The Posture of Prayer

I recently had a woman come to me and say very gently, "I love what you are doing in the area of prayer, but it will be contended." 

For a moment I wasn't sure how to respond or even process that statement, but since that moment I have come to realize a little more of what that looks like.  It was most definitely an encouraging word within the context of our current cultural mentality about prayer.  As much as something may need to be reformed within the church, at the same time, our mentality about this reform must constantly stay on the altar so that we may see things from heavens perspective. 

To contend the culture of prayer within the church culture doesn't mean it will be opposed as saying, "we don't want this, or we don't like it", but it means there will be lack of understanding its movement.  

I believe prayer from the posture of humility and founded in love can be the most creative, powerful and shifting force that the believer has been given.  From this posture of prayer I believe the deepest places of faith can be activated.  

Being a student of revival cultures and places of awakening means you can not deny the moment that happens in the spirit through a praying people.  

Duncan Campbell of the Hebrides Revival said, "It is ridiculous to say that I brought revival to the Hebrides, the people in prayer long before I arrived brought the revival to the island"

Jonathan Edwards one of the pioneers of America's Great Awakening said, "You can't have revival without travail" 

Leonard Ravenhill said, "I have often prayed prayers, but have I ever really prayed?"

All of these quotes by men who experienced a measure of revival said it was only from the backs of a praying people that you can experience a "revival".  It's easy for me and others to say, "We want revival", but how many of us are willing to commit ourselves to the place of prayer, night and day, until we see a breakthrough in our communities?  This is the place that we must say, "YES," in our hearts in order to position ourselves for more than what we see right now.  I believe prayer should have two parts: We must encounter the heavenly perspective that John had in the book of Revelation and we must have a missional mindset toward the earth.  

Prayer isn't hiding from the world, but it's finding a secret place FOR the world.  Any true form of prayer will have an immediate obedience behind it.  Any form of intercession and prayer that doesn't demand our obedience to act on is limiting what is possible from our encounters with Heaven. 

I believe the last days outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Earth is based upon two things: the will of the Father and the obedience of His people.  We are called co-laborers with Christ Jesus, this means that we are now the mobile force of Heaven in the Earth.  Not so we can do what we want, but so we can activate the desires of Heaven for His people on the Earth.  You and I are called ambassadors, which means you are called to represent what the Kingdom says about a specific matter.

We must embrace what I like to call the posture of prayer - a place in His presence where we own no titles but we must have a posture before our King.  Our walk with God must be clothed in righteousness and rooted in humility.  Without either of those we can not experience the fullness of His Spirit in us as described in the book of Ephesians.

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."

I see this as an invitation into Heaven's vantage point about your situation.  There are three unavoidable things about this verse.

1. Call to Me - indicates that you must have an active pursuit to access what God wants to do through your life.  This is a word that invites us to engage Him.
2. I will answer you - gives you great assurance that He will meet you in the place of prayer, and that He not only hears you, but He desires to answer you..
3. I will show you great and mighty things - is the ability to exchange your vision for His vision.  Jesus alone is the Miracle Maker, but He promises that He will do great and mighty things with a surrendered vessel.  

"The Constitution of your community is more important than the passion of your prayers " - Lou Engle  

This means, passion and intention isn't enough to fulfill the posture of prayer.  We must position ourselves in communion and agreement with the standard of Heaven to activate His will on the earth.  I believe in a passionate prayer, but I also believe it is critical that we understand that the mandate of prayer should release a shock wave of obedience into the hearts of the people.  

One of the effects in the Hebrides Revival is that it was said, "It just seemed like God was everywhere." What a radical testimony of true revival.  That a praying people could somehow release such a presence in the community that there seemed to be no barriers between Heaven and Earth. 

Acts 5:12-16 is a place that we can see presence from a prayer life. The narrative says that miracles were done through the hands of the apostles and many wonders were done among the people.  It says in verse 15, "they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them." 

There was something so powerfully overshadowing the life of the apostles and especially Peter that the people anticipated that even the shadow of Peter could bring health to their body!  What if we would live in such a way that people knew the presence of The Holy Spirit resided upon us so much that it is possible they could get healed just by our shadows.  We must always understand that what overshadows us as believers will always fall on them who are in need.  We must be a people constantly living in the shadow of the Almighty. Peter wasn't "special", he had just been contending in the place of prayer and His life was filled with the Holy Spirit.  

It's important to see that there was even something so attached to the prayer life of Jesus, that the disciples asked Him to teach them to pray.  Not to do the miracles or to be a better speaker, but to teach them how to pray as He prayed.  So Jesus taught them the all familiar prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 

"Our Father in heaven, 
Hallowed be Your name.  
Your Kingdom come. 
Your will be done. 
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, 
As we forgive our debtors. 
And do not lead us into temptation, 
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the 
power and the glory forever.
Amen." 

This prayer was more than the typical rabbi teaching a form of prayer, but it was an insight to the posture and promise in prayer. May we all take time today to understand, The Father desires daily communion with His children.  Learning to abide with Him will teach us to dwell in His presence all the days of our lives.  Psalm 91 is our secret place in Him, and from that secret place we find the secrets of heaven and release them to those in need. 

Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of the law."

May we be faithful in the place of prayer, not to hide from our reality, but to change our reality. 

The Frontier of Domesticated Christianity

What does it mean to be domesticated? 

To be domesticated means "to take from the wild and tame."  We train what we tame and most of the time we correlate taming with animals, but what does it mean for us to domesticate our Christian walk?

At times we have all been guilty of domesticating our Christian walk.  Whether it's the subtle complacencies stealing from the place of personal devotion to creating a system that governs our relationships.  We have all had things that we have allowed to steal the zeal of true and pure religion before the Lord.  

What happened to the wilderness?  What happened to forging faith that results from the place of pressing or the place less desired?

It seems that today we have gotten away from things that test our faith and we have turned to things that sooth our conscience.  We have taken comfort and made it mandatory to our version of faith.  Now don't get me wrong on this thought, I don't believe this is some form of "punishment holiness" where you don't think you are living right without suffering.  That's not what I'm talking about.  What I am talking about is the thinking that the promise doesn't come without the process or that transformation comes without transition.  We ALL love and want the transformation.  But how many of us are willing to embrace the transitions that carry us to the place of transformation?  Once again, I'm not talking about salvation.  That transformation occurs the moment we say, "YES," to the sacrifice for our sins.  What I'm talking about is living in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.  I'm talking about the pioneer spirit that was birthed in The Upper Room in Acts 2. These people didn't have a format or blueprint to how it was going to work out.  The only thing they had was the blueprint of prayer and repentance that positioned them to release revival.  There was no "church growth guru," and "no program coordinator" coaching them toward success.  There was only a desire to surrender and be filled with the paraclete (helper, advocate, intercessor, The Holy Spirit).  

Today, I believe we have leaned so heavily on the price paid by others, that we have neglected to advance beyond their sacrifice.  We have forgotten what a nation of revival looks like.  Revival indicates that there is "new life," not business as usual.  Revival means that you have a new expectation, a fresh outlook, a new joy toward what's in front of you.  The expectation of the upper room culture wasn't one where they knew what was going to happen, it was an anticipation of "what's possible?" When was the last time you as a believer asked The Father, "what's possible today?"  

I believe this is the mentality of the pioneer, the plowman, and the miner.  When you look at these as occupations, you may lose the wonder of the assignment.  But, when you look at what they represent then you realize how much they forge into new possibilities.  

The Pioneer presses into lands unfamiliar hoping to discover places of great value or influence.  This nation was built on the backs of pioneers.  These are those willing to press the boundaries of limitation and possibilities.  Today we need pioneers to go beyond what is expected and go to what's possible.  The pioneer goes into new territory with no thought of cost.

"With God all things are possible" - Matthew 19:26 

The Plowman prepares land gained or given. They are willing to dig up the surface to prepare for the seed being planted.  If you don't have a plowman, the harvest will be limited or hindered.  His/her job is to go out in the field and prepare the unseen. If we don't recognize the need for "the plow" in today's church, then we will have no right to complain about the lack of harvest in the pews. The plow is prayer.  Nothing in the kingdom is prepared or purposed without prayer.  Where are those willing to plow through the dirt of repentance, intercession and daily devotion?  

The Miner goes underground to dig in the darkness. There is nothing of value when looking from the surface, but when you go underground you are looking for the hidden value.  This should be the constant view we, as believers, have when we see a lost world.  We should see the value under the surface of every individual.  A miner does a dirty, thankless job.  From the underground search of the miner, so many benefits surface to the believer.  In fact, in the 1700-1800's there were a company of people called Circuit Riders that left the shores of convenience and refused domesticated christianity.  One of West Virginia's early Circuit Riders said;

"Circuit Riders are like miners and souls are our iron" - Kevin Keplinger 

I believe it's going to take a reevaluation of our current condition as a people, a willingness to reform what we have allowed to become apathetic, and to invest into what is unseen.  I believe it's a reestablishing of the modern day Nazarite.  A covenant people who have it in their heart to ask God what they should give verses asking God what they can keep. In today's streamlined, well defined, convenient, demanding society I believe we need to ask God for the undomesticated view.  We must be willing to go where no one has gone to do what few desire to do to bring in a harvest that is waiting.  There is a frontier within our domesticated view of christianity.  We must be willing to confront that which isn't baring lasting fruit and constantly prune what is.  We must be a people who embrace wilderness for the sake of obtaining victory through it.  I declare we must seek beyond seeking and press beyond pressing.  There is always more in the heart of the Father than what we see, so our yes must be our obedience.  

I challenge each and every reader to examine your walk with Jesus.  Ask yourself if there is an area that has become tame? Is there a daily newness and expectation?  If there are some places that you have stopped adventuring with God, you can turn that current reality by asking God, "where can I pioneer?, "what needs plowed?" and "what needs mined out?"

You are saved not just to go to Heaven, but to cause Heaven to be known on the Earth.  You are made from the wilderness!  You are made for more!  Have a "YES" in your heart, and "MOVE" in your mentality!

Use this verse to target your prayer;

"Turn away my eyes from looking at the worthless things, revive me in Your way."  
Psalm 119:37