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Seeing the church announcements on video during the Saturday night service, I noticed the call to a new prayer meeting. Prayer is important; it is the beginning of every good thing. Group prayer is even more important. I purposed to attend. What happened at the prayer meeting far exceeded my expectations! I walked into a new move of God and left with new peace, hope and life action. Nancy, Donya and Verna were present. They had just returned from the Lakeland Florida Revival. They were over flowing with the coals of revival. I did not know they were going to be there; I just obeyed God by attending the meeting. After the worship, before Nancy and Donya spoke, the Lord pulled back the shades from my eyes and let me feel the magnitude of the hunger I felt for Him – for the real Him free of the hypocrisy and self-centeredness of man. The hunger I felt went deep and penetrated the whole of my life. It surprised me. I did not know my hunger was so big. Perhaps it was an intercessory feeling expressing a corporate hunger. If it was, still a huge hunger for God was also in me. After Nancy and Donya told us of the miracles, fire and anointing they experienced in Lakeland, Florida we all prayed together. Following our prayers a second worship, led by again by David, issued us into personal prayer by those carrying the coals of God’s revival to Kerrville - Nancy, Donya and Verna. When it was my turn, Nancy began praying that I would receive the fire of God. I was seeing, via the Holy Spirit, that I didn’t understand the fire of God. I didn’t know what it meant to have the fire of God, so I asked Nancy, “What is the fire of God?” I had no more gotten the question out than a vision came to me. I saw, within me – in my inner most being - a ball of flaming orange fire much like a close up video of the burning sun. It was God within on fire. The fire was burning so bright it consumed everything in its way. The fears I had from past emotional injuries were like small bunches of dried paper easily and permanently consumed by the fire. The fire was burning up any inhibition still present in my flesh. These hindrances were small in comparison to the energy in the fire – like paper to flame. My flesh was no longer in control, Satan was no longer in control, the fire of God within had a life of its own. Who could stop or put out the fire of the sun? Certainly satan cannot do it. The God within was finally free and He was a living consuming fire. Nancy stopped praying but the Holy Spirit still worked within me. I lifted my hand toward her (I was lying down) and said, “I am not finished. I need more!” The Holy Spirit continued speaking, showing me that I was depleted from caring for Clare, my adult disabled daughter. I was dry, without energy or ability to keep going. I knew I was weary but I didn’t know I was so completely emotionally exhausted. As Nancy continued to pray for me, I saw me, in another vision, move out of the way, which wasn’t hard because I was completely spent. In this vision God took over, moving into the place I had held, taking complete control over Clare’s care. I thought I had done this repeatedly over the last 17 years since her head injury, but obviously, I had not. This time it was a complete and permanent removal of me - a total yielding to God. He became, alone, in charge of Clare’s care. The two largest strongholds of the enemy over me were broken Monday night – at least they were broken in the Spirit – certain victory was established. I am writing this message to encourage any and all to come to the next Impact prayer meeting where the new Wind of God is blowing and the release of His River of Living Water is flowing. Don’t miss it. Don’t delay. Come quickly and drink His seed of life and receive the seed of a burning coal which will ignite the fire of God within you. Come now.
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Shown above is a corporate prayer meeting that took place at Impact Christian Fellowship Monday, April 5, 2008. It began with an opening prayer and quickly moved to worship. Then those who had just returned from the revival in Lakeland, FL shared their experiences there. All expressed the deep hunger felt in those meetings to both experience and carry the glory of God in a deeper way than ever before. They also testified of receiving an impartation. After these testimonies, they prayed for those who wanted to receive the impartation. Worship and prayer continued for some time. Here is, in part, what one person experienced while being prayed for: When it was my turn, Nancy began praying that I would receive the fire of God. I was seeing, by the Holy Spirit, that I didn’t understand the fire of God. I didn’t know what it meant to have the fire of God, so I asked, “What is the fire of God?” I had no more gotten the question out than a vision came to me. I saw, within me – in my innermost being, a ball of flaming orange fire much like a close up video of the burning sun. It was God within, on fire. The fire was burning so bright it consumed everything hindering its way. The fears I had from past emotional injuries were like small bunches of dried paper easily and permanently consumed by the fire. The fire was burning up inhibitions still present in my flesh. These hindrances were small in comparison to the energy in the fire – like paper to flame. My flesh was no longer in control; satan was no longer in control, the fire of God within had a life of its own ... What happened at the prayer meeting far exceeded my expectations. At this time, bi-weekly meetings are planned. The next corporate prayer meeting will be May 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary of the original Impact building. Monday, May 12, a DVD of the Lakeland Revival will be shown from 6 - 10 p.m. in the same building for anyone interested. Feel free to come and go during that time.
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The theme of the River of God continues to be on my mind as I hear of outbreaks of revival in our land. Here's a "River Event" that happened almost in my backyard. Intercessors from multiple churches in Kerr County, Texas, gathered in unity April 28 at the headwaters of the Guadalupe River to pray, worship, and proclaim the name of Jesus over the river and all it touches as it flows outward. They also served communion to one another. Come reign in Kerr County, Lord Jesus, and all the counties, communities and towns in contact with the Guadalupe. May the river of heaven flow through families and individuals, bringing your love, joy and peace. May you be glorified. Amen
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I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips
My soul will boast in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
I sought the Lord & he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
Ps 34:1-5 NIV
DELIVERANCE FROM SHAME & FEAR
We see that shame and fear are linked together in verses 4 and 5 of Psalm 34. This means that if we have one, we probably have the other. Being shamed, being publicly humiliated, causes a person to fear, especially to fear a recurrence of the same thing happening again. Or if a person is abused, generally they will feel ashamed in addition to fear, even though they did nothing wrong. The first verses speak of being afflicted. Shame and fear are debilitating afflictions.
FINDING THE WAY OUT
So what is the way out? As we look at these verses from Psalms, we see that the psalmist approaches God with humility and confidence. He draws near to him with extravagant praise and worship: he extols, boasts in, glorifies and exalts. He puts effort and positive energy into seeking the Lord.
The phrase "his praise will always be on my lips" indicates the author of this psalm does this as a lifestyle. And he urges others to join him in his praise. He sees God as not only praiseworthy, but as the answer to his problems. And God responds to him, transforming his countenance from one of affliction to one of radiance. If we take the psalmist's words to heart and cultivate a lifestyle of glorifying him, we, too can be delivered from shame and fear and be made radiant by his redeeming love and power. 34:1 I will bless Jehovah at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 34:2 My soul shall make her boast in Jehovah: The meek shall hear thereof, and be glad. 34:3 Oh magnify Jehovah with me, And let us exalt his name together. 34:4 I sought Jehovah, and he answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. 34:5 They looked unto him, and were radiant; And their faces shall never be confounded. Photo by capdar, http://www.flickr.com/photos/captain_don/
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You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Ps 56:8 NLT
CRYING IS CHILDLIKEEmotions are very personal and sometimes irrational. I don't always cry when it's appropriate and sometimes I cry when it's not. If that happens in public - if I'm the only one crying, I get embarrassed and feel a little weird and childlike. Then I think about this scripture and tell myself that God considers all my tears - and all my sorrows - important. And if he is the only one, that's okay. EMOTIONS ARE REACTORSRecently I read something else that made me feel better in Beyond the Lie by Alice Smith. She said that our emotions only react; they can?t think, organize or plan. Emotions are involuntary responders to circumstances. She also noted that our emotional responses correspond to our personalities. They demonstrate how strongly we feel about an issue and trigger our will to act. OUR AUSTERITY IS NOT STOREDKenny Innes in his recent blog Tears are Cool says this: "When someone around us cries, it shatters the facade of "emotional maturity" and shouts out, 'I feel...'" He continues: "It's interesting that God does not store our austerity or ability to conceal our feelings in front of people ... Perhaps it's because God loves it when we feel - when we engage emotions that are deeply held, honestly pouring them out before Him." BEING CHILDLIKE HAS VALUEOur Father obviously sees being childlike as a good thing, even a "great" thing. In Matthew 18:4 it is linked with humility. Proverbs 29:23 says that pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor. Now that's a new idea to me - that my tears could actually bring me honor. But if God honors each one enough to put it in a bottle and record it, if each tear is that important to him, it follows that my attitude needs to line up with his.
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