Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Heather…
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to prayer this morning. Thanks for joining us. My name is Heather Sibinski. I’m one of the pastors here at Living Word, and I’m so glad you came today.
I wanted to start out reading a little bit from a book. Pastor Lynne read a little excerpt yesterday when we were praying for Minneapolis. So I thought it’d be good to bring that into today because we are believing for revival, right? Not just at Living Word, but in our nation, in our state, in our communities. We’re believing for revival. And I know revival is an overused word but believing for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, believing for an awakening in our churches and in our nation.
Excerpt from book, “Father Nash: A Guest Lecture on Prevailing Intercession” by Dr. Vince Rizzo
And so this book is called “Father Nash: A Guest Lecture on Prevailing Intercession” by Dr. Vince Rizzo. And he wrote it kind of like a guest lecture. He took all the teachings of Father Nash, and he pulled it together into a book, so it’s like Father Nash is talking to you.
Who Father Nash was…
Father Nash was an intercessor back in the day. He was like Charles Finney’s intercessor. He would go to places before Charles Finney would go there, and he would pray before Charles would go to speak. So it was like they worked together.
Being an intercessor is not a glamorous job…
And so those of you that tune in, usually you’re here because you’re a pray-er. You have a heart to pray. You have a heart to intercede. And it’s not always the glamorous part. You don’t always get to have a microphone, get to be on a pulpit, but it’s a crucial part because it’s like the plowing up of the ground before the Word is sown. Before the preacher gets the microphone in his hand, there’s people praying. And that’s what’s making the difference in the supernatural.
So this book so far, I’m only about halfway through it, but it’s really good. And I thought I’d just read a little bit today to kind of light our lamps a bit, give us a little oil for today to get us fired up.
He starts out in the intro saying…
“They didn’t invite me to the platform. I wasn’t the one preaching to the crowds or shaking the cities with fiery sermons. My name was not printed on the notices, nor did I stand in the spotlight. But I assure you, heaven knew my name. I was the man groaning on the floor, two floors above the meeting. I was the sound you heard in the stillness before the heavens opened. I was the one who travailed until the heavens thundered and the demons screamed. I was the midwife to revival and the womb of awakening was soaked with prayer.
“I was not Charles Finney’s assistance—I was his intercessor…“
“When Charles Finney preached, fire fell. But I assure you, the match had already been struck in the prayer chamber. My knees broke the ground before his voice did. My tears watered the soil of the souls before he ever saw their faces. I was not his assistant. I was his intercessor. And I have come in this hour, yes, this exact moment in history, to speak to those who feel hidden, overlooked, passed by, to those who are tired of shallow altars and powerless gatherings, to those who have felt the tug of God to weep in secret, fast in silence, and shake the unseen realm. You are not weak. You are dangerous.
Revival starts in the secret place…
“Revival never starts in the sanctuary. It starts in the secret place. It erupts from groaning rooms. It is born on the bathroom floor at three a.m. It flows from the agony of divine burden and the joy of answered travail. And the reason we’ve seen so many shallow flames in recent years is because the furnace of intercession has gone cold.
I’m going to teach you how to wrestle in the spirit…
“Well, I’m here to fan the flame again. In the chapters ahead, I will teach you what it means to prevail in prayer, not just to pray cute prayers, but to wrestle in the spirit until heaven invades earth. I will teach you how to pray until demons flee cities, until entire regions come under conviction, until the very air feels charged with glory.
“You don’t need a stage to shake the nations. You need a room, a corner, a mat, a mandate. If you’re willing to lose your reputation to gain God’s attention, if you’re willing to bleed in intercession so others can be birthed into the kingdom, then welcome, intercessor. You’re in the right place. Let’s go underground so revival can erupt above ground.”
I’m just going to read a little bit from the first chapter here: “The Hidden Furnace Behind the Fire”
“You don’t need a pulpit to carry revival, you need a burden. And I carried one so heavy it bent me low more times than I could count. While others sought to stand before men, I sought a place to kneel before God. It was there in the hidden rooms and quiet hours that I learned how heaven responds to groaning intercession. I did not envy the crowds; I longed for the presence. I learned early that if the presence did not come first, the people would leave unchanged. What good is a sermon if it has not first been forged in the secret place? There is a fire that men see, and there is a furnace that only heaven witnesses. The fire may draw the crowds, but the furnace births the fire.
You must endure the furnace before God…
“Many desire to carry revival in public, but few are willing to be forged in private. Yet it is in that unseen place, on your face before God with no audience but Him that authority is formed. It is there that your voice is purified, your motives are stripped, and your spirit is aligned with heaven’s will. If you would carry fire before men, you must first endure the furnace before God.
Intercession is a calling…
“Intercession is not a task. It is a calling to pour yourself out before God so others may be transformed in His presence. If Finney was the voice heard in public, I was the cry released in private. My place was not before the people, but before the Lord. There were moments when I would pray until strength left my body. Times when the burden grew so heavy that words could no longer carry it. Only groaning remained, only travail, only a deep cry from within that reached beyond language.
Victory is secured in the hour of obscurity…
“And yet, when the meetings began, something had already shifted. Hearts softened, resistance weakened, conviction fell, not because of what was spoken, but because of what had already been secured. Do you see it? The victory is not won in the moment of visibility. It is secured in the hour of obscurity. What is shaken in public is first broken in secret. If you would see the power released before men, you must first learn to prevail before God. And now I speak to you…
To the one who feels unseen
To the one who has been drawn to the quiet place
To the one who has felt the weight of something deeper than words can express
“You are not overlooked. You are being entrusted. There is a glory in the hidden life that few discover. It is the joy of being known by heaven, even when unknown on earth. It is the strength that comes from communion, not recognition. It is the deep assurance that your life is aligned with eternity, even when no one else sees it. Do not despise the hidden place.
It is there that your identity is secured.
It is there that your authority is formed.
It is there that your reward is established.
Heaven rewards what is hidden…
“Men may celebrate what is seen, but heaven rewards what is hidden. And when eternity reveals what was accomplished in secret, you will find that nothing was wasted. Every tear, every groan, every moment spent before God was building something far greater than you could see. Revival does not begin in the gathering. It begins in the secret place. It is born in surrender, carried in prayer, and released in power.
Steps for a life of intercession…
“If you would step into this calling you must embrace the unseen life.
Find your place.
Establish a consistent place where you meet with God.
Let it become sacred ground where burdens are carried and heaven is engaged.
Stay until something shifts.
Do not rush the process.
Remain in prayer until you sense release, peace, or breakthrough.
Lay down recognition.
Refuse the need to be seen.
Let your reward be that God has heard you.
Carry what He has given you.
When the burden comes, do not resist it.
Embrace it.
Steward it.
And pray it through.
Return again and again.
This is a lifestyle…
This is not a moment. It is a lifestyle. The hidden place must become your dwelling. During the height of Charles Finney’s revivals, many assumed the power came from his preaching alone. But Finney himself testified that when Daniel Nash was present in a city ahead of him, the spiritual atmosphere was already broken open. Finney once remarked that when Nash was praying, the meetings would be marked by deep conviction and unusual response. But when Nash was absent, the same level of breakthrough was often missing. The difference was not the sermon. It was the intercession. What men celebrated publicly had already been secured privately.”
Then it says…
“Here’s the activation prayer, birth the revival in me.
Prayer…
“Father of glory, I come to you not seeking recognition but seeking you. Draw me into the hidden place. Teach me to love the secret life of prayer. Let me value your presence above the praise of men. Break every desire in me that longs to be seen and replace it with a hunger to be known by you. Place your burden upon my heart. Trust me with what matters to you. Teach me to carry it in faithfulness, to pray until it is released, and to remain until your will is established. Make me an intercessor who labors in secret so that your power may be revealed in the open. Let my life become a vessel through which heaven moves. Use my prayers to prepare the way. Use my surrender to birth revival. Use my hidden obedience to shake what must be shaken. I say yes to the unseen life. I say yes to the burden. I say yes to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Pastor Heather comments…
And there’s more good stuff if you want to get that book. Again, for those of you, if you’re just tuning in, I’m reading from Father Nash: Guest Lecturer on Prevailing Intercession” by Dr. Vince Rizzo.
