Prayer Summary for Thursday, January 22, 2015

Mary shared the following excerpt taken from the book entitled For Such a Time as This: Praying in the Last Days by Patsy Cameneti:

Preparing the Way: A Voice in the Wilderness

The first advent of Christ was scheduled and planned before the foundation of the earth. He would first come as a lamb—a Lamb, slain.

The first prophecy in the Bible regarding Jesus’ coming and a work He would accomplish is found in Genesis 3:15. Various aspects of His coming were prophesied from that time on, over a period of many, many years—line upon line, prophecy upon prophecy. Finally, He came in the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4).

We are familiar with the names of those who prophesied about the Messiah, but as the time of Jesus’ birth drew near, we see various characters, not just the prophets, who were involved in Jesus’ coming.

Mary: We see Jesus’ mother, Mary. She was a young woman of grace and character. God’s hand was obviously upon her in order to prepare her for the amazing role of being Jesus’ mother.

Joseph: Then there was Joseph, who did not have any biological part in fathering Jesus, but was handpicked by God to help raise Jesus. Someone else of lesser character could have exploited this young prodigy. When Joseph saw how extraordinary Jesus was, he could have used this boy for his own advantage but did not.

Other Significant People: We see Zechariah and Elizabeth who also had an important part in their old age toward the coming of Jesus. Then there were those who came to see baby Jesus because of signs in the heavens. Following a star, wise men brought significant gifts, and shepherds came to worship after an angelic choir announced Jesus’ birth. Each person who was involved in Jesus’ First Coming had a role to play and a function to perform in preparing the way of the Lord.

Anna and Simeon: There were also people who prayed. We only see a glimpse of Anna and Simeon at the end of their ministry, yet Anna had prayed for many years. She had given her life since she had been widowed, living in the temple, praying for this event to come to pass. We know Simeon also was devoted to prayer in the temple.

The Second Coming of Jesus will also involve many different people whose function will be similar to those we have seen in His First Coming. All these different individuals involved in the First Coming serve as prototypes for the functions of many people leading up to Jesus’ Second Coming.

For example, there are many who fit into a similar function as Anna, devoting their lives to prayer. Years ago, I prayed much for “Anna” and at first wondered who it was I was praying about. While I may have been praying for someone by that name, I later came to believe that I was praying for those people who fit into that role of giving their lives in a ministry of prayer to help bring back the King!

There is one character, however, who warrants a closer look. This character’s role was most unique in the First Coming of Jesus.

The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness

John the Baptist had a ministry and role in the First Coming of Jesus which was of such great importance that Jesus said there was no prophet ever before him who was greater.

With the absence of any recorded miracles (John 10:41), what was it then about John’s ministry that made him stand above the rest, according to Jesus? A prophecy at the time of John’s birth through his father, Zechariah, shows us the importance of John’s ministry and his direct connection to Jesus’ ministry and purpose on earth. “And you, little one, shall be called a prophet of the Most High; for you shall go on before the face of the Lord to make ready His ways” (Luke 1:76 Amp.).

The Greek word for “ways” is hodos, whose primary meaning is “road.” The Good News Bible actually translates it that way: “…You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his road for him” (Luke 1:76 GNB).

In other words, John built a road—a spiritual road which Jesus walked on in ministry. “As it is written in the prophets: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way (road) before you. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way (road) of the Lord; Make his paths straight” (Mark 1:2–3).

Mark was quoting Isaiah, so let’s see what Isaiah had to say about road building: “A voice of one who cries: Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord [clear away the obstacles]; make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God!” (Isaiah 40:3 Amp.).

Highway in Hebrew is mesillaw, which means “thoroughfare” or “turnpike.” This gives the picture of a main highway, like an interstate. “Every valley shall be lifted and filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked and uneven shall be made straight and level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory (majesty and splendor) of the Lord shall be reveled, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it” (Isaiah 40:4,5 Amp.).

Both sets of my grandparents were pioneers in the state of Colorado in the earth 1900s. While he was county commissioner, Grandpa Behrman’s leadership opened the way for travel from Chaffee County to Gunnison County. There had been a trail over Cottonwood Pass, which was impassable by automobile. It had been used by wagon freighters with team and wagon decades before. With difficulty, some cars could make it to the top of the pass but could not proceed farther into the beautiful region beyond.

As a young man, my dad remembers the construction work taking place that opened the pass travelers enjoy today. It was through Grandpa’s vision, perseverance and hard work that approval was obtained for construction to begin. On the day of the grand opening of the road, Grandpa and other dignitaries stood at the top of the pass while Grandpa cut the ribbon.

Road building was a lot more difficult in those days than it is now with all the great equipment. To be sure, the highway to be made for our God cannot and is not built by our might or power, but glory to God, it’s by the Spirit’s might. There is supernatural and divine equipment to do what we need to do in order for the glory of the Lord to be revealed.

Through effective prayer we are building a highway that will give access into particular places for the glory of God to be revealed. Notice Isaiah 40:3 says that preparing a highway for God requires mountains to be removed. Jesus taught us in Mark 11:23–24 how to move mountains by speaking to them.

Mountain removal, however, is only part of highway building according to Isaiah 40:3. There is other work required as well if the road is to be finished. Just as highway building takes time to complete in the natural, spiritual roads take time too. Road construction crews do as much as they can in any one day. The next day they pick it up and do it again and they keep at it until the road is finished and ready for use.

There is a ministry in prayer which is comparable to road building where diligence and persistence are required if the road is ever to be finished. When we lived in Rome, the highways we drove on were built by the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was the first ever to build highways. They knew the shortest distance between two points is a straight line and they set about very purposefully to build these highways. In order to mobilize troops to the region they wanted to conquer, they would first build a road accessing that place. It took a lot of time and energy to make a highway, but in the long run it facilitated their plan. They also used those roads for communication and commerce. The same principle is used in prayer. When Jesus wants to manifest His glory in a place for all to see, He needs a highway. Our voices, lifted in faith, are used not only for receiving blessings for our own selves but also to clear a way for the glory of Jesus to be revealed and ultimately for Him to come again.

You may ask, “How do we know when the road is finished?” Well, it’s when the glory of the Lord is revealed in that destination and all the people there are able to see it!

God is the Master Planner. Before He manifests His presence in a place, He stirs in people’s hearts a need to begin building a road to that place in prayer. He does this by planting a desire in our hearts, His desire, for His glory to be revealed to the people in a particular place. So with a God-given passion, we start praying toward that destination and every time we pray with His direction and power, something happens and progress is made. Just because we don’t get to our destination when we say “amen” the first time, doesn’t mean we stop praying or get discouraged. No! Each time we pray effectively we take and prepare more ground.

Sometimes high and exalted thinking is brought down during times of prayer. Sometimes low things, even people who don’t think they can do anything and are paralyzed by ignorance or intimidation, are brought up. Crooked things—things which aren’t right—are straightened up and rough things are made smooth. We keep praying as the Holy Spirit directs us until the road reaches that destination, and the glory of the Lord is revealed in that place, and all flesh can see it together. Through effective prayer, we actually make the road on which the glory of God will travel.

While we are thrilled with testimonies of God’s glory being manifested in cities, regions, and nations, we must bear in mind that those manifestations of God’s glorious presence and power didn’t “just happen.” There was preparation. The greater the glory, the greater the preparation. Without fail, each testimony has had pioneer road teams that diligently and persistently prayed. Over the years, I’ve been a part of road teams that built roads to where the glory of the Lord was revealed. Road building for the manifestation of God’s glory is one of the greatest privileges I have known in my life. The majority of road work is not done in front of the people it will affect. It is done only before God and for His glory!

We know generally that God wants to manifest His love and glory to all people and accomplish mighty works for them. But the roads to reach those people are not just general. If you want to go to a particular place, you must travel on a specific road; not just “any old road” will get you there. There are many different areas within nations to which God wants access. For instance, there’s the business world, the legal and political arenas, and education, just to name a few.

There are specific roads which need to be built in specific areas by people who have been stirred by God with compassion. For example, there is a church Tony and I are closely connected to. The pastors were moved by compassion years ago to start praying for specific groups of people. They don’t just pray for souls generally, but they target musicians, sports figures, people within the entertainment field, as well as specific nations. They have been diligent over the years to build in prayer the very roads which they themselves and others are now walking on in order to minister to the people they prayed for.

While there is an important truth to “…come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean…” (2 Cor. 6:17), it must be interpreted within a wider truth. We are not to love the world in the way that we eat of it to satisfy our lives. It is impossible to eat of darkness and then bear fruit of light.

Darkness, however, is doomed to remain dark unless light is brought in. To evacuate the fields of education, politics, entertainment and business because of the fear of defilement is to give unhindered access of those areas to the devil for his purposes. If we don’t occupy and put down roots, something else will (Luke 19:13; 2 Chron. 28)!

One of the last things Jesus said for us to do was to GO into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). Of course, we want to see the glory manifest in our churches, but God wants the whole earth to be filled with the knowledge of His glory as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14).

The Holy Spirit has been stirring the Church with the desire to access the places which are void of the glory of God. But desire alone will not get the job done. John the Baptist prophesied as “one crying in the wilderness.” He used his voice to bring mountains down and bring low places up. His voice straightened up crooked things and smoothed out the rough places. Our voices, like John’s serve as a tool empowered by the Holy Spirit to prepare a road for Jesus and His ministry.

Just as the roles of people like Anna and Simeon will be reflected in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus, this ministry of John will also be mirrored in those who are involved in preparing the way of the Lord in these final days.

If you would like to purchase this book, please contact LW Store online or call 763-315-7015.

Mary shared…

Every time we come together, we believe we’re led of the Holy Ghost to pray out what He would have us to pray. That’s part of the preparation. Amen? We are definitely living in the last days and we need more of God to fall in our churches and our nations and our cities and across the world. We need God’s people, the one that He’s appointed and called to rise up. We’re all part of the body of Christ and we all have a piece of the puzzle, of the plan of God. Every one in his/her place, doing what He’s called them to do. No big “I” and no little “u.” We all have a piece and are a part of the preparation of the way of the Lord.

Pastor Ray shared…

I like the picture of each one of us being a piece of road construction equipment. We all have a part to play in it but we’re not playing. We’re working. It’s all a process, but we stay at it. The Spirit of the Lord helps us keep on going whether we see anything in the natural or not, but we’re led by His Spirit and He puts within us, we’re like the Ever Ready bunny, pray-ers that just keep on praying because that’s what the Word said. I’ve heard different ministers say that about prayer. Just pray, keep on praying and keep on praying. Pastor Mac says, “If you don’t quit” what happens? You win!

I wanted to read something as a testimony for someone that prayed and opened up a road for the Holy Ghost to come forth in a region, a whole city. It is Maria Woodworth-Etter.

Pastor Ray shared the following excerpt from the book entitled, The Seer by Jim W. Goll:

“Maria Woodworth-Etter was a powerful evangelist and revival leader of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Wherever she went, the power of God fell: people were slain in the Spirit, saw visions, received revelation, and were converted by the thousands. Her book, Signs and Wonders, her personal account of the first 40 years of her ministry, contains perhaps some of the most insightful and incredible material that has ever been written on the arena of trances and supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The account that follows took place in January of 1885, and is only one of the many amazing displays of God’s sovereign power recorded in her book.

“The church was cold and formal, and many of the best citizens had drifted into skepticism. I knew that it would take a wonderful display of God’s power to convince the people, so I prayed for God to display His power, that the sinner might know that God still lives, and that there is a reality in religion, and might convict him of a terrible judgment. Five of the leading members of the church said they would unite with me in prayer for the Lord to pour out the power from on high, till the city would be shaken, and the country, for miles around. We prayed that Christians and sinners might fall as dead men; that the slain of the Lord might be many. The Lord answered our prayers in a remarkable manner.

“The class leader’s little boy fell under the power of God first. He rose up, stepped on the pulpit, and began to talk with the wisdom and power of God. His father began to shout, and to praise the Lord. As the little fellow exhorted and asked the people to come to Christ they began to weep all over the house. Some shouted; others fell prostrated. Divers operations of the Spirit was soon. The displays of the power of God continued to increase till we closed the meeting, which lasted about five weeks. The power of the Lord, like the wind, swept all over the city, up one street and down another, sweeping through the places of business, the workshops, saloons and dives, arresting sinners of all classes. The Scriptures were fulfilled. The wicked flee when no man pursueth. Men, women and children were struck down in their homes, in their places of business, on the highways, and lay as dead. They had wonderful visions and rose converted, giving glory to God. When they told what they had seen their faces shown like angels. “The fear of god fell upon the city.” The police said they never saw such a change; that they had nothing to do. They said they made no arrests; and that the power of God seemed to preserve the city. A spirit of love rested all over the city. There was no fighting, no swearing on the streets; that the people moved softly, and that there seemed to be a spirit of love and kindness among all the classes, as if they felt they were in the presence of God.

“A merchant fell in a trance in his home and lay several hours. Hundreds went in to look at him. He had a vision, and a message for the church. The Lord showed him the condition of many of the members. He told part of his vision, but refused to deliver the message to the church. He was struck dumb. He could not speak a word because he refused to tell what the Lord warned him; the Lord showed him he would never speak till he delivered the message. He rose to his feet, weeping, to tell the vision. God loosed his tongue. Those present knew he had been dumb, and when he began to talk and tell his experience it had a wonderful effect on the church and sinners.

“One night there was a party seventeen miles from the city. Some of the young ladies thought they would have some fun; they began to mimic and act out the trance. The Lord struck some of them down. They lay there as if they had been shot. Their fun making was soon turned into a prayer-meeting, and cries of mercy were heard. The people came to the meeting in sleigh loads many miles. One night while a sleigh load of men and women were going to the meeting they were jesting about the trances. They made the remark to each other that they were going in a trance that night. Before the meeting closed all who had been making fun were struck down by the power of God and lay like dead people, and had to be taken home in the sleigh in that condition. Those who came with them were very much frightened when they saw them lying there, and they told how they had been making fun of the power of God on the way to the meeting. Scoffers and mockers were stricken down in all parts of the house.

“One man was mocking a woman of whose body God had taken control. She was preaching with gestures. When in that mocking attitude God struck him dumb. He became rigid and remained with his hands up, and his mouth drawn in that mocking way for five hours, a gazing-stock for all in the house. The fear of God fell on all. They saw that it was a fearful thing to mock God or make fun of His work. Surely, the Lord worked in a wonderful way in this meeting. The postmaster was converted. All classes from the roughs and the toughs to the tallest cedars and brightest talents of the city were brought into the fold of Christ. We took the meeting to the opera house and it would not hold the crowds, so great was the awakening among the people.”

If you would like to purchase this book, please contact LW Store online or call 763-315-7015.

Prayed…

Thank You so much for the ministry of Your precious Holy Spirit
Thank You for the power of Your Holy Spirit
Thank You for what you’ve called each one of us to do
Thank You, Father, for the gifts and callings that You put inside
We believe they will not hide, but they’ll come forth
Thank You, Father, for an absolute boldness in the body of Christ today
Thank You for increase, a spirit of prayer that would begin to unfold everywhere
That the body of Christ would begin to see that it’s in our connection with You that brings about great liberty
It also brings strength and determination to see what You said would come to pass
The former and the latter rains together
That Your glory would manifest and fall over the earth
We can break through and press through that
We will walk beyond that and pursue higher than that
It has to be moved out and away
Don’t stay down, but separate from it
Use the blood of the Lamb for separation from it
More and more, piece by piece, step by step and taking it in the right way
Clear it out, pushing it away, pushing it aside
Momentum, picking up the pace and staying in the race
Accelerate
There is a way, there is a plan, there is a call, there is a step
Like a hammer, just piece by piece moving ahead, using what we’ve been given
The power of the Holy Spirit
We clear that out, we cut through and make a way through
Taking our places and use what we’ve been given
Territories—it’s land, taking it by faith but taking it by forth
Calling it forth, not missing one part to it

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