Last week we finished up the book of Revelation. (here it comes, the big "so what") What does it mean to us?
It means – “Jesus is coming!” So, what are we doing??
Well, as I noted earlier, over the past few weeks I have spent time just seeking the Lord for direction and focus in the fellowship,and so starting today I am going to lay it our for you.
Matt 28 tells us:
Matt 29:18 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you”
Eph 4:11-13
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
How much do we pray together as a church? Well, if we get honest… not enough! Every Sunday morning we have a prayer time before the first service, to pray for the service, and there are the same 2-3 people there every Sunday. Part of this is my fault – I have not put as much focus or brought it to your attention the way I could have. Well, good leadership is seeing where you are not hitting the mark, and doing something about it!
- Our leadership team is going to lead by example, and we are going to start meeting more regularly for prayer – for the church, our city, for the wisdom to lead the church.
- We are also going to start several prayer “cell groups” in the homes of people in the church. And we are going to strongly encourage the church to attend one of these – and I pray that they will expand greatly.
- We are also going to end our Wednesday night service a little earlier, and use the remaining time to come together fro prayer.
WHY? If we want to see God move in our lives, our church, our community, then we must start in prayer. Prayer is where the power of God is engaged into the things that we do for the Lord. Prayer is where we come to God and admit that whatever our situation, whatever our calling, whatever the task, WE NEED GOD!
Think about it, when we move into a situation without prayer, we are basically saying “I got it God, I’ll let you know how it turns out.” That’s a fine attitude to take… if we want to operate in our own strength. Personally, I have found that my strength works fine… to a point. But there is always a limit to how far I can take anything (IOW- I am human). Thing is, God is not limited. So if I want to operate beyond my strength, guess what, I need God. Why go on limited human power? Why not run the supernatural power of God in our lives, our ministry, our work, and watch God do incredible things!
We don’t have because we don’t ask (James 4:2) If we will only ask, Jesus promised us that He would work mighty things, if we would simple ask in faith. If we ask, God will move mountains:
Mark 11:22-24
"Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
"Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
- Picture yourself talking to a friend about God, and suddenly the power of God comes upon them, and they are suddenly open to the gospel.
- Picture yourself in a difficult situation, and the power of God comes upon you, giving you the direction and answers you need.
- Picture opportunities, and provision opening up in your life, things that you say “wow, where did that come from?”
So what you you do with this? Engage! If your prayer life has been lacking, restart it! Attend a prayer meeting, or join a prayer cell group. Come on Wednesday nights and pray with us. I'll even issue you a challenge - try it for a few weeks. Pray. Seek the Lord. And let me know what God has done, because I believe that if you pray, God will move in your life!
To listen to the message "Moving Forward in 2008", CLICK HERE
Next week... Reaching out.
