because your existence comes from His existence. He is the I Am of all existence … the I Am of all I am’s. Your I am only exists because of His I Am. And as you exist from Him, so it is only from Him that you can find the reason and purpose of your existence. Therefore, when you say your name, you must always speak His name. And you must always speak His name first.”
“Because…”
“Because His existence is first and your existence flows forth from His. That’s the flow of existence. Therefore, you must put Him first and then let everything flow from that. Let everything begin with Him and flow forth from Him. That’s the secret of life. To not only live for Him, but to live your life from Him, to live from His living, to move from His moving, to act from His actions, to feel from His heart, to be from His being, and to become who you are from who he is… I am.”

The Mission: Today, learn the secret of living each moment from His life, doing from His doing, loving from His love, and being from His being.
Exo. 3:14 –15; Acts 17:28

[end quote]
If you would like to purchase The Book of Mysteries by Jonathan Cahn, please contact LW Store online or call 763.315.7015.

Erika continued…

The story of Moses continues on after God told him he was going to bring the people out of Egypt. In Exodus 33:12, Moses said to the Lord, “See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people…” I’m talking about the Church of the living God and her impact in the nation and world. “But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.”

Very early this morning, those words came to me. If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up. I remember years ago, that was up in the old sanctuary of Living Word for a long time. I was brought back to that place again this morning. I could see those letters on that sign at the front of the church. I thought about “the” church. If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from this place.

“For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate [or distinguished] Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth. So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

Prayed…

Father, expressed so clearly today in that which You directed me to pray. This is Your heart, desire and plan for the Church. As we’ve crossed over into a new year, Father, thank You that we get to be in the new year, that we get to have a new beginning of a new year, that some of those things from the past are fallen away and we can step into new. We welcome the new. We welcome change. We welcome the opportunity to seek You in a deeper, more intimate way. We welcome the opportunity to be used by You, to be found in You, to be distinguished among all Your people.

But, Father, You must work a work in each one of us. You must work a work in the Church, that there would be a face-to-face encounter with each and every believer, from the very least to the very greatest ones, Father. Each one would come to that place where we would not just know You by the hearing of the ear, but that we would see You face to face, divine encounters with a divine holy God. We trust you and it is with serious consideration that we come into these first days of a new year. You’ve prophesied by Your prophets that it’s going to be a great year. Tremendous change in the nation and the body of Christ. They are words that come from You. They are words that will create. We’re looking for that. We’ll not walk in the same old path trodden before. We keep our eyes upon You. And our ears open to the smallest inclinations of Your spirit, that we would know how to negotiate and how to navigate and travel in this world we live in. Father, if Your presence does not go with us, take us not up from this place.

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