Annie led group in worship…
Pastor Ken…
Good morning. Welcome everybody. Welcome those of you online streaming from all points on the compass.
This morning, I just want to share a couple of thoughts here just to set us up for prayer this morning. As I backed out of my driveway this morning, I realized I’ve been performing a bit of an experiment in my yard. Because my driveway kind of splits my yard kind of splits down the middle. On one side, it’s green and lush and growing and blooming and producing. On the other side, not so much. And with the lack of rain we’ve had here in Minnesota, it’s really stark where you’ve irrigated and watered and where you haven’t.
I know a lot of places around the nation have experienced drought like we’re experiencing here. And I just was thinking about that and seeing that as a word picture for prayer. Again, I like word pictures. I like to visualize… that just helps me. God speaks to me through that. And it just reminded me of a really important and central truth about prayer, that is the prayer pours forth water onto dry ground. And I thought of this as we were worshiping here. This verse is in Isaiah 44:3: “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty.”
Anybody thirsty here this morning? Now, I’m thirsty. I’m hungry. I am desirous of God. “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour forth my spirit upon your offspring and my blessing upon your descendants.”
Now get this. Verse four could be overlooked. It says, “And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.”
Notice that something is springing up, something is flourishing. Something is germinating. Something is blooming. Something is progressing, something is transpiring. Something is manifesting if you will, in and of God where He pours forth water on dry ground, where there’s a river, where there’s a drawing forth from the well within. And that’s key. That’s what we’re doing here. We’re pouring forth water on the dry ground … of your life, of the church, whatever church you attend, upon the dry ground of our nation. And upon the plans of God that oftentimes lay dormant maybe, or latent for years until the Church responds to the call to pray. Remember, God has chosen to partner with human agencies, chosen to partner with us in the affairs and in the purposes that He has for humankind, for nations, for churches, for families, for individuals. He partners and cooperates, He connects with us. He’s got the plan. He’s got the purposes. He’s got the resources. He’s got the timing all down. He knows exactly what needs to happen, but He needs us to connect and draw forth from the well within each of us.
How many of you know you have a well on the inside of you? It reminds me of another important truth we see over in the Old Testament where in Genesis 26:17–18, it says, “And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.” Isaac renamed them again according to what his father had named them. And there’s a lot of interesting truth here, but in regards to prayer and us individually and collectively, this is a reminder that the enemy is always operating and working to clog up our wells. In fact, in ancient times it was a strategic thing for military, for competing and warring factions in cities and nations, to find the wells that their enemies use to irrigate land, to draw water from, to take care of their families or their crops, their cattle, et cetera. And they would oftentimes, find ways to clog up, to fill up those wells so that they couldn’t use them. Because no water, no life. Sometimes they even throw a dead animal to the bottom to contaminate the water so they couldn’t use it. And, the enemy knows that you have a well on the inside of us, right? In fact, Jesus, one day kind of in a way, definitely fulfilling prophecy in John 7:37. You probably know this. I could read this every day and I not get tired of it because it’s the Word of God, right? It says this, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried…” By the way, the feast of Tabernacles, a.k.a. the feast of booths, was a celebration and a remembrance of what God did in the wilderness. When He, through Moses, led that epic Exodus out of Egypt, out of a land that had water, the great Nile, that sustained the Egyptians and the Israelites who were in bondage and drew them out into the desert where there was no water and no sustenance. Yet God had a way to sustain them right in the middle of the most inhospitable place on the earth. And He did so by Moses striking that rock. And you think that’s a cute little water feature God created in the desert that Moses struck. And it probably was like a little bumbling brook, so quaint, so cute. But in reality, if you read in context in scripture, it was a mighty river that God brought forth from Iraq. I’ve actually seen what some archeologists think could be the place in the desert there in the Middle East, where Moses struck the rock. It’s not a little rock. It’s a rock three to four stories high. The reason they think that is because they see erosion on this particular rock. There’s a picture on the Internet. I don’t know how valid, but there’s some well known people and archeologists and Bible scholars that believe that this could be the spot where it actually happened. There’s this large rock in the middle of the desert. It kind of jets up from the landscape that has water erosion that is vertical. And it’s quite an impressive rock. And it must’ve have been because the water that must have poured forth needed to nourish and refresh and give drink to 2 million some plus people, plus cattle and animals. I mean, we’re not talking like a little Elm Creek or something here. We’re talking about perhaps a Mississippi. God is far greater. We’re going to get to heaven to just realize, “Why was I so restricted and so small in my thinking.” “Why were my prayers so little and limited.” God’s trying to, in this hour, to get us out of our boxes of indoctrination and preconceived ideas and help us to see that He is the God of more than enough. in the spirit and in the natural. He is the God who is perpetually and daily beckoning us to ask, to knock, and to keep asking and seeking and knocking. Because when you read that in Matthew where it says that, it’s in the continuous presence sense. In other words, continue not just when your needs are met and you feel like you’ve got enough now. No, God has great intentions for the whole earth. He died for all of humanity. He was struck like that rock in the desert so that He would pour forth, Jesus that is, so that He would pour forth in abundance, a deluge. Amen. So that not only would He give refreshing to our souls, but carry away… I’m thinking of images I’m seeing because there are some places that are experiencing floods, Germany, for example. China recently. And you see like things being carried away, houses and cars. And of course in that situation, it’s destructive. But this flood that God wants to pour forth, not only is to refresh and bring life and germinate new things in this hour and in and through the Church, but He also will use it to carry away stuff that is clung to us. That is just unnecessary. That needs to be cleansed from our lives and will bring freedom and joy and refreshing.
But in John it says “on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles,” Bible scholars believer Jesus was stood up in the temple. And in fact, in that moment, there was much commotion and celebration and even chanting of Psalms perhaps by the people that were there on that day. So there was just this worship setting. And then Jesus just kind of steps up and just separates what was going on. He stands up and prophetically presents Himself and prophetically… it’s kind of an epic scene. It would be a really great movie scene. He says on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying if anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me as the scripture has said,” going back to what we just read and Isaiah right, “out of his heart will flow rivers…” plural! “Of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the spirit whom those believing in Him would receive the Holy Spirit. For the holy spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.
In Isaiah 58:11, it says the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in drought. Just like He did the children of Israel, right. Right in the middle of drought. When you’re where you need to be, when you’re drawing forth from your well, when you’re daily engaging in an uncluttering and opening up the well on the inside of you, then there is ample supply. Hallelujah. And really, I could say that God is saying this morning it’s time to re-dig our wells. Just like, Isaac said, it’s time to re-dig our wells. But the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in drought and strengthen your bones. You shall be… going back to my leaving my, my yard today… you shall be like a well-watered garden. And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
It’s so striking to me, as I left my yard today, how one side of my yard is just lush and green and beautiful. And there’s flowers, blooming, things are growing and thriving and rising every day. On the other side, not only is it brown and parched and the soil is impervious, but I noticed last night that there are some weeds cropping up because weeds are opportunistic. They grow where nothing else is growing. Another reason why we want to have a continuous flow because the enemy is opportunistic. He tries to come in and grow where nothing else is. And God has created us as a people to be fruitful all the days of our lives. Productive. Amen. In the spirit, first and foremost, at our most highest calling, which is prayer … and prayer really stems from simply communion and connection and relationship with Him. We were created for connection.
In Isaiah 12:3, it says “therefore with joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” You will draw on the inside from your well and pour forth. And really it’s as each of us and as a community we begin to draw, that rivers and streams begin to emerge and begin to flow. And they begin to coalesce and come together to a mighty move of God. There’ve been numerous moves of God, revivals, awakenings, powerful displays of God’s glory and His goodness that have happened simply because people repented, turned, their hearts and began to seek God and pray.
I’m thinking of the prayer street revivals of the early 1800s, where just a few people got together and began to pray. And within a matter of weeks, hundreds of people began in New York City in different places especially on the east coast to begin with, began to come together almost spontaneously to pray. How many of you know God is speaking to us now? And He’s expecting and anticipating that we’re going to pick up on what He’s saying.
Reminds me of that story of back in the great depression where this company needed to hire somebody for a particular job. And a lot of people were out of work at the time. A lot of people were in a handout lines and soup lines in the great depression. And, this one company and this one particular manager needed to hire somebody. And, and so they put on an ad and hundreds of people showed up in the line of people that wanted to be interviewed, stretched around the block and for blocks, literally. And so this manager and his assistant began the process of interviewing them one by one. As people stepped up and into his office. Finally, all of a sudden, all these people in this line saw this one man from almost to the back of the line sprint down the block and up the stairs and into the office of this manager of this company who is wanting to hire somebody. And, as he stepped in, the manager says “You’re hired. You’ve got the job,” Right on the spot! Just stopped interviewing the person that was there and hired this guy who sprinted into his office. It’s like he heard something that nobody else heard. Because he did. Because what they were hiring for was a Telegraph operator. They needed somebody to do that. And so they telegraphed… I don’t know, did something Morse coded something or whatever. I can’t remember exactly what it was. And that man was the only man in the line of hundreds of people who heard and interpreted what they had tapped out. Whatever they were transmitting. Which was, “If you can hear this, come to my office at once. You’ve got the job.” That was the only man that heard it. And of course that made the whole interview and hiring process really simple.
And you’re like what does that have to do with prayer? I don’t know. I just was thinking, you know, I feel like that’s what God is doing. He’s tapping out. He’s sending code. He’s sending a message in the loudness of pop culture or media or the distractions of our day, but down on the inside of us, He has a plan. Down on the inside of us, as we draw… as rivers flow, you will hear and you will sense and you will be prompted and you will be moved along. And even orchestrated in your daily affairs and your prayers and your prayer life as God whispers gently, lovingly, quietly in the stillness of you waiting upon Him. Amen.
Because He’s in that still small voice. And maybe that maybe that inspires somebody. If I’ll wait on God, if I’ll rest in His presence… glory to God. I realize that’s what He wants us to do. He wants us to rest and just trust. Just go with His flow. But you’ve got to get into the flow. You got to give Him your time. You’ve got to spend time just drawing. Not necessarily trying to figure it all out or properly pray exactly the way you think you need to pray. Just letting Him move. We’re just welcoming His presence. He loves it when we talk about Him and when we share His Word. Because he is ultimately spirit and life. Ultimately, He is the Word of God that was sent to heal. Ultimately, He is the river, the well, the waters that the world needs… that we need every day. Not just once when we got saved, but every day. We never grow too old to stop needing the gospel, to stop needing the words of Christ because they are life. They are nourishment. Even as pray-ers, God wants to refresh our souls continually.
Prayer…
Thank you, Jesus.
Today we just call for that in Jesus’ name … for just as we read in Isaiah, for water to be poured forth… our hearts and our lives, Lord, we need to be refreshed.
And we know that you ever live to minister to touch our hearts, to change us, to prepare us to do surgery in us, to expand.
We pray for a greater opening in the Church at large, in the body of Christ for you to pour forth water on thirsty ground, in all kinds of churches, in all kinds of communities, whether they be house churches or mega churches, whether they be Baptist or Presbyterian or Catholic or Pentecostal Assemblies of God, whatever the case is today, Lord, we come together as a community and we pray for those rivers to coalesce and flow in a greater way.
We come together to call forth water, to be poured forth and on the ground of human hearts that are broken and hurting and despondent and dejected and devastated in some cases and detached from the household of faith.
Water on the thirsty, dry drought stricken ground of churches, and dead communities who don’t even know what to do anymore.
We pray for a Holy Ghost stirring and an agitation that begins to move things and shake things and cause rivers to emerge right in the middle of the most desert of environments …
Rivers, rivers, rivers… in hearts, in lives, in households. I see rivers breaking forth like wells and springs emerging from the inside of people.
I declare that there’s a breaking forth just like a breaking up of the fountains of the old ancient times.
We just declare a breaking up in the places… where we’ve experienced the most trouble, where we’ve been hurt the most, where we’ve gone through trauma, where we thought God could not get anything good out of that.
The Lord would say and we would pray, God will use the impossible. He will use the broken. He’s going to use those hardened places of our hearts that have been hardened and impervious to His Word and His plan perhaps for years… He is breaking forth and causing streams to arise and flow in our hearts, between people groups, between communities… between churches … in nations today, in places that we would not expect… God is going to surprise us. God is on the move to show forth His glory to wow us. And to cause us to see that we’ve been thinking too small.
We pray for the combination of supplies and rivers… It must come together. We pray for a combination of purposes and plans and intents of your heart coalescing in this hour, like a recipe for revival, like a recipe for awakening, like a recipe that brings forth seeds that have been dormant perhaps for centuries…
We pray for water to be poured for spiritually.
The church in China today… much of it is underground, but we lift up China today, Father… all those precious hearts and precious people in that grade and ancient land… we just lift it up to you And we start by lifting up missionaries and pastors and leaders and people of little house churches underground, hidden up in Mongolia, down in Beijing and its suburbs… into Hong Kong… in the Eastern part… where there are Jewish people in Eastern China… Jewish Chinese, we lift them up to you today…
We pray for open doors for those leaders and church planters and pray-ers and people who have a heart, whether they’re from another land or whether they live there today… we call for refreshing rain upon their hearts, upon their families, upon their finances, upon their ministries, upon their works, upon the people you’ve called them to reach. We send out a supply … send out resources and we send out what’s needed from this place today. We just target the land of China up along the eastern side there, along the sea… into Mongolia near the near the mountains of Mount Everest… down to the south Pacific south sea… opening up, opening up, opening up. It doesn’t matter what the communist government is saying or doing. We say, God will have His way…
We declare that the plan of God will flourish and thrive and advance in the land of China.
We pray for a great reaping of God by the Spirit, by the laborers you set forth, Lord.
I’m seeing tropical places in the southern reaches of China down further into Micronesia and Indonesia. Japan, Korea, south and North Korea… all the far-flung islands… The places that are unreached … people in the Philippines …
