Several months ago I read an old newsletter by David Wilkerson in which he shared some of the story of going back to New York City in the late 1980s and beginning Times Square Church. In the article Pastor Dave told how he stood across the street from the building they were considering for the church and prayed a prayer that intrigued me: “Lord, send in the hornets!” I can honestly say that I had never heard that statement used in a prayer.
I did not spend much time thinking about it; I just tucked the unusual prayer away in my mind with the thought, “One of these days I’ll find out what that means.”
A few days ago I was reading in Joshua and came across this: “I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you . . .” (Joshua 24:12). Well, that did it. I knew I had to take a good look and see what this was all about.
God uses hornets? I quickly found that there are only three references to hornets in the Bible. There is the passage in Joshua, then Exodus 23:28-30 and Deuteronomy 7:20-23. These three portions of Scripture provide some wonderful insights into the way God assists us in taking possession of our destiny.
I really don’t know if the word hornet as it is used in these passages is referring to a literal wasp-like stinging insect or if it is being used metaphorically to refer to fear, terror or plagues that God has used on other enemies of Israel. Frankly, it does not matter at all and is not worth my getting overly concerned about. Whatever method God uses, it works.
When you take time to look at the three passages I have listed above, you will see a very interesting picture of how God prepares the territory that He wants us to possess and how He gives us time to “occupy” our new possession.
Allow me to make a few key points from these passages:
1. The battle is the Lord’s and He sends in the advance troops (the hornets) to begin driving out the enemy (see Exodus 23:28).
2. The advance force will find and destroy those pockets of the enemy who hide themselves from plain view, the ones we would probably miss in our rush to secure the territory (see Deuteronomy 7:20).
3. The third is a very key point for us to learn about possessing our territories, wherever and whatever they may be, and so I will elaborate a bit.
“And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you” (Deuteronomy 7:22). “Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land” (Exodus 23:30).
The cultural mindset of the American church is that we are to step out in faith and take possession of all that God has for us. So we do that, expecting to achieve full results—right now! After all, we are American/Canadian believers, aren’t we? We are the best of the best, the wisest of the wise. Isn’t that what you see on Christian television?
But God’s Word says, “You will get your full inheritance when you have increased!” (Exodus 23:30). It is imperative that we understand what the word “increase” means.
In the original language increase means to be fruitful, to bear fruit, to grow. What the Lord is saying to His people is that before we can advance, there must be a settling where roots go down and plants begin to grow and show fruitfulness. When increase is being seen in one portion, then advance can take place into others.
There is a powerful parallel between what we have been looking at in these passages and the truth that Jesus taught in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 and Luke 19. Simply put, the parable tells the story of a businessman/landowner. Before leaving on a trip he gave responsibilities to three employees. He instructed them to do their best with what he had entrusted to them and make a profit. When he returned, he found that two of the employees had indeed been industrious, done their best and returned what he had given them with the profits they had earned. To those two he made the same exact statement: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21, also Luke 19:17).
God will only clear ground for further expansion by sending in another wave of hornets when He sees that we are being fruitful with the territory already given to us. No increase/fruitfulness, no expansion.
How about you? Are you ready to pray for another wave of hornets? Do not be afraid—because they are not going to sting you. No! They are going to clear out new territory for you to possess!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
THE JOURNEY IS TOO GREAT FOR YOU!
Elijah had two incredible victories on Mount Carmel. First was the great battle between Elijah, empowered by the Spirit of the Lord, and the prophets of Baal and Asherah. Demonic activity abounded but the fire of God fell and a great victory was won. The second victory followed quickly after the first as Elijah entered into intercessory prayer and the drought of three years was broken.
1 Kings 18:46 says the hand of the Lord (an indirect reference to the Holy Spirit) came upon Elijah and he was so energized that he outran Ahab’s horse-drawn chariot on the way to Jezreel. Elijah was so supernaturally strengthened by “the hand of the Lord” after these great victories that he surpassed Ahab’s horses over a twenty-five-mile distance. The brother was pumped!
At Jezreel, the strangest thing happened. Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife, sent a threatening message to Elijah: “By this time tomorrow, Elijah, I will see to it that you are dead!” (see 1 Kings 19:2). Elijah, who had just seen God bring about two incredible victories, reacted in fear and ran for his life (v. 3). On the other side of a “high moment” there will always be a “low” and Elijah was not prepared for it; the “low” threw him into fear.
I know what it is like in the days following a very powerful and supernatural time of ministry. Sometimes there were thousands of people in attendance and sometimes the crowds were tiny, but the ministry time was marked by the power and presence of God. You spend your days in a whirlwind of ministry and serving and then suddenly it’s all over. You head home for rest and suddenly the high is gone and you are extremely tired, feel wasted, and sometimes even get depressed! I know what that is like.
So Elijah ran! And he pushed away his servant, further revealing that he was in a “low” period. Elijah’s servant was the one person who had walked with him through every circumstance; he was faithful and loyal and he knew how to help him regain his composure. Yet, Elijah left him in a strange city (see 1 Kings 19:3).
Elijah went off alone into the wilderness where he sat down under a tree and began to complain and despair of life. Finally he lay down under the tree and went to sleep. An angel of the Lord awakened him and said, “Arise and eat!” Elijah sat up and saw freshly baked bread and a jar of water beside him so he ate and drank. Then he lay down and went right back to sleep. The angel of the Lord came a second time, awakened Elijah and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you” (1 Kings 19:7).
Commentators often say this statement about the journey is referring to what lay ahead, as Elijah would travel for forty more days before he reached Mount Horeb. This is correct, but I believe it misses a large part of the purpose of the angel’s ministry assignment to Elijah. I think the angel was referring to the “journey” as being the whole pathway of Elijah’s life from start to finish.
I believe the angel was saying to Elijah, “Stop trying to do this alone; you know better than this. You have run in fear as though God was no longer with you. You have complained and despaired as if God has let you down—and you know better than that! So get up off the ground and eat. God has not forgotten you or left you alone! See, He has supernaturally provided nourishment for you.” God not only reassured Elijah of His immediate presence but promised him that He would be there through the whole “journey” because otherwise the journey would be too difficult for him.
The act of eating is symbolic of receiving from the Lord. It is also symbolic of our need for daily communication with the Lord in prayer and in His communication with us through the Word. The apostle Paul used the very same symbolism in Acts 27. On his journey to Rome, the ship he was on encountered a severe storm. Paul said to everyone on the ship, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival” (Acts 27:33-34).
One thing I have found myself doing (or have been tempted to do) when coming down off the high of intense ministry was breaking the rhythm of my personal devotional pattern. Instead of spending time with the Lord daily, I would say to myself, “I’m just too tired for that right now.” Or in my negative frame of mind I would think, “I don’t know why I do that so much, anyhow.”
I wonder how often we have done just the same as Elijah and the people on Paul’s ship did. We try to handle everything on our own and the journey becomes too great for us. The apostle and the angel of the Lord have a message for us: “Arise and eat! This is for your survival.”
1 Kings 18:46 says the hand of the Lord (an indirect reference to the Holy Spirit) came upon Elijah and he was so energized that he outran Ahab’s horse-drawn chariot on the way to Jezreel. Elijah was so supernaturally strengthened by “the hand of the Lord” after these great victories that he surpassed Ahab’s horses over a twenty-five-mile distance. The brother was pumped!
At Jezreel, the strangest thing happened. Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife, sent a threatening message to Elijah: “By this time tomorrow, Elijah, I will see to it that you are dead!” (see 1 Kings 19:2). Elijah, who had just seen God bring about two incredible victories, reacted in fear and ran for his life (v. 3). On the other side of a “high moment” there will always be a “low” and Elijah was not prepared for it; the “low” threw him into fear.
I know what it is like in the days following a very powerful and supernatural time of ministry. Sometimes there were thousands of people in attendance and sometimes the crowds were tiny, but the ministry time was marked by the power and presence of God. You spend your days in a whirlwind of ministry and serving and then suddenly it’s all over. You head home for rest and suddenly the high is gone and you are extremely tired, feel wasted, and sometimes even get depressed! I know what that is like.
So Elijah ran! And he pushed away his servant, further revealing that he was in a “low” period. Elijah’s servant was the one person who had walked with him through every circumstance; he was faithful and loyal and he knew how to help him regain his composure. Yet, Elijah left him in a strange city (see 1 Kings 19:3).
Elijah went off alone into the wilderness where he sat down under a tree and began to complain and despair of life. Finally he lay down under the tree and went to sleep. An angel of the Lord awakened him and said, “Arise and eat!” Elijah sat up and saw freshly baked bread and a jar of water beside him so he ate and drank. Then he lay down and went right back to sleep. The angel of the Lord came a second time, awakened Elijah and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you” (1 Kings 19:7).
Commentators often say this statement about the journey is referring to what lay ahead, as Elijah would travel for forty more days before he reached Mount Horeb. This is correct, but I believe it misses a large part of the purpose of the angel’s ministry assignment to Elijah. I think the angel was referring to the “journey” as being the whole pathway of Elijah’s life from start to finish.
I believe the angel was saying to Elijah, “Stop trying to do this alone; you know better than this. You have run in fear as though God was no longer with you. You have complained and despaired as if God has let you down—and you know better than that! So get up off the ground and eat. God has not forgotten you or left you alone! See, He has supernaturally provided nourishment for you.” God not only reassured Elijah of His immediate presence but promised him that He would be there through the whole “journey” because otherwise the journey would be too difficult for him.
The act of eating is symbolic of receiving from the Lord. It is also symbolic of our need for daily communication with the Lord in prayer and in His communication with us through the Word. The apostle Paul used the very same symbolism in Acts 27. On his journey to Rome, the ship he was on encountered a severe storm. Paul said to everyone on the ship, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival” (Acts 27:33-34).
One thing I have found myself doing (or have been tempted to do) when coming down off the high of intense ministry was breaking the rhythm of my personal devotional pattern. Instead of spending time with the Lord daily, I would say to myself, “I’m just too tired for that right now.” Or in my negative frame of mind I would think, “I don’t know why I do that so much, anyhow.”
I wonder how often we have done just the same as Elijah and the people on Paul’s ship did. We try to handle everything on our own and the journey becomes too great for us. The apostle and the angel of the Lord have a message for us: “Arise and eat! This is for your survival.”
Friday, September 16, 2011
NOT MANY FATHERS
“For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. So I urge you to imitate me” (1 Corinthians 4:15-16, NLT).
I have just returned from Jacksonville, Florida, where I participated in a memorial service for a dear friend, Paul Goodwin. Paul was a mentor to me and he was one of a very small group of men whom I consider to be my “spiritual fathers.”
I first met Paul and his family many years ago when he was pastor of Calvary Temple in Jacksonville. Carol and I were travelling doing advance work for a David Wilkerson crusade in Jacksonville and spent several weeks there in early 1968. Paul and I got acquainted at that time and our friendship grew over the next six years, as I was back in Jacksonville several times.
In late 1974 our family moved to Los Angeles where I became Vice President of World Literature Crusade (now known as Every Home for Christ). As I was getting familiar with the people who worked there, I noticed that a Paul Goodwin was on the list of men who represented the ministry throughout the U.S. and Canada. Indeed, it was the same man I had met a few years earlier. I immediately made contact with Paul and over the next couple of years our friendship deepened.
Paul was a mentor/father to me. He was a very loving, godly, Spirit-filled man who genuinely radiated more of the love of God than any man I have ever met.
Paul often stayed in our home when he was in Los Angeles and we loved to have him visit. One day our daughters came to me and said, “Dad, Paul is like an uncle—but he’s not—and he’s like a grandfather—but he’s not. So we wondered if we could just call him Grumple.” I told them it was fine with me but they should talk to Paul about it. Paul laughingly agreed and to this day our daughters refer to him as their beloved Grumple.
For many years I talked to Paul at least once a week on the phone and sometimes every day. He was always ready to encourage, pray with, counsel or occasionally even chastise me. Paul was always encouraging to me, both by example and by word. He walked with us through some extremely difficult times as the ministry we were in transitioned from what it was then to what it is today. President John Kennedy used to say, “Without change there can be no progress.” That’s a true statement but what he didn’t say was how painful change can be or how resistant human nature is to change.
One day the ministry was going through a particularly difficult period and the stress and tension felt overwhelming. I went into my office, closed the door and called Paul. I just wanted to hear a friendly voice and talk with someone who would encourage me, pat me on the head, and assure me that everything would be okay! Paul listened to my pathetic tale of woe and the moment I finished I got ready to be encouraged. Instead, Paul quoted a Scripture to me. If you read this blog regularly, you know how much I love the Word of God, but there are times when I don’t want somebody to “smack me upside the head” with it. The verse Paul quoted to me that day was Proverbs 24:10: “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.”
For just a moment there was dead silence as Paul finished quoting the verse and then we both began to laugh. My first reaction had been a flash of anger and then I realized that Paul had done the right thing. I needed to hear that word right at that time. I needed to be told to get up off my butt and start acting like an adult and I knew this man loved me enough to tell me the truth—and he did. A true friend will tell you what you need to hear and not what you want to hear.
This blog began with the Apostle Paul’s words to the Corinthian church regarding his being their father in the Lord (v. 15). The next verse says, “Therefore I urge you, imitate me.” The apostle Paul was a good father to the Corinthian church and knew they wouldn’t go wrong if they followed his example (see also 1 Corinthians 11:1).
The apostle was so comfortable with the way he had identified with Christ that he was able to say to the Corinthians, “If you can’t do it any other way, then follow/imitate me as I follow Christ.” So it was with my friend Paul Goodwin. Paul displayed for me how to live as a Spirit-filled believer. In Jacksonville, Paul was known to many as the “Bishop of the Renewal Movement” and was loved by many of the renewal leaders in the region.
Early in his life, Paul and his wife Dee were missionaries to Jamaica where they built a great church and assisted in starting a Bible school. While in Jamaica Paul wrote a chorus entitled Sweet Jesus that will be familiar to many of you. Here are the lyrics to the chorus.
Sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus,
What a wonder you are;
You’re brighter than the morning star.
You’re fairer, much fairer
Than the lily that grows by the wayside;
Precious, more precious than gold.
You’re like the Rose of Sharon,
The fairest of the fair.
You’re all my heart could ’er desire.
Sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus,
What a wonder you are;
You’re precious, more precious than gold.
Rest in peace, my dear friend. We’ll all be there to celebrate soon!
I have just returned from Jacksonville, Florida, where I participated in a memorial service for a dear friend, Paul Goodwin. Paul was a mentor to me and he was one of a very small group of men whom I consider to be my “spiritual fathers.”
I first met Paul and his family many years ago when he was pastor of Calvary Temple in Jacksonville. Carol and I were travelling doing advance work for a David Wilkerson crusade in Jacksonville and spent several weeks there in early 1968. Paul and I got acquainted at that time and our friendship grew over the next six years, as I was back in Jacksonville several times.
In late 1974 our family moved to Los Angeles where I became Vice President of World Literature Crusade (now known as Every Home for Christ). As I was getting familiar with the people who worked there, I noticed that a Paul Goodwin was on the list of men who represented the ministry throughout the U.S. and Canada. Indeed, it was the same man I had met a few years earlier. I immediately made contact with Paul and over the next couple of years our friendship deepened.
Paul was a mentor/father to me. He was a very loving, godly, Spirit-filled man who genuinely radiated more of the love of God than any man I have ever met.
Paul often stayed in our home when he was in Los Angeles and we loved to have him visit. One day our daughters came to me and said, “Dad, Paul is like an uncle—but he’s not—and he’s like a grandfather—but he’s not. So we wondered if we could just call him Grumple.” I told them it was fine with me but they should talk to Paul about it. Paul laughingly agreed and to this day our daughters refer to him as their beloved Grumple.
For many years I talked to Paul at least once a week on the phone and sometimes every day. He was always ready to encourage, pray with, counsel or occasionally even chastise me. Paul was always encouraging to me, both by example and by word. He walked with us through some extremely difficult times as the ministry we were in transitioned from what it was then to what it is today. President John Kennedy used to say, “Without change there can be no progress.” That’s a true statement but what he didn’t say was how painful change can be or how resistant human nature is to change.
One day the ministry was going through a particularly difficult period and the stress and tension felt overwhelming. I went into my office, closed the door and called Paul. I just wanted to hear a friendly voice and talk with someone who would encourage me, pat me on the head, and assure me that everything would be okay! Paul listened to my pathetic tale of woe and the moment I finished I got ready to be encouraged. Instead, Paul quoted a Scripture to me. If you read this blog regularly, you know how much I love the Word of God, but there are times when I don’t want somebody to “smack me upside the head” with it. The verse Paul quoted to me that day was Proverbs 24:10: “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.”
For just a moment there was dead silence as Paul finished quoting the verse and then we both began to laugh. My first reaction had been a flash of anger and then I realized that Paul had done the right thing. I needed to hear that word right at that time. I needed to be told to get up off my butt and start acting like an adult and I knew this man loved me enough to tell me the truth—and he did. A true friend will tell you what you need to hear and not what you want to hear.
This blog began with the Apostle Paul’s words to the Corinthian church regarding his being their father in the Lord (v. 15). The next verse says, “Therefore I urge you, imitate me.” The apostle Paul was a good father to the Corinthian church and knew they wouldn’t go wrong if they followed his example (see also 1 Corinthians 11:1).
The apostle was so comfortable with the way he had identified with Christ that he was able to say to the Corinthians, “If you can’t do it any other way, then follow/imitate me as I follow Christ.” So it was with my friend Paul Goodwin. Paul displayed for me how to live as a Spirit-filled believer. In Jacksonville, Paul was known to many as the “Bishop of the Renewal Movement” and was loved by many of the renewal leaders in the region.
Early in his life, Paul and his wife Dee were missionaries to Jamaica where they built a great church and assisted in starting a Bible school. While in Jamaica Paul wrote a chorus entitled Sweet Jesus that will be familiar to many of you. Here are the lyrics to the chorus.
Sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus,
What a wonder you are;
You’re brighter than the morning star.
You’re fairer, much fairer
Than the lily that grows by the wayside;
Precious, more precious than gold.
You’re like the Rose of Sharon,
The fairest of the fair.
You’re all my heart could ’er desire.
Sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus,
What a wonder you are;
You’re precious, more precious than gold.
Rest in peace, my dear friend. We’ll all be there to celebrate soon!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
THE BANQUET TABLE!
I absolutely love the 23rd Psalm. Over the years I have enjoyed the riches of this incredible series of insights that flowed out of David’s heart and spirit. Just when I think I have discovered everything possible, I turn the diamond just a bit and the light catches a whole new brilliance of God’s love and care and it just lights up my life. That happened again not long ago.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over” (v. 5).
This verse is a trilogy of blessing! A God-prepared table, an anointing, and an overflowing cup!
What is it that drives us to the dinner table in the natural? We get hungry and we eat to meet that need! What is it that drives us to seek God? Hunger in the inner man! What is God’s promise to the hungry? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled”(Matthew 5:6). The word hunger means to crave ardently, to seek with eager desire, to be painfully hungry. God promises to meet those who earnestly, wholeheartedly, hungrily seek Him.
God tells us in Psalm 23:5 that He has prepared a table, a spread of spiritual food that is designed to meet and fulfill our deepest and most heartfelt needs. Each table, each meal is prepared for us alone! Go ahead, it’s all right! You can call it designer food because that is exactly what God had in mind for you. He designs each meal to feed and strengthen you!
The table finds its best expression, its fullest ability to satisfy your deepest longing and desire, in those moments when you quietly meet with Him in personal worship, in the Word, in prayer and in quiet meditation. In those moments you have the greatest access to the full spread of the table. In those moments God begins to feed you with exactly what you need to fulfill your innermost hunger and to grow your spiritual man/woman.
It is in those personal moments of intimate contact with Him that the full impact of His designed nourishment begins to flow into you. He prepared this table with you in mind: your needs, your struggles, your growth. He has prepared a meal just for you that will meet your exact needs and strengthen you to become that man, that woman of God that He has destined you to be.
Please listen carefully to what I am going to say now because I know that some will misunderstand. When you do not take the time to eat at your own table but rush to eat at others’ tables, it is not a mortal sin, it is just the wrong food at the wrong time and it brings less than the desired response.
Your spiritual nourishment is found at the table the Lord has set just for you. This nourishment will come because you step up to the table and partake of the meal that was meticulously designed with you in mind.
We need to be faithful to the church. Hebrews 10:25 has not been taken out of your Bible and Ephesians 4:12 is not going away. Jesus is still calling some to be pastors and still empowering pastors to equip us for the work of the ministry. We need to sit under our pastor’s teaching and inspiration; we need to be in Bible study; we need the fellowship of others on the journey of faith. These are the between-meal power snacks along the journey of our life of faith. But if you are counting on what you get at church, see on Christian television, hear on Christian radio, or read in the latest inspirational best seller to be your primary source of spiritual nourishment, you are eating at the wrong table.
There is a RESERVED sign and a name card on your table. The table is reserved for you and the name on the card is yours. There are only two chairs at your table, one for you and the other for Jesus. Your time at the table is meant to be an occasion of intimacy: eating, talking, listening and worshipping.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).
Dinnertime is coming, the table is set, and I can hardly wait!
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over” (v. 5).
This verse is a trilogy of blessing! A God-prepared table, an anointing, and an overflowing cup!
What is it that drives us to the dinner table in the natural? We get hungry and we eat to meet that need! What is it that drives us to seek God? Hunger in the inner man! What is God’s promise to the hungry? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled”(Matthew 5:6). The word hunger means to crave ardently, to seek with eager desire, to be painfully hungry. God promises to meet those who earnestly, wholeheartedly, hungrily seek Him.
God tells us in Psalm 23:5 that He has prepared a table, a spread of spiritual food that is designed to meet and fulfill our deepest and most heartfelt needs. Each table, each meal is prepared for us alone! Go ahead, it’s all right! You can call it designer food because that is exactly what God had in mind for you. He designs each meal to feed and strengthen you!
The table finds its best expression, its fullest ability to satisfy your deepest longing and desire, in those moments when you quietly meet with Him in personal worship, in the Word, in prayer and in quiet meditation. In those moments you have the greatest access to the full spread of the table. In those moments God begins to feed you with exactly what you need to fulfill your innermost hunger and to grow your spiritual man/woman.
It is in those personal moments of intimate contact with Him that the full impact of His designed nourishment begins to flow into you. He prepared this table with you in mind: your needs, your struggles, your growth. He has prepared a meal just for you that will meet your exact needs and strengthen you to become that man, that woman of God that He has destined you to be.
Please listen carefully to what I am going to say now because I know that some will misunderstand. When you do not take the time to eat at your own table but rush to eat at others’ tables, it is not a mortal sin, it is just the wrong food at the wrong time and it brings less than the desired response.
Your spiritual nourishment is found at the table the Lord has set just for you. This nourishment will come because you step up to the table and partake of the meal that was meticulously designed with you in mind.
We need to be faithful to the church. Hebrews 10:25 has not been taken out of your Bible and Ephesians 4:12 is not going away. Jesus is still calling some to be pastors and still empowering pastors to equip us for the work of the ministry. We need to sit under our pastor’s teaching and inspiration; we need to be in Bible study; we need the fellowship of others on the journey of faith. These are the between-meal power snacks along the journey of our life of faith. But if you are counting on what you get at church, see on Christian television, hear on Christian radio, or read in the latest inspirational best seller to be your primary source of spiritual nourishment, you are eating at the wrong table.
There is a RESERVED sign and a name card on your table. The table is reserved for you and the name on the card is yours. There are only two chairs at your table, one for you and the other for Jesus. Your time at the table is meant to be an occasion of intimacy: eating, talking, listening and worshipping.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).
Dinnertime is coming, the table is set, and I can hardly wait!
Friday, September 2, 2011
PRAYING FOR GOD TO HEAL OUR LAND!
God made a promise when He appeared to Solomon immediately after the newly-built temple was dedicated in Jerusalem (see 2 Chronicles 7:14).
God said to Solomon, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this temple as a place for Myself, as a house where sacrifices can be offered. My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to every prayer made in the temple. At times I may cause the rains to stop, the crops to fail and sickness to come among the people. Should that happen, here is My word for you: ‘If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land’ (2 Chronicles 7:14).”
This Scripture is a clear call to God’s people on how to appeal to the Father, and His promise to come and heal the land. This passage is not a prayer, it is a promise!
Daniel was a man of God who knew how to keep his faith alive in extremely difficult circumstances. The Jews had been in captivity in Babylon for nearly seventy years and Daniel faced a troubling and uncertain future. His prayer for the deliverance of his people in Daniel 9:4-19 is one of the best models of prayer for us, as our nation and the world sinks into the madness of the end times.
The brevity of this blog allows me to touch only the highlights of this powerful, intercessory prayer. I would encourage all who are burdened for our churches, our nation and our world to take time to read, meditate on and pray over this passage of Scripture.
In the first verses of Daniel 9, we read that Daniel discovered in the writings of Jeremiah a prophecy that the Jewish people would be held in captivity for seventy years. I believe Daniel’s spirit leapt as he read this and realized how close they were to the fulfillment of the prophecy. But at the same time Daniel knew the Jewish nation was not living for and serving God. He knew that unless there was a change in the hearts of the people and they turned to the Lord, their freedom would be short-lived and God would put them right back into an oppressive situation.
Verse 3 — “I set my face toward the Lord God.” Daniel was determined to touch God with his prayer. To “set his face” means he was intent on achieving a specific result. He was going to pray through!
Verse 5 — “We have sinned and committed iniquity.” Daniel did not point fingers at others. He took ownership of the sin and iniquity of the people. I call this a “we” prayer and the use of “we” establishes that Daniel identified with his people; he did not point at them and say, “They are to blame, they have done wrong.”
Verse 6 — “We have not listened to the messengers [the prophets] you sent to bring your word” (my paraphrase). We heard the words but we did not do what Your word instructed us to do.
Verse 7 — “Righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face.” There is nothing arrogant or proud in Daniel’s prayer. This is the expression of the humility that God says He will respond to, the humility spoken of in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people . . . will humble themselves.”
Verse 10 — “We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord.” No excuses are being offered. “We are disobedient; we have taken the word of the Lord lightly and have not been obedient!”
Verse 12 — “He has confirmed His words.” Even in judgment God is faithful to His word—He promised that curses/judgment would come because of disobedience (Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28).
Verse 13 — “All this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God.” All that had happened to the Jews had not brought them to a place of prayer nor had they turned from their sinful and unfaithful ways. Are we any different? Will we ever learn?
Daniel then appeals for God’s intervention. Verses 16-19 are, I believe, the heart of Daniel’s prayer as he asks God for four things:
1. First, he asked that the Lord turn away His anger and wrath from Jerusalem (verse 16).
2. Second, Daniel asked that a new day of blessing would come for His temple: “Cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary” (verse 17).
3. Third, Daniel appealed to the Lord to open both His ear and His eye to the desolation of the people. Daniel appeals to the mercy of God and acknowledges the lack of righteousness among the people (verse 18).
4. Fourth, Daniel calls on the Lord to forgive His people and to take action to return them to their land, to the city of Jerusalem and to the temple (verse 19).
I need to say this before I chicken out . . . The church needs to get down off the Laodicean pedestal we have put ourselves on. The majority of the church in America/Canada is living in the lie of the pride of the Laodacean church: “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” (Revelation 3:17). The majority of the church of today sees no need for a visitation of God. They are neither hot nor cold but, in fact, are poor, blind and naked and are not in a place to contribute anything meaningful as the world descends into chaos.
The modern church is looking for the fulfillment of 2 Chronicles 7:14 without having to meet the conditions of the promise. We want the healing of the land without humility, without repentance, without prayer.
Daniel’s prayer is worthy of our attention. It is a model of how to pray for the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 to be fulfilled.
It is time for us to humble ourselves and ask God to forgive us for our failures and extend His great mercy to our land. And if we will, He will!
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